Development of a matrix of needs and target groups for an interdisciplinary safeguarding format

Institutional protection concepts, child protection, child abuse, stocktaking

01/2023-10/2023

The prevalence of boundary violations, sexual assaults and psychological and physical violence against children and young people in institutions has remained high for years. It is the responsibility of the organisations and facility managers of facilities where children and young people are present to develop and implement concepts for their protection. The topic of protective measures, or protection concepts, is the subject of an emerging area of prevention and intervention research. However, there is as yet no suitable international, interdisciplinary format that could inform academics and professionals alike.

The aim of the project "Development of a matrix of needs and target groups for an interdisciplinary safeguarding format" was therefore to carry out a needs analysis for a journal on the topic of "Protection concepts against violence in institutions", with the aim of stimulating an interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge.

During the course of the project, a systematic literature search was carried out to determine the current status of scientific publications on institutional protection measures and protection concepts, as well as the resulting gaps in the evidence base. This enabled a multifaceted understanding of the topic and its coverage in research contexts and specialist journals to be gained.

The results of the literature research served as the basis for a Safeguarding Workshop in Rome (June 2023) and are now being prepared for scientific publication. The follow-up project will now be the establishment of a book series "Protection Concepts and Protection Processes - Research and Debates on Safeguarding" published by Springer, in which, among other things, the results of the literature review will be reported and discussed in detail.