Search results

The context of this study is the nation-wide reform of local government in Finland, focusing on line managers and their scope of agency. Our data comprise two large-scale surveys of 40 municipalities in 2009 and 38 in 2011. The respondents were line managers from different levels of the hierarchy and, for comparative purposes, staff from the same units. Resources and constraints of agency were studied both in relation to the immediate work of the respondents and to the broader issues of municipality reform. Broad-scale reforms proceed in stages that require different forms of agency. Predominantly, a higher position in the hierarchy seemed to give better conditions for agency, but this was not always the case. Notable were the high values for intrinsic rewards of work given by all groups, indicating the existence of conditions that enable new cognitive and learning challenges to be met. It seems that this potential was not actualized satisfactorily in the accomplishment of development activities. The supervisor?s influence on the social climate of the units was evident in the longitudinal setting. From the perspective of distributed agency, this result is highly significant when one considers that the social environment is the immediate context of agency.

The context of this study is the nation-wide reform of local government in Finland, focusing on line managers and their scope of agency. Our data comprise two large-scale surveys of 40 municipalities in 2009 and 38 in 2011. The respondents were line managers from different levels of the hierarchy and, for comparative purposes, staff from the same units. Resources and constraints of agency were studied both in relation to the immediate work of the respondents and to the broader issues of municipality reform. Broad-scale reforms proceed in stages that require different forms of agency. Predominantly, a higher position in the hierarchy seemed to give better conditions for agency, but this was not always the case. Notable were the high values for intrinsic rewards of work given by all groups, indicating the existence of conditions that enable new cognitive and learning challenges to be met. It seems that this potential was not actualized satisfactorily in the accomplishment of development activities. The supervisor's influence on the social climate of the units was evident in the longitudinal setting. From the perspective of distributed agency, this result is highly significant when one considers that the social environment is the immediate context of agency.

The context of this study is the nation-wide reform of local government in Finland, focusing on line managers and their scope of agency. Our data comprise two large-scale surveys of 40 municipalities in 2009 and 38 in 2011. The respondents were line managers from different levels of the hierarchy and, for comparative purposes, staff from the same units. Resources and constraints of agency were studied both in relation to the immediate work of the respondents and to the broader issues of municipality reform. Broad-scale reforms proceed in stages that require different forms of agency. Predominantly, a higher position in the hierarchy seemed to give better conditions for agency, but this was not always the case. Notable were the high values for intrinsic rewards of work given by all groups, indicating the existence of conditions that enable new cognitive and learning challenges to be met. It seems that this potential was not actualized satisfactorily in the accomplishment of development activities. The supervisor's influence on the social climate of the units was evident in the longitudinal setting. From the perspective of distributed agency, this result is highly significant when one considers that the social environment is the immediate context of agency.

Background: There is a paucity of studies on the role of early risk factors for the choice of methods for violent suicide attempts. Adolescent risk factors for the choice of violent or non-violent methods for suicide attempts and the risk of subsequent suicide were studied using a longitudinal design. Methods: A national Swedish cohort of 48 834 18-20-year-old young men conscripted for military service from 1969 to 1970 was followed through official registers during a 37-year period. Two questionnaires concerning their psychosocial background were answered by each conscript. Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were used to estimate the risk for different methods of attempted suicide and later suicide. Results: A total of 1195 (2.4 %) men had made a suicide attempt and of these, 133 (11.1 %) committed suicide later. The number of suicide victims among the non-attempters was 482 (1 %). Half of the suicides occurred during the same year as the attempt. Suicide victims had earlier onset of suicidal behaviour and had more often used hanging as a method of attempted suicide than those who did not later commit suicide. The early risk factors for both violent and non-violent methods of suicide attempt were quite similar. Conclusion: Violent suicide attempts, especially by hanging, are associated with a clearly elevated suicide risk in men and require special clinical and public health attention. The early risk factors related to the choice of either a violent or a non-violent suicide attempt method are interlinked and circumstantial factors temporally close to the suicide attempt, such as access to a specific method, may partly explain the choice of method.

Abstract Background There is a paucity of studies on the role of early risk factors for the choice of methods for violent suicide attempts. Adolescent risk factors for the choice of violent or non-violent methods for suicide attempts and the risk of subsequent suicide were studied using a longitudinal design. Methods A national Swedish cohort of 48 834 18–20-year-old young men conscripted for military service from 1969 to 1970 was followed through official registers during a 37-year period. Two questionnaires concerning their psychosocial background were answered by each conscript. Cox proportional hazard regression analyses were used to estimate the risk for different methods of attempted suicide and later suicide. Results A total of 1195 (2.4 %) men had made a suicide attempt and of these, 133 (11.1 %) committed suicide later. The number of suicide victims among the non-attempters was 482 (1 %). Half of the suicides occurred during the same year as the attempt. Suicide victims had earlier onset of suicidal behaviour and had more often used hanging as a method of attempted suicide than those who did not later commit suicide. The early risk factors for both violent and non-violent methods of suicide attempt were quite similar. Conclusion Violent suicide attempts, especially by hanging, are associated with a clearly elevated suicide risk in men and require special clinical and public health attention. The early risk factors related to the choice of either a violent or a non-violent suicide attempt method are interlinked and circumstantial factors temporally close to the suicide attempt, such as access to a specific method, may partly explain the choice of method.

Local government in Finland has undergone considerable restructuring since 2005 as a number of new larger municipalities (mergers) and partnership areas between social and health sector service producers have been formed. Employees and the quality of their working life have not been among the main issues in this government-driven restructuring process. The article focuses on the observed changes in the quality of working life in Finnish municipalities. The data consist of two comprehensive surveys carried out in 2009 (N=3,710) and 2011 (N=4,618) for employees in the social and health sector and the education sector, and in 2011 also for employees in the administration sector, and of comparison data from the years 1995, 1999 and 2003. Quality of working life (QWL) consists of five sum variables: open ways to solve work conflicts, work influence, supervisory work, social openness at workplace, and intrinsic rewards of work. The measures proved to reflect in context-specific ways situations and conditions of work. The results imply that QWL is quite a slowly changing phenomenon, which is revealed here through a long-term research period and statistical comparisons. On the level of daily work, the widescale reform seemed more incremental than radical. As a positive sign, it is noteworthy that the intrinsic rewards of work have remained on a relatively high level through the years. There are some cases in which QWL has changed more radically. It is obvious that the reform context has increased awareness of human resource issues in these cases, which is visible in the improved QWL. It is also possible that the improvement in the supervisory role as reflected in increased satisfaction with supervisors and the relatively high level of social capital in most of the municipalities have played a buffering role against the confusion and strains related to the reform.

The article collects the variation of forms of subtle persuasion embedded in social work interviewing. It is based on the constructionist idea that institutional interviewing is not an innocent practice of information gathering, but a practice that also produces knowledge and creates identities. A detailed analysis of interview episodes from different social work settings is used to illustrate interview practices, which persuade a client to reconstruct his/her 'story'. The analysis focuses on four basic devices of persuasion: 'persuasive questions', 'persuasive responses', 'asking explanations' and 'encouraging questions'. The devices are not clear-cut entities, but they seem in an interesting way to be complementary, and also overlapping in the functions they fulfil. By explicating the interactional construction of the devices, the article aims at contributing to social workers' understanding of the nature of the means through which practical activities are achieved.

English
This article deals with the construction of the content and goals of Finnish environmental policy. The basic issue is whether there are discourse and strategy coalitions of key players to be identified as well as interests with which the discourses and strategies coincide. In the study, 41 key players in the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development were interviewed. The main result is that environmental discourses show diversity. Two ideal types of basic environmental policy strategies, termed 'ecological modernisation' and 'structural change', were found. It is concluded that there is no easy starting point for unity in environmental policy making. However, additional research is needed to examine the relevant policy sectors from the broad viewpoint of social development and environmental politics.

In an examination of the content & goals of Finnish environmental policy, the basic issue is whether there are discourse & strategy coalitions of key players to be identified as well as interests with which the discourses & strategies coincide. Interviews with 41 key players in the Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development revealed that environmental discourses show diversity. Two ideal types of basic environmental policy strategies -- ecological modernization & structural change -- were found. It is concluded that there is no easy starting point for unity in environmental policy making. However, additional research is needed to examine the relevant policy sectors from the broad viewpoint of social development & environmental politics. 1 Table, 3 Figures, 44 References. Adapted from the source document.

The evolution of environmental policy is increasingly driven by the emergence and interaction of policy concepts and the frameworks, knowledge, and ideas they employ. We argue that policy actors' creative use of policy concepts often leads to their combinatorial development. In this policy process, the concepts interact and shape each other's policy relevance and future development under the influence of ideas, knowledge, and political factors. We formulate this new research approach using ideational and policy process theories. In particular, we explicate internal and contextual combinatory elements that enable policy change resulting from mutual development of policy concepts. For an empirical demonstration, we analyze the conceptual innovation, rise, and ramifications of nutrient recycling as a new segment of Finnish environmental policy. ; publishedVersion ; Peer reviewed

This study contributes to the existing stepmother research by focusing on interaction as an aspect of stepmother identity construction. Accordingly, identity is seen as negotiated through interaction with other family members. A narrative approach applied to 58 stories written by Finnish stepmothers yielded three identity types: identity restricted by a biological mother, stepmother-centred identity, and team parenthood identity. The most dominant feature, common to all the stories, was that stepmothers perceived themselves primarily in relation to the children's biological mothers, a stance that often led them to feel threatened. Stepmother identity construction appeared to be problematic in many respects, and thus required reflection and negotiation. However, this did not resolve the above-mentioned issues. The present findings indicated that fathers might be placed in a unique role in the father, mother and stepmother triangle.

No person with a disability shall be left behind. This report presents suggested indicators for monitoring the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability and Agenda 2030 in the Nordic region. The vision of the Nordic cooperation is to become the most integrated and sustainable in the world by 2030. The vision mirrors the sustainable development goals of Agenda 2030, according to which no-one shall be left behind. Persons with disabilities have the right to inclusion, and the Nordic countries monitor the developments of living conditions for persons with disabilities. All countries have also ratified the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and have high ambitions with regard to Agenda 2030. Throughout the region we face similar challenges concerning inclusion. Participation is not equal, not in employment, nor in education, economy, or health. But to improve this we need to see it. Even if a set of indicators is not the only way forward, they can help us measure if we are on the right track. In this report, we suggest a set of indicators that could be developed further and used to follow the developments towards inclusion and measure living conditions. By developing such a set of comparable indicators in the Nordic countries, we can see whether the countries separately and collectively follow the intentions of the UNCRPD to improve the living conditions of people with disabilities. The indicators are also an aid in the work to identify whether we are working correctly to achieve the Agenda 2030 targets.

AbstractThis article examines the processes of urban commoning and its co‐produced features of urbanity, making the claim that, through these processes, informality becomes translated into institutionalized city planning. Commoning is analysed through a comparative study that utilizes contingent features of urbanity and three modalities accommodating the informality–formality meshwork during urban change. The article contributes to research on urban transformations by integrating commons, informality dynamics and the constitution of state institutions. This focus is elaborated with reference to collective gardening practices in the context of two of the less studied European cities, Narva in Estonia and Tampere in Finland. The results of the study indicate that urban commoning takes place through delegating a public mandate and enacting uncertainty, two processes that informalize city government practices. Particular differences appeared in regard to the institutional porosity that enables unregulated spaces of collective gardening to be mobilized as part of urban politics. We argue that networked movements appear as an essential part of the urban logic of action producing meaningful connections in an informal–formal meshwork and bringing together multiple sites in the commoning process.