The "bad child" and research: The field of aggression studies in Germany between 1945 and 1989

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Heiner Fangerau; Privatdozentin Dr. Silke Fehlemann
• Subject Area: History of Science ; Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 508643817

The project examines and analyses historical dispositives, practices and effects of "aggression research" after World War II in Germany focussing developments in West and East Germany. It will establish a historical epistemology of the "aggressive child" as a boundary object of different sciences. Starting from this point of reference, the interpretation pattern of aggression between the explanation of social conflicts and individual behavior will be examined from a historical perspective. The perspective of invective research offers a new framework for the history of science by analysing "aggression research" and its potentially pejorative subtexts and practices. Thus, the study will contribute to identifying, differentiating and contextualising the insulting potential of medical, psychiatric and psychological diagnoses.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants