Institut Professionsforschung und -entwicklung
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
- PublicationDie Rekonstruktion von Transformationen ethischer Richtlinien der Sozialen Arbeit in der Schweiz(De Gruyter, 2009) Becker-Lenz, Roland; Müller-Hermann, Silke [in: Sozialer Sinn]01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
- PublicationIn search of a decent living. Poor households' strategies of welfare production between agency and survival(10.09.2024) Nadai, Eva; Gonon, AnnaMultidimensional poverty concepts combine the lack of material means to meet socially defined minimum needs with the equally important lack of participation and self-determination. Insufficient financial means restrict choices regarding consumer goods and services and limit weighty life choices regarding education, jobs, family. Poverty research therefore tends to describe coping with financial hardship as basically reactive and guided by sheer necessity. In this view, the vulnerability of the poor to external forces is overwhelming. Hence, their choices are inevitably detrimental in that any decision implies negative effects. The question therefore is how we can distinguish genuine agency in non-trivial matters from merely reactive survival. Agency as the freedom of leading a life according to one’s own reflected values is at the heart of the capability approach (CA). The CA foregrounds real opportunities (capabilities) as opposed to achieved states (functionings) while factoring in the preconditions for agency, namely the personal set of conversion factors that are needed to turn resources into actual welfare. However, critics argue that capabilities cannot be distinguished clearly from functionings and that providing “(genuine) opportunities for (secure) functionings” is the appropriate political target of poverty alleviation (Wolff/de-Shalit 2007; 2013). Being able to sustain functioning over time is important because heightened vulnerability to risk is a salient characteristic of being poor. Moreover, Wolff and de-Shalit posit that “being able to take control over the way in which the function is achieved” (2013, 164) is a crucial dimension of choice. To assess genuine agency, we therefore need to analyze secure functionings, personal sets of conversion factors, and the value-based preferences and goals of poor people – not least whether they can achieve things their own way. Based on an ongoing long-term qualitative study of the welfare production strategies of 40 poor households in Switzerland, we discuss degrees of agency over time from a capabilities perspective. By definition, these households are deprived of some basic capabilities in that they live below the poverty line. In this study we use the strict poverty line of eligibility for social assistance or supplemental benefits. In addition, indicators of material deprivation serve as thresholds to assess secure functionings. To what extent are the study participants still able to partially realize a life according to their own values? Preliminary results reveal a range of agency from mere adaption through cutting consumption to partial realization of personal life goals or overcoming poverty through one’s own efforts.06 - Präsentation
- PublicationBargains, handouts, and hand-me-downs: poor households’ use of (re)distribution systems(Routledge, 25.07.2024) Nadai, Eva; Böhme, Marcus [in: Journal of Poverty]Consumption practices represent a central mode of social integration. Yet, due to the lack of material resources poor households cannot meet the expectations of dominant consumer culture, thus facing limited choices and feelings of shame. Based on a qualitative long-term study of the welfare production of 40 poor Swiss households, this article sheds light on consumption patterns and experiences in different distribution systems, namely the primary market, the charity system, and redistribution systems for used goods. It shows that feelings of shame and processes of exclusion differ between distribution systems according to institutional features conducive to the (in)visibility of poverty.01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
- PublicationDer Stellenwert der Verletzbarkeit im Arbeitsbündnis. Einige Überlegungen zum Begriff der Vulnerabilität in der Sozialen Arbeit(De Gruyter, 2024) Becker-Lenz, Roland; Neuhaus, Lukas; Davatz, Anic Sophie; Angeli, Camilla; Bstieler, Michaela; Schmidt, Stephanie [in: Schauplätze der Verletzbarkeit. Kritische Perspektiven aus den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften]04A - Beitrag Sammelband
- PublicationTeilhabe wirksam gestalten. Soziale Dienstleistungen mit Wirkmodellen entwickeln und steuern(Kohlhammer, 12.06.2024) Widmer, MatthiasDienstleistungsorganisationen der Sozialen Arbeit sind gegenüber den Leistungsträgern, politischen Trägern und Kundinnen und Kunden mit Hilfebedarf verpflichtet, die Wirksamkeit und die Qualität ihrer Leistungen auszuweisen. Für Wirkungsnachweise, aber auch für die Entwicklung wirksamer Leistungen eignen sich Wirkmodelle besonders gut. Das Buch vermittelt Grundlagen und Anwendungsmöglichkeiten von Wirkmodellen und führt in die zentralen Bausteine ein, die bei der Entwicklung von Wirkmodellen und dem Ableiten entsprechender Messungen eingesetzt werden. Dafür bietet das Buch auch übersichtliche grafische Darstellungen, mithilfe derer Wirkmodelle im Team entwickelt werden können. Anhand von Praxisbeispielen wird deren Anwendung illustriert, zudem werden Messinstrumente und Auswertungsmöglichkeiten vorgestellt. Das Buch bietet so einen praktischen Einstieg in die Arbeit mit Wirkmodellen.02 - Monographie