Psykoterapia, masennus ja sisäinen tarina

Psychotherapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for depression, but not enough is known about the subjective meanings of therapy for human life. This study focuses on experiences of the effects of psychotherapy, thoughts about changes in depression and meanings of the therapy in the inner narratives of persons who sought psychotherapy for their depression. The study was based on interviews of 14 persons, who took part in the Helsinki Psychotherapy Study (HPS). Half of them took part in short-term solution-focused therapy and half in long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy. The sample included both women and men. Part of them had recovered from their depression by the end of therapy (BDI<10), part had not. Therapy was experienced to have effects on one s immediate feelings, thoughts and social actions. Some barriers were also connected to the therapy and the HPS research frame. The relief of depression was explained by enhanced understanding and perspective changes. Also the therapeutic alliance and factors not connected to therapy were seen to have influence on the experienced changes. The resumption of depression was regarded as the consequence of ill-fitting therapy or therapist, incompleteness of the therapy or other reasons not connected to the therapy itself. With the narrative analysis three interpretations were constructed concerning how the persons had sought for therapy, what was the image they had about themselves and their problems and what were their expectations for the therapy. The interpretations were summed up to the life historical, situational and moral inner narrative. Through the psychotherapy some inner narratives came true. In these cases psychotherapy reinforced the original inner narrative. In other cases psychotherapy did not meet the inner narrative of the person, neither had the narrative changed. For some persons the inner narrative got new forms during the therapy: the analyses showed that psychotherapy had reconstructed the persons conceptions about themselves and their problems, which led to changes in the expectations concerning the therapy. Key words: psychotherapy, depression, inner narrative, qualitative research, analysis of narrative, narrative analysis

Lastensuojelun sosiaalityö asiakirjoina : Dokumentoinnin ja tiedonmuodostuksen dynamiikka

Tutkimuksen keskeinen tehtävä on selvittää, mikä on dokumentoinnin merkitys lastensuojelun sosiaalityön tiedonmuodostuksessa ja ammattikäytännöissä. Asiakirjateksteistä koostuvaa tutkimusaineistoa tarkastellaan kolmesta eri suunnasta kysymällä: 1)Miten asiakirjoja kirjoitetaan? 2) Mitä asiakirjoihin kirjoitetaan? 3) Miksi asiakirjoja kirjoitetaan niin kuin kirjoitetaan? Tutkimusaineisto muodostuu lastensuojelun sosiaalityöntekijöiden laatimista asiakastietojärjestelmään tallennetuista muistiinpanoista ja huostaanottopäätöksistä. Tutkimukseen on valittu 20 huostaanotetun eri-ikäisen lapsen ja heidän perheensä asiakirjat yhteensä 1613 asiakirjatulostussivua. Tekstit ajoittuvat vuodesta 1989 vuoteen 2000. Tutkimusmenetelmä on diskurssianalyyttinen ja tukeutuu Fairclough`n (1997)esittämään kolmiulotteiseen malliin, jossa diskurssi määritellään tekstin, käytäntöjen ja sosiokulttuurisen ympäristön suhteeksi. Diskurssianalyysi on näiden rakenteiden ja niiden välisten suhteiden kuvaamista, tulkintaa ja selittämistä. Fairclough’n mallia mukaillen tutkimuksen analyysi koostuu retoriikan ja tematiikan analyyseistä sekä pragmatiikan näkökulman sisältävästä tarkastelusta. Asiakirjatekstien pilkkominen puhujakategorioihin osoitti tekstien olevan moniäänisiä, useiden henkilöiden näkemyksiä ja mielipiteitä sisältäviä tekstipintoja. Retoriikan analyysi näytti, että lastensuojelun sosiaalityön asiakirjat sisältävät paljon dynaamisia kuvauksia työstä. Asiakirjojen kirjoittaminen moniäänisiksi tuo tekstiin uskottavuutta, ja se on myös yksi retorinen vaikuttamiskeino. Tematiikan tarkastelu osoitti,että asiakirjojen sisällölliset teemat (lapsen hoiva, arjen hallinta, yhteistyö ja päihteiden käyttö) ja kokemukselliset teemat (huoli, vastuu, yhteys ja moraali) toistuvat sisäkkäisinä ja päällekkäisinä säikeinä dynaamisesti vaihdellen. Sosiaalityöntekijät kirjaavat teksteihin monia yhtäaikaisia teemoja, joiden avulla rakentavat ammatillista ymmärrystä kyseessä olevasta tilanteesta. Asiakirjojen tutkiminen pragmatiikan suunnasta toi esiin, kirjoittamisen ja lukemisen kontekstiulottuvuudet sekä tiedonmuodostusprosessin. Asiakirjojen laatiminen on osa sosiaalityön käytäntöjä. Se on myös keskeinen alue ammattikunnan yhteisen ammatillisen ymmärryksen luomisessa ja ylläpitämisessä. Muistiinpanot, huostaanottopäätökset ja lakitekstit ovat intertekstuaalisia. Lastensuojelun sosiaalityön asiakirjojen tutkiminen on avannut uusia mahdollisuuksia ymmärtää sosiaalityön dokumentointiprosessia, merkitystä ja roolia sekä tiedonmuodostuksen dynamiikkaa. Tekstien kirjoittaminen, niiden lukeminen, tietojen siirtäminen ja asiakkaan kuuleminen samoin kuin kuulemisen kirjaaminen ovat sosiaalityön dokumentoinnin keskeisiä haasteita. Tutkimus pyrkii avaamaan ymmärrystä asiakirjatekstien monivivahteiseen ja dynaamiseen maailmaan ja siten myös sosiaalityön dokumentoinnin arkeen. Tarkastelut mahdollistavat työn kehittämisen erityisesti sosiaalityön asiakasvaikuttavuuden mittaamisen ja parantamisen suuntaan. Asiakirjoissa ilmenevä tiedonmuodostuksen dynamiikka syntyy kirjoittamiskäytäntöjen, kirjoittamisen ja lukemisen sekä toimintakäytäntöjen yhteisessä alueessa. Avainsanat: sosiaalityö, lastensuojelu, dokumentointi, asiakirja, diskurssianalyysi, tiedonmuodostus.

Biovalta, toiseus ja naisten toimijuus hedelmöityshoidoissa

Biopower, Otherness and Women's Agency in Assisted Reproduction. This sociological study analyses how, why and with what kind of consequences assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have become the primary technology for governing infertility in Finland both on the level of individuals and society. The phenomenon is construed as one the strategies of the Focaultian biopower since ART are political techniques of the beginning of life par excellence, as they are used to prepare the bodies of certain types of women to create certain kind of life, i.e. certain kind of children. Moreover, ART are interpreted to be gendered control techniques with which the pure, and at the same time prevailing, social order symbolised by a female body is maintained by naming and excluding otherness, unsuitable mother candidates and children. Finally, it is considered how the agency, subjectivity, of women experiencing infertility and seeking treatment appears in the prevailing context of ART. The introduction of IVF-based reproductive technologies to Finland and the treatment practices of the early 1990s have been studied on the basis of a clinic questionnaire, medical doctor interviews and articles of the Medical Journal Duodecim from 1969 to 2000. Opinions on the method of the treatment providers were studied by conducting a theme interview with fertilisation doctors in 1993. Experiences of women who have received treatment or experienced infertility were studied by means of a survey in 1994 and by analysing the content of messages in an online discussion forum in 2000. On the basis of the medical doctor interviews, significant criterion for choosing mother candidates turned out to be her vitality and her mental and physical health, which are considered prerequisites for a vitality of the child to be born. The hierarchies concerning children became evident. While people normally make their children on their own, this is what people experiencing infertility are trying to do as well. In the era of ART, the primary child is genetically the parents' own child, a secondary option for Finnish parents is a genetically Finnish child conceived by donated Finnish gametes or embryos and the last option is an adopted child of foreign origin. Women's agency mainly appears in their way of using ART as a technology of the self for self-control on one's own nature, which helps them to prepare their bodies in order to become pregnant in co-operation with a fertilisation doctor. Women's creative free agency exceeding governance appeared as a distinctive use of language with which they created shared meaning for their infertility experience, their own individual and group identity and distinctive reality. ART are very political techniques as they have a possibility to change the methods of having children and to shape life. Therefore, further sociological research on them is important and needed. Key words: practises of assisted reproduction, women's agency, biopower, vital politics of the beginning of life, otherness

Vaikeavammaisen nuoren aikuistuminen : Yksilöllinen ja erilainen elämänkulku

Transition to adulthood of severely disabled adolescents. Diversity in individual life courses. The focus of this study is to examine the transition to adulthood of severely disabled adolescents as part of their life course. The data for this study were gathered through interviews with nine severely disabled adolescents, who were interviewed several times over a period of eight years. At the beginning of the study the adolescents were between 18 and 24 years old. The informants had severe disabilities manifesting themselves as physical incapacity, cerebral palsy, vision or hearing impairment, neurological disease, or developmental disability. One of the adolescents communicated with symbols. All except one used a wheelchair. As severely disabled adolescents, they received benefits from Kela for persons with severe disabilities, such as the higher-rate or special disability allowance or disability pension, the higher-rate or special pensioners' care allowance, or medical rehabilitation services. The interviews focused on a number of selected themes such as relationships, family, education, work, leisure-time activities, dating, decision-making, independence, happiness, and one s self-image and identity. Data were also derived from interviews with five experts. Two of the experts interviewed were severely disabled themselves. The theoritical foundation of the study lies in perviuos research on the severly disabled, the transition to adulthood and the life course. The method of analysis and interpretation is qualitative and based on interviews with the adolescents. In terms of the analytical process, the focus is on recognizing individual events in the transition process to adulthood and identifying the meanings assigned to them by the adolescents. The narratives also provide a method to shed light on the individuality of the transition. The individual situations of severely disabled adolescents vary, and their disability impacts the range of options available to them as they plan their life course. The medical and social models of disability also have an effect on life courses. Although severely disabled adolescents are able to attain some goals, they remain outsiders in many respects. Key words: Disabled person, severely disabled person, adolescent, transition to adulthood, identity, life course.

Kaupunkilaisen elinympäristöongelma : Käsitteellistämistavat ja puuttumisen mallit

The study analyses the reaction of urban residents to problems, i.e. disturbing factors, in their living environment, and also their ways of doing something about these problems. It is based on urban-sociological theory on everyday life in a modern metropolis. On this theoretical basis, problems in the urban living environment are analysed in terms of a policy of everyday interference: when urban citizens become aware of a problem in their environment, they face a pattern of behaviour where the norm is polite indifference and negative solidarity. They may feel they ought to do something about the problem, but at the same time, an implicit rule of urban life is not to interfere with other people s lives so they won t interfere with yours. For example, it is not that easy for someone disturbed by littering to complain directly to those who litter the streets. Or if you complain about tobacco smoke from the neighbour s balcony, your neighbours might get cross. Direct interference with a problem in the environment usually implies an encounter with a hitherto unknown counterpart and their possible counter-reaction. The risk is either to lose face or get into downright conflict. Therefore, an easier way may be to complain to the city authorities. The Helsinki City Environment Centre is currently working on solutions for all the various kinds of problems that occur in a dense urban structure. Various ways of conceptualising the problems in the living environment are analysed empirically using theme interviews made with citizens having contacted Helsinki City Environment Centre. A phenomenographic approach and a theory-based categorisation are applied on the analysis of the theme interviews. On the grounds of the analysis, the ways of conceptualising are determined by 1) the difficulty of interfering and convincing other people, which in practice means meddling in other people s business, 2) a territorial struggle for space and a place in a dense urban structure, 3) breaches of rules and norms for social routines in urban life, and 4) a crumbling of the urban identity and all that goes along with that. The analysis of the ways of conceptualisation is deepened using a cultural risk theory. The final outcome of the analysis is four types of behaviour among urban residents with regard to interference with everyday problems in the living environment. They have been called yard police , fence builder , park warden and environmental caretaker . The study combines an urban-sociological approach with the theoretical tradition of urban research and with research on municipal environmental policy.

Stadilaispojat, rikokset ja lastensuojelu : Viisi tapaustutkimusta kuudelta vuosikymmeneltä

Societal reactions to norm breaking behavior of children reveal, how we understand childhood, the relations between generations and communitie's ratio of tolerance. In Finland the children that repeatedly commit crimes receive social service measures that are based on Child Welfare Act. In the city of Helsinki (Stadi in the slang of Helsinki) existed an agency specifically established for ill-behaving children until the 1980's, agter which an unified agency for the maltreated and maladjusted children was founded. Through five boys' welfare cases, this research aims at defining what kind of positions, social relations and structures are constructed in the social dynamics of these children's everyday lives. The cases cover different decades from the 1940s to the present. At the same time the cases reflect the child welfare and societal practices, and reveal how the communities have participated in constructing deviance in different eras. The research is meta-theoretically based on critical realism and specifically on Roy Bhaskar's transformative model of social activity. The cases are analyzed in the framework of Edwin M. Lemert's societal reaction theory. Thus the focus of the study is on the wide structural context of the institutional and societal definitions of deviance. The research is methodologically based on a qualitative multiple case study research. The primary data consist of classified child welfare case files collected from the archives of the city of Helsinki. The data of the institutional level consist of the annual reports from 1943 to 2004 and the ordinances from 1907 onwards, and of various committee documents produced in the law-making process of child welfare, youth and criminal legislation of the 20th century. Empirical finding are interpreted in a dialogue with previous historical and child welfare research, contemporary literature and studies on the urban development. The analysis is based on Derek Layder's model of adaptive theory. The research forms a viewpoint to the historical study of child welfare, in which the historical era, its agents and the dynamics of their mutual relations are studied through an individual level reconstruction based on the societal reaction theory. The case analyses reveal how the positions of the children form differently in the different eras of child welfare practices. In the 1940s the child is positioned as a psychopath and a criminal type. The measures are aimed at protecting the community from the disturbed child, and at adjusting the individual by isolation. From 1960s to 1980s the child is positioned as a child in need of help and support. The child becomes a victim, a subject that occupies rights, and a target of protection. In the turn of the millennium a norm breaking child is positioned as a dangerous individual that, in the name of the community safety, has to be confined. The case analyses also reveal the prevailing academic and practical paradigms of the time. Keywords: childhood, youth, child protection, child welfare, delinquency, crime, deviance, history, critical realism, case study research

Sulkeuman ja neuvottelun ehdoilla : asiantuntija-aseman rakentuminen työelämässä

Closure and negotiation constructing professional position in working life The aim of the thesis is to analyse how professional positions are constructed in working life. A professional position refers to a formal professional membership, but also to a position at a work site. Formal jurisdiction provides resources for supporting a position, but the relations, practices and processes at the work site strongly shape it as well. Professional membership includes two gates: obtaining a professional diploma and access to a professional post. The concept of a professional position is based on two sub-concepts: legitimation and authority. Legitimation is society-level jurisdiction over professioning. Legitimation can be claimed in legislation, in the public space and the media, and at the work site. Authority requires constructing professional work territories and practicing authority in work-related decision making processes. The thesis is based on five articles which deal with the following topics: gendered professional careers; organising professional work; the impact of the social and cultural backgrounds when striving for professional positions; and models of research work. The articles represent two types of sociological research: the structural approach with quantitative methodology and the approach of micro-social analysis with qualitative methodology. The first approach was suitable for analyzing professional career formation and its social and ethnic conditions. The second approach has been applied in the articles dealing with the organization of professional work and models of research work. I have combined and analysed the results of these studies under the theoretical frame of the professional position in working life. Legislation is the most powerful form of legitimation. Professional membership is strongly regulated in disciplines where a degree requirement is defined by law. In addition, closures related to social conditions still affect professional positions, but their character is loose and changing. The closures related to social conditions are based on many mutually overlapping principles: social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds and gender. Despite the closures, professional experts have to negotiate their positions, particularly when the situation in the work sites and society changes. Professional authority is reinforced at the organizational level by legislation; when the institutional status of a public sector professional organization is defined by law, it reinforces the professional position of the employees. In the business line of new media, the employees need to negotiate with the management, other professional groups and clients when striving for reinforce their professional position.

Kansallinen identiteetti ja suomalaiseksi samastuminen

National identity is a general, more or less shared meaning structure. Those who share it, identify with a nation according to their beliefs of what national identity consists of. The present study examined the Finnish national identity in relation to other spatial identities, such as local or European identity. Data were drawn from a sample of 179 respondents who represented the adult population in the year 1993. The focus was on the representation of the Finnish national identity, the limits and components of this identity, and on the position of national identification among all human identifications. Categorization, the basic process in the construction of national identity, consists of inclusion and exclusion. Different forms of identification could be distinguished along with different contents. Discrimination and derogation of outgroups were associated with identification that emphasized inter-nation comparison and framed identity in an essentialistic and thus exclusionary way. The contents of national identity were examined using a quantitative word-assessment method, and related to different forms of identification. With regard to Finnish identification, few differences between age, educational or SES groups were found. Despite the lack of differences in the strength of Finnish identification, those with more education to a greater extent relativized their Finnishness. Those who held positive attitudes to immigrants associated Finnishness with both positive and negative traits. Pro-immigrant attitude was related to an emphasis on cultural Finnishness and a de-emphasis on comparative and status-oriented Finnishness. Among the respondents with lower level of education, the emphasis on cultural Finnishness clearly predicted pro-immigrant attitudes. Those who did not produce any spontaneous response to a request to define Finnishness were more likely to be anti-immigrant. Thus, reflexive self-understanding implies openness towards other nationalities. Changes in the representation of Finnishness are suggested by differential weights given by respondents to different aspects of the national identity. Older respondents regarded the moral-anthropomorphic aspects of identity as more important. The younger respondents felt relatively more Finnish in the company of foreigners than did the older generations, to whom being with friends and in other close relationships stood out as contexts of national identification. The aspect of identity which is based on categorization and comparison could be called identity for others. The other aspect of the national identity is identity for ourselves, which emphasizes self and cultural self-understanding. A modern marketing oriented “image-of-Finland” identity represents identity for others.

Kaupungin savut ja käryt : Helsingin ilmansuojelu 1945-1982

The smoke and fumes of the city: Air protection in Helsinki from 1945 to 1982 This dissertation examines air pollution and air protection in post-war Helsinki. The period studied ends in 1982 when the Air Protection Act entered into force, thus institutionalising air protection in Finland as a socially governed environmental matter. The dissertation is based on the research traditions of environmental politics and urban environmental history. The development of air protection is approached from the perspectives of politicisation and institutionalisation. The dissertation also investigates how air pollution grew into a social issue and presents various discursive ways of analysing air pollution and protection. The primary research material consists of municipal documents and newspapers, while supplementary material includes journal articles and interviews. The event history of air protection is described through an analysis of the material, including source criticism. The social ways of dealing with air pollution and the emergence of air protection are analysed in the light of case-specific air quality disputes from both factual and discursive perspectives. This approach enables the contextualisation of the development of air protection as part of the local history of post-war Helsinki. The dissertation presents the major sources of air pollution in Helsinki and describes the deterioration of air quality in a society which emphasised the primacy of economic prosperity. The air issue emerged during the 1950s in neighbourhood disputes and was exacerbated into a larger problem in the late 1960s. Concurrent to the formation of the field of environmental protection in Finland, an air protection organisation was established in the 1970s in Helsinki. As a result, air protection became a regular part of municipal government. Air protection in Helsinki developed from small-scale policies focused on individual cases into a large, institutionalised air protection system managed by experts. The dissertation research material gave rise to the following major research themes: the economic dimension of the air issue, the role of science in the formation of the environmental problem, and the establishment of norms for acceptable air quality and reasonable limits to air pollution in the urban environment. The paper also discusses the inequitable distribution of the negative effects of air pollution between the residents of different districts. The dissertation concludes that air protection in Helsinki became a local success story although it was long marred by inefficiency and partial failure.

Matkalla marginaalista valtavirtaan? : Huumeiden käytön lopettaneiden elämäntapa ja toipuminen

On a journey from marginal to mainstream? The lifestyle and recovery of former drug users This thesis studies the lifestyle and recovery of former users of illicit drugs through their experiences. The study describes the life of people with drug problems both during the time they used drugs regularly and after they stopped the use entirely. The focus is on the development of the lifestyle of 32 persons who no longer use drugs. They may have stopped using drugs independently or with the help of a treatment. In this study, persons who have given up drug use with the help of a psychosocially oriented treatment are called non-medicinally treated former users (n=19) whereas opioid addicts who have stopped using drugs through substitution treatment are referred to as substitution treatment patients (n=13). The research material was gathered from theme interviews. The criteria for the focus group of the study included the following: a) the interviewees had had a serious drug problem in their past; b) they had not used drugs for at least one year prior to the interview; c) they were not in an institutional care at the time of the study. This thesis is basically a lifestyle study in which the aspects of lifestyle are used to describe the everyday life of former drug users. The study reviews the whole spectrum of everyday routines, especially the social interaction and subjective experiences of people. The second concept used in this study is recovery, which is described as a process that starts from the abstinence from substances and adoption of the recovery culture and continues as a comprehensive change of the lifestyle, identity and values of an individual. Disengaging from a drug-oriented lifestyle and connected social network as well as finding an individual frame of reference is a demanding process. Years of drug use have often caused complex health and social disadvantages as well as problems with work, education, livelihood, accommodation and human relationships. The effect of the past on the present arises at all levels. The interviews revealed a recovery culture maintaining the lifestyle as well as an adaptive and optimistic approach to the future among those participating in the study. The study shows that an adequate distance from acute substance use is a precondition for the beginning of the recovery process, yet abstinence in itself tells nothing about the actual recovery. The study describes how some recovering users find a meaning in life easily whereas others have to work actively for their recovery. Detaching oneself from the feeling of adopted abnormality connected with substance addiction forms an important basis for satisfying abstinence. Peer groups support the development of counter-cultures and abstinence or the support is received from the community formed in the substitution treatment clinic.

Trust and Safe Choices: Coping with health-related risks in food consumption in St. Petersburg

This dissertation considers the problem of trust in the context of food consumption. The research perspectives refer to institutional conditions for consumer trust, personal practices of food consumption, and strategies consumers employ for controlling the safety of their food. The main concern of the study is to investigate consumer trust as an adequate response to food risks, i.e. a strategy helping the consumer to make safe choices in an uncertain food situation. "Risky" perspective serves as a frame of reference for understanding and explaining trust relations. The original aim of the study was to reveal the meanings applied to the concepts of trust, safety and risks in the perspective of market choices, the assessments of food risks and the ways of handling them. Supplementary research tasks presumed descriptions of institutional conditions for consumer trust, including descriptions of the food market, and the presentation of food consumption patterns in St. Petersburg. The main empirical material is based on qualitative interviews with consumers and interviews and group discussions with professional experts (market actors, representatives of inspection bodies and consumer organizations). Secondary material is used for describing institutional conditions for consumer trust and the market situation. The results suggest that the idea of consumer trust is associated with the reputation of suppliers, stable quality and taste of their products, and reliable food information. Being a subjectively constructed state connected to the act of acceptance, consumer trust results in positive buying decisions and stable preferences in the food market. The consumers' strategies that aim at safe food choices refer to repetitive interactions with reliable market actors that free them from constant consideration in the marketplace. Trust in food is highly mediated by trust in institutions involved in the food system. The analysis reveals a clear pattern of disbelief in the efficiency of institutional food control. The study analyses this as a reflection of "total distrust" that appears to be a dominant mood in many contexts of modern Russia. However, the interviewees emphasize the state's decisive role in suppressing risks in the food market. Also, the findings are discussed with reference to the consumers' possibilities of personal control over food risks. Three main responses to a risky food situation are identified: the reflexive approach, the traditional approach, and the fatalistic approach.

Itämafia : Uhkakuvapolitiikka, rikosilmiöt ja kulttuuriset merkitykset

The Eastern Mafia Threat policy, crime phenomena, and cultural meanings An interdisciplinary research on the crime phenomena and the threat policy relating to the organized crime and the mafia of Russia and Estonia is based on 151 expert interviews, statistics, documents, research literature, and press material. The main part of the material consists of interviews of the Finnish, Estonian and Russian police authorities specialized in the problem of organized crime, and the reports on the crime situation drawn up in the Finnish diplomatic representations in Tallinn and St Petersburg. The interviews have been gathered in the years 1996-2001. The main theoretical tools of the research are constructivist research on social problems, and political psychology. Definitional processes of social problems and cultural semantic structures behind them are identified in the analysis and connected to the analysis of the crime cases. Both in the Anglo-American and Russian cultural frames there appears an inflated and exaggerated talk, according to which the mafia rules everything in Russia and is spreading everywhere. There is the traditional anti-Semitic paranoia in the core of this cultural symbiosis produced by Russian legal nihilism, the theory of totalitarianism of Sovietology, and the inertia of Russian anti-capitalism. To equate the Sicilian Mafia with Russia is an anachronism, since no empirical proof of systematic uncontrolled violence or absolute power vacuum in Russia can be found. In the Anglo-American policy of threat images, "the Russian mafia" was seen as a commodified conspiracy theory, which the police, the media, and the research took advantage of, blurring the line between fact and fiction. In Finland, the evolution of the policy of threat images proceeded in three phases: Initially, extensive rolling of refugees and criminals from Russia to Finland was emphasized in the beginning of the 1990's. In the second phase, the eastern mafia was said to infiltrate all over Finnish society and administration. Finland was, however, found immune to this kind of spreading. In the third phase, in the 21st century, the organized crime of Finland was said to be lead from abroad. In Finland, the policy of threat images was especially canalised to moral panics connected to "eastern prostitution". In Estonia, the policy of threat images emphasized the crime organized by the Russian authorities and politicians in order to weaken Estonia. In Russia, the policy of threat images emphasized the total criminalizing of society caused by criminal capitalism. In every country, the policy of threat images was affected by a so-called large-group identity, a term by Vamik Volkan, in which a so-called chosen trauma caused a political paranoia of an outer and inner danger. In Finland, procuring, car theft, and narcotics crimes were at their widest arranged by the Finnish often with the help of the Estonians. The Russians had no influence in the most serious violent crimes in Finland, although the number of assassinations were at least 5, 000 in Russia in the 1990's. In Russia, the assassinations were on one hand connected to marital problems, on the other hand to the pursuit of public attention and a hoped-for effect by the aid of the murder of an influential person. In the white-collar crime phenomena between Finland and Russia, the Finnish state and Finnish corporations gained remarkable benefit of the frauds aimed at the states of the Soviet Union and Russia in 1980's-21st century. The situation of Estonia was very difficult compared to that of Russia in the 1990's, which was manifested in the stagnation of the Estonian police and judicial authorities, the crimes of the police and the voluntary paramilitary organization, bomb explosions, the rebellion called "the jaeger crisis" in the voluntary paramilitary organization, and the "blood autumn" of Eastern Virumaa, in other words terror. The situation of Estonia had a powerful effect on the crime situation of Finland and on the security of the Finnish diplomats. In the continuum of the Finnish policy of threat images, Russia and the Russians were, however, presented as a source of a marked danger.

Sikiöaikana päihteille altistuneiden lasten kasvuympäristö ja kehitys

Life of children exposed to alcohol or drugs in utero This study focused on the growth environment, physical development and socio-emotional development of children, aged 16 and under, who had been exposed to alcohol (n=78) or drugs (n=15) in utero. The aim of the study was to obtain a comprehensive picture of the living conditions of these children and to examine the role of the growth environment in their development. The study was carried out using questionnaires, written life stories and interviews. Attachment theory was used as a background theory in the study. Over half of the children exposed to alcohol were diagnosed with foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), one quarter was diagnosed with foetal alcohol effects (FAE), and one fifth had no diagnosis. Most of the children exposed to drugs had been exposed to either amphetamines or cannabis, and a smaller number to heroin. Some of the children exposed to alcohol were mentally handicapped or intellectually impaired. The children exposed to drugs did not exhibit any serious learning difficulties but a considerable number of them had socio-emotional development problems. Language and speech problems and attention, concentration and social interaction problems were typical among both the children exposed to alcohol and those exposed to drugs. Only one child had been placed into long-term foster care in a family immediately after leaving the maternity hospital. In biological families there had been neglect, violence, mental health problems, crime and unemployment, and many parents were already dead. Two of the children had been sexually abused and four were suspected of having been abused. From the point of view of the children's development, the three most critical issues were 1) the range of illnesses and handicaps that had impaired their functional capacity as a result of their prenatal exposure to alcohol, 2) child's age at the time of placement on a long-term basis, and 3) the number of their traumatic experiences. The relationship with their biological parents after placement also played a role. Children with symptoms were found in all diagnosis categories and types of exposure. Children with the smallest number of symptoms were found among those who had never lived with their biological parents. Almost all children were exhibiting strong symptoms at the time of placement in foster care. In most cases, they were behaving in a disorderly manner towards others, but some children were withdrawn. The most conspicuous feature among those with the most severe symptoms was their disorganized behaviour. Placement in a foster family enhanced the children's development, but did not solve the problems. The foster parents who brought these children up did not receive as much therapy for the children and support for the upbringing as they appear to have needed. In Finland, transfer to long-term custody is based on strict criteria. The rights of children prescribed in the child protection law are not fulfilled in practice. Key words: FASD, FAS, FAE, alcohol exposure, drugs exposure, illegal drugs, early interaction, child development, attachment

Tuntemattomista vertaistuttaviksi : Esikoisäitien ja -isien perhevalmennusprosessi Espoon uudentyyppisessä perhevalmennuskokeilussa

From Strangers to Peer Acquaintances Mothers and Fathers with a First Born and their Experiences of the New Family Training Process in Espoo This research is composed of two interrelated case studies. The first case was a family training experiment conducted in the City of Espoo during 2003 2005. In the experiment, the content, duration and procedures were modified from the previous family training policy. The new family training system stressed peer group activities and the peer support formed between the participating mothers and fathers. The second case comprised the stories of 14 parents about the family training process. The aim of the research was to find out whether peer group activities and support was demonstrated between the participating parents during the family training process. The second case and its narrative material constituted the main research material. The narrative material was collected by interviews. Eight mothers and six fathers were interviewed twice within a year between their sessions. The parents also filled in questionnaires about their daily life and participated in a drawing exercise, in which they visualized how they experienced the family training during the antenatal period, labour and the postnatal period. A narrative approach was applied to the analysis of the narrative material. The analysis consisted of several stages. In the final stage, the fathers main story was combined with all the participating fathers personal stories. The mothers main story was also constructed from their personal stories. The study implicated that in some parts the mothers and fathers main stories were similar. During the family training, previously unacquainted parents became peer acquaintances. In particular, the first born as a focus created interaction and cooperation among the parents. Parents in similar circumstances became significant to each other. Different figurations formed during the family training. However, the main stories did not always entwine. The mothers were in contact with the other mothers almost daily using mobile phones, email and mother-child activities. The fathers employed outside home met each other only during the family training meetings, but felt being supported by the other fathers. Some families visited one another outside of the family training. This new type of family training had characteristics typical of the project society. The parents peer activities were based on trust, negotiation and contracts between partners. The parents evaluated the benefits of participation in the family training. If they appreciated the activities with peers and peer compassion, they were willing to participate in the family training during the postnatal period. Keywords: family training, parenthood, motherhood, fatherhood, peer, peer group, peer support, social support, social relationships, figurations, the project society, pastoral power, epistolary power