Touching hands, touching lives : pathways to fortune telling and social work services : parallels and divergences

Abstract

This study offers comparative insights on the propelling forces that lead persons to use fortune telling and social work services. The authors sought to draw parallels and divergences between both client groups in an attempt to examine pathways for making social work services more accessible to persons who find fortune telling appealing and purposeful in times of emotional crisis or to alleviate uncertainty and problems in their lives. The empirical component of this study necessitated a qualitative approach. Ten in-depth, topic guided, semi-structured interviews were conducted with fortune telling (N=5) and social work (N=5) service clients. Two separate interviews were conducted with a social worker and a fortune teller. The interviews revealed a tendency for overlap between both these client groups. Furthermore, findings indicate that curiosity is a primary motivator in relation to initiating contact with fortune tellers/clairvoyants, while bereavement, separation, depression, teenage pregnancy and drug addiction were also found to be determining factors in this regard. Histories of domestic violence, child abuse, teenage pregnancy and intellectual and physical disability were the primary issues at stake in relation to access and engagement in social work services. Social work clients underscored that while social work services are accessible they sometimes lack in availability. The study concludes with recommendations on how social work can be made more available to clients of fortune tellers and to the general public.