PA2016. Child protection in Germany and Greece – an international comparison

Abstract Background As part of the ‘University Dialogue with Southern Europe 2024’ programme funded by the DAAD with funds from the Federal Foreign Office (AA), two professors, a doctoral student, 13 students from the two universities and 20 social work professionals from Germany and Greece entered into a dialogue on the topic of child protection. In the period from 1 June to 31 December 2024 together they explored the question of “how children can be protected from violence”. The aim was to exchange the state of the respective scientific knowledge, to learn from each other and to discuss strategies for combating violence against children. The research question was: “What can be learnt from looking at each other’s child protection systems?” Methods Action research was used as a qualitative ‘bottom-up’ approach developed at the “Centre for Comparative Social Work Studies (CCSWS)” at Brunel University London (Hetherington 2006). Case vignettes were used, discussed by groups, in order to gain an insight into the functioning of their own and other child protection systems and to carry out a joint expert comparison. In addition, field visits were made to the respective locations in order to shed light on the practical implementation of child protection work in the respective countries and to enter into dialogue with the civil society actors involved. Methods Case Studies, Field Visits, Group Work. Results Selected results are presented in the poster in the form of two tables based on the following question: What was learned from the Greek/German system regarding Knowledge/Attitudes/Behaviors through the Field visits/Case study/Groupwork? Conclusions There is an urgent need to strengthen the training of professionals in recognising and dealing with incidents of violence. At the same time, it became clear how important it is to develop common tools/strategies to improve child protection, as well as the need to develop preventative measures and support programmes for families in crisis. Key messages • While the legal frameworks and procedures in both countries are comparable, there is a notable overreliance on state support, resulting in a significantly lower availability of social services/worker. • Despite the cultural and systemic differences, there is a shared understanding of social work and child protection principles. Topic Violence against children, Child protection, International comparison.