Construction of reality based on memory and their (possible) deconstruction as a basis for the improvement of care quality

What does remembering mean for clients in their everyday life for their well-being, what knowledge does social work need to accompany those clients? How much do memories influence goal oriented care, how does it influence... [ view full abstract ]

What does remembering mean for clients in their everyday life for their well-being, what knowledge does social work need to accompany those clients? How much do memories influence goal oriented care, how does it influence actions of the clients? What happens with clients having experienced coercive institutions, once it comes to be taken into institutional care? How do memories of extreme situations influence the life of people in general?
The project "Do you remember?" consists of 10 Bachelor theses focusing on memory work and remembrance culture in various settings and with various groups. A brief overview of their results will be provided.

*The narrative Café - a pilot project in an association for supported living and working in Vienna for people with disabilities or mental illness
*Historical consciousness as part of a total institution from the perspective of social work: the example of the massacre in the penitentiary “Stein” on April 6, 1945
*Remembrance work with homeless people
*Family narratives of families displaced after World War II
*"Volunteering and Biography " - possible links of remembrance and volunteering in social work projects (women shelter and refugees)
*Remembering totalitarian regimes (e.g. DDR). How does it affect the current lives?
*Memory work as a methodological approach for working with formerly institutionalized children
*The internalized institution - memory work with persons with cognitive impairments on the experience of violence
*Digression: The Berlin Wall – how much still remains in the thought of the Berlin residents (result of a research as Erasmus student)

Two of the authors are going to present details of their study on the memories of ex-prisoners and how they cope(d) with the time spent in custody. A video clip of the narrative interviews will be shown to convey which memories remain with former prisoners in their life after detention.