Department of Social Work

Permanent URI for this community

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/62

Browse

Browsing Department of Social Work by Author "Benham, Melanie Danelle"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Die ondersoek na beweerde seksuele misbruik van voorskoolse kinders: Verantwoordelikhede van forensiese maatskaplike werkers in die Suid-Afrikaanse Polisiediens
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-03) Benham, Melanie Danelle; Green, Sulina; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Children are the most vulnerable group of people in the society to be exposed to sexual abuse. In most of the cases the sexual abuse of pre-school children are not disclosed immediately. Consequently the child is often the only witness of the sexual abuse that occurred because of the lack of medical evidence and witnesses. The risk of the pre-school child to be exposed to sexual abuse because is higher because of their developmental phase. Different challenges regarding the cognitive, language and moral development of the pre-school child must be kept in mind during the forensic investigation. Therefore the development phase of the child must be kept in mind by the forensic social worker otherwise it can seem that the information obtained from the child is not trustworthy. Different role players like investigating officers and state prosecutors are involved in the investigation of alleged sexual abuse of pre-school children. Each role player has a specific responsibility in the investigation of the alleged sexual abuse. The aim of this study is to develop an understanding of the responsibilities of the forensic social worker in SAPS regarding the forensic investigation of pre-school children that was allegedly sexually abused. This study has followed a qualitative research approach. An exploratory and descriptive research design was used, because little information regarding the topic is available and this research wanted to answer specific questions about the topic. A purposive sample that consisted of twelve (n=12) forensic social workers was used. Data was collected by means of a semi-structured interview schedule during the interviews with participants. The most prominent findings and conclusions of the study is that forensic social workers must have specific qualifications and experience to conduct forensic investigations. The responsibilities of the forensic social workers during the investigation include assessment, report writing, expert witnessing and assistant with statement taking. It is also important to keep the developmental phase of the pre-school child in mind, because it can have an impact on the forensic investigation. Recommendations for future research include further research to determine the responsibilities of role players like investigation officers and state prosecutors in the investigation of pre-school children that was sexually abused.