Bibliography: leaves 109-114. / This study explores the attitudes of the magistrates, prosecutors, and the probation officers at the Sexual Offences Court at Wynberg Magistrates Court regarding the sentencing of male child sexual offenders, as well as the types of sentences passed on sex offenders. A combination of documentary evidence, that is, court files, and qualitative and quantitative research methods was used. The quantitative aspect of the research lies in the aggregation of data collected from the court files. The qualitative dimension of the study is reflected in the interview schedules administered to the judicial officials and probation officers. The research findings indicate that magistrates and prosecutors are well informed about significant legislation that influences the sentencing of sex offenders. It emerged from the findings that the value systems and personal biases of magistrates surface when passing sentences on sex offenders. Lack of training opportunities for all judicial officials and probation officers in addition to a poor prison system with inadequate rehabilitation structures, were regarded as key challenges faced during the sentencing process. In the light of the research findings, recommendations were made to address the inconsistent sentencing practices of magistrates in regard to sexual offenders.

Includes bibliographical references. / The following research presents an exploration on the role that competency assessments and competency reports play in child sexual abuse cases. This research is informed by forensic social workers in practice within the Gauteng Province. The respondents work both within government organisations and non-government organisations. This research uses a mixed methodology approach to explore practices around competency assessments and competency reports. The respondents completed two forms of data collection namely a survey and were part of a focus group which was conducted by the researcher. The findings therefore presents both quantitative and qualitative data, and are discussed to further elaborate on practices within the Gauteng Province. Conclusions and recommendations were made by both the researcher and the respondents, which are supported by the findings of this research and existing literature in the field.

Includes bibliographical references. / This study investigates the children's experiences whilst awaiting trial at Dyambu Youth Centre. DYC is the largest Youth Development Centre in the country, which serves involuntary clients. A qualitative research method was used to investigate whether the children in the centre do experience change, or does change come about as a result of other factors? Does staff succeed in transferring their skills and motivation to these children? Do the children feel they belong to DYC whilst awaiting trial? Seeing that a whole range of issues needed to be explored and investigated, interview schedules and focus groups were administered and the children's views about DYC had to be investigated from themselves, their parents, staff, volunteers and probation officers at court, who were responsible for their admission at DYC.

As restorative justice finds its way into the South Africa's thinking around improving the criminal justice system, there is little knowledge as to whether the key role players in a restorative justice approach, the victims and perpetrators, would find it desirable or feasible. Concerns around the appropriateness of restorative justice from the perspective of victims and perpetrators were born out of the complex social and historical context in South Africa, which it seemed, could pose challenges to the application of restorative justice. Hence the decision to consult with key role players who have had experience with crime and the existing criminal justice system on how they would perceive the concept of restorative justice as a means of dealing with criminal cases in South Africa. Given that restorstive justice has been proposed specifically for youth at this initial stage, the focus of the research was on criminal cases involving perpetrators below the age of 18 years. Through this process of consultation with victims and perpertrators of youth crime, the hope was to unpack some of the challenges and opportunities for restorative justice in South Africa. (133-139 pages missing).

In era of prevalent crime and social problems in South Africa, the National Department of Social Development; the South African Council of Social Service Professions and tertiary institutions are rethinking strategies to respond to these issues. A central strategy behind this is the development of forensic social work practice as a specialist service in order to assist the criminal justice system to deal effectively with offenders and protect victims. The aim of this study was to investigate the specialized skills and knowledge required for forensic social work practice in South Africa. Literature acknowledges that forensic social work is still a developing field of practice in South Africa hence forensic social work practitioners require effective training to competently practice forensic social work. The research design adopted by the study is a combination research design comprising of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The research empirical data was obtained through the use of questionnaires from a survey conducted in Gauteng Province, South Africa at a forensic social work training workshop in 2013. The study indicated that forensic social work practitioners are familiar with some of the specialized skills such as language used in court, writing skills, communication and engagement skills and professionalism. The study also indicated that forensic social work practitioners are also familiar with some of the knowledge such as the definition of forensic social work, legal aspects, criminal justice system, courtroom procedures and knowledge required to act as an expert witness in court for forensic social work practice. However, despite this, forensic social work practitioners had inadequate training in the specialized skills and knowledge required to competently practice forensic social work in South Africa. In addition, the study showed that there are many challenges faced by forensic social work practitioners. Challenges include lack of resources, undermining of forensic social work practitioners by other professionals, adoption of international standards, registration, role specification and lack of collaboration with other professionals. The author recommended that forensic social work practitioners in South Africa require further training in legislation, policies and the specialized skills and knowledge relevant for forensic social work practice and finding solutions to overcome the challenges faced. Further research should be conducted in other provinces in South Africa for forensic social work.

The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of service providers on the availability and effectiveness of sexual violence interventions, services and programmes in De Aar. Participants were selected based on the nature of service they rendered to survivors of sexual violence. A qualitative study was conducted, using non-probability purposive sampling and snowball sampling. Data was gathered through a semi-structured interview. The study found protection services, medical and psychological interventions to be easily accessible to all survivors of sexual violence. Additional services were also found to be available to survivors of sexual violence, depending on their needs. Participants were all of the opinion that the needs of survivors were being met in De Aar. The data found the perceptions of service providers on the effectiveness of their interventions to be influenced by their adherence to regulations and training received through their organisations, in addition to personal steps taken to develop professional skills. The attitude of service providers and the co-operation of service users were found to hinder the effectiveness and consistency of prescribed interventions. Gaps found to be inherent in all organisations were lack of human and physical resources such as vehicles. Stakeholders were found to be ineffective in their communication and co-operation between stakeholders was inadequate. Challenges found to hinder help-seeking were the perceptions of the community of the South African Police Service and sexual violence in general. The survivors themselves were also identified as a barrier to intervention, as they might accept, reject or discontinue intervention without warning. Considering the aim and objective of this study, it can be concluded that there are services in place for survivors of sexual violence in De Aar. Immediate services, such as post-rape medical and legal services, are easily accessible. Follow-up and aftercare service are determined by a social worker and most organisations are effective in the services they render, despite organisational challenges and limitations.

Includes bibliography. / The researcher's knowledge and experience in probation work, including conducting pre-sentence investigations and compiling pre-trial and presentence reports, inspired him to want to find out more about the attitudes and sentencing practices of magistrates and public prosecutors, specifically in housebreaking offences. Some individuals and communities hold a notion that offenders normally break into properties and steal goods or items mainly because they are hungry, destitute, unemployed, or have no visible means of income. Such a belief may, to a large extent, influence or shape judicial attitudes in the sentencing of youth offenders for housebreaking crimes.

Bibliography: leaves 82-87. / The aim of the present study is to assess the level of learners' exposure to gang violence and their participation in high-risk behaviour in and outside of a selected secondary school in the Western Cape. The study was exploratory and a self-report questionnaire - 'School Safety Survey' devised by Cornell and Loper of the Virginia University School Project, appropriately modified to fit the South African context was employed to gather qualitative and quantitative data. Disproportional stratified sampling was employed to select the initial sample of 125 learners because the race, grade and gender subgroups varied with regard to the proportion of their members appearing in the study population, but only a total ofll21earners attended school and participated in the study on the day. Even though the survey was administered to 112 learners, the researcher only retained 97 surveys that had complete data on all variables. In this study descriptive statistics are used to analyse the demographic details of the final sample population. The chi-square test was used to determine if there are significant differences in learners' exposure to gang and non-gang violence and their participation in high-risk behaviours in and outside of school. The two factors that were considered to potentially impact on the scores obtained for these categories are Grade and Gender. The survey results identified that in general, the observed frequency of learners' exposure to gang and non-gang violence was relatively higher outside of school than their exposure to gang and non-gang violence in school. Moreover, there were also no statistically significant grade and/or gender differences in learners' overall exposure to gang and non-gang violence in and/or outside of school at 95% confidence level (p = 0.05). In addition the observed frequency of learners' overall participation or endorsement of high-risk behaviour was relatively higher outside of school than in school. There were also no statistically significant grade and gender differences in learners' overall participation in high-risk behaviour in school at 95% confidence level (p=0.05) but there were significant gender differences in learner's participation in high-risk behaviour outside of school. In response to the findings a number of recommendations are made to stabilise and develop the school infrastructure, taking particular cognisance of the physical resources required for making the school a safer environment. In addition, it was proposed that educators create opportunities to develop leadership within the pupil body and introduce age-appropriate life skills and empowerment workshops to address the difficulties that these learners may experience.

Includes bibliographical references. / The aim of this study is to detennine the experiences of NICRO volunteers and diversion workers in the implementation of the YES programme as a diversion option in the Western Cape. This stems from the need to examine the current practice of diversion services in anticipation of the implementation of the Child Justice Bill (Bill 49 of 2002). The implementation of this Bill will have far-reaching repercussions for diversion service providers as it will mean an increase in demand for diversion services and the implementation of minimum standards for such services. A qualitative, evaluative research design was used for this cross-sectional study. The population of NICRO diversion workers in the Western Cape and a sample of volunteers from each of the NICRO offices in the Western Cape were included in the study. Individual interviews were conduded with the volunteers in their respective towns across the Western Cape using an interview schedule. Two focus group sessions were held with the diversion workers. Audio recordings were made of the interviews with volunteers and of the focus group sessions. The transcripts were then analysed for trends, themes and categories. The results were compiled and conclusions drawn. Volunteers and diversion workers generally experienced the YES programme as being positive and making a difference to the lives of participants. The volunteers derived personal satisfaction from facilitating programmes and receiving positive feedback from parents and participants alike. They faced a number of challenges, though, when facilitating the programme. Examples of such problems are with diversity of language, culture, age and educational levels within groups and the lack of co-operation of parents and resistant participants. These challenges volunteers faced with the assistance and guidance of the diversion workers and drawing on their own strengths and capacities.

The qualitative study was conducted, within the judicial and social welfare system. Using convenience sampling (non-probability), magistrates, prosecutors and probation officers were specifically targeted to ascertain to what extend participants were currently implementing the approach of restorative justice in the sentencing of young offenders. Data was collected from charge sheets with regard to sentence remarks and the type of crime committed, and served as proof of implementation of such an approach. The study also explores the knowledge of these three professional groups with regard to restorative justice and their attitudes towards its implementation.