IJFS - Interdisciplinary Journal of Family Studies

Psychodramatic techniques shall be presented that can be used to
understand the impact of gender on social work (Ramirez-Machado, 2003). In
Germany as in other countries (Böllert & Heite, 2011), social professions are
female-dominated; efforts to balance the gender-ratio are largely unsuccessful
(Giullari & Lewis, 2005). This is in parts due to the gender-based pay inequity, but
in other parts to traditional conceptions of caring and educating. We have started
to tackle the question with the young generation: What do students of social work
think about their being bonded by traditions? Do they recognise their own
stereotypical behaviour? Do they want to change? What and whom do they want to
change? We have used psychodramatic techniques to answer these questions and
will present the results on occasion of this workshop.