Child sexual abuse is a very sensitive issue that causes trauma and damage to the
victims. This does not affect only the victims, but their families and the society at
large. It is sometimes difficult for the society to support the victims of child sexual
abuse. It then becomes a burden on the families because they lack information on
how to deal with their sexually abused children. The families do not have
knowledge of forensic social work and it becomes difficult for them to understand
the process of forensic investigation.
The information kit for families affected by child sexual abuse will empower the
families with knowledge on the process of forensic investigation. This will also help
to prepare both the children and their families for what will happen after the case has
been reported to the Child Protection Unit. They will also be able to know their
expectations when it comes to the court proceedings. An improved understanding
will help the child prepare for testifying.
Developing an information kit and reader–friendly guidelines will assist in relieving
the stress on parents and strengthen them in giving their children the necessary
support. Further research should be conducted on families’ understanding of
forensic investigation and the court proceedings involved when a child has been
sexually abused. Currently there is little data on forensic social work in South
Africa, due to the fact that forensic social work is still quite a new field in our
country.
The researcher thus identified a need for conducting a qualitative study with the
parents of sexually abused children whose cases had been reported to the Family
Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for forensic investigation at the
time of the study. The aim of this study was to develop an information kit for
families who were affected by child sexual abuse in order to give them a better
understanding of forensic investigations in such cases. An interview schedule was developed with the purpose of confirming whether the families understood what they
would be going through during the whole process.
From the research it was evident that forensic social work was something new to the
respondents as it was difficult for some of them to give detailed responses to the
questions. It became clear that the families of sexually abused children are in need
of relevant and clear information on forensic social work, the nature of forensic
investigations and associated procedures. / Thesis (M.A. (MW))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/4728 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Maleka, Setlaiso Caroline Poppy |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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