A Comparative Examination of Different Analysis Concepts Based on a Case Study

The starting point of this research project is …

… the life story of a man over 60 who spent his entire childhood in various youth welfare institutions and, in the further course of his life, lived in different institutions again and again (psychiatry, prison, asylum for the homeless). The existing original documents (expert reports, memoranda, release reports, court rulings, etc.) reflect society’s struggle with phenomena such as violence, addiction, psychiatric symptoms, disease, and poverty throughout the past decades.

The Systemic Social Work of the Viennese School, …

… in its diagnostics and methods, always focuses on the interdependencies within systems as well as between systems and their environments. In this context, the concept of “circularity” serves as the central explanatory model for the formation and perpetuation of systems.

If Social Work views individual actors or elements in an isolated manner and attributes characteristics to them that are permanent and independent of the current dynamic, it loses sight of the process-oriented nature of social interaction. Interventions derived from such a problem analysis have a high risk of contributing to the consolidation or escalation of social problems.

The project addresses the research question …

… of how a circular process description of problems can lead to a practically relevant extension of alternative actions with the goal of resolving or at least easing social conflicts.

To this end, the concept of “circularity” is first put on a sound theoretical base. In a comprehensive case study revolving around the aforementioned life story, the concept is then applied to different levels and compared to linear-causal, reductionist explanatory concepts. From this, alternative thinking and action options for Social Work practice and ideas for influencing the overall system are derived.