Social Work and Exclusion

In this seminar, after a detailed introduction to the subject of sexuality and its social discourse, conclusions will be drawn for a meaningful, individual and target group-related sexual education in the field of social work and various practical concepts will be (critically) discussed. As a basis, sexual human rights as children's rights are discussed and prepared in a lecture.

To understand sexuality in all its complexity requires an intensive examination of normative, traditional ideas of sexuality, but also in the light of medical, psychological and social aspects of sexuality. Due to the omnipresence of sexuality in public discourse (e.g. in the context of the sexual abuse debate or in connection with different views of adolescent sexuality) it is essential for social workers to include this topic in their repertoire of knowledge, attitudes and actions and to deconstruct various lines of discourse.

In the second part of the seminar, the scientific findings elaborated in the first part will be used in the discussion and reflection of sex education concepts and methods.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Karla Verlinden
Credits: 3 ECTS

Democratic societies thrive on an exchange of arguments. In the ideal, free and equal Citizens meet to discuss and shape their community. In reality, however, democracy is increasingly under pressure: distorted truths, fake news or outright lies erode the democratic quality of discourse. The seminar examines the challenges of contemporary democracy from the perspectives of Political Theory and Social Work and asks for concrete consequences for the practice of social workers and Citizenship educators. What challenges do arise from fake news and populism, particularly in the field of Social Work? How can fake news and serious press articles be distinguished in the digital world? What paths can social work take to enable its clients to have a voice in society and politics? The seminar uses a variety of didactic methods to discuss the questions above.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Isabelle-Christine Panreck
Credits: 3 ECTS 

Datafication, algorithmization, and platformization are changing the way we work in the 21st century, as artificial intelligence, networked sensors, and communicating machines become increasingly embedded in human everyday practices. Dealing with this entanglement requires a high degree of digital (self-)reflection. In this sense, digital literacy means above all a critical engagement with questions of data ethics and a digital canon of values, in addition to knowledge of changing methods and technologies. Consequently, the seminar is about what knowledge, skills and attitudes are needed in Social Work where data, algorithms and platforms play an increasingly important role in decision-making processes.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Karolin Kappler
Credits: 3 ECTS

Prejudices are omnipresent. On the one hand, their function is to simplify a complex environment; on the other hand, they are the basis of some of the worst human behaviors humans show. Thus, racism, sexism, nationalism, and other isms are based on the attribution of negative stereotypes to people who are perceived to belong to a certain social group. We will take a deeper look into theoretical and empirical findings of social psychology. This aims to help us to understand the research paradigms and therefore critically reflect the possibilities and limitations of social psychological findings on prejudice. Furthermore, mechanisms for reducing prejudice derived from social psychology will be discussed. In the manner of a creative workshop, we will develop and discuss hypothetical anti-prejudice concepts for social work related settings.

Lecturers: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Frischknecht & Franziska Sawitzki, M.Sc.
Credits: 4,5 ECTS

In this course we are going to address the topic of poverty in Germany. We will study theories on poverty and discuss how to apply them to social work. Furthermore, the students will do mini research projects, which look into specific aspects of poverty by analysing available survey data of the German population. In order to conduct the research projects, we will use the statistic program SPSS. In the end of the seminar the mini-projects will be presented and discussed. No previous knowledge of SPSS is required to attend this course. The necessary basics will be taught in the seminar.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Sebastian Wen
Credits: 3 ECTS

The course "How do we (want to) work?" focuses on analyzing and shaping work environments in social work. Given the constantly changing societal, economic, and technological conditions, we will explore how work is currently organized and what future developments can be expected. The course will emphasize the needs and expectations of professionals, as well as the requirements of clients and organizations.

To this end, we look at the evolution of work models in the social sector from a sociological perspective, as well as current trends and challenges such as digitalization, flexibilization, new forms of work, work-life balance or professional identity. In addition, we will look at visions and scenarios for designing future work environments with the aim of gaining a critical understanding of current work conditions and future developments in social work. Further, we will develop ideas and concepts for a desirable design of work environments combined with a reflection on personal career expectations and goals.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Karolin Kappler
Credits: 4,5 ECTS

This seminar takes the phenomenon of substance use as an entry point into a deeper understanding of social work as a culturally embedded practice. Focusing on clinical social work and addiction support, it offers students a space to critically explore how different societies construct, regulate, and respond to substance use.

Students will engage with international perspectives on addiction ser-vices, examining how cultural, social, and material structures shape both professional interventions and individual experiences. A particular emphasis lies on the theory-practice relationship—not as a linear trans-fer of knowledge, but as a dynamic negotiation between distinct cul-tures with their own logics, languages, and artifacts.

The seminar encourages students to reflect on how identities and prac-tices in the field of substance use emerge within networks of meaning, and how professional action is embedded in these constellations. Through lectures, student-led inputs, and collaborative discussion, we will explore diverse approaches and their underlying assumptions.

Rather than offering a universal model, the seminar invites critical in-quiry into the situatedness of practice and the productive tensions be-tween global frameworks and local realities. Substance use is under-stood here not in isolation, but as entangled with broader cultural dynamics, institutional structures, and relational processes.

To ground theoretical discussions in lived practice, the seminar includes excursions to selected institutions working in the field of substance use. These visits provide insight into national strategies, institutional cul-tures, and practical responses to substance-related challenges, allowing students to critically engage with the diversity of approaches on-site.

Lecturers: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Frischknecht & Thomas Szynkiewicz, M.A.
Credits: 4,5 ECTS

A significant part of learning processes of professionals take place dur-ing work. Often refered to as informal learning, this kind of learning is supposed to construct and provide important knowledge. However, workplace learning is not limited to informal experiences; it encom-passes a continuum ranging from spontaneous, unstructured learning to structured, formal and non-formal training initiatives. We discuss why and how people learn by fulfilling their daily tasks in different pro-fessions. Herefore, the following theoretical approaches frame the un-derstanding of learning in workplaces:

• Social Cognitive Theory
• Deliberate Practice and Expertise Research
• Motivation-Theory

Additionally, we concern with typical and common digital practices to support workplace learning in different professions. Beside e-learning formats like web-based trainings (WBT) and microlearning, these prac-tices are framed by computer mediated communication and digital knowledge exchange. They also rely on collaborative and social digital platforms.

Lecturers: Prof. Dr. Johannes Krell, Prof. Dr. Tobias Hölterhoff
Credits: 3 ECTS

Social work and inclusive education are two professions working in a variety of sociocultural contexts, encountering different norms and values. In a pluralistic society in transition, a variety of social skills are key competences for social professionals. Basic preconditions are awareness of one's own cultural background and a sensitivity for cultural plurality. Based on practical experiences students will reflect their own cultural identity and its relevance for professional capabilities. Transcultural learning is understood as a process, by participating Students will learn practical skills.

Lecturer: Michael Rölver, M.Sc.
Credits: 3 ECTS

This seminar focuses on equipping students of Social Work and Special Education with practical skills for managing psychiatric crises in their future professional roles. Participants will learn to recognize signs of acute psychiatric distress and apply evidence-based intervention techniques to stabilize individuals in crisis. The course covers a range of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, psychosis, and substance abuse, emphasizing the unique challenges each presents in crisis situations. Through role-playing exercises and case studies, students will develop confidence in their ability to respond effectively and compassionately to mental health emergencies. By the end of the seminar, attendees will have gained valuable tools for de-escalation, risk assessment, and appropriate referral, preparing them for the complex realities of working with individuals experiencing psychiatric crises in various professional settings.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Swantje Notzon
Credits: 3 ECTS

Mediation is known as a concept and a method for helping and assisting conflicting sides in finding a mutual satisfying solution by an impartial third party.  It has become an important element for intervention in many fields of application, like victim-offender mediation, peer-mediation in schools, community-neighbourhood mediation, divorce-mediation and many more. Furthermore, mediation has become popular as a tool in business, politics and legal affairs. Hence, it will be beneficial to focus on the concept, the methods and the role of the mediator. Of particular interest for this seminar will be the training aspect, that is the chance to roleplay in order to enhance one’s own competencies.

Lecturer:Prof. Dr. Georg Albers
Credits: 3 ECTS

Peacebuilding and Social Work have more in common than one might think. Interventions in conflict in and between societies might require social work knowledge, and ideas of (liberal) peacebuilding are beneficial for theoretical and practical strategy building in any given context. In this seminar we will identify the overlap of both, focusing on theory and practice of change and organised help. Aspects will be social/restorative justice, reconciliation, multi-track approaches, peace education, dialogues among others. Additionally, we will have a closer look on fields of application in an international context and understand the chances for one’s own professional biography and job opportunities.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Georg Albers
Credits: 3 ECTS

Decision-making is a basic process in social work and inclusive education. Professionals decide how to approach their clients and how a specific case is treated. Social workers have a significant freedom in performing their work. This freedom can be discussed in terms of professional discretion (dt. Ermessen). Social legislation and professional knowledge are important points of reference. Lipsky has described social workers among other professionals as street-level bureaucrats carrying out social policy at the frontline.

The Seminar will discuss in how far discretion is necessary for social work and how its use effects practice.

Lecturer: Michael Rölver, M.Sc.
Credits: 3 ECTS

Focusing on the past of his own family, in his study ‚Not in My Family. German Memory and Responsibility After the Holocaust‘ Canadian psychologist and philosopher Roger Frie elaborates on the long-term consequences of National Socialism in regard to individual psyche, intrafamily relations and politics and society more in general. In doing so he is getting rather personal which makes his study a not only interesting but also intense and lively reading.

Central to his exploration is an understanding of two different ways of knowing about the past: learned and lived history.

See the following quote: „I suggest that in contrast to learned history, lived history tends to be ‚felt‘ rather than ‚known‘. Lived history refers to the direct experience of an event through the emotions and the body or the indirect experience of that event through inherited memories and the experience of one’s elders. Long after the Second World War, descendants of Holocaust survivors are affected by traumas they did not experience themselves, in a process referred to as the ‚transgenerational transmission of trauma‘. Descendants of German perpetrators and
bystanders often grow up with family histories that evade the Nazi past. In each case, family narratives provide an emotional link to a lived history that is mediated and encoded. Any suggestion that the past might be concluded neglects the nature of inherited memory and the lived history of trauma.” (Frie 2017, 12)

As one of the conclusions he is drawing from his study, Frie states a gap between the two ways of knowing about the past: While Germans nowadays know a lot about National Socialism in terms of learned history, we do not now much in terms of lived history. As a consequence, he himself experiences German Erinnerungskultur as somehow empty - lacking lived history.

In this class we are going to read his study and make up our minds about Frie’s findings.

Language of communication: We try to express ourselves in English (but can also use German if necessary and helpful).

Bibliography

• Frie, Roger (2017): Not in My Family. German Memory and Responsibility After the Holocaust. New York: Oxford University Press.
  (In German language the study was published in 2021 as ‚Nicht in meiner Familie. Deutsches Erinnern und die Verantwortung nach dem Holocaust‘ (Frankfurt a.M.: Brandes & Apsel).

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Jochen Bonz
Credits: 3 ECTS

International students participating in an international exchange program at katho in the summer semester of 2022 will experience professional guidance and reflection on social work practice. They will be supported to reflect on their experiences during their stay in Germany and have the opportunity to compare differences and similarities to the situation in their home countries. The seminar is part of the English-language curriculum "Social Work and Exclusion".

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Martina Meyer-Schwickerath
Credits: 3 ECTS

The subject of this seminar is violence against two socially disadvantaged and particularly vulnerable groups of people: children and women. Violence against children and women are complex and multi-layered problems caused by a variety of factors. The seminar focuses on violence against children and women in the domestic context. Since the seminar will be organized by lecturers from Münster and Bangalore, the emphasis of the seminar will be on Germany and India. 

We will examine the causes, manifestations, and consequences of domestic and intimate partner violence. Additionally, we will explore the national and international rights of children and women, along with the legal basis for their protection. Finally, we will discuss preventive, supportive, and intervening support from professionals. 

The seminar will take place as a block event on site at the katho in Münster. The students can expect a combination of lectures, group work and visits in facilities in which professionals provide support. We use interactive and participative approaches to encourage exchange and reflection among students. We also involve professionals to provide practical insights.

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Grit Höppner and Prof. Dr. Judith Haase
Credits: 3 ECTS