Resilience & Security
Examining the dilemmas and frictions of social resilience in addressing security issues
Issues at the intersection of care and security present challenges for professionals. There is a need to collaborate, align and coordinate across domain boundaries. Care must also be taken to ensure that these approaches do not reduce citizens to objects of care and/or security risks.
In addition to changes in the welfare state and greater emphasis on citizens' autonomy, society's expectations and perceptions of security have also changed. While some look to the state, and in particular the police, to provide security, the state is also partly dependent on the input and involvement of citizens to provide security and prevent crime. The latter is not always easy in a reality where the government and the authorities do not always prove to be reliable partners for citizens when it comes to care and security.
Not everyone recognizes themselves in the authorities, not everyone recognizes the authorities, and not everyone feels supported by the authorities and sometimes even explicitly excluded or discriminated against. These feelings of lack of support can be particularly problematic where issues of safety and care intersect (for example, in the case of violence in dependency relationships and confused or misunderstood behavior). If individuals or groups feel stigmatized or profiled as a risk by the authorities at a time when they themselves are victims or in need of care, this can be a barrier to seeking and/or receiving help from safety and care professionals.
In Resilience & Security, the third line of research in the Crafting Resilience project, we look not only at the dilemmas that working in this complex area of tension poses for care and safety professionals. We also explore how citizens experience the barriers, tensions and dilemmas they encounter. Based on our findings, we will reflect on how resilience, care and security relate to each other in contemporary Dutch society. In doing so, we will pay explicit attention to the potentially different images and ideas that exist on this topic at the level of national and local government, as well as at the level of implementing agencies and society.
Resilience & Security is led by Principal Investigator Maartje van der Woude (VVI, Leiden University). Research is carried out by postdoctoral researcher Wiebe van Ruijtenberg and PhD students Nicolien de Gier and Anne Jonker. In addition, Janine Janssen (Open University) and Mette-Louise Johansen (VIVE) van are involved as senior researchers.
