Exploring experiences of substance-dependent employees in rehabilitation and their reintegration to the workplace: case study of an alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre in Johannesburg, South Africa
Date
2021
Authors
Johnson, Nicola
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Substance abuse and dependence is a prominent and demanding social problem emerging in the workplace. This challenge has brought about multiple negative costly effects and barriers in the workplace namely; poor productivity, absenteeism, distrust, stigma and relational conflict to name a few. Numerous global efforts have been made to alleviate substance abuse and dependency through prevention and treatment programmes. However, in the South African workplace context, very little is known about the experiences related to the rehabilitation and reintegration of employees with a substance dependency. Consequently, this research study embarked on a qualitative, exploratory case study, to identify employee’s experiences of rehabilitation and reintegration to their workplace. eighteen participants were purposely selected for this study and face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted on two occasions. The first interviews were conducted with eighteen participants and took place during their rehabilitation programme. This was done to explore motivating factors leading to rehabilitation and their experience of rehabilitation. The second interviews were conducted with eight participants when they returned to work upon completion of their rehabilitation programme. The latter interviews were conducted to identify their experiences of reintegrating to their workplaces. Thematic content analysis method was used to analyse the data from this study. The emerging thread of findings highlighted the daunting experiences of substance dependent employees in the workplace, and more specifically, the effects of their substance dependency on their personal and work life. A number of contributing factors were identified but the most predominant and common factor was their use of substance to cope with the demands of their personal and working life. The findings aim to provide knowledge pertaining to the experiences of rehabilitation and reintegration and the effects on the personal and work life of substance-dependent employees. As well as to create awareness and contribute to knowledge for occupational social workers, human resource practitioners and employers in managing substance dependence-related problems that arise in the workplace
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Occupational Social Work, School of Human and Community Development, Faculty of Humanities, Department of Social Work, University of the Witwatersrand, 2021