Protective concepts – Living structures for setting respectful boundaries

SOCIUS laboratory report

Author:in: Nicola Kriesel

With 10 participants, our laboratory was well attended on 9 May. Marek Spitczok from Brisinski was already the third time he had been involved as laboratory manager for the experiments in this monthly room. This time, the focus was on protection concepts for organisations in which there are structural power imbalances – i.e. almost all of them. Marek is a certified sociologist, diversity trainer, mediator, trauma counsellor and organisational developer. Since 2014, he has been the representative for issues of sexualised violence in the Jesuit order.

The laboratory was mainly attended by people who are active in free schools and who deal not only with children's rights but also with child protection. Much of the discussion centred on the practical creation and implementation of such concepts in schools and in working with adults.

Practise changing perspective

Marek first invited us to change our perspective. He presented a case that could have happened in a school – it involved the suspicion (!) that a teacher had become emotionally and physically too close to a student. We were asked to take on the different perspectives of those involved and affected and to give them a voice. The characters in the exercise were: the girl, her best friend, her parents, the teacher she confided in, the accused teacher, the school management, the teaching staff, the other parents, the other pupils and the school board. It was very revealing to see how many different perspectives and views come together in such a case and then, sooner or later, come to the fore. The exercise was rather exhausting, also because of the topic, but nevertheless very enlightening, because it revealed the multi-layered nature and complexity of the problem, as opposed to the desire for a quick solution. This was followed by a lively discussion about the insights gained in the exercise and, of course, about possible courses of action in such cases.

Background information and facts

Here, it was emphasised that this was a case of suspicion and that it was important to have a plan for investigating the allegations with the help of external specialists. The statements made by children must be believed first and foremost, and then further steps must be taken to clarify what happened and classify the seriousness of the allegations as either a boundary violation, abusive behaviour or a criminal offence. False accusations by children are virtually unheard of, so it can always be assumed that children have actually experienced sexual violence when they report it. It is also important to be aware of assaults among children and young people. 85-90% of perpetrators are identified as male and 10-15% as female. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that there are currently one million children and adolescents in Germany who have experienced or are experiencing sexualised violence. That is one to two children/adolescents per school class. (Source: www.hilfeportal-missbrauch.deThe risk for people with disabilities is even greater.

This refers exclusively to criminal acts (sexual abuse); boundary-violating behaviour (one-off and unconscious) and abusive behaviour (conscious exploitation of power) are not included in these statistics.

The protection concept

A protection concept has several objectives:

creating a safe environment that protects against violence and exploitation
to offer and provide competent support
Outline procedures for clarifying suspicions.

It comprises various building blocks that do not necessarily have to be worked through in a linear fashion, but can be developed sequentially at different points within the organisation.

Here is an overview:

frame

Mission statement/guidelines

Personnel responsibility (certificate of good conduct/management)

Code of Conduct/Traffic Light System

prevention

Discussion and training for employees

Participation of employees and persons under care

Information and prevention measures (e.g. sex education programmes)

intervention

Complaints procedure/contact persons

intervention plan

External cooperation & networking

Organisations wishing to develop a protection concept to safeguard both those under their protection and their employees are advised to proceed step by step and in a modular fashion, seeking external support if necessary.

need for refurbishment

The first and most important question during development is:

Is there a need within our organisation to review past cases?

This potential review takes absolute priority over everything else, because if it is not done sufficiently, the past case will keep coming up again and again during the process of developing a concept. This review requires external support and must be developed for each organisation. Individual needs can also be covered here, both in one-on-one discussions and in roundtable discussions with several voluntary participants, moderated by specialists.

It may be useful to start by researching individuals and advice centres in order to build up a network and external partnerships.

Risk and potential analysis

A risk and potential analysis should be carried out in all areas of the organisation's work. It is important to systematically ask questions that seek to identify gaps in the system:

Which structures, spatial conditions, situations or customs harbour particular risks for sexual assault and other forms of violence?
How great is the risk that a victim will not find help in this organisation or will not even seek it?

The Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues provides a wealth of information on this topic on his website: https://www.kein-raum-fuer-missbrauch.de/schutzkonzepte

In the run-up to this analysis, the Independent Commissioner considers it essential that those involved in risk and potential analysis within the organisation thoroughly examine the facts surrounding the issue, particularly the strategies employed by perpetrators.

Assaults among children

A particular issue in children's facilities in this area is abuse among children. This can occur as early as nursery age and goes far beyond so-called doctor games. While doctor games arise from childish curiosity and a desire to explore and are playful and voluntary, sexual abuse among children primarily has the following characteristics:

involuntariness
power imbalance
pressure to maintain secrecy

In such cases, all children involved need professional help. Educational professionals must be trained to act professionally and attentively in such situations. Working with the parents of the affected children and those who have committed abuse is particularly important here.

Finally

As usual, our lab session ended in the SOCIUS lounge with soup and drinks and, in this case, many deep conversations on a topic that leaves no one untouched.