Child Abuse Research in South Africa - latest Issue

Serial child rape is an under-researched domain within the South African context. Numerous criminogenic pathways emanating as a direct result of sexual abuse, poses a risk for the male child in coming to terms with the ordeal he had suffered, ranging from adolescence into adulthood. The undercurrents that are contributory to serial child rape are complex and comprises of a range of influences, including fuming aggression and sexual preoccupation, as a means of coping with an incident as such.

This article presents a single case study analysis of a serial child rapist’s life journey, effects, and crimes, based on his experiences, captured from a criminological viewpoint. The offender’s pathway, aligned with the needs, risks and intervention strategies for rehabilitation efforts, is documented – starting from his own alleged sexual abuse and rape as a child - although viable and feasible treatment strategies are also recommended for conducive intervention efforts. The authors furthermore indicate the effects of abuse on the male child victim and the cycle of abuse, and violence that accompanies abuse.

Literature shows a lack of structured assessment and intervention protocols to manage the care of children with developmental delays and/or disabilities in rural child and youth care centres across South Africa. The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of contextual implementation processes, issues and challenges in implementing an existing protocol for assessing and managing children with mental health concerns (ECO-MACH), with the goal of adapting it to the needed context. Data was collected by means of qualitative focus groups targeted at staff that have been trained in the use and implementation of the ECO-MACH. The effectiveness of the ECO-MACH could not be established entirely, because none of the participants implemented the protocol with fidelity. Results however provided valuable recommendations on how to improve implementation fidelity of an adapted protocol. Recommendations include improved and prolonged training, and the establishment of implementation teams that can render follow-up supervision and support. Further follow-up research will be conducted to translate the identified implementation challenges of the ECO-MACH into a version refined for use with children with developmental delays and/or disabilities in rural child and youth care centres.

This article briefly reports on the results of an explorative study pertaining to the behavioural profile of male serial child rapists. An extensive literature review indicated that there is a dearth of research relating to the serial rape of children, especially in South Africa. As the first study in South Africa to explore the modus operandi employed by serial child rapists, the research conducted by Hall (2018)1 produced findings which contribute to the scant body of knowledge regarding child serial rapists. A qualitative document case study approach was undertaken in two phases. The first phase entailed a content analysis of police case dockets followed by the second phase where semi-structured interviews were conducted with field experts; this article only reports on the first phase of the study. The research was underpinned, by the routine activities theory which highlighted that children fall victim to serial child rapists as they intersect at a time and place during their daily activities. Most often, children are left vulnerable due to a lack of guardianship. The results showed that serial child rapists tend to operate consistently, exhibiting similar predatory patterns, especially in their approach methods. The exploration of serial child rapists also revealed two distinct profiles, namely opportunists and groomers. However, investigators should consider using already known profile variables of serial rapists when investigating child rape cases because the general behavioural profile of serial rapists in South Africa who target adults is not dissimilar from that of serial rapists who target children.

Using a combination of qualitative methods and U-Report survey results, the study aimed at capturing the nature of social norms that cause violence against boys and girls staying in ‘bush boarding’ arrangements. Three schools were selected because they have ‘bush boarders’ living in different arrangements. Focus group discussions, key informant interviews, in-depth interviews and field observations were used to collect qualitative primary data. Major findings showed that there are empirical and normative social norms that drive violence in ‘bush boarding’. Sexual violence was rampant against girls in ‘bush boarding’ mainly due to societal beliefs that adults in hosting communities do not treat ‘bush boarders’ as their own children. Girls also suffer from economic and emotional violence in ‘bush boarding’. Boys are exposed to physical violence mainly due to hosting communities’ male adults who are threatened by the presence of the boy ‘bush boarders’ in their community.

In South Africa the prevalence of child sexual abuse (CSA) is high but the rate of successful prosecution is low. The legal system places unwarranted emphasis on the J88 form which is often unable to support the legal process. The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of health professionals to the legal process in cases of CSA. The objectives were to describe the profile of CSA in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN); to evaluate the completion of the J88 form; the accuracy of the interpretation of clinical findings and the appropriateness of the conclusion reached. A retrospective review of 339 J88 forms of children under 12 years who were sexually abused between 1 January-31 December 2009 was undertaken. Of these forms 52 had missing pages, 201 had sections crossed out, and only 86 were complete. For the purpose of this study all forms were analysed. The median age of survivors was 7 years, 86.4% were female, and 49% from an urban area. In 52.2% of cases the abuse was penetrative, and in 48.4% the perpetrator was known to the survivor. There were more abnormalities noted in the genital findings (58.1%) than in anal findings (17.3%).No form displayed 100% median completeness for all sections. Overall, the private sector had completed the forms the best. Interpretation of genital findings (49.6%) was more common than an interpretation of anal findings (29.8%), but there were more correct interpretations of anal (64.4%) than genital (53.6%) findings. An assessment of the occurrence of the likelihood of sexual abuse was done in 8.3% of genital findings and 3.2% of anal findings. This assessment was appropriate in 35.7% of genital findings and 36.4% of anal findings. These findings confirm that there is inadequate completion of J88's, with inaccurate conclusions, which can negatively affect legal outcomes.

Global solutions for aggression are urgently needed. Young children are exposed to adversities on a daily basis, especially in South Africa, where violent crime figures are extremely high. In this study, South African children (8-9 years; n = 260) from four schools in vulnerable areas were asked to draw and narrate what made them angry. The main themes found related to acts of violence at home and school. Homes were generally described by the participants as lacking nurturing and protection; domestic issues mentioned were related to physical punishment or abuse and unjust behavior of parents and siblings. At school, these children were either violent themselves or experienced physical and verbal abuse. A significant theme related to self-centeredness. It is argued that if children are not nurtured and morally and psychologically guided on their journey to adulthood, their egoism and aggressive behavior might become their lived actualities, which could be devastating to society in general if the consequences of early chronic exposure to adversity and violence spill over into the broader community culture. This could in turn result in a narcissistic subculture characterized by violence, egoism and a general disregard for humanity. Preventative measures should focus on breaking the culture of violence.

At primary prevention level, appropriate knowledge and awareness remain the first line of defence against child sexual abuse. This article provides a gendered analysis of the influence of a lifeskills programme on the sexual abuse knowledge of adolescents who live in impoverished and marginalised settings. A pre/post-test design was used to gather data from 348 adolescents by means of group-administered surveys prior to and after the weeklong residential programme. The pre-intervention results showed lower levels of knowledge among male respondents regarding statements on what child sexual abuse is and statistically significant improvements in this regard were recorded at post-intervention. However, their knowledge still remained lower compared to that of female respondents. Respondents’ knowledge regarding the nature of child sexual abuse suggests the continuation of gender stereotypes which may hamper effective identification and reporting of sexual abuse. Nevertheless, the lifeskills programme demonstrated value in strengthening adolescents’ knowledge of child sexual abuse. It is recommended that future programmes be sensitive to the gendered pre-knowledge of adolescents when providing training on sexual abuse. Research is needed to determine why the programme failed to impact positively on some adolescents’ knowledge about child sexual abuse.

Literature highlights that the best interest of the child standard is difficult to translate into practice as there is no clear definition, leaving it open to interpretation and subjective bias. There is limited research on the best interest of the child in relation to child protection practice. This article provides insight into emergency child protection services with children at risk in the Western Cape of South Africa, and how the best interest of the child can be applied and integrated in practice. The findings of this study revealed that the best interest of the child standard is not being applied holistically throughout the child protection process, but rather as a fragmented approach which has a negative impact on children at risk. Recommendations from this study highlight the importance of the best interest of the child being applied as an integrated, whole standard within and throughout the child protection process. The theoretical framework of this study is from a rights-based perspective which is grounded in legislation (UNCRC, Children’s Act, best interest of the child standard).