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Professor
Name: Adrian D. van Breda
Location: C-Ring 619B Auckland Park Kingsway Campus
Department of Social Work Staff, Rated Researchers Staff Members
Contact Details:
Tel: +27 (0) 11 559 2804
Email: avanbreda@uj.ac.za
About Prof Adrian D. van Breda
Professor Adrian van Breda trained as a clinical social worker at UCT and did his doctorate at RAU in multicultural scale development. His research focus is resilience theory – how people, particularly individuals, families and organisations, bounce back from adversity, or even thrive in the face of adversity. Initially he studied the resilience of families having to deal with the repeated disruptions of family members travelling for work. He is currently doing much of his research with Girls and Boys Town, looking at the processes that youth follow as they transition out of the care of the child welfare system and journey towards independent living. He has replicated this study in a study of four African countries, including Ghana, Uganda and Zimbabwe. He is a leading resilience scholar in South Africa and the most widely published resilience social work scholar in Africa.
Adrian teaches introduction to social work and casework at undergraduate levels, and psychotherapy and clinical practice at postgraduate levels. He also supervises postgraduate students within his primary research areas, viz. resilience, youth transitions and care-leaving. He is on sabbatical for 2024.
Adrian is the editor of the Southern African Journal of Social Work and Social Development. He serves on the Board of the Centre for Social Development in Africa at UJ and the Centre for the Study of Resilience at the University of Pretoria. He is the former Vice President and currently an honorary life member of Resilio (The International Association for the Promotion and Dissemination of the Research on Resilience), the founding member and co-Director of the Africa Care-leaving Research Network, Chairperson of the International Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood from Care, and a former member of the Professional Board for Social Work.
Adrian was the recipient of a three-year NRF grant (2015-2017) towards his research on Youth Transitions out of Care towards Independent Living. He is a B2 NRF rated researcher (2023-2028). Adrian has a Google Scholar h-index of 27 and a Scopus h-index of 17. He has published 77 accredited research outputs, 92% of which are in international journals and more than half of which were published in the past five years. He has presented 72 conference papers, including 16 invited or keynote papers. He has chaired or co-chaired nine international conferences, four of which were held outside South Africa. He has supervised 20 MAs and 6 PhDs to completion.
Research Interests:
Resilience; care-leaving; youth transitions
Qualifications:
MA (Clinical Social Work) UCT D Lit et Phil RAU
Recent Publications (2022-2024):
Gwenzi, G. D., & Van Breda, A. D. (2023). Growth Beyond the Town: Employment pathways study. Girls & Boys Town South Africa & University of Johannesburg.
Hlungwani, J., & Van Breda, A. D. (2022). Affording managed opportunities for independence to build looked-after young people’s resilience: Perceptions and experiences of care workers. Journal of Children’s Services, 17(2), 137-151. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-10-2021-0044
Keller, S., Oterholm, I., Paulsen, V., & van Breda, A. D. (2024a). Introduction: Moving towards the edge. In S. Keller, I. Oterholm, V. Paulsen, & A. D. van Breda (Eds.), Living on the edge: Innovative research on leaving care and transitions to adulthood (pp. 1-9). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447366317.int001
Keller, S., Oterholm, I., Paulsen, V., & Van Breda, A. D. (Eds.). (2024b). Living on the edge: Innovative research on leaving care and transitions to adulthood. Policy Press.
Kelly, B., Van Breda, A. D., & Frimpong-Manso, K. (2023, 13 September). ‘You are nothing and you have nothing’: Exploring social justice for youth leaving care in African contexts. EuSARF (The European Scientific Association on Residential and Family Care for Children and Adolescents), Brighton, UK.
Kelly, B., van Breda, A. D., Pinkerton, J., Frimpong-Manso, K., Chereni, A., & Bukuluki, P. (2023). Youth in transition: Exploring a life course perspective on leaving care in Africa. Youth & Society, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118×231193708
Mayaka, B., Uwihangana, C., & van Breda, A. D. (Eds.). (2023). The Ubuntu practitioner: Social work perspectives. International Federation of Social Workers. https://www.ifsw.org/product/books/the-ubuntu-practitioner-social-work-perspectives/
Mayaka, B., van Breda, A. D., Uwihangana, C., & Mugumbate, R. (2023). The Ubuntu practitioner in historical and contemporary contexts. In B. Mayaka, C. Uwihangana, & A. D. van Breda (Eds.), The Ubuntu practitioner: Social work perspectives (pp. 4-30). International Federation of Social Workers. https://www.ifsw.org/product/books/the-ubuntu-practitioner-social-work-perspectives/
Mokgopha, M. S., Van Breda, A. D., & Bond, S. (2024). Care-leavers’ reflections on resilience processes acquired while living on the street prior to coming into residential care in South Africa. In S. Keller, I. Oterholm, V. Paulsen, & A. D. van Breda (Eds.), Living on the edge: Innovative research on leaving care and transitions to adulthood (pp. 53-70). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447366317.ch003
Mushonga, S., & Van Breda, A. D. (2024). Other-initiated interactions that contribute to resilient outcomes among young adults raised by caregivers who misuse alcohol. International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 14(4), 99-124. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs144202421756
Refaeli, T., Schuman-Harel, N., Brady, E., Mann-Feder, V. R., Munro, E. R., & Van Breda, A. D. (2023). Widening the care gap? An international comparison of care-leaving in the time of COVID-19. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 93(5), 436-449. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000689
Reuben, S., & Van Breda, A. D. (2024, in press). Care-leavers’ efforts to develop relationships of belonging as a resilience process in their transition out of care. Social Work / Maatskaplike Werk.
van Breda, A. D. (2022a). Building resilient leadership: Lessons from COVID-19. The Thinker, 89, 81-84. https://doi.org/10.36615/thethinker.v90i1.1176
Van Breda, A. D. (2022b). Contribution of psychosocial vulnerability and resilience to academic achievement of primary school children in South Africa. Child & Family Social Work, 27(4), 679-687. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12916
Van Breda, A. D. (2022c). The contribution of supportive relationships to care-leaving outcomes: A longitudinal resilience study in South Africa. Child Care in Practice, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13575279.2022.2037516
Van Breda, A. D. (2022a). Foreword. In M. A. Forgey & K. Green-Hurdle (Eds.), Military social work around the globe (pp. v-viii). Springer Nature.
Van Breda, A. D. (2022b). Working towards better employment outcomes for highly vulnerable youth in South Africa. Mail & Guardian. https://mg.co.za/special-reports/2022-09-16-working-towards-better-employment-outcomes-for-highly-vulnerable-youth-in-south-africa/
Van Breda, A. D. (2023a). Interactional resilience for aging out of care: An example from South Africa. In R. Greene, N. Greene, & C. Corley (Eds.), Resilience enhancement in social work: Anti-oppressive social work skills and techniques (pp. 187-208). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38518-6_12
van Breda, A. D. (2023b). Person-centred approaches to social work practice. In D. Hölscher, R. Hugman, & D. McAuliffe (Eds.), Social work theory and ethics: Ideas in practice (pp. 143-168). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3059-0_8-1
Van Breda, A. D., & Gwenzi, G. D. (2023, 14 September). Employment pathways, outcomes and enablers among care-leavers in South Africa. EuSARF (The European Scientific Association on Residential and Family Care for Children and Adolescents), Brighton, UK.
Van Breda, A. D., & Hlungwani, J. (in press). South Africa. In T. Refaeli & V. Mann-Feder (Eds.), Care-leaving around the world. Oxford University Press.
Van Breda, A. D., Mokgopha, M. S., & Bond, S. (2023, 15 September). Care-leavers’ reflections on resilience processes acquired while living on the street prior to coming into residential care in South Africa. EuSARF (The European Scientific Association on Residential and Family Care for Children and Adolescents), Brighton, UK.
Van Breda, A. D., & Mokoena, P. (2022). Resilience processes facilitating school re-entry among rural female high school learners in South Africa. Southern African Journal of Social Work and Social Development, 34(3), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.25159/2415-5829/9839
Van Breda, A. D., & Nyoni, S. (2023). Case work. In J. V. Rautenbach, S. M. Maistry, & A. L. Shokane (Eds.), Introduction to social work (2nd ed., pp. 169-190). Juta.
van Breda, A. D., Paulsen, V., Oterholm, I., & Keller, S. (2024). Conclusion: Going over the edge. In S. Keller, I. Oterholm, V. Paulsen, & A. D. van Breda (Eds.), Living on the edge: Innovative research on leaving care and transitions to adulthood (pp. 243-253). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447366317.con001
Van Breda, A. D., Takele, A. M., & Kotecho, M. G. (2022). Caregivers’ perspectives on preparing girls to leave care in Ethiopia. Journal of Children’s Services, 17(2), 111-126. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCS-10-2021-0041
Visagie, A., & Van Breda, A. D. (2024). Older people’s perceptions of how Eye Movement Integration therapy facilitates their processing of trauma symptoms. Social Work in Mental Health, 22(1), 102-121. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2023.2256441
https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?user=NsnoHk0AAAAJ&hl
Message to students
I am committed to providing social work education that is of the highest quality, that is relevant and useful, and that advances African and local ways of thinking, being and doing. I was a practitioner long before I was an academic, and my feet remain rooted in the field. I am demanding and not easily satisfied, but I am also supportive and invested in your development. If you are interested in growing as a social worker, whether at undergraduate or postgraduate levels, we’ll get along well! I hope that you leave any encounter with me feeling that you have been attended to and stretched.