(Un-)Doing Crisis Experiences (UnDoExp) - professional identity constructions of staff with own crisis and treatment experiences in psychiatric hospital care

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Sebastian von Peter; Dr. Sven Speerforck
• Subject Area: Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 566104015

There are hardly any studies that examine the identity construction of employees of psychiatric institutions with own experiences of crisis and treatment (=EKB). It is not clear exactly how staff with EKB form their identities in relation to the social and institutional contexts of psychiatric care. The few works and also some of our own preliminary work on this topic make it clear that these construction processes are associated with many ambivalences and contradictions: Employees consider their EKB to be significant, but above all disclose it to trusted colleagues and superiors. Even if they are severely affected, they position themselves in distance from the group of patients and other colleagues with EKB and are resistant to stigma. Building on this preliminary work, the project aims at an in-depth investigation of the identity constructions of employees with EKB in different settings of psychiatric care. In doing so, it is theoretically and conceptually oriented towards the social science concepts of "doing identity" and "community of practice", with the aim of also being able to grasp the interactional and contextual dependencies of these construction processes. At the heart of the various work packages are not only narrative reconstructions of the professional identities of this group of employees, but also their situated formation and actualization in adaptation and demarcation within embodied practices, collective and social identities, institutional rules and tacit agreements. as well as institutional-material contextual conditions and influencing factors. The focus is on how to deal with EKB in everyday psychiatric care, but also on ways of dealing with it during training or starting a career. In this way, the project is intended to contribute to improving the working situation of employees, with and without EKB, in psychiatric and psychosocial work situations. Second, the project aims to improve the care situation of patients from these contexts by providing information on which (other) forms of relationship staff and patients (can) enter with each other. Thirdly, the project will provide insights into the institutional structure of psychiatric hospital care, i.e. how and according to what rules this institution functions. And finally, a social benefit is expected from dealing with the topic: psychological crises are increasing worldwide and those affected continue to be highly stigmatized. How mental health professionals and their employers deal with EKB is of central importance, not least because psychiatric institutions serve as role models in this regard.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants