Soziale Arbeit in der Krise: Signs of whose safety?

Abstract

This article notes a comprehensive crisis of confidence in the current post-postmodern capitalist societies. A general lack of confidence in sharing responsibility is also affecting social work. The “signs-of-safety” approach is used to illustrate how a manualized approach is established in the field of official family social work that is not well compatible with its own theoretical roots or with basic democratic and social principles. The increasing tacit omission of the third, political-structural mandate of social work in favor of systematic, individualized case management is problematized and confronted with a reflected, socially acceptable way of thinking and acting. Social work as the executor of a competitive capitalist social policy, using the example of the SEN model, is contrasted with an actionable, constructive social work that can make a viable contribution to structural and systemic social innovation.

Keywords: Trust, Crisis, Signs of Safety, Social Work, Power, Authority