Perspectives of investigating officers on the roles and responsibilities of forensic social workers in the South African Police Service

Abstract

This article presents the results of empirical data obtained from an explorative qualitative study regarding the perspectives of investigating officers on the roles and responsibilities of forensic social work services in the South African Police Service. The aim of the study was to gain an understanding about the perspectives of investigating officers on the roles and responsibilities of forensic social workers in SAPS. Data was collected from the investigating officers at the FCS units in the five clusters of SAPS in the Northern Cape Province using semi-structured interviews. The participants in the study were FCS investigating officers who are responsible for the management of FCS related cases, working directly with forensic social workers within the FCS Units. When reviewing literature on the role of forensic social workers from the past ten years, the researcher discovered that there have not been many empirical studies done on the perspectives of investigating officers on the roles and responsibilities of forensic social workers in the South African Police Services. One similar study was conducted at the Eastern Cape regarding the Managers perspectives on the integration of forensic social work in the South African Police Service. The aim was to obtain an understanding about the perspectives of SAPS management with regards to integration of forensic social workers. In response to this, a qualitative study based in the Northern Cape Province was conducted. In terms of section 54 of the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act 32 of 2007, all South Africans have a statutory obligation to report their suspicion of child sexual abuse to SAPS. According to the South African Police Service (SAPS, 2017), the Northern Cape was one of only two provinces who recorded an increase in sexual offences. This emphasised the researcher’s need to establish the perspectives of investigating officers with regard to the role and responsibilities of the forensic social workers, as the researcher is of the opinion that the answer can lead to more effective utilisation of forensic social workers. The findings of the study revealed that forensic social workers roles and responsibilities within SAPS entails conducting scientific assessments with children on child sexual abuse cases and assisting in statement takings, which according to the investigating officers make a valuable contribution in the investigation of child sexual abuse cases. The study also revealed that currently there is a shortage of forensic social workers in SAPS.