Theories of Social Work. Silvia Staub-Bernasconi and Hans Thiersch

von Reiner Neuhaus

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Social Work, grade: 1,3, University of Applied Sciences Münster, language: English, abstract: As the title of the work suggests, in the following four chapters I deal with two of the great theories of social work. I have chosen the theories of Prof. Dr. Silvia Staub-Bernasconi and Prof. Dr. phil. Dr. Dres. h.c. Hans Thiersch. Silvia Staub-Bernasconi studied social work in Zurich and the USA, sociology, social psychology, pedagogy and social ethics at the University of Zurich and habilitated at the Technical University of Berlin. She was, among other things, Lecturer for Social Work and Human Rights at the University of Social Work in Zurich and the TU Berlin. Silvia Staub-Bernasconi coined the term social work as a human rights professional and also shaped the scientific understanding of social work as a science of action. She established theories for social work that were largely detached from the other works of great theorists such as Thiersch, Dewe/Otto and Bommes/Scherr (cf. Staub-Bernasconi, Soziale Arbeit als Handlungswissenschaft, Haupt Verlag, 2007). Hans Thiersch considers, among other things, in his theory on the "determination of the position of social work" (Hans Thiersch, 2002, Juventa Verlag Weinheim), the self-image of social work against the background of political constraints and economic interests. His individual activities and publications are so numerous and extensive that a list of them would go beyond the scope of this paper. He is considered the founder of the Tübingen School. His view of life-world orientation in social work influences the theories of Dewe/Otto and Bommes/Scherr. A clear demarcation of the two theories I have chosen is not completely possible, despite their independence. In the following, I will try to highlight serious differences as well as striking intersections and to critically examine their applicability in the socio-pedagogical field of inpatient and open and outreach work for children and young people.