Abstract
M.A.
Children are so often seen as unproductive, dependents that are vulnerable and not responsible
for their own actions. Children are in fact individuals in the process of development that can
learn to act in a responsible way and to manage their lives. Because children are in the process
of development and change, it is a challenge for the therapist to meet the unique needs of the
child.
This study was developed as a response to a need under social workers for structure in the
handling of children with adaptation problems. Social workers need more than just techniques
that can be utilized with children in therapy. They also need guidelines on the best techniques
to utilize in different phases of the process.
This programme aimed at developing an integrated model for child therapy that can be utilized
for children who have experienced trauma, who have difficulties adapting to new circumstances,
who have behavioural problems or who are in need of personal skills. The Intervention Design and Development Model of Rothman and Thomas (1994) was utilized
in the development of the new technological item. The different phases used in the development
of the model for child therapy were the following:
The problem analysis and planning phase, which included the planning of the study and
the setting of goals for the study.
The information gathering and synthesis phase, which included an investigation into the
available sources for the development of new technology for child therapy. The first
focus of the actions in this phase was to identify applicable sources that could be utilized
to formulate a theoretical basis for the new technology. The theoretical basis served as
a frame of reference to identify the most important aspects of a child that a therapy
model should take into account. The next focus was to select existing interventions and technologies that could be used to formulate a practice model that would address the
needed aspects of a child.
The design phase, consisted of setting a preliminary product.
The evaluation phase, which included the implementation of the pilot test and both the
process and outcome evaluation. The aim of this phase was to test the programme and
to see what can be done to improve on the results and to refine the final product.
The implementation and dissemination phase which concluded the study by setting the
final product ready for distribution. This product, a model for Functional child therapy, does not provide a recipe for child therapy,
nor does it only help children to work through present traumas. The main focus of the model
is to help children to become unique individuals within a world that is dominated and structured
by adults. Children learn with this model not just to react on adult behaviour, but to become
active, responsible role players in their own world.