Social work and volunteer work share a checkered history, which shows that social work is always carried out by or with the help of volunteers. But it is only recently that welfare state actors, institutions and social work itself have begun to critically examine the relationship between social work and volunteer work. The focus is on the following questions: How are graduates prepared to do social work with volunteers? Are volunteers new recipients of social work? How does social work as a profession respond to the increase in volunteer work? What possibilities and ambivalences arise from this? What could a future-oriented and emancipatory approach to volunteers within social work look like? And: What curricular additions would be necessary within the teaching program?

Overview and teaching program

Carolin Mauritz would like to examine the diverse and complex relationship between volunteer work and social work. Based on the discussion about the professionalization of social work since the 1990s, she will compile and systematize current discourses and research. Her goal is to re-explore the relationship between the two areas and to place volunteer work as a relevant topic. In addition, she will develop a qualifying teaching program that prepares social work graduates for cooperation with volunteers and imparts the necessary basic knowledge.