Youth and Youth Services

The terms “youth” and “youth welfare services” refer to social phenomena of considerable complexity – not just as areas of policy but in particular as research fields.

The division’s work focuses on scientific debate, as well as an understanding and consideration of current political and professional developments. The increasing differentiation of youth research (e.g. the greater emphasis attached to the distinct life phase of young adults in the 15th Child and Youth Report) and the recent shift in focus (greater value is now attached to non-formal learning outside school, for example) mean that the division is consistently required to position itself within the field in terms of its conceptual standing and projects. A similar situation can be observed in the area of youth welfare services and related research. On the one hand, youth welfare services are subject to increasing pressure of legitimation and expectation. The call for proof of success and the debate surrounding inclusion and full integration of disabled youngsters are just two current examples of this. On the other hand, the agents of youth welfare services and the related research have increasingly come to be regarded in recent years as obvious partners when it comes to taking on responsibility and public control, whether­ in the area of childcare, the prevention of child welfare impairment and delinquency during childhood and youth, health promotion, social integration of underprivileged young people and confronting anti-democratic and extremist tendencies in in our society.

The division's work involves theoretical and empirical observation of the interaction between young people’s individual life situations and coping strategies on the one hand and their institutionalized environments on the other. Reference is made not just to children and youth welfare service institutions but also to the programmes and measures provided by the healthcare system, integration aid, the education system, the police and the judicial system. These institutions can be supportive and provide opportunities for children, young people and families, but their impact can also be restrictive and marginalizing. One specific aspect of this perspective is recipient research.