- Title
- Recidivism in children after completion of rhythm of life diversion programme in Chris Hani Eastern Cape
- Creator
- Zimba, Thanduxolo
- Subject
- Grahamstown (South Africa)
- Subject
- Eastern Cape (South Africa)
- Subject
- South Africa
- Date
- 2022-09
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27651
- Identifier
- vital:69380
- Description
- One of the recommendations made by the South African Law Commission (SALC) (1997) when discussing the issue of child justice was that the justice system should aim to promote the well-being of the child and deal with the child in an individualised way. This dissertation discusses recidivism in children after completing the Rhythm of Life (ROL) diversion programme which aims at diverting children who conflict with the law away from criminal procedures to programmes that assist in behaviour modification. The study is inspired by the need to uncover the effectiveness of the programme and the challenges encountered when it is delivered. It is further motivated by the need to expose the reasons why children return to the criminal justice system after having attended the ROL diversion programme. Additionally, it seeks to gain perspectives of the probation officers’ and parents’ insights on the observed changes after the attendance of the programme. The study utilised a qualitative methodology with an interpretive and descriptive paradigm, which used in-depth interviews and focus groups as a method of data collection. The participants of the study were children who completed the ROL diversion programme, parents or guardians of children who completed the ROL diversion programme, and probation officers implementing the programme. The data was analysed and presented following the following four themes, i.e., factors contributing to recidivism by children after completion of the ROL diversion programme, diversion programme content, and completion of the diversion programme and the effectiveness of the ROL diversion programme. The literature consulted was broken up into; the historical development of diversion programmes and the inherent legislative framework, the magnitude and extent of recidivism of children after completion of the ROL diversion programme, and the factors which contribute to recidivism by children after completion of the ROL diversion programme. The reviewed literature further scrutinised the global, regional, and South African perspectives on managing young people, and lastly reviewed the benefits and challenges of diversion programmes in general. The study used the social learning theory as a theoretical framework to explain and discuss recidivism and the effectiveness of diversion programmes. This is a general approach to psychology and regards criminal behaviour as no different from any kind of behaviour as it is learned through the processes of observation, imitation and vicarious reinforcement and punishment. The findings of the study revealed that the impact of absent and or lack of father figures in the family influenced the children to get involved in criminal activities. The findings further indicated that probation officers face various challenges when facilitating the programme, such as substance abuse by children, lack of resources and functional aids, and the language as the facilitator guide is written in English. It was also discovered that parents from the sample used an authoritarian style of parenting, which exerts high expectations from children while providing little in the way of feedback and nurturance. Lastly, the findings indicated that the ROL diversion programme does modify the behaviour of children on completion. However, the main challenge is the environment the children return to after completion as it is assumed as a contributing factor to committing the crime. One of the recommendations is to strengthen parenting programmes and to introduce a programme for parents or guardians of children with serious behavioural challenges, another recommendation is the development of a risk assessment tool for young people, to assist probation officers in holistically dealing with children. Additionally, probation service practitioners should be provided by the government with the necessary resources to ensure that aftercare services are rendered effectively and efficiently. The researcher lastly recommends that probation officers conduct an intervention evaluation after the programme to identify children who could not understand the content of the programme so that additional methods of intervention could be employed such as casework. The study had the following conclusions; risk factors such as lack of parental support, substance abuse, peer pressure and bereavement were causes for re-offending in the children interviewed; the programme manual presents a challenge in terms of language, because the manual is written in English, and not all children can understand English; the issue of restorative justice was overlooked by probation officers when dealing with children when they re-offended. The study also concluded that the ROL diversion programme is effective to a certain extent, depending on how the children utilize the skills acquired from the programme, and as the parents reflected that they observed a change in their children’s behaviour post-diversion, while children also expressed that they learnt valuable life skills which made them resilient.
- Description
- Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2022
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (xiv, 141 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- rights holder
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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UFH Department of Social Work & Social Development
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | THANDUXOLO CLIVE ZIMBA DESERTATION.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |