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Abstract
Etzioni (1964) states that our society is an organisational society. We are born in an organisation, educated by organisations and most of us spend much of our lives working for organisations.
Work (including the work environment) and the family are critical factors in the life of an individual. These factors provide a sense of identity to the individual and also provide the values and position of the individual in the community. Interdependence exists between the individual, his work and his family. Demands can be placed on the individual in the workplace or by his family that might have a negative influence on his productivity in the work environment.
A primary research study was done to determine the nature of social work in a government institution, JG Strijdom hospital. This hospital functions as a bureaucratic institution. The sample of the study included all the departments in the hospital. The research sample was drawn from the variety of professional- to nonprofessional groups that are found in the hospital, these groups were subjected to a questionnaire containing the different factors pertaining to what might have a negative influence on the employee in the work place. The analyses of the results were done by grouping the primary and the secondary functions of the hospital. The primary function of the hospital can be described as patient care and the secondary function is the administration of the organization. The objectives of these two roles can clash in a certain area where the human skills that are needed for the two different functions differ. These differences had an influence on the research results and subsequent requirements of a social worker in the workplace.
The primary difference that was determined in this study was that the primary function was staffed by personnel that required assistance in self development. On the other hand the personnel of the secondary (administrative) function required assistance with their personal problems. The severity of the differences can be attributed to the present state of flux in the hospital. The hospital is in a state of merging with the Coronation hospital and a pending threat of affirmative action is hanging over the hospital.
The conclusion of this study is that the primary function of the hospital, namely, patient care, needs different functions from a social worker than the secondary functions. The hospital is also an educational institution for the university. The patient care personnel are younger and do not stay for long periods in the hospital environment before moving to the private sector. An occupational social worker has a definite role to play, although both primary and secondary functions have entirely different needs.
