Volunteering, social cohesion and race: the German Technical Relief Service

This paper contributes to the debate on whether volunteering influences social cohesion, and argues that issues of race equality should be considered in this discussion. Whilst the German government, like other European states, promotes volunteering as a way of improving social cohesion, discussions on social cohesion in Germany tend not to mention race explicitly, whilst studies on volunteering tend to neglect to explore race at all. When they do, race is simply considered a factor influencing engagement, rather than a structural issue. Employing the example of the German Technical Relief Service for civil defence, the paper explores race relations and representation in Germany, where discussions on race generally remain taboo, drawing on theories of structural racism and whiteness. The paper concludes that it cannot be unproblematically assumed that volunteering leads to social cohesion in an ethnically diverse society if racial inequalities are not addressed.

Investigating Links Between Intimacy and Violence in Intensive Psychotherapy

This research examines links between intimacy and violence within the transference relationship of a three year old boy during intensive psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic clinical findings are used to examine triggers to violence that initially appeared to link with moments of emotional warmth. The research uses a retrospective single case study design. The clinical data cover a period of transition in the child's life from being a 'looked after child' in foster care to being adopted. There was a history of early trauma from neglect and domestic abuse. Clinical process notes from supervised sessions were coded using an adapted grounded theory approach to reveal complex interlinking themes of intimacy, violence, Oedipal issues, control and difficulties regulating affect. Data in this study show how intimacy and violence are linked when there is evidence of a separation between the self and the object of intimacy. Explosive violence is triggered by the threat of loss of the object and the rage is, at times directed towards the object of intimacy. The findings of this study support concepts identified by earlier research in the field about the impact of a lack of maternal containment on innate violence, associated struggles with the Oedipal complex and the impact upon the capacity for symbol formation and thinking. However, the research findings challenge Glasser's (1979) theory of the 'core complex' that suggests that intimacy triggers violence. The results of this research indicate that it is the threat to the loss of intimacy as a result of separation from the object that is the trigger to violence. I believe this study may, in a modest way, further understanding about links between violence and intimacy in human relationships. This may help other child psychotherapists be alert to certain dangers when dealing with violence in the therapy room.