Degrees: BSW (UCT); BSocSc Honours in Probation and Correctional Practice (UCT); PhD in Social Development 
Position Title: Lecturer 
Location: Office 5.08.01, Leslie Social Sciences Building, Upper Campus, UCT 
E-mail: emma.campbell@uct.ac.za 
Tel: +27 (0) 722 119 548 
Consultation Times: By Appointment. E-mail or call to request an appointment. 
Key Roles in the Department: Convenor and lecturer for SWK4015F Social Research and SWK4016S Research Practice Project. Convenor and lecturer for SWK1006S Basic Professional Interactions. Convenor and lecturer for SWK4032S Social Policy and Management. Supervisor for SWK5013H Masters Internship. Postgraduate research supervisor.

 

Brief Biography:
Emma Campbell is a Lecturer in the Department of Social Development at the University of Cape Town. Her research interests include criminal justice and forensic social work. She completed her PhD dissertation at The University of Cape Town in 2021. Her PhD research topic was developmental and life-course pathways for antisocial behaviour among young adults in the Western Cape, South Africa. In her research she explored numerous theories for deviant behaviour among South African youth, including psychopathic traits, childhood adversity, peer influence and social control. Hence a strong interest in the developmental, multi-systemic approach to understanding human behaviour. Emma Campbell is interested in trauma work as well. She provided trauma counselling to individuals and families in Covid wards during the Covid-19 pandemic whilst working in oncology Social Work. Emma also facilitated regular trauma debriefing groups for frontline staff during the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a passionate climate justice ally, Emma is part of the steering committee for the African Network of Environmental Social Work (ANESW). She is concerned about the adverse impact of climate change on vulnerable groups, particularly women in developing countries. Lower-income communities and marginalized groups are disproportionately affected by the ‘double injustice’ of climate change. Social workers are well positioned to work with these vulnerable groups by building on indigenous knowledge systems to strengthen climate resilience, adaptation, and disaster management systems as well as advocate for more inclusive transition to the green economy. Currently Emma is working on a project aimed at strengthening women’s resilience in vulnerable coastal communities as they face adversity from climate change and unjust transitions. In addition to her research in environmental social work, Emma also has a growing interest in greening her curriculum to ensure social work students are equipped to work in this rapidly changing context.

 

Research Interest Areas:
Criminal justice social work, forensic social work, trauma-informed social work assessment and intervention, environmental social work, climate justice and ecofeminism.

 

Teaching Areas:
SWK4015F Social Research
SWK4016S Research Practice Project
SWK4032S Social Policy and Management
SWK1004S Basic Professional Interactions

 

Recent Publications:
Campbell, E. J., & Holtzhausen, L. (2020). Compassion fatigue and resilience among child protection service workers in South Africa. Southern African Journal of Social Work and Social Development, 32(1), 10-25159.

Holtzhausen, L., & Campbell, E. (2021). Adverse childhood experiences as a risk factor for anti-social behaviour among young adults in the Western Cape, South Africa. Acta Criminologica: African Journal of Criminology & Victimology, 34(1), 24-47.

Pereira, M. et al., (2022). The global impact of adverse childhood experiences on criminal behavior: A cross-continental study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 124, 105459.

Holtzhausen, L., & Campbell, E. (2023). Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory‐Short Version among young people in South Africa and the relationship of high scale scores to reported offending or similar deviant behaviour. Criminal behaviour and mental health, 33(6), 415-427.

 

Conference/Congress/Seminar Presentations:

International:
NAME OF CONFERENCE: 5TH Word Congress on Resilience

DATE OF CONFERENCE: 26 to 28 May 2022

TITLE OF PRESENTATION: Compassion fatigue and resilience among child protection service workers in South Africa under “Human Development, Sustainable Development and Resilience”.

NAME OF CONFERENCE: ASASWEI

DATE OF CONFERENCE: 27 to 29 September 2023

TITLE OF PRESENTATION: Testing Psychopathy as a Unified Theory of Crime and the Psychometric properties of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory- Short Version among South African Youth

NAME OF WENINAR: ANESW

DATE OF CONFERENCE: 27 March 2025

TITLE OF PRESENTATION: Turning the students green: integrating climate change into the social work curriculum