National Federations and Organizations

In Germany there is a national federation of Social Workers (DBSH), which is a member of the IFSW. But there are more federations and organizations than this one. Some related fields have their own organizations and are not listed here.


Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sozialarbeit (DGS)

The DGS is a national organization and a forum for social work in Germany. It supports the internationalization of Social Work. There are several interest groups organized by the DGS. They address such diverse working areas las social work with elderly people, social work research, theoretical application in social work and community work. The chairperson is Prof. Wolf Rainer Wendt, PhD., and the vice chairperson is Prof. Silvia Staub-Bernasconi, PhD. Prof. Silvia Staub-Bernasconi is also the European Representative to the International Association of Schools of Social Work, Commission on Human Rights. On the web page you can find conference announcements and a small but growing archive of completed PhD dissertations.  

info@dgsinfo.de


Deutscher Berufsverband für Soziale Arbeit (DBSH)

The DBSH is a member of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and the official trade association of social workers in Germany. It offers a wide variety of services for its members. It gives advice on legal and professional questions. The DBSH is the publisher of the magazine Forum Sozial. As with every member organization of the IFSW, the DBSH has adopted a national Code of Ethics, which is based on the Code of the IFSW. Germany was the host nation of the general meeting of the IFSW in 2006, which took place in Munich. This conference was organized by the DBSH.

info@dbsh.de


Deutsche Gesellschaft für Erziehungswissenschaft: Sektion Sozialpädagogik (DGfE)

The DGfE is the National Association of Educational Science in Germany. It has a working group, “social work and social pedagogy”, which represents those working in social work and educational sociology at universities. There is an annual conference organized by this group. You have to have a PhD to become a member of the DGfE.

Spokesperson: WThole@uni-kassel.de