Central Institute for Youth Research

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The Central Institute for Youth Research (ZIJ) of the GDR existed from 1966 to 1990. It was founded as a counterpart to the German Youth Institute (DJI) .

Walter Friedrich was the director for many years .

Goals and fields of research

The aim of the institution was to provide GDR youth policy with scientific knowledge about the various areas of life, prevailing attitudes, behaviors, demands and problems of GDR youth. Of particular interest was the political and cultural activity of young people in the GDR and their - as it was called according to the language of the time - “social self-realization”. The fields of empirical research at the institute included:

  • Interval studies on development in childhood and adolescence (and beyond)
  • General psychological studies on intelligence development and creativity
  • the internationally recognized twin research .

history

Youth research at the University of Leipzig had a long tradition. After the Second World War, this tradition was continued at the University's Psychological Institute. Efforts to intensify scientific research in this area were only successful after the DJI was founded in Munich in 1963 . In 1965 Walter Friedrich was commissioned to found an independent institute in the GDR.

One year later the ZIJ was founded in Leipzig . With the increasing importance of the work of the institute for the GDR, so did its personnel and material resources. From initially seven employees, the workforce grew to 25 employees by 1970 and reached its peak in early 1980 with 55 scientists and 45 technical employees.

Friedrich examined in particular the personality development of young people from an anthropological point of view. Friedrich succeeded in doing this through a broad, interdisciplinary composition of the scientific staff.

In 1968 the institute began its first interval study on developmental factors and forms of development of twelve-year-old children in the context of changing social and individual living conditions, which lasted until 1980. The main advantage of the institute's studies was their regularity, their comparability, and a fairly precise reflection of the reality of young people in the GDR. Restrictions arose for political reasons, as some topics were excluded from the investigations or could only be dealt with marginally. Due to the special importance of the research work for the GDR, the work of the institute was under constant observation by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). In 1969, the scientific work came under increasing criticism for the first time. The institute was accused of an empirical, unrealistic approach and methodological deficiencies. This accusation led to restrictions. These passed u. a. prohibiting the publication of certain research results and making access to schools and other facilities more difficult. It was only after the fall of the Wall in the GDR that it was possible to make the institute's complete, extensive data collection accessible to a broader public.

With the turnaround, the end of the ZIJ was also looming. Attempts to maintain the institute through cooperation with the DJI failed. In accordance with the Unification Treaty, the institute was "wound up" on December 31, 1990 , primarily because of its closeness to the state . Only a few employees were taken over by the DJI in a "regional office in Leipzig". In 2003 the branch office moved from Leipzig to Halle (Saale) to the premises of the Francke Foundations . The Saxon longitudinal study initiated by the ZIJ in 1987 has continued to this day .

Known employees

Further employees are listed in the overall history of the institute.

literature

  • The Central Institute for Youth Research Leipzig 1966–1990. History, methods, findings. Edited by Walter Friedrich, Peter Förster and Kurt Starke, edition ost, Berlin 1999, ISBN 978-3-9321-8053-8 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walter Friedrich u. a. (Ed.): The Central Institute for Youth Research Leipzig 1966–1990 . edition ost, Berlin 1999, mainly the contribution by Harry Müller: Die Forschungsorganisation , pp. 477–495.