Marichen Van Der Westhuizen

I am a social worker, who have worked in the Family and Child Protection and Substance Abuse field. Since 2006. I am involved in academia. I have obtained a D Phil in Social Work at UNISA (2010), focusing on substance abuse among adolescents. I have been teaching in substance abuse, research methodology, group work and community work.
I am currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Social Work, University of Cape Town. My current interests and involvement in research focus on:
Substance abuse,
Intercultural work and the arts, and
Poverty, inequality and social justice.
As part of our Department's research activities, I am also participating in two research projects that focus on the causal factors of Youth in Gangs, and Gender-based Violence.