Experiences of Child and Youth Care Workers in Working with Victims of Child Sexual Abuse

Abstract

Child and youth care workers (CYCWs) offer a range of supportive psychosocial services that communities, families, and children need. This study focuses on the work of CYCWs in providing supportive services for children, including those who are victims of sexual abuse. As research reveals, sexual abuse during childhood affects victims in both the immediate and long terms. The impact of this abuse includes victims who experience impaired cognitive development and mental health-related challenges, including depression and suicide ideation. Hence, this study explored the experiences of CYCWs who work with children who have been victims of sexual abuse. Data came from individual one-on-one interviews, conducted among 12 CYCWs who were employed by two child and youth care centres (CYCCs) in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, and participants were between the ages of 25 and 50 years. The analysis of the findings in this study suggests that CYCWs experience challenges in competently providing support to children who have been victims of sexual abuse. The findings of this study further reveal that some CYCWs lack specialised skills in their work with victims of child sexual abuse, thus feeling inadequate in fully assisting a child in their care.