Silke Schwarz - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Silke Schwarz

In 2004, a representative study on violence against women was published for the first time in Ger... more In 2004, a representative study on violence against women was published for the first time in Germany and demonstrated its large extent. Affected women have to deal with manifold health consequences. Violence mostly takes place in the domestic sphere. It is usually the male partner who commits violence disclosing strucutal gender inequalities that continue to exist. In this article, I review the psychological effects of violence in intimate relationships from a clinical and critical perspective. I close with considerations on psychotherapeutic consequences for the treatment of domestic violence. Focus is on understandings of health and illness, related diagnostic challenges and therapeutic techniques.

International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, 2018

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of religion in psychiatry and psychother... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of religion in psychiatry and psychotherapy and it introduces a context-oriented approach to religion. Design/methodology/approach The paper opted for a selective literature review to highlight significant issues with regard to mainstream psychology. Findings It provides a short summary on the historical neglect and exclusion from clinical practice and shows how religion was integrated into the mainstream of psychotherapy and psychiatry. A quantitative and universalistic approach to religion is dominant. The widespread approach to religious coping by Pargament is presented as well as related findings with regard to religion and mental health. Research limitations/implications The paper includes implications for the development of a context-oriented inclusion of religion and encourages for associated empirical research. Originality/value With a critical inclusion of contexts, professionals may stay alerted to the issue that hea...

Cultural Psychology of Coping with Disasters, 2013

In mainstream psychology, person-centered concepts, such as the Big Five personality traits, self... more In mainstream psychology, person-centered concepts, such as the Big Five personality traits, self-efficacy, and optimism, are regarded as substantial factors that impact on coping and its trajectory. We do not challenge the existence of these individual differences in coping styles in this chapter, but we do advocate abandoning the trend toward the binary opposition between person and context that is implicit in these universalistic mainstream approaches in psychology. Instead, we assume a mutual constitution and blending of sociocultural, ecological, and personal features. Our understanding of individuals as sociocultural beings calls for ways of understanding how sociocultural features of life intermingle with personalized codes of conduct. The concept of local wisdom discourses as well as principles of life conduct are appropriate frameworks for this purpose and will be introduced in this chapter. Another focus of this chapter is on the relationship between development and coping. An overview is provided of socioculturally specific and valued developmental trajectories, socioculturally adequate understandings of assimilative and accommodative processes, the range of life conduct orientations, and relevant strategies for fostering these codes of conduct. The functions of these principles of life conduct for disaster coping are also reported.

Cultural Psychology of Coping with Disasters, 2013

If individual and social features of psychological phenomena are understood as co-constituting an... more If individual and social features of psychological phenomena are understood as co-constituting and permeating each other, coping becomes a social phenomenon that extends traditional understandings of social support dynamics in mainstream psychology. In order to thoroughly investigate the social settings and interactions in crises, this chapter gives an overview of the multiple agent groups (or agents) involved in the coping process. Socioculturally specific ideals and practices are highlighted to explore the communal dynamics of a village struck by a disaster. Communal coping efforts, power dynamics, and the renegotiations of social values and practices are all examined. Overall, the social dimension is understood as a resource that may foster coping processes and as a source of resource loss that can hinder coping processes. The chapter closes with narratives about the conservation and transformation of communal resources.

Cultural Psychology of Coping with Disasters, 2013

Disaster management, among other things, refers to the process of mitigating or avoiding the futu... more Disaster management, among other things, refers to the process of mitigating or avoiding the future impact of disasters, ideally in a sustainable manner. The accepted international framework of risk management assumes an opposition between an objective explainable environment and a biased subjectivity. This assumption is used to educate people about how to prepare themselves against possible hazards and how to control their environments. It is linked also to Western understandings of science, knowledge, enlightenment, and the assumed relationship between humankind and nature. The question of the way in which this Western-inspired and internationally propagated praxis of disaster management is suitable for the sociocultural-specific context of our research site is discussed in this chapter. It starts with an exploration of the association between orientations toward the future and the perception of and the preparation for (disaster-specific) risks. This chapter also focuses on understandings of a socioculturally specific sense of safety and the resources devoted to achieving it.

Gendergerechtigkeit als Universalkonzept?, 2014

Gendergerechtigkeit als Universalkonzept?, 2014

Dieses Kapitel widmet sich den Themen Subjektivitat und Reflexivitat und legt mogliche Einflusse ... more Dieses Kapitel widmet sich den Themen Subjektivitat und Reflexivitat und legt mogliche Einflusse durch meine eigene Person und Involviertheit offen: „Notions of subjectivity and reflexivity are drawn from postmodern, poststructuralist and social constructionist epistemologies that have challenged the heavy reliance of psychology (and most modern sciences) on a positivist paradigm of value-free, objective, measurement-focused research and a concomitant commitment to ‚evidence-based’ practice” (Gridley & Turner, 2005, S. 372).

In 2004, a representative study on violence against women was published for the first time in Ger... more In 2004, a representative study on violence against women was published for the first time in Germany and demonstrated its large extent. Affected women have to deal with manifold health consequences. Violence mostly takes place in the domestic sphere. It is usually the male partner who commits violence disclosing strucutal gender inequalities that continue to exist. In this article, I review the psychological effects of violence in intimate relationships from a clinical and critical perspective. I close with considerations on psychotherapeutic consequences for the treatment of domestic violence. Focus is on understandings of health and illness, related diagnostic challenges and therapeutic techniques.

International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, 2018

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of religion in psychiatry and psychother... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of religion in psychiatry and psychotherapy and it introduces a context-oriented approach to religion. Design/methodology/approach The paper opted for a selective literature review to highlight significant issues with regard to mainstream psychology. Findings It provides a short summary on the historical neglect and exclusion from clinical practice and shows how religion was integrated into the mainstream of psychotherapy and psychiatry. A quantitative and universalistic approach to religion is dominant. The widespread approach to religious coping by Pargament is presented as well as related findings with regard to religion and mental health. Research limitations/implications The paper includes implications for the development of a context-oriented inclusion of religion and encourages for associated empirical research. Originality/value With a critical inclusion of contexts, professionals may stay alerted to the issue that hea...

Cultural Psychology of Coping with Disasters, 2013

In mainstream psychology, person-centered concepts, such as the Big Five personality traits, self... more In mainstream psychology, person-centered concepts, such as the Big Five personality traits, self-efficacy, and optimism, are regarded as substantial factors that impact on coping and its trajectory. We do not challenge the existence of these individual differences in coping styles in this chapter, but we do advocate abandoning the trend toward the binary opposition between person and context that is implicit in these universalistic mainstream approaches in psychology. Instead, we assume a mutual constitution and blending of sociocultural, ecological, and personal features. Our understanding of individuals as sociocultural beings calls for ways of understanding how sociocultural features of life intermingle with personalized codes of conduct. The concept of local wisdom discourses as well as principles of life conduct are appropriate frameworks for this purpose and will be introduced in this chapter. Another focus of this chapter is on the relationship between development and coping. An overview is provided of socioculturally specific and valued developmental trajectories, socioculturally adequate understandings of assimilative and accommodative processes, the range of life conduct orientations, and relevant strategies for fostering these codes of conduct. The functions of these principles of life conduct for disaster coping are also reported.

Cultural Psychology of Coping with Disasters, 2013

If individual and social features of psychological phenomena are understood as co-constituting an... more If individual and social features of psychological phenomena are understood as co-constituting and permeating each other, coping becomes a social phenomenon that extends traditional understandings of social support dynamics in mainstream psychology. In order to thoroughly investigate the social settings and interactions in crises, this chapter gives an overview of the multiple agent groups (or agents) involved in the coping process. Socioculturally specific ideals and practices are highlighted to explore the communal dynamics of a village struck by a disaster. Communal coping efforts, power dynamics, and the renegotiations of social values and practices are all examined. Overall, the social dimension is understood as a resource that may foster coping processes and as a source of resource loss that can hinder coping processes. The chapter closes with narratives about the conservation and transformation of communal resources.

Cultural Psychology of Coping with Disasters, 2013

Disaster management, among other things, refers to the process of mitigating or avoiding the futu... more Disaster management, among other things, refers to the process of mitigating or avoiding the future impact of disasters, ideally in a sustainable manner. The accepted international framework of risk management assumes an opposition between an objective explainable environment and a biased subjectivity. This assumption is used to educate people about how to prepare themselves against possible hazards and how to control their environments. It is linked also to Western understandings of science, knowledge, enlightenment, and the assumed relationship between humankind and nature. The question of the way in which this Western-inspired and internationally propagated praxis of disaster management is suitable for the sociocultural-specific context of our research site is discussed in this chapter. It starts with an exploration of the association between orientations toward the future and the perception of and the preparation for (disaster-specific) risks. This chapter also focuses on understandings of a socioculturally specific sense of safety and the resources devoted to achieving it.

Gendergerechtigkeit als Universalkonzept?, 2014

Gendergerechtigkeit als Universalkonzept?, 2014

Dieses Kapitel widmet sich den Themen Subjektivitat und Reflexivitat und legt mogliche Einflusse ... more Dieses Kapitel widmet sich den Themen Subjektivitat und Reflexivitat und legt mogliche Einflusse durch meine eigene Person und Involviertheit offen: „Notions of subjectivity and reflexivity are drawn from postmodern, poststructuralist and social constructionist epistemologies that have challenged the heavy reliance of psychology (and most modern sciences) on a positivist paradigm of value-free, objective, measurement-focused research and a concomitant commitment to ‚evidence-based’ practice” (Gridley & Turner, 2005, S. 372).