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Discussing the complexity of family life during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to enormous social and economic consequences all over the world. As most of the countries are still struggling with themselves in order to create new economic possibilities and labor market recoveries, we often forget two important issues: other countries are suffering as well and the situation of families, children and young people isn´t in the core of political and social attention worldwide.
In fact, families all over the world are facing different challenges, regarding family models, family conflicts, economic situation, growing poverty and a growing gender gap. Therefore, it might be helpful to broaden our horizons and to gather international perspectives on families’ transitions under COVID-19.
The planned publication aims to focus on different topics. Contributions to the following topics are more than welcome:
a) Gender and COVID-19
For a long time, gender specialists all over Europe praised the development of gender equality – until the beginning of COVID-19. In fact, the Covid pandemic merciless revealed the vulnerability of females with regard to job losses, their economic situation and times spent for unpaid care and family work. In fact, we had to learn that during times of crises, females much more than males are affected by outstanding situations. Just to name a few facts: the number of people living in extreme poverty is estimated to reach 96 Million this year – most of them females. Women and girls are especially hurt by the resulting economic and social fallout. Impacts on women and girls have worsened across the world. Women are losing their livelihoods faster because they are more exposed to hard-hit economic sectors.
According to a new analysis commissioned by UN Women and UNDP, by 2022 around 435 million women and girls will be living on less than $1.90 a day — including 47 million pushed into poverty as a result of COVID-19. But the impacts are not just economic.
These issues could also be discussed:
- Recent discussions in Germany, for example, address a re-traditionalization of role models within families. But is this true? And what observations can be reported from other countries?
- Nevertheless, the situation of fathers or male partners during COVID-19 hasn´t been discussed in detail and more facts are needed.
- In addition, there is a lack of comparative analysis between role arrangements of heterosexual and homosexual couples during the pandemic.
Therefore, contributions highlighting the complex situation of gender and COVID-19 by analyzing educational, economic, cultural or ethnic consequences of gender inequality are welcome.
b) Family conflicts
Violence against women has increased around the world, as widespread stay-at-home orders force women to shelter in place with their abusers, often with tragic consequences. Job losses, homeschooling situations as well as periods of income decrease mean exceptional circumstances to many families worldwide.
These questions could be interesting:
- How can we define, address and measure typical family conflicts in times of crises?
- While some children may experience more and more conflicts within their families, other
families might be able developing certain resilience factors. What kind of resilience factors can be identified?
- To what extent do social milieus or social status influence the development of resilience factors?
- How can professions like Social Work or the different fields of family work stabilize families in times of COVID-19?
- In addition, papers dealing with the topic of youth in times of COVID-19, care leavers or children being raised apart from their families in times of COVID-19 are especially welcome.
Contributions highlighting family conflicts should analyze these topics or paying focus on vulnerable groups of families and children.
c) Challenges of separated families
The pandemic has hollowed out a kind of normalcy for vulnerable family models like single parents or families practicing shared parenting. Periods of lockdown bring a particular kind of social isolation for single parents and their children, with family caregiving and psychological stress both on the rise. This crisis has laid bare something that has long been discussed within the scientific community, but is generally relegated to the sidelines in the political sphere and public discussion.
In a rich country like Germany, which prides itself on embracing plural family models at the policy level, separated parents and families practicing shared parenting have to face their own difficulties.
Contributions should highlight one of the following questions:
- Is it possible to take this crisis as an opportunity, supporting the diversity of families not just when they are first being established, but also – and especially – when family members go their separate ways?
- To what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic raised new questions and needs for actions within the different countries with regard to family law and special protection of separated families?
- Which protective and preventive actions helping Single Mothers or separated families within the different countries have been developed or need to be developed?
- Apart from the perspective of family systems, we need to focus on child well-being in times of crisis. Missing a parent means that more and more children and adolescents might feel isolated.
Which coping skills and strategies exist that can be used to help children and adolescents manage times of isolation?
- To what extent does the COVID-19 pandemic limit the age-appropriate social interactions between children and separated parents?
- To what extend might children experiencing anxiety or reluctance related to re-connecting in person with separated parents, and what kind of help do they require?
Contributions should highlight the challenges, burdens but also perspectives of separated families, international comparative approaches are more than welcome.
d) Social Work with children and families
The Covid-19 pandemic presented social workers and managers in child protection with complex practical and moral dilemmas about how to respond to children and families while social distancing.
The COVID-19 pandemic proofs the importance of social work and multi-professional teams within the different fields of family work all over the world.
While teachers in Germany mainly address their pupils during lessons, social workers concentrate on stabilizing whole family systems, paying attention to the fact, that biographical resources do influence the well-being and social perspectives of children and adolescents, for example. Which strategies can be found in other countries and can this be compared?
There are more and more fields of social work dealing with families, and they all are developing their own strategies in times of crisis. Therefore, contributions should:
a) investigate how social workers were responding to the challenges of social distancing in their work with families since the beginning of COVID-19.
b) identify the possibilities, risks and future implications of ‘virtual’ social work practice: Does virtual working possibly afford unexpected benefits for social work with children and families, particularly for engaging with young people? What kind of limitations does virtual
engagement have, particularly for child protection and assessment work? What challenges do virtual home visits provide for professional judgement – particularly around identifying hidden risks?
c) draw attention to the practice of social workers during the pandemic to show some of the ways social workers changed their practice, and to provide theories and concepts that can help to account for how such change occurs.
d) address the fluctuations of professionals in the field of social work or highlight professional strategies in dealing with increasing mental load
Timeline for publication:
Abstract Submission Deadline: April 15th 2022
Confirmation of Acceptance: until June 15th, 2022
Full Paper Submission: until November 1st, 2022
Publication Date: 2023 (information on final publisher will be given with the acceptance letter)
Abstracts should be submitted in English, include a maximum of 500 words, the name of all authors and the information about the corresponding author.
Please send your abstracts to the editors:
a) Prof. Dr. Nina Weimann-Sandig
University of Applied Sciences for Social Work, Education and Nursing, Dresden
E-Mail: nina.weimann-sandig@ehs-dresden.de
b) Prof. em. Dr. Ronald Lutz
University of Applied Sciences Erfurt
E-Mail: lutz@fh-erfurt.de
a) Prof. Dr. Nina Weimann-Sandig
University of Applied Sciences for Social Work, Education and Nursing, Dresden
E-Mail: nina.weimann-sandig@ehs-dresden.de
b) Prof. em. Dr. Ronald Lutz
University of Applied Sciences Erfurt
E-Mail: lutz@fh-erfurt.de
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