- Title
- Children in conflict with the law - constructions of their family environment
- Creator
- Mtshutshwane, Anda Sweetgirl
- Creator
- Terblanche, Susan
- Subject
- Juvenile delinquency -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Subject
- Child development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Subject
- Problem children -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Subject
- Children -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Subject
- Crime and age -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Date Issued
- 2018
- Date
- 2018
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/32960
- Identifier
- vital:32480
- Description
- The studies reviewed for this project indicate that there is an interplay of family and social factors that affect the development of the child. Furthermore, some studies postulate that there is a relationship between children’s engagement in criminal behaviour and their family environment. The present study aimed to explore, describe and interpret how children who have been in conflict with the law construct their family environment. A qualitative research approach that was embedded in an explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was employed in order to achieve the objectives of the study. The research population was constituted of children from a Child and Youth Care Centre. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was employed to select children aged 14 to 17 years who have been in conflict with the law. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with the selected children and this data was analyzed using Tesch’s thematic analysis. Ethical considerations that were applicable for the involvement of children and vulnerable groups in research were adhered to. The trustworthiness of the research process, and the findings of the study, were enhanced by employing a variety of data verification strategies. Data was verified using: member checking, peer debriefing, clarifying bias by the researcher, and dense description of the application of the selected methods used in research suggested by Creswell. The major findings of this study include: positive and negative experiences of children prior to involvement to crime in their internal family environment. The external family environment was dominated by gangsterism and crime in the community, police corruption and their interaction with drugs. Furthermore, the study findings revealed positive and negative school experiences and posited several reasons why children break the law. It is hoped that the research will contribute to the knowledge base of Social Work and Practice interventions in the field of child protection services in general and, more specifically, on the criminal justice system.
- Format
- x, 154 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Business and Economics Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
- Hits: 816
- Visitors: 906
- Downloads: 156
Collections
NMU School of Behavioural Sciences
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Anda Sweetgirl Mtshutshwane.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |