Stefanie Giljohann:
Technische Universität Berlin
Forensic Psychology

1. What is your field of research? 

My research focuses on crime prevention, particularly domestic abuse and other violent phenomena. I am also involved in police research in a broader sense, for example, emerging forms of digital crime, suicide prevention among police officers, the increasing multi-professional cooperation and other police change processes.

2. Why are you participating in "Berlin is looking for the Sciencefluencer 2024"? 

I hope to raise awareness about domestic abuse. Scientific publications are not really suitable to that end. The same applies for my further research: If we don't translate the results properly and go to where our target group is, practitioners probably won’t benefit too much from them.

Interestingly, this has also become a relevant criterion when applying for funding in my field of research. However, up until then I've never been interested in social media and didn't feel qualified to use it. Hence, the program is also an opportunity for me to qualify for further research, to expand my network and to engage with practitioners in order to develop a better feel for relevant topics and trends.

This also plays a role in relation to my work in continuing education: I have noticed that my target group, PhD candidates, have less and less time for continuing education and no longer respond all that well to our advertising channels. Via linkedin, I can now reach those who don't participate in our trainings to find out more about their needs, which is important for designing our program.

3. What challenges do you face when you become a science influencer? 

Visibility was the biggest challenge for me at first. But that was just my own crazy thoughts. The support in our sciencefluencer group and in the network is great and creates a lot of positive experiences. 

The only thing that challenges me now is the immense amount of time it takes: for the individual posts, profile development, technical aspects related to images, barrier-free accessibility, etc. But here, too, it's ultimately my decision how much pressure I put on myself. It works well to develop step by step, and probably just these initial steps are the biggest and time-consuming ones. And it’s fun, too. Experimental.

4. What are your most important findings in your particular field of research? 

Never before had our research findings on domestic abuse attracted so much interest as during the pandemic. At the time, I was working for the Criminal Police Berlin and we were suddenly in constant contact with other police forces at a national and international level. There were concerns that the lockdown would intensify and increase domestic abuse. Analyzing this development, investigating the effectiveness of measures and making recommendations felt like an important contribution in this completely new reality.

5. What are your goals for the future? 

I would like to build on where I am now and to shape it more: to incorporate my practice-oriented approach and my interests in research proposals, and to continue tailoring new formats more closely to the needs of our continuing education. Ideally this should be more interconnected, because having two different jobs for years takes its toll. I'm also pondering the idea of working abroad once again. Six months in Ireland with my family in tow would be great!

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