The introduction of the Basic Income Support for Job Seekers in the year 2005 entailed the implementation of a mutual obligations system. One side of these mutual obligations requires means-tested unemployment benefit II recipients who are capable of working to take actions to reduce or end their dependence on welfare. The other side of the mutual obligations is that public employment services should offer job search assistance and suitable active labour market programmes. We study whether activation policies effectively integrate unemployment benefit II recipients into the labour market and contribute to reducing or ending their dependency on the means-tested benefits. In this context, we analyse the composition of the participants in active labour market programmes, the role of different programme features, and the effects of the programmes on employment outcomes as well as on social inclusion or psychosocial outcomes of the participants. This approach also characterises our research on benefit sanctions.