Persepsies van onderwysers ná hulle blootstelling aan "Understanding the scope of child abuse"-program

Abstract

Sexual abuse is not being reported adequately. Teachers are in an ideal position to deal with and report sexual abuse. However, research, as well as practical experience, shows that teachers are not sufficiently trained to deal with sexual abuse. Various establishments offer training initiatives to teachers, but it is unclear what the teachers’ perceptions are of the training after completion thereof. The goal of this research was to explore the perceptions of teachers after they had been exposed to an available training programme called “Understanding the Scope of Child Abuse”. The programme forms part of the training material of Forensic Assessment Consultation Training (FACT). FACT is a training company which offers support and training to professional people on the topic of sexual abuse. The researcher followed a qualitative approach. Twenty teachers from Welkom, Odendaalsrus, Virginia, Wesselsbron and Bothaville were involved in two separate training sessions. After completion of the training sessions, two focus group interviews were conducted in order to explore the participants’ perceptions regarding the training programme. The results show clearly that the perceptions of the teachers who participated in the Understanding the Scope of Child Abuse programme were significantly positive. It is also clear that there was a certain need among teachers for information such as provided by the programme. Besides the dispensation of relevant information, which was regarded as valuable and appropriate, participants valued the group consolidation and felt confident to share experiences regarding sexual abuse. Participants cherished the information not only as teachers, but also in their capacity as parents. They agreed there was a need for such training, even before participating in the study. It was recommended that colleagues, student teachers and parents should undertake the same training, conducted in a similar way.