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Short abstract:

This paper explores the Violence Protection Monitor, a social program aimed at enhancing safety in German refugee accommodations. Through Bourdieusian and co-production frameworks it analyzes the dynamics among key actors, emphasizing the necessity of collaboration in addressing violence protection.

Long abstract:

After the influx of refugees in 2015, the harsh conditions and considerable violence within refugee accommodations in Germany came under scrutiny, prompting the establishment of a federal initiative focused on knowledge acquisition and protection strategies for these settings. This initiative led to the formation of minimum standards for violence protection and emphasized the need for monitoring their implementation. The Violence Protection Monitor was suggested to support this.

This paper explores the creation and implementation of the Violence Protection Monitor, as a sociotechnical phenomenon aimed at enhancing safety in refugee accommodations. The program is designed to facilitate critical reflections on accommodation conditions, their enhancements and regressions for both employees and management, and its development and implementation has varied across seven states in Germany. As such this paper offers insight into the co-production process within different state institutions and policy frameworks.

Drawing on Bourdieusian and co-production (Jasanoff, 2004) frameworks, this study examines the dynamics among key actors involved in the development, adaptation, and implementation of the Violence Protection Monitor. Data from workshops, meetings, and events between 2019 and 2022 provide a nuanced qualitative investigation of the practices around the program and scrutinizes the collaborative and top-down approaches. Further, the paper underscores power dynamics between stakeholders on different levels (state, refugee accommodations, research team, NGO’s) and the persistence of hierarchical structures despite the new program. The process shows the importance and potential of collaboration across all levels of governance of refugee accommodations, which remains crucial in improving violence protection in German refugee accommodations.