Prof. Dr. Peter Rahn, Professor of Social Work Science, and Prof. Dr. Karl August Chassé, Lecturer in Social Work at the Department of Social and HealthWork, at the Department of Social and Health Care, address this difficult and socially neglected topic in all its facets in their publication "Handbuch Kinderarmut" (Child Poverty Handbook), which was published in October 2020.
Child poverty is widespread in Germany: According to the Federal Government's 2017 Poverty and Wealth Report, around 4.4 million children in the Federal Republic of Germany live in living conditions that are below the poverty line (BMAS 2017: 248), which is around a fifth of people under the age of 18. Numerous studies indicate that growing up in material poverty goes hand in hand with reduced opportunities for education and participation for these children and therefore also impairs their future prospects.
Since child poverty became a public issue in the 1990s, a scientific discourse has developed in Germany that combines social analyses, attempts at theorization, quantitative and qualitative research as well as prevention proposals and suggestions for combating it. The handbook provides an interdisciplinary overview of the different approaches to and perspectives on the complex phenomenon of child poverty and also takes into account the recent intensification of the issue due to the corona crisis.Important impulses for the debate come primarily from social work, sociology, political science, educational science, psychology, childhood research and socialization research.
"It is important for people in social and educational professions to recognize the connections between the complex phenomenon of child poverty in order to be able to explore the possibilities and limits of their professional actions. We want to sensitize our students to this socially important topic at an early stage and give them a critical view of the social and individual dimensions of the life situations of the children affected and their families," say editors Peter Rahn and Karl-August Chassé, summarizing the objective of their textbook.
The almost 400-page "Handbuch Kindermut" was published by Barbara Budrich/utb in October 2020 and is also available as an e-book.
The editors:
Prof. Dr. Peter Rahn, Professor of Social Work Science, Head of BA Social Work, Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society
Prof. Dr. Karl August Chassé, formerly of the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences in Jena. Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena, lecturer at Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society in BA and MA Social Work
Image rights book cover: Verlag Barbara Budrich/utb
Contact
Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society
Department of Social and Health Care
Prof. Dr. Peter Rahn
Professor of Social Work
Head of BA Social Work
Tel.: 0621 5203-545
peter.rahn@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
