A Theoretical Framework for Environmental Social Work in South Africa: Towards Transformative Eco-social Practice

The role and responsibilities of social workers over the years had to adjust to the specific needs and challenges brought by the rapid changes of the 21st century. These include global issues such as wars, poverty, human rights violations, mass migration, human trafficking, and climate change issues which contribute to environmental challenges such as floods, wildfires, droughts, famine, and many more. Climate change issues and the accompanying environmental challenges called for the expansion of social work skills and responsibilities to include the cultivation of environmental citizenship and sustainable development. They further called for a paradigm shift in social work training and practice from an anthropocentric world view to include an eco-social world view where non-human as well as human interests are considered. It is in this context that a theoretical framework for environmental social work is proposed. The framework incorporates core features for eco-social practice such as environmental justice, environmental education, environmental awareness, environmental citizenship, and environmental awareness and integrity. The framework also draws on aspects of the Transformative Eco-social Model by Boetto. The framework suggests a different attitude and understanding towards what social work and sustainable development entail.