This article explores the process through which children in prison with their imprisoned parent have become a target of social concern in Finland. It is asked how the new social problem of 'children in prison' has been constructed. The data consist of relevant parts of the legislation and official documents. Three phases of social problem construction are named: (i) Children in prison as a practical and private matter; (ii) intense debate, problem formulation and developing practices and (iii) a public institutionalised practice. The position of children changed from one of invisibility to the target of protection. On the basis of children's rights, children in prison became understood as a group of children who are in need of child protection services. This example demonstrates how the images of problems construct solutions for practices.
This article examines children's and parents' positions as rights holders and family members in child welfare decision making as seen by social workers who prepare child removal decisions. The study is based on qualitative interviews with social workers, each of which includes the story of one child's case. The interviews were conducted in Finland, where the consent or objection expressed by parents and children of a certain age determine the decision-making process, as each of them can independently express a view about the removal proposal. The study highlights how family relatedness shapes the parties' autonomy and self-determination through intergenerational, interparental and other dynamics of emotional and power relations. Relational autonomy is emphasised more than individual autonomy in the social workers' descriptions. It is suggested that self-determination needs to be refined so that it acknowledges family relatedness as well as individuals as rights holders.
This article presents the results of a study carried out in Finland on the position of children who accompany their parent to prison. The study consists of document analyses and staff and inmate interviews in the two Finnish prisons with special units for children. The results highlight the lack of information on children residing in prisons as well as the lack of guidelines for practice illustrated by the term "institutional invisibility." The term "institutional invisibility" informs about the vagueness of the prison practices in relation to children and their parents.
"Meaningful Research. Perspectives on the Missions of Social Work is a collection of articles discussing the meanings, missions and meaningfulness of social work research. The open access book celebrates the anniversary of Tarja Pösö and her career as distinguished Professor of Social Work in the University of Tampere. Edited by Rosi Enroos, Mikko Mäntysaari and Satu Ranta-Tyrkkö, the book asks what kind of elements make social work research meaningful and does social work research have a particular mission and specific ethical and moral obligations, when compared to other disciplines. The research on social work research being scanty in Finland, the book expands the discussion on the particular nature of social work research. Meaningful Research discusses social work research in general and the research of child protection in particular. The book consists of an introductory chapter and two thematic sections, Vantage Points to the Meaningfulness and Missions, and Meaningfulness and Missions of Child Protection Research. The former section covers wide range of issues from concerns regarding the training of new social work researchers, change and time as the methodologically central elements of social work, the meaningfulness of social work practice, and the future ethics of social work in a world of globally evolving risks. The second, child protection specific section analyses demanding situations in substitute care, the methodologically meaningful research concerning the function of youth residential care, the legitimacy and resources of child protection research in Finland, ending with an English language article that elaborates on the meaningfulness of comparative research on child protection systems.
The book is directed to social work researchers and practitioners, as well as to teachers and students of social work and social welfare, and anyone interested in research based development of social work. " - "Mielekäs tutkimus. Näkökulmia sosiaalityön tutkimuksen missioihin on kokoomateos, jonka läpileikkaavana teemana on sosiaalityön tutkimuksen mielekkyyden, merkityksen ja missioiden pohtiminen. Avoimesti verkossa luettava kirja juhlistaa Tampereen yliopiston sosiaalityön professori Tarja Pösön merkkipäivää, ja sen ovat toimittaneet Rosi Enroos, Mikko Mäntysaari ja Satu Ranta-Tyrkkö. Kirjassa kysytään, millaisista elementeistä sosiaalityön tutkimuksen mielekkyys rakentuu ja onko sosiaalityön tutkimuksella muihin tieteenaloihin verrattuna oma missio ja erityisiä eettisiä ja moraalisia velvoitteita. Koska Suomessa on ilmestynyt varsin vähän tutkimusta sosiaalityön tutkimuksesta, kirja on tärkeä avaus sosiaalityön tutkimuksen erityislaatuisuuteen. Kirja tarkastelee sosiaalityön tutkimusta yleisesti sekä lastensuojelun tutkimusta erityisesti. Kirja koostuu johdantoluvusta sekä kahdesta osasta, Monimuotoisia näkökulmia mielekkyyteen ja missioihin ja Lastensuojelututkimuksen mielekkyys ja missiot. Näistä ensimmäisessä osassa käsitellään uusien sosiaalityön tutkijoiden kouluttamiseen liittyviä kysymyksiä, muutosta ja aikaa sosiaalityötä luonnehtivina elementteinä, uusien merkitysten ja mielekkyyden hakemista käytännön sosiaalityössä sekä globaalien, monimuotoisten ongelmien sosiaalityölle tuomia haasteita. Toisessa, lastensuojeluun keskittyvässä osassa, tarkastellaan lastensuojelun sijaishuoltotyön vaativuutta, koulukotien tehtävää ja lastensuojelun instituutioiden tutkimisen metodologiaa, lastensuojelututkimuksen vakiinnuttamisen vaikeutta sekä lastensuojelujärjestelmiä kansainvälisesti vertailevan tutkimuksen mielekkyyttä.
Teos on kirjoitettu sosiaalityön tutkijoille ja ammattilaisille sekä sosiaalityön ja sosiaalialan korkea-asteen opettajille, opiskelijoille ja kaikille sosiaalityön tutkimuspohjaisesta kehittämisestä kiinnostuneille. "
AbstractThis article examines social workers' views on care order decisions in Finnish child welfare where the decision-making procedure takes place in either the social work or court domain depending on the parties' consent or objection to the care order proposal. Exploring this parallel decision-making system provides insights into the less studied characteristics of non-adversarial decision-making compared with those of adversarial decision-making. Based on the interviews of twenty-nine social workers, the findings present a binary view of social workers: the court domain is mainly seen as being an arena for the legal safety for families whereas the social work domain is a psychosocial, fluent and smooth arena for making care order decisions important to family members. The study points out potential misuse of the social work domain. Additional safeguards are suggested to complement the existing legal, professional and ethical safeguards as well as the re-evaluation of the role and nature of consent as a divider of the decision-making procedures.
