Social workers perceptions to their role in the management of child sexual abuse in the West Rand Region, Gauteng Province

M.A (Clinical Social Work)The Department of Health and Social Development (DHSD) has the crucial mandate of protecting the vulnerable groups within society. These include women, children and people living with disabilities. In order to attain this, DHSD has employed social workers and other social service professionals to render the required services. Sexual abuse is a violent crime that is committed on children, who form part of the vulnerable groups. This study aims to determine social workers’ perception of their role in the management of child sexual abuse in the West Rand, Gauteng. It further aims to make recommendations that will enhance social workers’ intervention with sexually abused children. Kantrowitz and Okun’s (2008) framework of the roles of social workers was considered when analyzing participants’ perceptions of their roles in intervening with sexually abused children. The concepts relevant to the study included social workers’ perceptions and social work roles. The research approach of the study was qualitative, as the goal was to describe and analyse social workers’ perceptions of their roles. The findings indicated that social workers were not clear on their roles when rendering services to sexually abused children. They do not utilise evidence-based tools, and they end up doing tasks that are supposed to be done by other service providers, such as parents or care givers. They furthermore do not feel confident to render therapeutic services, and require training and support in this regard. Recommendations made to DHSD included providing continuous training and debriefing sessions to social workers