Violence Intervention
Developing new types of intervention for practitioners in contexts of domestic violence and affected children
Project Modality: Teaching-research project
Run Time: 2012-2013
Brief Description: This teaching-research project aims at identifying how and by use of which strategies children (that are grown up in violent milieus) are trying to overcome or deal with their experiences. Once we have identified the things children and juveniles regard as useful or rather problematic (always with regard to gender-specific perspectives), we can develop helpful approaches and processes children can then use to reflect and re-create their past. First and foremost, this teaching-research project is to identify and find suitable ways children and juveniles can employ to express themselves properly. Here, we proceed in close collaboration with these children and juveniles and incorporate professional know-how. On the one hand, the focus of this project is to develop life competencies which, in the end, form valuable academic results which can then be used with children/juveniles who experience violence within their immediate social milieu. On the other hand, this teaching-research project is to create fundamental theoretical groundwork to be used in social work and thus to improve professionalism of practitioners dealing with domestic violence and child protection. Central aspects of this project are the paradigm of new childhood research [Paradigma der neuen Kindheitsforschung], the methodologies of context-based research of children and - in view of socio-politic children policies – a subject-oriented approach. In particular, children are seen here as individuals who act in specific societal situations/circumstances thereby taking possession of and giving meaning to these situations, i.e. their world.
Publications: Schulze, Heidrun & Witek, Kathrin (i.pr.). Rekonstruktiv denken und handeln als Praxis der Beteiligung von Kindern. In Julia Franz, Ute Reichmann & Bettina Völter (Eds.), Rekonstruktiv denken und handeln. Rekonstruktive Soziale Arbeit als professionelle Praxis (Reihe: Rekonstruktive Forschung in der Sozialen Arbeit, Bd. 14). Opladen: Budrich (to be published in 2015).