Guidelines for a social work programme for adolescents in the North-West Province

Abstract

The survey reported on in this document has been part of a bigger project launched by the Subject Group Human Movement Studies of the Potchefstroomse Universiteit vir Christelike Hoër Onderwys. The goal of the project was to survey the lifestyle and behaviour patterns of adolescents in the North-West Province in order to identify high risk lifestyle patterns with the purpose of developing wellness programmes for young people. By making use of secondary analysis, the data collected originally was used by the researcher on a selective basis in order to establish a baseline for the development of a social work programme for adolescents as no proper database for the development of such programmes existed. Such a venture would also be in line with the emphasis placed on services to the youth in South Africa at present. The original survey consisted of 323 respondents from three different schools in the Potchefstroom area, representing four different population groups and including the age spectrum of high school learners. The data was collected with the Youth Risk Behaviour Survey questionnaire developed by the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, USA. The conclusion arrived at was that the most relevant programme deserving the highest priority was the development of a stress management social work programme for adolescents. It is proposed that a stress management programme should be of a holistic nature to make provision for a wide variety of situations. It is envisaged that this research could be followed up with more refined research on the same topic.