Punitive trends in Germany

New solutions for deviant behaviour or old wine in new bottles?

authored by: Birgit Herz
Abstract: Drastic reductions in financial and personal support for public education over the last years in Germany seem to open gateways to 'new' acceptance of punishment in the realm of pedagogy. This 'discourse' is clandestine in theory, hidden from the public but real in institutions of the child and young people welfare system. They intensify the penalisation of their 'drop-out' clientele. The special schools for pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) tend to act in that way, too. Particularly children and young people living in poverty are on the agenda of this new trend to penalise 'deviant' behaviour. Programmes, trainings and drills are available. They are meant to help social workers and teacher in their position with new aims and functions. In their daily routine, most of them are overburdened and overloaded, because classes are overfilled and the number of families in the communal welfare system is growing rapidly, due to the so-called 'Hartz IV' legislative for unemployed families. This new trend is also a market place for the media; they launched an emergency call on education. Some punitive praxis is contradictory to the human rights and the children rights, so that all professors for SEBD in Germany published a public declaration against the breaking up of the agreement of an education without violence. There is no empirical evidence for any positive outcome of such 'pedagogy'. Despite all 'modern' promises, working with fear, anxiety, shame and punishment doesn't pay in the long run. This chapter clarifies the relationship between socio-economic development and this 'law and order' pedagogy, the loss of professional standards and the psychodynamic consequences for pupils labelled as 'deviant'.
Organisation(s): Institute of Education for Special Needs
Type: Contribution to book/anthology
Pages: 389-403
No. of pages: 15
Publication date: 17.05.2012
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Education
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3636(2012)0000002027 (Access: Closed)