Legal / Forensic Social Worker
Forensic Assessment for Criminal and Civil Cases
Dr Campbell specialises in forensic social work for both criminal and civil matters. She has testified as an expert witness in South African High Courts, Regional Courts and Magistrate Courts as well as in an international court in the USA. She has a special interest in child and adolescent sexual behaviour and sexual abuse. Dr Campbell follows an investigation process that is supported by international academic literature and research to ensure that her recommendations are objective, legally sound and underpinned by the Children's Act 38 of 2005.
Forensic work entails:
- Investigation
- Compiling of court reports
- Appearing in court to testify on the report
Child Assessments
- General child assessment
- Voice of the child
- Child’s experience of their world (home, school, peers, trauma) to understand the emotions and behaviour of the child
- Attachment assessment
- Family relations assessment
- Child sexual behaviour assessment
- Allegations of sexual abuse assessment
- Assessment of false sexual abuse allegations
- Assessment of youth sex offenders and risk assessment
Forensic Investigations
Forensic investigations for care and contact, parental alienation, relocation assessment, allegations of sexual abuse and other civil matters include:
- Extensive gathering of history from both parties.
- Consulting with collateral sources
- Collaboration with professionals involved with family
- Comprehensive assessment of child/children involved. These assessments are held at the practice of Dr Campbell.
- Minimum of 2 home visits paid to both parties
- Interactional analysis of children and parents at the homes of the respective parents.
Dr Campbell follows an investigation process that is supported by academic literature and research to ensure that her recommendations are objective, legally sound and underpinned by the Children's Act 38 of 2005.
During the investigation of allegations of sexual abuse, Dr Campbell uses a sexual abuse validation criterion to consider the truthfulness and reliability of the sexual abuse information presented to her. The narrative of the child is assessed over a period of 4 hourly sessions, NOT A ONCE OFF SESSION WITH THE CHILD, to assess the truthfulness of the allegations.