Categorisation work in child and youth welfare. A comparative study of the processes used to provide support for the disabled and child and youth welfare taking into account discussion on overall responsibility

• Applicants: Dr. Andreas Oehme; Professor Dr. Albrecht Rohrmann; Professor Dr. Stephan Wolff
• Subject Area: Educational Research on Socialization, Welfare and Professionalism
• Term: from 2016 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 314276389

The social services for children and young people with and without a disability are currently divided between child and youth welfare (SGB VIII) and the social services (SGB XII). In order to determine whether clients are in need of support, and what support is to be provided under the remit of one of the social services providers, the clients must be categorised using organisational processes. This method is used to justify measures and mark out fields of responsibility, In view of the current discussion on overall responsibility for the child and youth welfare services (inclusion), the submitted project aims to compare categorisation work in child and youth welfare and in the social services (support for the disabled). The assumption is that institutionalised communication is structured by 'border items' which reveal clear differences through the developmental paths of the two fields. The first step planned is to investigate the workflows which occur when cases are processed by the children's and social services and the significance they are ascribed by the workers involved. The research project is then due to focus on evaluating case documents which the children's and social services use to authorise support. Using research approaches from ethnomethodology, these will be analysed as communication documents used in implementation practice. These are expected to result from field-specific categorisation systems and related expectations regarding what action is required, meaning they can used to analyse these points. The file analysis is to be validated using case- and episode-related interviews with specialists working in the services and institutions. To this end, procedural documents will be identified which are of particular relevance for communication between actors in the field. The investigation will be carried out in three different municipalities and relates to types of service in both lines of work where support may overlap or lead to comparable support settings. Forms of social welfare which are granted by public sources and authorised in legal proceedings require situations of need to be categorised. The challenge of child and youth welfare being responsible for all children and young people is that the processes need to be organised so as to avoid stigmatisation and discrimination. The processes must bear in mind childhood development and open up opportunities for participation.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants