David Schnell
David Schnell founded the child and youth residential care Arche Noah in 2020 and still manages it today. In addition, he held a number of courses for social work students at the Ravensburg-Weingarten University of Applied Sciences and previously at the University of Augsburg, and then worked for the Federal Youth Advisory Board to advise the federal government on issues of child and youth policy. He wrote his doctorate on the topic of the transition phase. He is currently working in the clinic for child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy and is training to become a child and adolescent psychotherapist.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: In this article, I aim to demonstrate that it is possible to cultivate a strategy in multiprofessional collaboration with system-breakers, where the power of the absurd generates a new temporal logic between professional actors and clients, relieving them from “services” that cannot be provided. THEORETICAL BASE: Based on the theoretical foundation of current research findings on system-breakers, the particularly noteworthy aspects of multiprofessional collaboration from a theoretical perspective will be presented. METHODS: The focus of this article is the methodical case analysis of a boy whose caregivers say: “We are at our wits’ end” and “He will never be normal again.” The case analysis is conducted along the lines of the theory of the absurd (Albert Camus). OUTCOMES: Building on this, the experiences of professional actors in dealing with system-breakers are reconstructed, and finally, possibilities for shaping the collaboration between the involved professional groups are examined. SOCIAL WORK IMPLICATIONS: Thus, the article ultimately opens up the possibility of breaking linear logics through joint case accompaniment in recognizing the absurd. This succeeds in relieving social workers from “unattainable” services, thereby enabling more successful work in the challenges with system-breakers.
Keywords
multiprofessionalism, system breaker, child and youth welfare, the absurd, autopoetic systems
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