Vulnerable relational knowing that matters

This paper explores vulnerable relational knowing, and in it we open up our own embodied habits and experiences as feminist academics. We discuss how displaying our academic bodies as naked, both symbolically and physically, enhances and appreciates—instead of hiding—vulnerability. We also discuss how our academic bodies entangle with a range of more-than-human creatures and material surroundings to highlight the multispecies and material nature of vulnerable relational knowing. Two detailed stories, “Intimate sharing of academic knowledge: A recumbent study circle” and “Keropirtti: A place and space to work differently” provide unique examples of the enactment of alternative ways of working in academia, and their analysis demonstrates the potential of vulnerability for embodied relational knowing in academia, which has, to date, been commonly analyzed in the context of writing.     

Study on a resource allocation formula for social services in Finland

This article considers how a specific need-based resource allocation formula for children's day care, income support, child welfare and other social services was developed. The formula is needed for the municipal allocation of state subsidies for social services, and the work was performed for the Ministry of Social Welfare and Health. Cross-sectional data were collected from the 436 Finnish municipalities and 37 small areas within the six largest cities. Because of the simultaneous relationship between supply and demand of services, two-stage least-square estimation and structural equations models were used in the analysis. After the effect of supply was removed from the service utilisation data, group-need factors (municipal variables) were found for these services. The new formula is financially and administratively feasible, transparent and reasonably simple.     

Bread and tea: a study of the integration of low-income immigrants from other Caribbean territories into Trinidad

This study examined the social integration of intra-Caribbean migrants within lower socioeconomic strata in Trinidad, in 1994. Data were obtained from in-depth interviews among 22 migrants. Integration means labor market participation, social interaction, political and organizational activities, and cultural encounters. Findings are not generalizable to the larger immigrant population in Trinidad. The target population was recruited through church organizations and schools. Migrants came from Grenada, St. Vincent, and Guyana. All were first generation labor migrants to Trinidad. Most located well-established circles of their own native countrymen. There were 6 males and 16 females, of whom 5 were aged 20-34 years, 8 were aged 35-64 years, and 9 were elderly. 8 had lived in Trinidad for up to 20 years and 14 lived in Trinidad over 20 years. Migrants lived in Laventille/Morvant outside Port of Spain, and in Roco, a rural village in the northeast. 16 lived in rental housing. Although all lived in low income areas, the housing ranged from substandard to adequate and pleasant. Primary support groups were friends, neighbors, and kin. Some felt social competition from Trinidadians who did not like to see migrants advancing economically. Four of the working age migrants were homemakers. Five were underemployed. The unemployed viewed themselves as work seekers and were similar to unemployed Trinidadians. Some elderly qualified for state old-age pensions. Pensioners supplemented their pension with informal activity. Migrants supported political parties. Religion and church attendance were important. Integration softened the problems of life. Social adjustment and marketable skills were not being transferred between generations. Social integration with natives was facilitated by 7 factors, including ethnocultural affinity, which promotes a sense of belonging.     

Coping Styles in Persons Recovering from Substance Abuse

This qualitative study was conducted among persons recoveringfrom substance abuse. The data were collected in three rehabilitationfacilities in Trinidad in 2002–03. The aim was to examinethe types of coping strategies which subjects used and learnedin response to stressful and problematic life situations, startingwith experiences related to childhood and socialization. Thecoping styles reported were overwhelming in the category ofemotion-focused coping, developed in the main to regulate stressin uncontrollable situations in childhood and to cope with theloss of significant others. Only a minority used, or were ableto use, problem-focused or social support coping strategiesto meet stressful events. It is suggested that the observedbias in the development of the individuals’ coping ‘armamentarium’might have had, in the long run, negative implications for individuals’capacity to meet ongoing challenges of life. This has criticalimplications for how we fashion preventive approaches to theproblem of substance abuse.     

Social Work with Immigrants and Refugees: Developing a Participation-based Framework for Anti-Oppressive Practice

Summary This Research Note represents the first in a two part series,dealing with the experience of social work with immigrants andrefugees in Finland. In this part, the author identifies keyideas and outlines research findings in the major area of employment,including a discussion of the skills and abilities which socialworkers need and can contribute in this area. The next issueof the Journal will present research evidence in relation toa range of community and cultural questions which arise fromthis work, concluding with further discussion of successfulsocial work in this field.     

Immigrant integration in the welfare state: Social work's growing arena

This article examines social work with immigrants in the welfare state context. The work is informed by two previous studies on immigrant and refugee integration in Finland and Canada. Taking a holistic perspective on resettlement, social work can be seen as a crucial support and bridging service through transition. Tasks involve active fostering of linkage to promote immigrant participation in the wider society, a mandate that goes beyond that of guaranteeing access to welfare benefits. The thrusts of empowerment for full participation and effective practice of citizenship include capacity building, networking of resources and fighting discriminatory barriers. Resettlement social work has a singular interest in reexamining the State-third sector and professional-paraprofessional divide. It would be to the advantage of the field to broaden the body of official stakeholders and actors, in the context of new partnerships. The immigrant communities hold needed stocks of cultural competence and resettlement experience, which complement areas of professional expertise. Collaborative partnerships could offer social work the possibility to access community-based resources and to reach needs and problems that may otherwise elude the mainstream social work system in the welfare state.