Stefania Calabrese

Stefania Calabrese is a Professor at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) within the School of Social Work, specifically affiliated with the Institute for Social Pedagogy and Social Policy and the Competence Center for Disability and Quality of Life (BuLQ). She serves as the Responsible Competence Center leader and maintains her office at Werftestrasse 1 in Lucerne. Her professional work spans teaching, research, and practical consulting in the field of disability support.

Her educational background includes a Doctorate in Educational Science (specializing in Special Education) from the University of Zurich (2012-2016), where she received the Förderpreis from the Leben Pur Foundation for her dissertation titled From Understanding 'Challenging Behaviors' to Understanding 'Challenging Situations': Designing Work Situations for People with Severe Disabilities. She also holds a Master's degree in Education (specializing in Educational Psychology and Social Pedagogy, Special Education, and Criminology) from the University of Zurich (2005-2011).

Professor Calabrese's research focuses on challenging behaviors of people with cognitive impairments, prevention and de-escalation techniques in challenging situations, violence prevention in disability contexts, intensive care systems, and quality of life assessment for individuals with severe disabilities. Her work emphasizes systemic approaches to understanding behavioral challenges as situational rather than individual problems.

Her extensive publication record shows consistent output since 2012, with a clear trend toward increasingly sophisticated methodological approaches to studying challenging behaviors. Recent work (2023-2025) demonstrates growing emphasis on systemic perspectives, ethical considerations in research with vulnerable populations, architectural influences on behavior, and digital solutions for support staff. Her publications frequently examine the institutional frameworks that shape responses to challenging behaviors.

• Leben Pur Foundation Förderpreis (March 2016) for dissertation

Professor Calabrese supervises BA and MA thesis students at the FHNW School of Social Work and Agogis. Her research has been supported through multiple projects including HEVE (Herausfordernde Verhaltensweisen von Erwachsenen mit kognitiven Beeinträchtigungen), VIA (Gewaltprävention), and various Swiss National Science Foundation initiatives. She serves on the board of the Swiss Society for the Health of People with Intellectual Development Disabilities and the Anthrosocial Association's Department for Prevention of Violence and Sexual Exploitation.

Her work through the Competence Center for Disability and Quality of Life (BuLQ) involves developing practical tools for disability support organizations, including the HEVE Portal and evidence-based guidelines for managing challenging behaviors. She collaborates extensively with Swiss disability institutions to implement research findings into practice.