SARAH POTTHOFF, Ph.D.
Institute for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Malakowturm
Markstraße 258a
44799 Bochum
Germany
Tel | +49 (0)234 32-28655
Fax | +49 (0)234 32-14205
sarah.potthoff@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
Curriculum vitae
Employment
| Since 2023 | Researcher at the Institute for Experimental Medicine, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Working group Biomedical Ethics |
| 2021 – 2023 | Project management “QualiEth – Research ethics in qualitative health research: An interdisciplinary and international spring school”, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) |
| 2021 – 2022 | Project management “Equalise – Improving the ethical review of qualitative health research”, FoRUM-Program of Medical Faculty of Ruhr-University Bochum |
| Since 2018 | Researcher at the Institute for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, Ruhr-University of Bochum, “SALUS project – The ethics of coercion: Striking a balance between autonomy, well-being and security in psychiatric practice”, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) |
| 2018 – 2019 | Interim chair of the junior professorship Qualitative Methods in the Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Science, Ruhr-University of Bochum |
| 2016 – 2018 | Lecturer, Section Methods in the Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Science, Ruhr-University of Bochum |
| 2015 – 2016 | Lecturer, Section Social Anthropology, Faculty of Sociology, University of Bielefeld |
| 2008 – 2010 | Project coordinator, International Peace Observers Network e.V., Berlin |
Qualification
| 2016 | PhD in Sociology at the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology, University of Bielefeld |
| 2006 | Master of Arts (literary studies and sociology), University of Bielefeld |
Memberships and functions
- Associate Editor of the journal Qualitative Health Research
- Member of the section Methods of Qualitative Social Research of the German Sociological Association
- Member of the Academy for Ethics in Medicine
- Certified consultant (K1) for ethics consulting in health care, Academy for Ethics in Medicine
External research funding
| 2021 – 2023 | QualiEth – Research ethics in qualitative health research: An interdisciplinary and international spring school, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) |
| 2021 – 2022 | EQUALISE – Improving the ethical review of qualitative health research, FoRUM-Program of Medical Faculty of Ruhr-University Bochum |
Scholarships
| 2011 – 2015 | Cusanus doctoral scholarship |
| 2010 – 2015 | Various grants from Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology |
| 2003 | DAAD scholarship |
Research abroad
| 2011 – 2012 | Karnataka, India (affiliate at the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi) |
| 2007 | Luzon, Philippines |
| 2003 | Orissa, India (affiliate at the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi) |
Research interests
• Methodology and methods of qualitative social research • Research ethics • Psychological pressure and coercion in psychiatry • Psychiatric Advance Directives • Gender justice and diversity • Chronic pain
Publications
Articles in peer-review Journals
Hempeler C, Potthoff S, Scholten M, Juckel G, Gather J (2024). Strategies to promote treatment compliance: a grounded theory study with relatives of people with a serious mental health condition. BMC Psychiatry 24, 490. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-024-05907-9
Potthoff S, Roth F, Scholten M, (2024). Qualitative health research and procedual ethics: An interview study to investigate researchers’ ways of navigating the demands of medical research ethics committees in Germany. Research Ethics , 20(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/17470161231202135
Potthoff S, Hempeler C, Gather J, Gieselmann A, Vollmann J, Scholten M, (2023). Research ethics in practice: An analysis of ethical issues encountered in qualitative health research with mental health service users and relatives. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-023-10169-5
Sterie A-C, Potthoff S, Erdmann A, Burner-Fritsch IS, Aluh DO, Schneiders ML, (2023). Dimensions of researcher vulnerability in qualitative health research and recommendations for future practice. International Journal of qualitative Methods, Vol. 22, doi/10.1177/16094069231183600 
Hempeler C, Braun E, Potthoff S, Gather J, Scholten M, (2023). When treatment pressures become coercive: A context-sensitive model of informal coercion in mental healthcare. The American Journal of Bioethics. DOI: 10.1080/15265161.2023.2232754
Scholten M, Efkemann S, Faissner M, Finke M, Gather J, Gergel T, van der Ham L, Juckel G, van Melle AL, Owen G, Potthoff S, Stephenson LA, Szmukler G, Vellinga A, Vollmann J, Voskes Y, Werning A, and Widdershoven G, (2023). Opportunities and challenges of self-binding directives: A comparison of research with stakeholders in three European countries. European Psychiatry. 66(1), e48, 1–6, doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2023.2421
Erdmann A, Potthoff S, (2023): Decision criteria for the ethically reflected choice of a member check method in qualitative research – a proposal for discussion. International Journal of qualitative Methods. Vol. 22. doi.org/10.1177/16094069231177664
Potthoff S, Finke M, Scholten M, Gieselmann A, Vollmann J, Gather J, (2022). Opportunities and risks of self-binding directives: A qualitative study involving stakeholders and scientists in Germany. Frontiers in Psychiatry 13:974132. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.974132
Potthoff S, Gather J, Hempeler C, Gieselmann A, Scholten M. (2022). “Voluntary in quotation marks”: a conceptual model of psychological pressure in mental healthcare based on a grounded theory analysis of interviews with service users. BMC Psychiatry 22, 186 (2022). doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-03810-9
Potthoff S (2018). Interpretations of Justice. Conceptions of Family and Gender Justice at a Nari Adalat (Woman’s Courts) in South India. Socio & Legal Studies. doi.org/10.1177/0964663918815943
Potthoff S (2016). Women within Family Disputes: Making and Negotiating a Claim at a Nari Adalat. ASIEN. The German Journal on Contemporary Asia 138, January 2016. doi.org/10.11588/asien.2016.138.18596
Special Collection
Potthoff S, Hempeler C, Scholten M. (eds) 2023. Research ethics in qualitative health research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069231189335
Short articles and comments
Scholten, M, Efkemann S, Faissner M, Finke M, Gather J, Gergel T, Gieselmann A, van Melle L, Owen G, Potthoff S, Stephenson L A, Szmukler G, Vellinga A, Vollmann J, Voskes Y, Werning A, and Widdershoven G. (2023). Implementation of self-binding directives: Recommendations based on expert consensus and input by stakeholders in three European countries. World Psychiatry. 22 (2): 332-333. doi.org/10.1002/wps.21095 
Faissner M, Gather J, Haferkemper I, Heuer I, Lux U, Potthoff S, Spiegel S, Stefaniak C, Thesing M, Werning A, (2023). Der SALUS Betroffenen- und Angehörigenbeirat. Ein kollaborativer Bericht über Erfahrungen, Chancen und Herausforderungen in der Zusammenarbeit. Sozialpsychiatrische Informationen 1(2023)
Monograph
Potthoff S (2016). Negotiating Gender Justice and Cultural Diversity. A qualitative Study about Nari Adalats (Women‘s Courts) in rural Karnataka, South India. Dissertation: Universität Bielefeld