Thesis (Ph. D. (Social Work)) --University of Limpopo, 2018 / Child sexual abuse is a serious social and health issue that affects people worldwide. A variety of professions is trying to address this problem. It has numerous consequences, such as psychological, physical, social and emotional effects. An integral part of fighting child sexual abuse is disclosure. Forensic social work has been introduced in South Africa recently to facilitate the disclosure of child sexual abuse. This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of interviewing techniques with the Black child during forensic social work assessments in a South African perspective. The ecosystems theory was used in this research study to zoom into the nature of child sexual abuse and the environmental systems in South Africa that may affect the effectiveness of the interviewing techniques during forensic assessments with Black children. The study employed qualitative and evaluation designs. Non-probability sampling and probability sampling methods aided triangulation. Stratified random sampling, purposive sampling and convenient sampling techniques were followed to select fourteen (14) forensic social workers in South Africa. Out of these forensic social workers, thirteen (13) were females and one (1) was a male. Data were collected by means of a literature review and semi-structured in-depth interviews guided by an interview schedule with open-ended questions. The collected data were analysed thematically with the help of the Nvivo programme. The study revealed that rape is the most common sexual offence against Black children that forensic social workers across South Africa address. For the purpose of this research, rape is defined in accordance with the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007. Other sexual offences such as sexual assault, sexual grooming, and sexual exploitation/labour are barely reported because some South African communities regard them as minor things or taboos that could be addressed within families. As a result, they are not given the same recognition as rape in South Africa. Forensic social workers therefore have fewer such cases. The study also revealed that child pornography or exposing children to explicit sexual materials takes place more in urban areas than in rural areas, and as a result, it is not assessed among Black children in rural areas. This study further reveals that the disclosure of child sexual abuse is a process where children only disclose to someone whom they trust. In this regard, the environment where children are raised contributes to the disclosure of child sexual abuse. In rural areas, child xiv sexual abuse is mostly disclosed accidentally. Children from urban areas disclose more deliberately. Findings point to factors such as fear of the perpetrator, relationship with the perpetrator, boundaries of culture, the environmental setting, fear of embarrassment and shame, age of the child, language competency, poverty and the South African justice system as factors that play a role in disclosure of child sexual abuse during forensic social work assessments. In the facilitation of the disclosure of child sexual abuse, there is a variety of dynamics that professionals should be watchful of that may influence the disclosure rate. Personal characteristics of the child and the interviewer may affect disclosure of child sexual abuse during forensic interviews. For forensic social workers to ensure the protection of children and the conviction of perpetrators in child sexual abuse cases, they have to conduct skilful forensic interviews. There are specific interviewing techniques that aid disclosure. Some of these techniques appear to be very effective at eliciting detailed and accurate disclosures. Research reveals that in South Africa, cultural background, developmental level, language barriers and the manner of questioning children have an impact in the effectiveness of interviewing techniques during the assessments of allegations of child sexual abuse. Techniques should be contextualized in terms of cultural backgrounds and one should consider developmental level (age in particular), types of questions and language of the child, especially for Blacks. Once again, the disclosure of sexual abuse is a process with definable phases and characteristics. Many children find it difficult to talk about their sexual abuse experiences. It is therefore imperative that forensic social workers have an understanding of the diagonal process of disclosure when conducting forensic assessments. Forensic social workers have to be watchful of varied dynamics that are likely to affect the disclosure rate. The findings reveal that personal characteristics of the child and the interviewer, communication skills, blind assessments and informed allegation interviews have an impact on making the interviewing techniques effective during the disclosure of child sexual abuse. As a result, the study recommends that the forensic social worker should come to the developmental level of the child, speak the language of the child or use interpreters for the child to understand, and follow blind assessments interviews as opposed to informed allegation interviews. However, informed allegations interviews are recommended when assessing children below the age of four (4) years.

This research was designed to examine two broad issues in relation to the investigative interviewing of children (aged 9 to 13 years) with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities. First, how do children with intellectual disabilities perform (relative to children matched for chronological and mental age) when recalling an event in response to various questions? Second, what question types and interview strategies do police officers and caregivers use to elicit accurate and detailed accounts about an event from children with intellectual disabilities? The rationale for exploring each of these issues was to determine possible ways of improving the elicitation of evidence from children with intellectual disabilities. While children with intellectual disabilities constitute a high proportion of all child victims of abuse (Conway, 1994; Goldman, 1994; Morse, et ah, 1970), they rarely provide formal reports of abuse and of those incidents that are reported, few cases progress to court (Henry & Gudjonsson, 1999). Study 1 used a standard interview protocol containing a variety of questions and an interview structure commonly used in investigative interviews. Specifically, the memory and suggestibility of eighty children with either a mild and moderate intellectual disability (M age = 10.85 years) was examined when recalling an innocuous event that was staged at their school. The children's performance was compared with that of two control groups; a group of mainstream children matched for mental age and a group of mainstream children matched for chronological age. Overall, this study showed that children with both mild and moderate intellectual disabilities can provide accurate and highly specific event-related information hi response to questions recommended in best-practice guidelines. However, their recall was less complete and less clear in response to free-narrative prompts and less accurate in response to specific questions when compared to both mainstream age-matched groups. Study 2 provided an in-depth analysis of the types of questions and strategies used by twenty-eight police officers and caregivers when interviewing children with either mild or moderate intellectual disabilities (M age = 11.13 years) about a repeated event that was staged at their school. The results revealed that while the approach used by the police officers was generally consistent with best-practice recommendations (i.e., their interviews contained few leading, coercive or negative strategies), there were many ways in which their approach could be improved. This study also showed that the caregivers used a high proportion of direct and negative strategies to elicit information from their children. Even when caregivers used open-ended questions, their children provided less event-related information than they did to police interviewers. The results of both studies were discussed in relation to current 'best-practice' guidelines for interviewing children and recommendations were offered for improving the quality of field interviews with children who have intellectual disabilities.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att jämföra manliga och kvinnliga programledares intervjuteknik i morgonprogrammet Gomorron Sverige. Under de 150 år som intervjun har utvecklats är den idag ett av journalistikens viktigaste redskap. Uppsatsen är baserad på teorier om hur man uppnår en bra intervjuteknik genom olika knep, samt teorier om genus inom journalistiken där den manliga och kvinnliga dikotomin diskuteras. Vi har valt att använda oss av metoden kvalitativ intervjuanalys, där vi har tagit fram frågor från teorierna och som vi sedan ställt till vårt material. Våra resultat visar att det finns många likheter i mäns och kvinnors intervjuteknik. Resultaten visar även att kvinnliga programledare har mer makt över intervjun genom sina frågor och hur de agerar. De manliga programledarna ger intrycket av att de fortfarande är en del av den manliga dikotomin inom journalistiken. De visar tecken på typiska manliga egenskaper. Vår slutsats är att kvinnliga programledare strävar efter att motverka dikotomin inom journalistiken. De manliga programledarna arbetar fortfarande på samma sätt som de alltid har gjort. / The purpose of this essay is to compare the interviewing techniques of male and female TV- hosts in the morning show Gomorron Sverige. Since the 1830s the interview has developed into one of the most important tool in today’s journalism. This essay is based on theories that focus on how you achieve a successful interview using different techniques. In addition, theories on the influence of gender in journalism are discussed with an emphasis on the male and female dichotomy. We have chosen to use a qualitative method of interview analysis, where we have constructed questions based on the theories, which were thereafter posed to our material. Our results indicate that there are many similarities in male and female interview technique. The results also show that female TV-hosts gave the impression of being more powerful in the interviews through their choice of questions and their demeanor. The male TV-hosts gave the impression of still being a part of the male dimensions in journalism. They show signs of typical male qualities. We conclude that female TV-host aim to tear down the divide between the male and female dichotomy in journalism, whereas the male TV-hosts continue to work in the same way they always have.

This study focuses on the development, implementation and evaluation of a research-based legally defensible forensic interview protocol for social workers in South Africa in order to improve the social worker's knowledge, understanding and skills regarding forensic assessment interviews in the field of child sexual abuse. The motivation for the study has its origin in the fact that current legislation in South Africa requires that all cases of alleged sexual abuse have to be reported to either social workers or the South African Police Service. Social workers often find themselves having to deal with allegations of sexual abuse, and are faced with the challenging task of conducting assessment interviews, where the result of such interview will be a determining factor in the final outcome of the legal proceedings. The research problem is that there is currently no national research-based forensic interview protocol for social workers in South Africa. A quantitative research approach was followed. Applied research was used to address immediate problems that are encountered by professionals in practice. Intervention research was used as research methodology. The quasi-experimental design was applied where a comparison of two groups were done. The hypothesis formulated for this study is: If this interview protocol will be applied in cases of alleged sexual abuse against children of the middle childhood, it would facilitate the disclosure in a more legally acceptable and defensible manner. An interview protocol with seven definite phases was developed. A self-developed checklist consisting of 119 fundamentals compiled from comprehensive literature study, consultations with experts and extensive experience of the researcher, was used as a measuring instrument. The researcher applied the newly developed interview protocol with ten girls (experimental group) in the middle childhood who have allegedly been sexually abused. The interviews were audio-recorded and evaluated by means of the self-developed checklist. An independent social worker also interviewed ten allegedly sexually abused children (comparison group) of the same age and gender as the experimental group. This social worker, however, made use of her own interview protocol. She represents the social workers in South Africa. The interviews were also audio-recorded and evaluated by means of the self-developed checklist. An independent professional person coded a sample of 50% of all interviews. All data were submitted to the Department Statistics of University of Pretoria who has done the statistical analysis. In chapter two the phenomenon of child sexual abuse is discussed and aspects that interviewers need to take in consideration were highlighted. In chapter three all aspects of child development are discussed. Developmental issues which need to be accommodated during forensic interviews are explored. Chapter four focuses on interview techniques in the forensic context, and international guidelines on forensic interviews were explored. This information was used to develop the proposed forensic interview protocol. In chapter five the proposed seven-phase forensic interview protocol was discussed. In chapter six all the data that was collected was quantified, analysed and interpreted with the assistance of the Department of Statistics of the University of Pretoria. The statistical analysis showed that in five of the seven phases a statistically significant difference was found between the experimental and comparison groups. The results suggest that the seven-phase forensic interview protocol was successfully implemented, and could be considered a new development and thus a contribution to the social work profession. However further research with a larger sample of children is needed. Conclusions and recommendations (chapter 7) of this study are put forward in accordance with the process that was followed in developing and implementing the interview protocol which would assist social workers when dealing with alleged victims of child sexual abuse. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted