Abstract:
Child sexual abuse is a brutal crime against children. Designated social workers
working in child protection organisations have a significant role to fulfil in the
prevention, investigation and intervention with alleged child sexual abuse cases in
order to protect children from harm. These interventions with alleged CSA cases create
distinctive challenges and strong emotional reactions for designated social workers.
There are inadequate literature available on what the experiences of designated social
workers entail when working with alleged child sexual abuse cases within the South
African context.
The goal of this research study was to explore and describe the experiences of
designated social workers working with cases of alleged child sexual abuse cases in
the South African context. As this research study aimed to explore the experiences of
designated social workers, applied research was executed. The Person-centred
approach was the theoretical framework used for the study and it followed a qualitative
research approach. The researcher used non-probability sampling methods to identify
possible participants through purposive and snowball sampling. Data collection took
place with the researcher interviewing eleven eligible participants in the Mpumalanga
province by following an instrumental case study design. Data was collected through
a semi-structured interview schedule which enabled the researcher to acquire rich and
detailed descriptions from participants. The researcher followed a carefully structured
data analysis process as she thematically analysed the data to ensure that the findings
of the study is trustworthy. The study’s findings were organised into five main themes which focused on the
training and experience of designated social workers, their roles and responsibilities
with alleged child sexual abuse cases, the challenges and supportive factors that
designated social workers experience, and lastly participants made recommendations
on matters that they believe will improve their experiences when working with these
cases. Designated social workers have a wide array of experiences when working with
cases of alleged CSA abuse. The researcher concluded her research report by making
appropriate recommendations for practice and future research based on the findings
of the conducted study.
Recommendations and conclusions include that tertiary institutions should work
towards inclusion of statutory social work into their theory and practice curriculum, with
a specific focus on basic knowledge and skills relevant to forensic work with alleged
CSA cases. Social workers need to be made aware of the misconception that a positive
medical report is the most important evidence to prove sexual abuse. Social workers
need to advocate against the misconception of a medical report as final proof for sexual
abuse within the criminal justice system to ensure that this malpractice is curbed and
ended. It is recommended to develop a standardised procedure for role players when
working with alleged CSA cases. This should be a specialised and multi-disciplinary
approach where role players should be timeously trained in their roles and
responsibilities within this procedure. Supervisors should be adequately trained on how
to fulfil their supervisory function within an organisation. This includes knowing how to
provide supervision in the correct manner in order to curb high staff turnover, stress
and burnout and to promote positive momentum in cases and enhance social workers’
work ethic. The researcher recommended that the implementation of child-centred
practice in child protection social work should be explored as it is important for
designated social workers to be knowledgeable on creative and play techniques. This
can add value in their intervention with children.
By undertaking this study, the knowledge gap could be addressed as it led to a better
understanding on what competence, conditions, support and resources are required
by designated social workers in order to facilitate the recovery of child victims who
experienced sexual trauma.