Family is studied at EHB against the backdrop of diverse historical and societal transformation processes and inequalities. The evolution of family and life forms—with changing notions of parenthood, sexual identity, and gender roles, as well as the status of children in our society—is one of our core focal points. Equally important are analyses of the family in the context of emerging generational and care relationships or social network structures. Our interest also extends to the family as an educational environment and to institutions with an educational mandate, such as childcare centers, after-school programs, primary schools, and organizations engaged in extracurricular education. In this context, we focus on aspects of support and promotion related to bonding, education, upbringing, care, diversity, and health.

Fundamental to our research is a transdisciplinary approach and collaboration with a variety of stakeholders from child and youth services, the health and education systems, and church-diaconal institutions and organizations, as well as dialogue with political institutions and decision-makers. In doing so, our research makes an important contribution to the critical reflection and further development of suitable formats that promote the education, autonomy, and participation of children, adolescents, and families, support growing up in health and well-being, and advance the professionalization of the SAGE professions.

For research and transfer activities in this research area, the following colleagues from EHB can be contacted:

• Born, Aristi (Chair of Developmental and Educational Psychology): aristi.born@eh-berlin.de
• Dreier-Horning, Anke (Chair of Pedagogy in Social Work): anke.dreier-horning@eh-berlin.de
• Engels, Sidonie (Chair of Early Childhood Education & Aesthetic and Cultural Education in Childhood): sidonie.engels@eh-berlin.de
• Glaeser, Janina (Chair of Social Policy): janina.glaeser@eh-berlin.de
• Grieshop, Melita (Chair of Midwifery Science): melita.grieshop@eh-berlin.de
• Hinken, Florian (Chair of Social Work, Focus on Child and Youth Services): florian.hinken@eh-berlin.de
• Karakayalı, Juliane (Chair of Sociology): juliane.karakayali@eh-berlin.de
• Keßler, Hildrun (Chair of Protestant Religious and Community Pedagogy): hildrun.kessler@eh-berlin.de
• Lepperhoff, Julia (Chair of Social Policy): julia.lepperhoff@eh-berlin.de
• Naujok, Natascha (Chair of Language and Communication): natascha.naujok@eh-berlin.de
• Peschke, Angelika (Chair of Civil Law, particularly Family Law / Child and Youth Welfare Law): angelika.peschke@eh-berlin.de
• Rafi, Anusheh (Chair of Civil Law): anusheh.rafi@eh-berlin.de
• Sauer, Stefanie (Chair of Social Work): stefanie.sauer@eh-berlin.de
• Völkel, Petra (Chair of Fundamentals of Developmental Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Early Childhood Education): petra.voelkel@eh-berlin.de
• Wihstutz, Anne (Chair of Sociology): anne.wihstutz@eh-berlin.de
• Wunsch, Robert (Chair of Social Work, Focus on Educational Support): robert.wunsch@eh-berlin.de

The following research and transfer projects have already been realized in this research area at EHB:

• Educating Newly Immigrated Students as an Opportunity for the Migration-Societal Opening of Mainstream Schooling (2019–2020, Karakayalı)
• Care Policies in Germany and France: The Example of Family Day Care (2012–2016, Glaeser)
• ElternChanceN – Strengthening Families through Parental Support (2022–2025, Lepperhoff)
• Designing All-Day Programs, with a Focus on Cultural Education in All-Day Settings (Engels)
• Adolescents during and after Confirmation – Long-Term Effects of Contemporary Confirmation Practices (since 2009, Keßler)
• Everyday Experiences of Very Young Children in Mass Accommodations for Refugees (2016–2017, Wihstutz)
• Children’s Perspectives on Outpatient Assistance (2021–2023, Hinken)
• Competence Team “Early Education in the Family” (since 2011, Lepperhoff)
• Cooperation Project with the Evangelical School Berlin Zentrum (since 2020, Born)
• Culturally Sensitive Kindergarten Pedagogy: Practical Insights as well as Developmental Psychological, Linguistic, and Legal Aspects. Guideline for the Program “Berliner Modellkitas for the Integration and Inclusion of Children with Refugee Experience” by Diakonie Berlin-Brandenburg-Schlesische Oberlausitz (2018, Hundt, Naujok & Völkel)
• LaVie – Life and Everyday Experiences of Families in Vietnam and Vietnamese Families in Berlin (since 2022, Sauer)
• Organization, Racism, and School: Complaints about Racism in Educational Settings (since 2023, Karakayalı)
• Reproduction Policies: Family Forms Beyond the Gender Norm & Feminist Temporal Politics (since 2017, Glaeser)
• Protection of Children in International Child Abductions (Rafi)
• Scientific Advisory for the Berliner Kita-Institut für Qualitätsentwicklung (BeKi) in the Development of the “BBP-Box Sprache” Linked to the Berliner Bildungsprogramm (BBP) (2020–2023, Naujok)
• Scientific Advisory and Training for “Sprachpat*innen für KiTa-Kinder e.V.” (since 2023, Naujok)
• Forced Adoptions in the GDR (2022–2025, Dreier-Horning/DIH)