Reflections of social workers on working with abused children in South Africa

Child abuse rates in South Africa are extremely high, while social work is a scarce skill, and the context social workers are working in is subject to complicated cultural, religious and socio-economic dynamics. This article explores the experiences of social workers working with severely abused children in a clinic in South Africa. An improved understanding of these experiences can enable support and resources to social workers and related professionals in order to facilitate children’s recovery after trauma. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted. Using an inductive approach to thematic analysis, data were coded independently by two researchers resulting in three main themes. The first theme illustrated that social workers working with traumatized children appeared vulnerable to the risk of compassion fatigue, due to the high caseloads and traumatic nature of their job. The second theme emphasized a strong need for further training, for instance to facilitate a child’s disclosure during forensic assessment, and a need for incorporation of indigenous knowledge in therapy to better fit the cultural context. The third theme highlighted the challenge for social workers working with the justice system and with clients across different cultural belief systems. Recommendations for future practise and research based on these findings included adjustment and validation of existing therapy methods to the specific cultural context, and improved efficiency of health care systems enhancing supervision and education for social workers.