Concluded projects
of the Institute of Conflict Research
Evaluation of SAM 9
| Project Management: | Dr.in Birgitt Haller |
| Project Team: | Dr.in Birgitt Haller Dr.in Evelyn Dawid Mag.a Kerstin Lercher |
| Financed by: | Sucht- und Drogenkoordination Wien gemeinnützige GmbH |
| Concluded in | December 2008 |
SAM 9 started its activities at Julius-Tandler-Platz and its neighbourhood in mid-October 2007. SAM 9, which is financed by “Addiction und Drugs Coordination Vienna” (Sucht- und Drogenkoordination Wien), the District Council of “Alsergrund” and three local enterprises, is supposed to be an impartial point of contact for all users of the public area. The team’s main target group are socially disintegrated persons, mostly alcoholics and homeless people, who are offered support, e.g. being accompanied to welfare institutions or crisis intervention points. Another target group are people living in the area or passers-by who are informed about the situation of socially disintegrated persons in order to raise their tolerance towards them. If a potential conflict situation arises, the SAM team should is expected to intervene and calm it down.
In the course of the evaluation a high number of interviews were conducted: with the team members of SAM 9, with users of the public area, such as shop-keepers, passers-by, socially disintegrated persons, representatives of the funding bodies of SAM 9, with members of the district council, of the police, of the city administration as well as of social institutions in the neighbourhood.
The minimum target to be achieved by SAM 9 is the peaceful coexistence of the various users of the region. Necessary prerequisites are a high degree of popularity, a strong talent for cooperation and high acceptance of the team, at least in the case of disputes and of emergency, so that quick and successful interventions are possible. Already after less than one year the activities of SAM 9 produced visible results. Both people living in the neighbourhood and passers-by, but especially local shop-keepers were aware of the initiative, and the public and private institutions involved held a positive view of the cooperation. The socially disintegrated persons accept SAM 9 and the initiative’s counselling and conflict settlement activities, and the smaller number of complaints suggests that their behaviour is less conspicuous.
