Allgemeine Heilpädagogik
Theorie der Heilpädagogik und Rehabilitation

(Theory of Rehabilitation and Special Education)

Doctoral Theses

Angela Benner
Working title: Presences of death: A qualitative study on the construction of images of death and dying, and their impact on concepts of action in hospice work

Death, as an inevitable part of human life, has long been a social taboo. However, the topics of death and dying have gained social relevance in recent years, particularly as a result of the hospice movement and the palliative care approach. 
The qualitative interview study concentrates on the experiences and perspectives of people in the last phase of life. The focus of the study is on those affected themselves, i.e. the people who are dying and thus receiving inpatient or outpatient care from a hospice association. The subjective experiences and perspectives of the affected individuals are captured through guided interviews in order to gain a deep understanding of their needs and wishes at the end of life, in particular their personal notions of dying and their images of death. The evaluation of the interview data will examine whether specific categories of images of death can be identified and how a plurality of death-related conceptions affects the care of dying people.
The main concern of this work is the question of how to shape and support the last phase of life and the process of dying as well as the associated tasks for social work. The results aim to contribute to raise the societal discourse about death and dying. In addition, the findings should provide practical implications for the design of hospice and palliative care services that are adapted to the specific needs and wishes of those affected.

Annalena Ziemsk
Working title: Work as a double relationship - an attempt to (re)define an understanding of work in the context of complex disability

People with complex disabilities generally have no right to benefits for participation in working life and are therefore largely excluded from this area of life. However, not only is there a lack of practical access, it is also difficult to even conceive of work for this group of people. In previous attempts to conceptualize work for people with complex disabilities, an expansion of the concept of work to (meaningful) activity has therefore been called for. This - according to the thesis of the dissertation project - proves to be problematic, as a corresponding extension not only leads to a conceptual dissolution of boundaries, but also to the maintenance of special theorizations and isolating conditions (Jantzen). The aim of the work is therefore to develop a (new) definition of social work that also takes people with complex disabilities into account and from which participation in this area of life can be demanded for all people. The starting point is a Marxist perspective on social work, with which work can be understood as a double relationship (Marx & Engels): On the one hand, it represents a specifically human relationship to the world, but at the same time it is always socially determined.

Anne Katz
Working title: The importance of corporeality for the promotion of developmental and health-related sub-competencies in teacher training.

This PhD project explores how a conscious, self-reflective approach to movement and bodily experiences can counter the alienation from one's own sensed body and support students in teacher training in the context of professionalization in analyzing crisis situations and translating them into solution-oriented action.
The analysis focuses on studies, which show that even though teachers in Germany in general are committed and professionally competent, research on teacher’s stress level provide worrying results regarding psychosocial stress (Kuhl et al. 2020). Especially during the second phase of teacher training expectations of self-efficacy and the ability to assess interdisciplinary skills and make informed decisions seem to decrease. According to Košinár, in this phase feelings of being able to cope and perceptions of oneself are weakened (Košinár 2010). The assumption that humans are capable of reflexive corporeality – that is, that humans are able to be in conversations with themselves and to feel and know their current state (Haas et al. 2014) – is fundamental for further considerations. However, the corresponding framework conditions for feeling and perceiving bodily impulses and attributing meanings to them are often not present in everyday adult life (Haas et al. 2014; Seewald 2007). 
The qualitative research design of this PhD project includes interviews with students with diverse movement and bodily experiences. Implications for teacher training and professionalization processes will be derived from the findings and show to which extent, in addition to cognitive reflection spaces as well as (movement) spaces of bodily sensing represent an opportunity for self-reflection and the promotion of developmental and health-related sub-competencies.

Carolin Gravel
Working title: Deafblindness, Technology and Participation.

Digital assistive products (e.g. hearing aids, refreshable braille displays) and information and communication technologies (e.g. laptops, smartphones) are seen as important resources for people with deafblindness to enable or improve social participation. However, there is no German study to date that explicitly deals with the use of digital assistive products by people with deafblindness. There is a lack of scientific knowledge about who among the deafblind population in Germany has access to digital assistive products and information and communication technologies, how they are used and for what purpose. There is also a lack of in-depth information from people with deafblindness who can report as experts on their own behalf. The dissertation project “Deafblindness, Technology and Participation” aims to help close these research gaps and therefore focuses on the following questions: 1. what do adults with acquired deafblindness understand by participation? 2. to what extent and for what purpose do they use digital assistive products and information and communication technologies? 3. what influence do the products and technologies have on their participation (opportunities/challenges)?
The empirical dissertation is based on a theoretical examination of the topics of deafblindness, social and digital participation, assistive technologies and the digital disability divide. With the help of an interview study, the experiences of adults with acquired deafblindness will be collected and analyzed. The dissertation study is intended to contribute to focusing on the individual experiences of deafblind people and to shed light on their ideas and wishes on the topics of participation and technology from a subject-oriented perspective.

Julia Bucher
Working Title: Violence, Recognition and the Meaning of the Other. Reflections on a Theory of Inter-subjectivation Following Judith Butler and Contemporary Trauma Theories.

Despite a broad current discussion on the intervention and prevention of violence and abuse, educational science has so far only insufficiently addressed the processes of subject genesis that become virulent in violent contexts on a theoretical level. The way in which violence affects subjects and how these are produced by violence is the central subject of this doctoral project. One of the few subject theories that considers power-theoretical and psychodynamic processes equally and in interaction is that of Judith Butler. Their subject theory is used here to discuss the relationship between violence and subjectivity. Additionally, this study examines contemporary trauma theories, which tend to exclude power-theoretical questions, but attempt to deal more explicitly with inner-psychological processes and the associated questions and connections of language, representation and representability, experience, memory and recollection. Taking an intersubjective perspective, processes of recognition are taken into consideration. The aim of the work is thus to work out central elements of subject genesis, drawing on Butler's post-sovereign subject on the one hand and on trauma theories on the other, which help to achieve a better understanding of the complex intra- and interpsychic dynamics of violence and thus make a contribution to pedagogy in terms of subject theory.

Lea Braitsch
Working title: Abolitionist Pedagogy

The dissertation project ‘Abolitionist Pedagogy’ aims to combine an abolitionist perspective with a (special) educational approach. Not only is it assumed that this synthesis will enable productive further developments of the respective other approach, but also that these perspectives have similarities in their normative frameworks and political objectives - which is connected to an ethical stance that also forms the foundation of this work.
Pivotal element in this regard is the normative-moral positioning of the chosen approaches, according to which no person is dispensable. In a way, this seemingly insignificant claim forms the starting point of this work: By interpreting the concept of the ‘superfluous’, considering the concept of polycrises and analysing (state or pedagogical) punishments and penalties, it can be shown how the affirmation regarding the value and dignity of every life has become fragile in current times.
Based on the premises of abolitionist and (special) educational theories, it is intended to develop an idea of pedagogy that takes into account both a structural and an anthropological dimension. As such, this work doesn't only focus on the examination of (general) systems of oppression, but also seeks to take a closer look towards the subject living in these structures and systems. Thus, a pedagogical idea will be outlined which, on the basis of these critical analyses and by including this moral stance, does not have to resort to carceral and punitive practices.

Paula Gilsbach
Working title: Inclusion in art: Inclusive artistic vocational training for people with so called cognitive disabilities - The development and implementation of Germany's first inclusive art academy

The subject of the research project is the scientific monitoring, evaluation and critical reflection of the founding and implementation process of the first inclusive art academy in Germany, i.e. the first institution in Germany to offer an inclusive academic training program in the field of fine arts that also addresses people with cognitive disabilities. The “Kunsthaus Kalk” is a local project in Cologne. An inclusive art gallery is being built in the Kalk district of Cologne, which is expected to open in 2028. The Kunsthaus, which will include studios for freelance artists with and without disabilities, will be connected to an inclusive art academy where people with and without disabilities will be trained together and qualified for artistic professions.  The aim of the work is to provide a research-based and critically reflected example of best practice that can offer orientation in this extremely innovative field for subsequent projects that want to make a contribution to the realization of inclusion in the field of culture.
Methodologically, a combination of expert interviews and field research in the form of ethnographic participant observation will be used in order to obtain as unbiased a picture and as direct a form of encounter with social reality as possible. The evaluation will be carried out using qualitative content analysis.

Stefanie Lämmer
Working title: Prescription and use of benzodiazepines in Germany: From short-term help to problematic long-term use. A critical discussion.

For around five decades, benzodiazepines have been regarded as a proven means of short-term help in acute psychological crises, as long-term psychotherapeutic measures usually only show a significant improvement in psychological well-being after a certain period of time. However, due to their high effectiveness and rapid onset of action, benzodiazepines have a high dependency potential, which often leads many patients from the originally intended short-term use to long-term use, which is sometimes associated with serious psychosocial consequences and puts the frequent prescription of benzodiazepines in a critical light. The use of benzodiazepines should therefore be thoroughly reconsidered or in some cases rethought, as the use of benzodiazepines in the therapeutic dose range must also be carefully weighed up in each individual case. It is also essential to involve sufficient professional stakeholders who are relevant to the illness and recovery process, but this is not currently planned and therefore exacerbates the problem. As a result, those affected are usually left to their own devices and remain in unintended long-term or even permanent use with varying degrees of dependency symptoms and without lasting therapeutic success. The dissertation project aims to examine in detail, highlight and discuss the specific and highly complex interwoven nature of this problem in order to increase the visibility of this phenomenon and raise awareness of it.

Timo Dins
Working title: Empowerment through trust? Empirical and basic theoretical contributions to the professional support of people with (profound) intellectual and multiple disabilities.

The dissertation brings together research from three different projects, each of which focused on the professional support of adults with (profound) intellectual and multiple disabilities from different perspectives. Despite their different objectives and approaches, these studies share the insight that these people are often capable of and want more than they are given credit for by their professional supporters. However, a mindset of trust proves to be essential for pedagogical and professional support that aims at fostering development and participation. The dissertation highlights discrepancies between attributed and actual  needs, abilities and opportunities of this group of people and aims to raise awareness of the importance and empowering potential of a trustful attitude in professional support.

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