Social work, forensics meet here
Working with children is what Carien Phillips enjoys most about her work.
POLOKWANE – Working with children is what Carien Phillips enjoys most about her work.
Carien is a forensic social worker for the South African Police Service (SAPS), attached to the family violence, child protection and sexual offences (FCS) unit where she works with abused children.
There are more than 70 SAPS forensic social workers in the country, of which Carien is the only one in Limpopo.
She was a social worker for four years and a forensic social worker for 14 years.
She studied at the University of Pretoria and, after graduating in 1994, she started working at the Polokwane Child and Family Welfare Society.
In 2000, she started working for the department of social development and was based at the Polokwane magistrate’s court where she worked on child welfare cases. She joined the SAPS in 2003.
She completed her masters degree in forensic social work in 2012 and is now working on a Ph.D.
“A child is referred to me by the court after the FCS investigating officer or public prosecutor hands a request to the court that a child be sent for assessment. I have no history of the case, just the age of the child and gender. This is so that I remain objective when I interview the child.
“After conducting the interview with the child, I must give my expert opinion on the crime in question in court as evidence in the case,” explains Carien.
The most challenging part about her work, says Carien, is to prove a case in court.
“Sometimes there are no witnesses or other evidence to support the case and then it is the child’s word against the word of the suspect, and then my report plays a big role,” she says.
When she is not working, Carien takes care of and spends time with her family.
“My husband Andrew and I have been married for 17 years and have two children. I love animals and I like taking walks with my dog Caesar. It’s therapeutic.”
