published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

Diversion is one of the programmes instituted within the Child Justice System. Its aim is to make punishment more rehabilitative and restorative. Prior to the Child Justice Bill, juvenile offenders were prosecuted under the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA). In the absence of any provision and consideration for children and their context, the CPA proved to be too harsh when prosecuting juvenile offenders. It is within this context that the need for reform of the CPA was sought, a search for procedure which would solely deal with child offenders and which would be more suited to child offenders. In an attempt to explore this process, the present study investigates diversion as a programme designed for dealing with child offenders within the Child Justice System and perspectives of deviance which underlie diversion. Broadly, the focus of the research has been on the following issues: how the probation officers interpret the different criteria from the Child Justice Bill 70 of 2003 and subsequently the Child Justice Bill 70 of 2007 in order to select the most appropriate form of diversion, understanding of the Child Justice System, how this justice system works and what the justice personnel look for when deciding on an appropriate sentence for the juvenile offender. The research was carried out in South Africa, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, in a small town known as Port Shepstone, which is an hour s drive from Durban. It gives an in - depth analysis of diversion by explaining the perceptions and opinions of justice personnel on diversion. The thesis further explored the criteria that are used by the probation officers in assessing the juvenile offender for diversion and the nature of the diversion programme selected. Using a qualitative approach I sought to explore different discursive practices, opinions and perspectives within the Child Justice System and particularly within the diversion programme. In an attempt to gain understanding on the above issues, I conducted open - ended interviews with Child Justice System personnel, probation officers and prosecutors.

Violent behavior is one of the most critical problem facing the world in general and South Africa in particular. The level of violence in our society is of wide concern. Many people are caught in a cycle of violence as victims and/or perpetrators. In the face of such increasing violence, it is crucial for peace educators to focus and teach people nonviolent ways of solving disputes to help contribute to a better awareness of the root causes of conflict from the global to interpersonal level and encourage individual to develop nonviolent behavior. In relation to the issue of reducing violence, I understood that action research provided a suitable methodology for researching the issue of my facilitation of nonviolence and problem solving workshop. It offered that in a way that allowed qualitative data to lead to action in the complexity of the situation. As Seville statement posits, violence is not innate but people are nurtured in violence and gradually become violent. However, one of the goals of peace studies is to nurture a commitment to nonviolent social change. To accomplish this, it was imperative to design a peace education program and apply it in a series of workshop with juvenile offenders. I embraced this education with the objective to build the capacity for nonviolent responses to conflict among a group of juvenile offenders at NICRO-Durban. Training for nonviolence and problem solving promises to develop attitudes and behavior that help people to live in harmony with each other and with self as individual. Through an experiential approach, I sought to train them in the use of creative nonviolent ways of handling situation in which people often resort to violence. Despite the limitation of this self-report method is that it was difficult to prove whether people are answering truthfully and had a realistic awareness of their own behavior. But the evaluation provides evidence that this study was substantially successful in achieving the aims and objectives set out for the research. The immediate out-come of the program was satisfying and the results show that this program is impacting on individual lives. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.

Research on juvenile offender treatment and intervention has called for a shift from a deficits-based to a strengths-based approach (Marshall, Ward, Mann, Moulden, Fernandez, Serran, & Marshall, 2005; Wormith, Althouse, Simpson, Reitzel, Fagan, & Morgan, 2007; Zeldin, 2004). One potential approach to treatment fosters a sense of psychological empowerment in youth. Although research has yet to explore the experience of psychological empowerment within incarcerated youth, theory on empowerment suggests that it could help youth to create both cognitive (e.g., increased self-esteem, increased confidence) and behavioral (e.g., improving quality of life, social integration) changes in their lives (Cargo, Grams, Ottoson, Ward, & Green, 2003; Holden, Crankshaw, Nimsch, Hinnant, & Hund, 2004a). Empowerment-based programming may also help youth develop specific psychosocial capacities, such as competence, confidence, and self-efficacy, which are necessary skills for future success and community reintegration. The purpose of the current study was to establish a measure of psychological empowerment (PE) and explore potential behavioral correlates of PE for young men within Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) correctional and re-entry facilities. Using a cross-sectional, non-experimental design, quantitative data from self-report surveys of incarcerated youth on PE in three settings within correctional facilities as well as OYA staff ratings of behavioral success in five skill areas was collected. Confirmatory factor analyses did not support the three-factor structure of PE. A single-factor structure of Intrapersonal PE was found to fit the data in three correctional settings. The present study has implications for the reconceptualization and reoperationalization of psychological empowerment in this unique context. Using the confirmed sub-scale, results of hierarchical linear models indicated that Intrapersonal PE was a significant predictor of behavioral success in two of the five OYA domains. Even with an imperfect operationalization of PE, there was partial evidence for the predictive ability of Intrapersonal PE.

This study highlighted the distinction between retributive and restorative justice. Diversion and the Journey as a diversion option for youth in South Africa was discussed. Literature indicated that certain family aspects such as family cohesiveness, communication, discipline, and conflict in the home could lead to youth offending. Interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires were used to determine possible problematic family interactions as well as parents' needs of a parent programme. It was found that parents experience feelings like anger, disappointment, shock, helplessness, frustration, and humiliation regarding the child's crime. It was established that dealing with parents' feelings, communication, discipline, conflict resolution, and problem solving should be included in the parent programme. An evaluation of the programme was done and the following aspects showed improvement: communication, mother's involvement with the child, understanding and support in the family, youth's independence, affection, family relations, problem solving and the amount of time spent with family. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-10-19T12:01:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Natache Khrystie Costa de Oliveira.pdf: 1506414 bytes, checksum: 484884bade092be06090626e502ef478 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-19T12:01:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Natache Khrystie Costa de Oliveira.pdf: 1506414 bytes, checksum: 484884bade092be06090626e502ef478 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-09-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / To each infraction act reflected in the media, the discussion about the responsibility of the adolescent author of an infraction act reopens with intensity. Questions about the reduction of the penal age, duration, treatment and efficiency of the socio-educational measures, among them the one of deprivation of liberty, and other debates on the condition of the adolescent in taking responsibility for its actions arise; Revealing, in most cases, limited discussions about the responsibility of the social structure as part of the infractional involvement of adolescents. In view of this scenario, the objective of this study is to discuss about the socio-educational measure of deprivation of liberty, based on the senses given by the adolescent who has this experience and to understand the intervention that it produces in the one for whom it is thought - the adolescent. At the same time, we seek to reflect on the effectiveness of the interventions carried out in this context by the psychologist and other professionals who are actors of the Socio-educational Measure. The method used was of semi-directed interviews, analyzed through the reference of the Nucleus of Meanings. Participants were 04 adolescents at different times of said experience, considering that we do not know the best time to signify it. Therefore, we interviewed 02 adolescents in compliance with the hospitalization and 02 who left more than three years ago and are already disconnected from any Measure. The discussions were built based on the support provided by Socio-Historical Psychology as a theoretical reference, enabling a critical understanding of the social structure in which the exposed issues are embedded and the understanding of the human condition as capable of transforming and being transformed by the reality that experience / A cada ato infracional repercutido nos meios de comunicação, reabre-se com intensidade a discussão a respeito da responsabilização do adolescente envolvido na situação. Surgem questões sobre a redução da maioridade penal, duração, tratamento e eficiência das medidas socioeducativas, entre elas a de internação, e outros debates sobre a condição do adolescente em responsabilizar-se por suas ações, revelando, na maior parte das vezes, discussões limitadas acerca da responsabilidade da estrutura social como parte do envolvimento infracional de adolescentes. Diante deste cenário, o objetivo deste estudo é discutir a respeito da medida socioeducativa de internação, a partir dos sentidos dados pelo adolescente que possui esta experiência e compreender a intervenção que ela produz naquele para quem é pensada – o adolescente. Simultaneamente, busca-se refletir sobre a eficácia das intervenções, realizadas neste contexto, pelo psicólogo e pelos demais profissionais atores da Medida Socioeducativa. O método utilizado foi de entrevistas semi-dirigidas, analisadas através do referencial da psicologia sócio-histórica, com o procedimento dos Núcleo de Significações. Foram participantes 04 adolescentes em momentos diferentes da referida experiência: foram entrevistados 02 adolescentes em cumprimento da internação e 02 que saíram há mais de três anos e já estão desligados de qualquer medida. As discussões foram construídas a partir do suporte que a Psicologia Sócio-Histórica oferece enquanto referencial teórico, possibilitando uma compreensão crítica sobre a estrutura social na qual estão imersas as questões expostas e o entendimento da condição humana como capaz de transformar e ser transformada pela realidade que vivencia

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This study highlighted the distinction between retributive and restorative justice. Diversion and the Journey as a diversion option for youth in South Africa was discussed. Literature indicated that certain family aspects such as family cohesiveness, communication, discipline, and conflict in the home could lead to youth offending. Interviews, focus groups, and questionnaires were used to determine possible problematic family interactions as well as parents' needs of a parent programme. It was found that parents experience feelings like anger, disappointment, shock, helplessness, frustration, and humiliation regarding the child's crime. It was established that dealing with parents' feelings, communication, discipline, conflict resolution, and problem solving should be included in the parent programme. An evaluation of the programme was done and the following aspects showed improvement: communication, mother's involvement with the child, understanding and support in the family, youth's independence, affection, family relations, problem solving and the amount of time spent with family. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)