Specific factors influencing counseling processes for SED victims of injustice

Contact person

• Mr Florian Schoppe , Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medicine, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany

Topic and question

The nature of the injustice perpetrated by the SED, its effects and reappraisal, as well as the historical development and social embedding of counselling for victims of SED injustice characterise this field of activity and place special demands on appropriate counselling for those affected. Against the background of many years of experience in counselling, treatment and assessment of all kinds of victims of SED injustice, this sub-project aims to optimise existing counselling approaches. To this end, the socio-structural conditions under which counselling for victims of SED injustice takes place will be examined. The study aims to gain insight into the development and processing of structural problem constellations inherent in this field of counselling and to identify the conditions for successfully overcoming them.

Methodic procedure

1. Detailed conceptualisation and field access
2. Data collection phase: Triangulation of expert interviews with counsellors, observation (participant observation) in counselling sessions and follow-up questioning of counselling seekers on their experience of the counselling process.
3. Analysis phase: Using qualitative content analysis methods including the development of evaluation categories on the material (grounded theory), interactions between the counselling activity and the social structure shaping it are worked out and reflected on with regard to their effect on the treatment processes in the counselling.
4. Publication phase