The home as a site of state intervention. Social work home visits in child and adult protection in Switzerland (since 1960)

Abstract

Home visits as a specific instrument, method or setting have a history of more than a hundred years in social work. Social work home visits are state interventions into the privacy of the affected persons and therefore have big implications with regard to their fundamental rights. The underlying dilemma of welfare and of coercion persists to date. Our project focuses on the current and former practice of home visits at the intersection of guardianship authorities/child and adult protection authorities (KESB) and welfare/social services. In particular, based on case records (personal files) from guardianship authorities/welfare and child and adult protection authorities, we will reconstruct how home visits were/are used in Switzerland from 1960 to 1980 and from 2000 to today. In addition to analyses of case records, we will conduct approx. 25 guided interviews with the affected persons.