„Sparsamkeit, Sauberkeit, Genügsamkeit, sexuelle Enthaltsamkeit“: Mädchen in der öffentlichen Fürsorge in Deutschland
"Frugality, Cleanliness, Contentment, Sexual Abstinence“: Girls in Public Care in Germany

Summary/Abstract: Social care in Germany for girls whose behavior deviates from societal norms has been characterized by stigmatization and a focus on controlling and educating them to conform to dominant ideals of femininity since the late 19th century. A central con-cept in social science regarding these children is "Verwahrlosung" (neglect), which for girls is often specifically referred to as "sexuelle Verwahrlosung" (sexual neglect). This article examines the discourse and practices of educational institutions for girls during the twentieth century, with a particular focus on the underexplored post-World War II period, when hundreds of thousands of children and adolescents were forced to navigate life independently, frequently in ways that contravened social norms. Re-search from this era typically pathologizes these individuals, overlooking their strengths. The analysis reveals a continuity in institutional practices from the Nation-al Socialist era, evident both in upbringing methods and personnel. It was only through the influences of the "new women's movement," anti-authoritarian attitudes, and the collaboration between politically active students and asylum "inmates" in the late 1960s that the process of deinstitutionalization began. The paper concludes that the effort to conduct "work of coping with the past" (Vergangenheitsbewältigung) in social work must extend beyond the National Socialist period to include the post-war years.

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