CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES: A PRIMARY INTERVENTION FOR CONTINUOUS TRAUMATIC STRESS IN SOUTH AFRICA: A CASE STUDY

Authors

  • Mariette van der Merwe Department of Social Work, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch
  • Kailas Kassan-Newton Counselling psychologist in private practice, Cape Town, South Africa.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15270/43-4-264

Abstract

Many mainstream conceptual models guiding post-trauma intervention have been developed, and
are utilised in accordance with theoretical and professional orientation. In many of these models
the response to trauma has come to be postulated as an internal phenomenon. Conceptually, the
stress response has been separated from its original source in the external environment, and has
been located in the individual (Hobfoll, 1998; Monnier & Hobfoll, 2000). Medical or pathologybased
responses to trauma often highlight deficiencies in the traumatised individual, who is
treated by the “expert” psychiatrist or psychologist, based on the needs the specialist identifies. In
South Africa, an exception is the social work profession, where a developmental approach has
been applied to South African policy and intervention since 1997 when the White Paper for
Social Welfare was formulated (Ministry for Welfare and Population Development, 1997).

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Published

2014-06-27

How to Cite

van der Merwe, M., & Kassan-Newton, K. (2014). CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES: A PRIMARY INTERVENTION FOR CONTINUOUS TRAUMATIC STRESS IN SOUTH AFRICA: A CASE STUDY. Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk, 43(4). https://doi.org/10.15270/43-4-264

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