Child Abuse Research in South Africa - latest Issue

Parenting plays an important role in the socialisation of children and youth, and ineffective parenting has been associated with multiple negative social and health outcomes among young people. Any attempt to design contextually relevant multi-system interventions to improve parenting practices and reduce negative child and adolescent outcomes must be based on an understanding of how contextual factors influence parenting practices. A phenomenological reflective lifeworld approach was utilised to explore parents’ lived experiences of multiple intersecting socio-demographic factors and community social processes that impact on their parenting practices. This study was framed by social disorganisation theory rooted within an ecological framework. Using purposive sampling, data was collected from 47 parents comprising local residents and stakeholders (36 focus group participants and 7 individual interview participants) in a low-income community in Cape Town, South Africa, Thematic analysis of the qualitative data revealed various socio-demographic factors characteristic of community disorder that intersect with parenting and contributes to neglectful parenting. These factors include socio-economic disadvantage that leads to parental stress for predominantly single parent families, and a lack of formal and informal social control compounded by community disorder. This highlights the need for multi-level parenting interventions that address both community structural and social processes.

The concept of parenting plans is included in section 33 of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 and emphasis is placed on professionals that should assist the divorcing family to structure parenting plans when going through a divorce, before seeking the intervention of a court. The appointment of professionals is made to structure parenting plans for divorcing families to construct their lives post-divorce. This paper focuses on the views of mental health professionals (social workers and psychologists) and legal professionals (attorneys and family advocates) (hereafter professionals) about the divorcing family and parenting plans.

The paper articulates accomplishments of child and youth care centres in providing care and support to children identified to be at risk of significant harm. The study was grounded in the qualitative approach and a case study was employed as the research design. The study used semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions as means of gathering data. The dominant narratives from the study were that Child and Youth Care Centres (CYCCs) are vehicles offering holistic services to children found in need of care and protection, providing care to vulnerable children with nurturing intent and assume therapeutic roles instrumental in repairing trauma prior to placement. However, CYCCs have faced pertinent hurdles that have compromised the quality of care to vulnerable children. The challenges include funding, incapacitation to facilitate developmental needs of children, and the inability to use more programmes to nurture children. The article recommends an overhaul of the policy on financial rewards.

For decades now, the phenomenon of child trafficking has generated global outcries that necessitated the introduction of conventions, protocols and a range of policy measures at international, national and regional levels to address this issue. However, while these legal standards endeavour to combat this menace, child traffickers in Nigeria seem to have switched to another line of operation commonly referred to as ‘baby factories’. This new venture involves the establishment of structures where pregnant girls are kept until delivery, and their babies are sold like commodities to diverse clients. Efforts by the State through its security agencies and other relevant stakeholders to combat this phenomenon have been fruitless. Rather, the problem has escalated and the victims are helpless in the hands of ruthless traffickers. While many studies have been conducted on child trafficking in Nigeria, little is known about the scourge of these baby factories. To this end, the objective of this article is to present a portrait of the baby factory phenomenon in Nigeria. The precipitating factors that fuel the trade are discussed, and suggestions for an enduring approach to combat this crime are offered.

Youth offenders’ are often shaped within the family and pushed by their own victimisation experiences to offending behaviour, supporting the abused-abuser notion. This article explores the victimisation experiences of eleven youth sex offenders aged between 18 and 20 years. A qualitative case study analysis approach was followed to explore the youth participants’ own narratives pertaining to their childhood victimisation and their abused-abuser pathways. The aim of the research is to address two research questions: 1) How did victimisation contribute to the youth sex offenders’ involvement in crime? and 2) How did the youth sex offenders cope with their victimisation? The findings of this research suggests that childhood victimisation such as abuse, poor parenting practices, parental criminality and substance abuse, bullying and ill-treatment played a pertinent role in these young sex offenders’ engagement in offending behaviour. These youths victimisation resulted in coping mechanisms such as involvement in antisocial and criminal behaviour.

Child marriage is a pervasive socio-pathological challenge in Africa requiring robust child sensitive social protection interventions. The current study aims to explore the domains of health and socio-economic challenges child brides experience in Maparadze communal lands in the Chipinge district of Zimbabwe. The study is grounded in a qualitative approach and a case study was employed as the research design. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were used as a means of gathering data. The dominant narratives that emerged from the study are that child brides are vulnerable to health risks like heightened risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STI’s), vulnerability to eclampsia, postpartum haemorrhage, obstructed labour and death. The study further reveals that child brides experience socio-economic predicaments and are subjected to rustic and patriarchal attitudes which include lack of financial and material needs, wife battery and disenfranchisement in decision making and extended periods of separation from “husbands”. The research reveals that programmes facilitated by child protection committees were effective, but some gaps were noted. The article recommends the development of programmes that empower girls with information, life skills and support networks, educating and mobilising parents and community members, enhancing accessibility and quality of formal schooling and fostering the presence and functioning of an enabling legal and policy framework.

It is expected of forensic social workers to be neutral and objective, and to defend their assessment process at the hand of scientific literature. Current practice is conceptualised in four models, namely the child interview model, joint investigation model, parent child interaction model and the comprehensive assessment model. Only a few practitioners follow these formal models and describe the theory that underlies their approach during the evaluation of child sexual abuse cases. Currently there are no recognised guidelines for professionals who are working with sexually abused children in South Africa. Since the approval of forensic social work as a specialised field in social work, South African professionals are in need of a model that can guide them during their investigation process, as they must be able to defend their choice of assessment technique and procedures followed during their assessment process. This will be underlined by a certain model. In this article, the different models for assessing sexually abused children will be critically analysed, and recommendations pertaining to a suitable model for the South African context will be made.

A dearth in research exists regarding the onset and escalation of misbehaviour in male, prepubescent, at-risk children. Insight into which factors contribute to the onset and escalation of such behaviour in this age group, as well as what could possibly assist in the prevention of misbehaviour, is lacking in criminological literature. While observational research into male, at-risk children is fraught with ethical concerns, an in-depth understanding of the perceptions of those responsible for their wellbeing could provide invaluable information on the topic. This study explored the perceptions of experts and guardians regarding the early onset of misbehaviour in male, at-risk children in child and youth care centres. The empirical findings indicate that experts and guardians insist that numerous factors can contribute to both the onset and prevention of misbehaviour in male, at-risk children in child and youth care centres. The factors that experts and guardians thought contributed to the prevention of the onset of misbehaviour included: quality relationships with family members; parenting capacity; positive peer pressure at home or school; and the personal resilience of the individual. Conversely, some of the factors that experts and guardians considered to have contributed to the onset of misbehaviour included: lack of time to acclimatise to the child and youth care centre; environmental inconsistency; a non-resilient personality; negative peer pressure; and weak caregiver attachment. This study therefore provides an in-depth qualitative understanding of the perceptions of experts and guardians regarding the early onset of misbehaviour in male, at-risk children in child and youth care centres. Finally, recommendations pertaining to possible focus areas in secondary crime prevention programmes aimed at curbing youth misbehaviour in male, at-risk children are considered.

The pervasiveness of maternal psychoactive substance abuse remains a long-term problem that influences a child’s neurodevelopment and affects the mental and physical health. The authors conducted this study in the greater Mitchell’s Plain area in the Western Cape, involving a purposive sample of 102 women residing in the “Cape Flats”, who were pregnant, or known to have given birth to a child or children while abusing illegal drugs and other harmful substances. It is the authors’ submission that from a public health perspective, a model of ecological development may form the basis for intervention efforts among pregnant mothers using psychoactive substances. The model incorporates realistic, achievable recommendations to develop culturally appropriate intervention policy for this community, and its vulnerable children.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the most widely ratified document of its kind, contains the rights that children have and the responsibilities that the state and adults have towards respecting them. Using a quantitative approach, a randomly selected sample of 577 Grade 9 learners responded to a questionnaire with closed questions which sought to explore the extent to which their rights were being respected by their significant adults. The sample was drawn from independent, public and independently subsidised schools from four Johannesburg educational districts, ranging in age between 13 to 16 years. Data was descriptively analysed using the SPSS 22.0 computer programme and comparatively analysed using gender, age, race and school type to see if any significant statistical differences existed on the basis of these variables and the extent to which children’s rights were being respected. The results showed that learners agreed to a large extent that their rights were being respected. However, there were statistically significant differences that were noted in age, population groups and school types in the extent to which they agreed with the factor under investigation. Adopting a social justice theoretical perspective, we emphasise the need for respecting children’s rights.