The Diakoniewissenschaftliches Institut (DWI = Institute for the Study of Diaconia/Christian Social Service) at Heidelberg University, Germany, has a long standing tradition in research in diaconal studies. Part of it is the research done in doctoral work. About 25 doctoral students pursue their dissertation at the DWI currently. To portray them would go beyond the scope of this overview. Instead, I will present four major areas in which the institute carries out bigger research projects at the moment.
1. Innovative Social Services in Europe
The DWI is the leader of a consortium of 11 universities, research institutions and umbrella organsations of service providers in Europe, which has won a call of the European Union in the 7th framework for research. Key representatives of the research, practice and policy communities in the field of social service planning and delivery will collaborate in this project in order to mutually assess recent trends in science, practice and policy, identify knowledge gaps and propose research questions and agendas to address them. Thus, the project is about a platform for innovative social services that also suggests innovative research agendas which help define future research activities in the fields of health care, welfare, and education in Europe. The objectives of the project are:
- to implement a multi-level dialogue process involving a wide range of stakeholders from research, policy making and practice communities;
- to produce short visual examples combined with theoretical case studies of ‘innovative’ practices. Publications will summarise the results of the debate and formulate future research needs;
- to formulate a research agenda for innovative social services in health care, welfare, and education.
In order to reach these objectives, the platform will be organised with regard to four thematic venues:
- investigating, identifying, evaluating and reflecting upon innovative practices in the provision of social services across Europe,
- identifying and systematising the theoretical discussion on innovation in service planning and delivery,
- linking up the empirical evidence and theoretical discourse to identify gaps, inconsistencies and demand for further research,
- assessing the issues identified and proposing research agendas for various aspects of service planning, provision and evaluation.
The platform will be managed in an organised process that will coordinate research knowledge and practical experiences in order to attain these objectives. It starts on 1 February 2012, will be finished after two years, and is supported by a budget of 1.5 million euros.
2. Differently abled People – Disability studies
Questions concerning „disabilities“ are often considered to be part of the medical or bioethical discipline, even in Christian thinking. However, the disability of a person is not primarily to be seen as a sickness or personal default but it is first and foremost understood as the result of a higly complex interaction between persons with and without disabilities (disability as a social phenomenon). The theological reflection about „disability“ is to be related to new insights of the social sciences in order to give orientation to the diaconal practice of service institutions. These institutions often refer to religious traditions when dealing with disabilities. However, religious symbols and the meaning conveyed in them is often not easy to access or to interprete. Additionally, one has to say that within the history of Christianity there have been also damaging practices that have at times dominated the practice dealing with disabilities. The self-critical appropriation of one’s own Christian tradition seems to be necessary before one can raise the potential of the Christian perspective for a life-serving practice for and with differently abled people in church and society.
The research done in this field of study will be published in a new series of books, edited by Andreas Lob-Hüdepohl and Johannes Eurich. The first volume of the new series has already been published by the two editors in fall of 2011, carrying the programmatic title „Inclusive Church“. More volumes will follow in different formats: study books, monographs, hand books etc. These will also take up the perspective of differently abled people themselves.
3. Diaconia in the transition of the welfare state
Today Christian social services of parishes or diaconal institutions have to face up to the transition of the welfare state. They are affected to a lesser or greater extent by economic thinking that is introduced by the welfare state in order to guarantee a more effective use of resources.
Christian charity and a payable service seem to be contradictory. Christian love comes from the heart, on its own and, of course, free of charge – and is not be sold over the counter for money. One of the challenges surely has to do with these splits when Christian social services are drawn up. The stronger the impact of economic governance is on the provision of social service the more the diaconal fundamentals of a provider are offended. Hejo Manderscheid, a German director of Caritas, says: ”The more customer satisfaction by the client and efficiency as well as effectivity by the cost unit are becoming the prime criteria, the less value orientation can be implemented in the specific design of the offered services”. When social service characteristics become more product-oriented than relationally-oriented, when in the course of product-orientation a quality connotation determined by economic efficiency and effectiveness will become the steering criterion, and when these economic criteria dominate the value-orientation, the question of the diaconal profile under market conditions is above all a question of the self-conception and the focus of diaconia. In other words: How can diaconia remain faithful to its theological fundamentals when economic thinking is undermining or marginalising exactly these fundamentals of implementing services? Thus, the theological profile of Christian social services has become an issue again in clerical social work and in the Church. In this context two questions are playing an essential part: (1) How can the relationship between professional social work and Christian charity be defined? Do all staff members of a Christian social service institution have to be believers to be able to carry out a Christian social service? Is there a specific Christian pattern of adjuvant actions, which differs from other professional social action? (2) How does economic reasoning comply with Christian charity? Can you charge for a service that you do out of love? Does the implementation of competitive elements in the social field contradict Christian fundamental beliefs? The results of this research will be published in a monograph by Wolfgang Maaser and Johannes Eurich in 2013.
4. Poverty and exclusion
Poverty and exclusion are rising challenges in all European countries. 19 % of the European population lives in poverty. Poverty is not only a matter of lacking funds. It also refers to a lack of participation and often results in social exclusion. Christian Welfare Organizations such as Diaconia have been committed to working against poverty and marginalization since many years. However, a change of the structures which cause poverty is often not accomplished. Poor people remain in dependent situations and do not really participate in society. Which approaches shall be taken in combating poverty and exclusion? Are there new perspectives to empower human beings who are marginalized? Which innovations are necessary within diaconia and civil society in order to meet future challenges? These are some of the important questions that have been addressed by the Heidelberg conference on diaconia research in 2010. Enlarging on the discussion of that conference the DWI has invited researches and practitioners to share their research insights and practical approaches about churches which are active against poverty and exclusion. The results have been published in a big volume with the title „Kirchen aktiv gegen Armut und Ausgrenzung. Theologische Grundlagen und praktische Ansätze für Diakonie und Gemeinde, Stuttgart 2011“ (Churches active against poverty and exclusion: Theological foundations and practical approaches). The next step will be to relate the European context representing the rich northern part of the world to the southern hemisphere. A research project carried out in collaboration with South-African scholars will compare and evaluate different concepts which have been developed in the respective settings. The objective is to analyse the various ideas in order to learn from each other, to foster the adaptation of proven approaches in each setting, and to gain more insights for the further development of diaconal concepts against poverty and exclusion. There is a plan to publish an English textbook together with South African scholars that will present the results of this project.
Johannes Eurich
