The Participation and Society Research Group researches social professionals in the social domain and their potential contribution to the prevention of, or solution to, social problems.
Several subjects are treated, such as tensions between (ethnic) groups, shortage of volunteers, vagrant young people, citizen participation and debt counselling.
The research group has four lines of research. Three lines of research are based on the assumption that interventions in society (social contexts) are often more effective than interventions in people's behaviour. The fourth line researches to what extent behavioural interventions also remain important.
Examples of research projects are:
• Connecting through soccer
a study into the social function of sports.
• Young people and debts
a study into the prevention of debts in young people.
• Community school
a study into parent participation at two community schools.
• Big Brother, Big Benefits?
a study into the results of social mentorships.
Every project offers insight into the benefits of social interventions. Sometimes existing social interventions are concerned, but mostly it concerns interventions that are developed and subsequently evaluated within the sector.