D.Litt et.Phil. / Parents, educators, police officers, social workers, psychologists, the courts and child and youth care workers have raised important concerns about the increase of child-on-child sexual abuse among children younger than 12 years and their limited understanding of this phenomenon. New policy and legislation places the emphasis on assessment and intervention that takes account of the rights of children in conflict with the law including victims and the need for the diversion of children from the criminal justice system. The aim and objectives of the study are to explore the nature of child-on-child sexual abuse and their social and familial contexts with the view to making recommendations to inform assessment and intervention for children in conflict with the law. A descriptive and exploratory research design was employed. A mixed methods research design consisting of a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were used. A non-probability, purposive sampling method was used for both the quantitative and qualitative part of the study based on predetermined selection criteria. In the quantitative component of the study, a questionnaire was administered to 50 boys between 6 and 12 years and to their mothers who were referred to The Teddy Bear Clinic for treatment for sexual acting out behaviours. The qualitative study consisted of a detailed analysis of six case files. The information gathered from the document study was over a longer period of time and consisted of more detailed information. O’Brien and Bera’s (1986) classification of young sex offenders guided the social worker’s assessment of the respondents who were in turn classified according to the levels of risk they presented to society. The findings confirm that this phenomenon exists with the youngest perpetrators in this study being six years old (2%). The majority of the respondents (66%) were 12 years of age and were engaged in more severe or intrusive sexualised behaviour such as attempted rape and rape (48%) and less severe behaviour such as touching of genitals (16%). About 60% of the boys were in the senior primary school. Thus this age group which marks the pubescent phase of development should be considered to be a high risk group to child sexual offending.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:7387 |
| Date | 13 November 2012 |
| Creators | Omar, Shaheda Bibi |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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