M.A. / The aim of sentencing a child to a reform school is to effectively deter the child from further criminal acts and prevent recidivism. Research into the area of crime and juvenile delinquency stresses that those traditional approaches encompassing frameworks of punishment and retribution, as methods of eliciting behavior change do not work. Incarceration of a child offender should be a last resort and only utilized when all other possible interventions have failed to achieve a modicum of success with the child in conflict with the law. The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Young People at Risk states that "the approach to working with young people in trouble with the law should focus on restoring societal harmony and putting wrongs right rather than punishment. The young person should be held accountable for his / her actions and where possible make amends to the victim", (IMC, 1996:18). The approach of restoration and repair falls within the ambits of a Restorative Justice Model, a contemporary approach to child justice that is achieving far greater positive results, if managed appropriately than the traditional Retributive Model of child justice. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of professionals working with children in conflict with the law towards reform schools as a sentence option for children and, where possible to generate alternatives to this sentence. Key roleplayers identified for this undertaking were selected from the Departments of Social Services, Justice, Education, Detention Centers, A Reformatory, and, Community based NGO's. The role-players were identified from documents perused by the researcher pertaining to the reform school issue. A focus group as well as individual interviews was conducted with participants from the above-mentioned professional arenas. The study was contextualised to the South African situation; however participants in the study originate from Gauteng and the Western Cape Province.

M.A. / Conduct disorder is one of the most frequently diagnosed childhood disorders. The prevalence of this disorder has increased over the past few decades, which has ramifications for many facets of society, such as with families, justice systems, institutions involved with the rehabilitation of these children, and society as a whole. Conduct disorder has been found to be stable over time, and is therefore often associated with problems later in life such as violent crime, alcoholism, marital discord, and antisocial personality disorder. There have been many theories advanced for the aetiology of conduct disorder, but it is generally a bio-psychosocial model, rather than a single theory that receives the most attention when considering the development of this disorder. Included within such a model are variables such as a genetic component, neuropsychological factor, comorbid factor, socio-economic element, and a social learning component, that are involved with the development and maintenance of conduct disorder. One of the most consistently researched aspects involved within such models proposed for the aetiology of conduct disorder has been the role that certain parental styles have in the development of conduct disorder. Parental styles and the home environment have been consistently found to be a precursor of conduct disorder in foreign studies, however there is a lack of research within a South African context in this area. In order to establish whether there are specific styles of parenting related to conduct disorder in a South African sample, two measuring instruments were utilised, which were the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and the Family Environment Scale (FES). The PBI and FES were administered to two groups of adolescents (n=80): one group of males (n=40) diagnosed with conduct disorder, and one group of males (n=40) without a diagnosis of conduct disorder. These instruments were used in order to establish if there were any differences in the perceived style of parenting between the two groups. The study yielded results that are similar to those found in foreign based studies. It was found with the South African sample, that a parenting style characterised by a low amount of care on the part of the mother, and overprotection on the part of the father was found within the conduct disorder group. Together these form a Parenting style of `affectionless control'. These parents were found to exert a high amount of control over their children, have a low expressiveness of emotions and feelings, have a low involvement with their children, and were poor at supervising and monitoring their children. These results indicate that parental styles could be a precursor of conduct disorder within a South African context. The implications of these results are discussed as well as the limitations of the study. Recommendations for future research and possible applications of the results are delineated.