Experiences of probation officers working at Department of Social Development, Gauteng, JHB Metro Region on occupational stress and their coping mechanisms

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dc.contributor.authorMonnye, Olebogeng
dc.date.accessioned2024-05-02T06:25:39Z
dc.date.available2024-05-02T06:25:39Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.descriptionA research report presented to the Department of Social Work, School of Human and Community Development: Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Social Work by Coursework and Research Report, 2022.
dc.description.abstractThe United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) states that the majority of children in conflict with the law have committed petty crimes such as alcohol abuse, begging, absenteeism from school and vagrancy. Probation officers have an important role to play in the lives of people in conflict with the law. Some of their responsibilities include conducting thorough investigations to assess the offenders who have committed crimes. It can be understood that the nature of their job can at times cause occupational stress. The aim of the study was to explore the occupational stressors and coping mechanisms adopted by probation officers working at the Department of Social Development (DSD), Johannesburg (Jhb) Metro Region in the Gauteng province of South Africa. A qualitative approach was used to conduct the study. Fifteen participants were selected using non-probability purposive sampling. Face to face in-depth interviews were conducted to collect the data. The interviews were audio recorded and the data was analysed using thematic analysis. It was anticipated that insights into the occupational stressors and coping strategies adopted by probation officers would be revealed. This study revealed that probation officers have high caseloads, but have good coping mechanisms to curb occupational stress in that they confide in their supervisors and their colleagues. The significance of the study for social work was that it may help probation officers to determine how they can better deal with occupational stress. Little research has been conducted in South Africa regarding probation officers’ occupational stressors. Therefore, this study contributed to literature on the matter.
dc.description.librarianPM2024
dc.facultyFaculty of Humanities
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/38409
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
dc.rights© 2022 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
dc.rights.holderUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
dc.schoolSchool of Human and Community Development
dc.subjectProbation officer
dc.subjectOccupational stress
dc.subjectCoping mechanisms
dc.subjectPerson environment theory
dc.subjectLazarus and Folkman’s theory of stress
dc.subjectDepartment of Social Development
dc.subject.otherSDG-3: Good health and well-being
dc.titleExperiences of probation officers working at Department of Social Development, Gauteng, JHB Metro Region on occupational stress and their coping mechanisms
dc.typeDissertation
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