Towards being heard : representations of the child's voice in custody evaluation reports by the Family Advocate's Office

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dc.contributor.advisorAfrica, Adeleneen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorVallabh, Sheetalen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-09-23T07:34:37Z
dc.date.available2015-09-23T07:34:37Z
dc.date.issued2009en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 71-81).en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis study outlined the changing social and legal contexts insofar as it relates to children's participation in matters that affect their lives. It set out the debates in the literature on whether not children should participate in family law matters, specifically custody disputes, and if so, how this participation should take place. It also drew upon research studies which have explored directly children's views on the issue. The challenges involved in custody evaluations were scrutinised, specifically in relation to the Family Advocate's Office, and alternative and/or complementary methods of accessing the child's voice were considered. In South Africa, in all access and/or custody disputes, the Family Advocate’s Office is tasked with making recommendations to the court, which are in the child's best interest. The recently promulgated provisions of the Children's Act (2005) also require that the child's views and wishes be taken into consideration. Accordingly, this research study involved a thematic content analysis of 10 Family Counsellor reports, in order to determine how the child's voice is accessed by the Family Advocate's Office. A structural model illustrating how the child's voice was represented in the reports was developed. It showed that the child's voice was represented in three distinct ways, namely: the child's voice is accessed directly; the child's voice is disqualified; and the archetypal child's voice is accessed through a proxy. The findings showed a tendency to rely more on accessing the archetypal child's voice through a proxy, which typically included reporting that was less descriptive and more inferential, interpretive and opinion-laden. A need for more direct, non-disqualified means of accessing and/or reporting on the child's views and wishes was indicated.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationVallabh, S. (2009). <i>Towards being heard : representations of the child's voice in custody evaluation reports by the Family Advocate's Office</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14061en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationVallabh, Sheetal. <i>"Towards being heard : representations of the child's voice in custody evaluation reports by the Family Advocate's Office."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14061en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationVallabh, S. 2009. Towards being heard : representations of the child's voice in custody evaluation reports by the Family Advocate's Office. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Vallabh, Sheetal AB - This study outlined the changing social and legal contexts insofar as it relates to children's participation in matters that affect their lives. It set out the debates in the literature on whether not children should participate in family law matters, specifically custody disputes, and if so, how this participation should take place. It also drew upon research studies which have explored directly children's views on the issue. The challenges involved in custody evaluations were scrutinised, specifically in relation to the Family Advocate's Office, and alternative and/or complementary methods of accessing the child's voice were considered. In South Africa, in all access and/or custody disputes, the Family Advocate’s Office is tasked with making recommendations to the court, which are in the child's best interest. The recently promulgated provisions of the Children's Act (2005) also require that the child's views and wishes be taken into consideration. Accordingly, this research study involved a thematic content analysis of 10 Family Counsellor reports, in order to determine how the child's voice is accessed by the Family Advocate's Office. A structural model illustrating how the child's voice was represented in the reports was developed. It showed that the child's voice was represented in three distinct ways, namely: the child's voice is accessed directly; the child's voice is disqualified; and the archetypal child's voice is accessed through a proxy. The findings showed a tendency to rely more on accessing the archetypal child's voice through a proxy, which typically included reporting that was less descriptive and more inferential, interpretive and opinion-laden. A need for more direct, non-disqualified means of accessing and/or reporting on the child's views and wishes was indicated. DA - 2009 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2009 T1 - Towards being heard : representations of the child's voice in custody evaluation reports by the Family Advocate's Office TI - Towards being heard : representations of the child's voice in custody evaluation reports by the Family Advocate's Office UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14061 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14061
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationVallabh S. Towards being heard : representations of the child's voice in custody evaluation reports by the Family Advocate's Office. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Psychology, 2009 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14061en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Psychologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherClinical Psychologyen_ZA
dc.titleTowards being heard : representations of the child's voice in custody evaluation reports by the Family Advocate's Officeen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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