Development of psychosocial intervention guidelines for transnational trafficked children

D.Litt et Phil. (Social Work)Children’s rights are fundamental to their growth and development, and child trafficking hampers the achievement of these rights. The growth of child trafficking continues to influence the responsibilities expected of social workers. Thus, it is essential that social workers are able to respond to the needs of trafficked children. Unfortunately, South Africa lacks literature on how cross-border trafficked children experience, perceive and understand identification and initial assistance processes. There is a gap in South African theoretical literature on child trafficking intervention guidelines. The result is that social work knowledge on victim assistance has not kept pace with the growing social issue in South Africa. The aim of this study is to develop psychosocial intervention guidelines for trafficked children in South Africa. The ever-growing burden of child trafficking demands that effective and efficient interventions are designed and implemented. Therefore, to fulfil the goal of the study, the overarching intervention research model used was the Rothman and Thomas (1994) Design and Development (D&D) model, which was complemented by Thomas’s (1984) Developmental model. The two models were chosen because they are directed by the practical realities in the social work field. The D&D model has six well-defined phases, although in this study, only the first four phases were applied. In the first phase, the rapid identification of child trafficking and the provision of initial assistance to child victims of trafficking were acknowledged as key issues that require social work intervention. The state of existing interventions was investigated during the state-of-art review, and a feasibility study was conducted to establish the resources required for the study. The outcome of the activities indicated that psychosocial intervention guidelines for child victims of transnational trafficking were needed. During the data-gathering phase, the researcher conducted a document study to establish what had been done to address the issues identified. An empirical study was also conducted using narrative interviews with ten trafficked children, seven social workers, and 15 key stakeholders. The data was analysed using thematic analysis and was subjected to literature control. The data further influenced the researcher’s decision to continue with the design phase. The design objectives, domains, and requirements were outlined in the design phase. This was closely followed by the conversion and intervention design processes, which included the formulation of generalisations and the development of the practice guidelines. Within the development of the guideline, additional skills were identified and recommended, and strategies were presented to support the implementation process. During the early development and pilot testing phase, it was evident that the process of development is intertwined with the realities of users, and thus designing continued into this phase. Pilot testing of the guidelines was conducted with social workers as the intended users to determine if these guidelines were viable and could be used as a practice tool. The social workers were satisfied with the guidelines. The design work, based on the social worker’s suggestions and the introduction of the Trafficking Act (2013), ensured that the goal of the study was achieved. The guidelines were developmentally valid, reasonably coherent, and reflective of the social work practice and policy implementation in South Africa. Rapid identification, timeous and appropriate referral and the immediate provision of assistance are fundamental aspects of addressing trafficked children’s needs and contribute towards the child’s recovery and healing process. In as much as it might be a challenge to provide all trafficked children with the opportunities, services and assistance required, providing high-quality social work assistance is a critical issue worth pursuing