Shaping Sexualities

On the professional treatment of sexuality

This research project deals with the pro­fes­sions that deal with sex­u­al­i­ty. The cen­tral con­cern of the project is to ana­lyze, from a pro­fes­sion­al and soci­o­log­i­cal per­spec­tive, the respec­tive con­cepts of sex­u­al­i­ty and health that under­lie the var­i­ous fields of treat­ment and pro­fes­sion­al cul­tures, and to ascer­tain who is involved in this field in the first place. How and by whom is sex­u­al­i­ty actu­al­ly cur­rent­ly being treat­ed? As diverse as the ser­vices offered in the field are, as var­ied is the data avail­able. So far, there is no basic overview of all those active in the Ger­man-speak­ing area. We would like to close this gap with this project.

The project is divid­ed into two parts. First, a sur­vey aims at a quan­ti­ta­tive analy­sis of the pro­fes­sion­al field, based on which a qual­i­ta­tive study focus­es on the con­crete knowl­edge and health con­cepts as well as the asso­ci­at­ed assump­tions of nor­mal­i­ty of the actors.

In the sur­vey, we are inter­est­ed in the pro­fes­sion­al back­grounds of the peo­ple who deal with the top­ic of sex­u­al­i­ty. There­fore, in the face of a chang­ing sex­u­al sci­ence and health care land­scape, the sur­vey aims to pro­vide a sys­tem­at­ic overview of the peo­ple who are cur­rent­ly work­ing. What are their expe­ri­ences and what chal­lenges do they face? What change in clients do they per­ceive? Which needs for care and their own pro­fes­sion­al actions do they identify?

If you would like to sup­port the project, we would be hap­py if you par­tic­i­pate in the Ger­man sur­vey and share your views from the field!