Spirituality as a critical component in Afrocentric social work supervision: enhancing practice and cultural relevance in supervision
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Spirituality is a central component of many African worldviews and is often sidelined or misunderstood in traditional Western social work supervision. Integrating spirituality into Afrocentric social work supervision can enhance the practice’s effectiveness and cultural relevance, fostering holistic approaches that respect and empower individuals within their cultural contexts. This paper explores the integration of spirituality as a fundamental component in Afrocentric social work supervision, focusing on enhancing culturally relevant practices and improving the overall effectiveness of supervision within the African context. The study adopted the qualitative approach underpinned by the interpretive paradigm and exploratory-descriptive research design. A maximum of fifteen social workers and five supervisors were purposively sampled at eThekwini and Northern districts of the Department of Social Development in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. In-depth semi-structured interviews were utilized to collect data, which was thematically analyzed. Emerging from the data were two themes pertaining to (1) spirituality as a core element in Afrocentric supervision and (2) supervision challenges of the lack of a spiritual component in supervision. The paper presents two key recommendations: the development of new Afrocentric supervisory practices and the need for further research.
Author: Sandile Ntethelelo Gumbi
Institution: University of Mpumalanga
Language: English
Subfield: Public Administration
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4412373657