Vapaaehtoiset vuodeosastolla : Etnografinen tutkimus vanhusten ja vapaaehtoisten kohtaamisesta

This ethnographic study investigates encounters between volunteers and older people at the Kerava Municipal Health Centre inpatient ward for chronic care. Volunteer activities have been under development, in cooperation with the Voluntary Work Center (Talkoorengas), since the start of the 1990s. When my research began in 2003, nine of the volunteers came to the ward on set days per week or visited the ward according to their own timetables. The volunteers ranged in age from 54 to 78 years. With one exception, all of them were on pension. Nearly all of them had been volunteers for more than ten years. My study is research on ageing, the focal point being older people, whether volunteers or those receiving assistance. The research questions are: How is volunteer work implemented in daily routines at the ward? How is interaction created in encounters between the older people and the volunteers? What meanings does volunteer work create for the older people and the volunteers? The core material of my research is observation material, which is supplemented by interviews, documentation and photographs. The materials have been analysed by using theme analysis and ethnomethodological discussion analysis. In the presentation of the research findings, I have structured the materials into three main chapters: space and time; hands and touch; and words and tones. The chapter on space and time examines time and space paths, privacy and publicness, and celebrations as part of daily life. The volunteers open and create social arenas for the older people through chatting and singing together, celebrations in the dayroom or poetry readings at the bedside. The supporting theme of the chapter on hands and touch is bodily closeness in care and the associated concrete physical presence. The chapter highlights the importance of everyday routines, such as meals and rituals, as elements that bring security. Stimuli in daily life, such as handicrafts in groups, pass time but also give older people the experience of meaningful activity and bring back positive memories of their own life. The chapter on words and tones focuses on the social interaction and identity. The volunteers’ identity is built up into the identity of a helper and caregiver. The older people’s identity is built up into a care recipient’s identity, which in different situations is shaped into, among others, the identity of one who listens, remembers, does not remember, defends, composes poetry or is dying. The cornerstones of voluntary social care are participation, activity, trust and presence. Successful volunteer work calls for mutual trust between the older people, volunteers and the health care personnel, and for clear agreements on questions of responsibility, the status of volunteers and their role alongside professional personnel. This study indicates that volunteer work is a meaningful resource in work with older people.

Psykoterapian vaikutusten arvioiminen : Keskustelunanalyttinen tutkimus arviointihaastattelun käytänteistä

In the field of psychiatry semi-structured interview is one of the central tools in assessing the psychiatric state of a patient. In semi-structured interview the interviewer participates in the interaction both by the prepared interview questions and by his or her own, unstructured turns. It has been stated that in the context of psychiatric assessment interviewers' unstructured turns help to get focused information but simultaneously may weaken the reliability of the data. This study examines the practices by which semi-structured psychiatric interviews are conducted. The method for the study is conversation analysis, which is both a theory of interaction and a methodology for its empirical, detailed analysis. Using data from 80 video-recorded psychiatric interviews with 16 patients and five interviewers it describes in detail both the structured and unstructured interviewing practices. In the analysis also psychotherapeutic concepts are used to describe phenomena that are characteristic for therapeutic discourse. The data was received from the Helsinki Psychotherapy Study (HPS). HPS is a randomized clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of four forms of psychotherapy in the treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders. A total of 326 patients were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: solution-focused therapy, short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy, and long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy. The patients assigned to the long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy group and 41 patients self-selected for psychoanalysis were included in a quasi-experimental design. The primary outcome measures were depressive and anxiety symptoms, while secondary measures included work ability, need for treatment, personality functions, social functioning, and life style. Cost-effectiveness was determined. The data were collected from interviews, questionnaires, psychological tests, and public health registers. The follow-up interviews were conducted five times during a 5-year follow-up. The study shows that interviewers pose elaborated questions that are formulated in a friendly and sensitive way and that make relevant patients' long and story-like responses. When receiving patients' answers interviewers use a wide variety of different interviewing practices by which they direct patients' talk or offer an understanding of the meaning of patients' response. The results of the study are two-fold. Firstly, the study shows that understanding the meaning of mental experiences requires interaction between interviewer and patient. It is stated that therefore semi-structured interview is both relevant and necessary method for collecting data in psychotherapy outcome study. Secondly, the study suggests that conversation analysis, enriched with psychotherapeutic concepts, offers methodological possibilities for psychotherapy process research, especially for process-outcome paradigm.

Yhteinen verkosto? : Tutkimus nuorten syrjäytymistä ehkäisevistä poikkihallinnollisista ryhmistä

Since the 1990s, European policy strategies have stressed the mutual responsibility and joint action of all societal branches in preventing social problems. Network policy is an integral part of the new governance that generates a new kind of dependency between the state and civil society in formulating and adhering to policy goals. Using empirical group interview data collected in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, this case study explores local multi-agency groups and their efforts to prevent the exclusion of children and young people. These groups consist mainly of professionals from the social office, youth clubs and schools. The study shows that these multi-agency groups serve as forums for professional negotiation where the intervention dilemma of liberal society can be addressed: the question of when it is justified and necessary for an authority or network to intervene in the life of children and their families, and how this is to be done. An element of tension in multi-agency prevention is introduced by the fact that its objectives and means are anchored both in the old tradition of the welfare state and in communitarian rhetoric. Thus multi-agency groups mend deficiencies in wellbeing and normalcy while at the same time try to co-ordinate the creation of the new community, which will hopefully reduce the burden on the public sector. Some of the professionals interviewed were keen to see new and even forceful interventions to guide the youth or to compel parents to assume their responsibilities. In group discussions, this approach often met resistance. The deeper the social problems that the professionals worked with, the more solidarity they showed for the families or the young people in need. Nothing seems to assure professionals and to legitimise their professional position better than advocating the under-privileged against the uncertainties of life and the structural inequalities of society. The groups that grappled with the clear, specific needs of certain children and families were the most capable of co-operation. This requires the approval of different powers and the expertise of distinct professions as well as a forum to negotiate case-specific actions in professional confidentiality. The ideals of primary prevention for everyone and value discussions alone fail to inspire sufficient multiagency co-operation. The ideal of a network seems to give word and shape to those societal goals that are difficult or even impossible to reach, but are nevertheless yearned for: mutual understanding of the good life, close social relationships, mutual trust and active agency for all citizens. Individualisation, the multiplicity of life styles and the possibility to choose have come true in such a way that the very idea of a mutual and binding network can be attained only momentarily and between restricted participants. In conclusion, uniting professional networks that negotiate intervention dilemmas with citizen networks based on changing compassions and feelings of moral superiority seems impossible. Rather, one should encourage openness to scrutiny among tangential or contradicting groups, networks and communities. Key words: network policy, prevention of exclusion, multi-agency groups, young people

Elämän tiede : Tutkimus lääketieteellisestä teknologiasta, vanhemmuudesta ja perimän hallinnasta

Doctoral dissertation work in sociology examines how human heredity became a scientific, political and a personal issue in the 20th century Finland. The study focuses on the institutionalisation of rationales and technologies concerning heredity, in the context of Finnish medicine and health care. The analysis concentrates specifically on the introduction and development of prenatal screening within maternity care. The data comprises of medical articles, policy documents and committee reports, as well as popular guidebooks and health magazines. The study commences with an analysis on the early 20th century discussions on racial hygiene. It ends with an analysis on the choices given to pregnant mothers and families at present. Freedom to choose, considered by geneticists and many others as a guarantee of the ethicality of medical applications, is presented in this study as a historically, politically and scientifically constructed issue. New medical testing methods have generated new possibilities of governing life itself. However, they have also created new ethical problems. Leaning on recent historical data, the study illustrates how medical risk rationales on heredity have been asserted by the medical profession into Finnish health care. It also depicts medical professions ambivalence between maintaining the patients autonomy and utilizing for example prenatal testing according to health policy interests. Personalized risk is discussed as a result of the empirical analysis. It is indicated that increasing risk awareness amongst the public, as well as offering choices, have had unintended consequences. According to doctors, present day parents often want to control risks more than what is considered justified or acceptable. People s hopes to anticipate the health and normality of their future children have exceeded the limits offered by medicine. Individualization of the government of heredity is closely linked to a process that is termed as depolitization. The concept refers to disembedding of medical genetics from its social contexts. Prenatal screening is regarded to be based on individual choice facilitated by neutral medical knowledge. However, prenatal screening within maternity care also has its basis in health policy aims and economical calculations. Methodological basis of the study lies in Michel Foucault s writings on the history of thought, as well as in science and technology studies.

Kuka kasvattaa, kuka opettaa? : Genealoginen tutkimus perheen ja koulun välisen kasvatusvastuun politiikasta

FAMILIES AND SCHOOLS AND THE POLITICS OF RESPONSIBILITIES - a genealogical study on family and school as carers and educators of the child population in modern society This study aims to uncover the politics behind such discourses in the media which have claimed the family to be totally responsible for children and which ignore the various responsibilities accorded to the state in matters concerning the child population. Using Max Weber s and Michael Mann s theorizing on the history of power relationships, feminist social history on patriarchy and Foucauldian power analytic concept of dispositif the study traces two competing child policies which have influenced the historical formation of modern generational order in Western societies. One of them is based on the interests of the hegemonic bourgeois elite and the other on the interests of the non-elite population, which were expressed during the phase of building the welfare state in Finland in the 1960 1980 s. The central strategies of the bourgeois child policy are 1) to construct the childhood years as a time for preparation and formation of the individual according to the interests of the elite, 2) to construct the family as the sole site of holistic care and responsibility of children in society, and 3) compulsory schooling of children of the non-elite population in state organized schools. To implement these strategies the elite uses strategically patriarchal cultural formations/dispositifs in modernized versions. The result has been the formation of a sexually divided and hierarchical order of care and education, where, on the one hand, there is the less important feminine care of children done by mothers at home and, on the other, the real education of the school, where children are made the object of authoritarian shaping and where the needs and the personal experiences of the child are ignored. The welfare order of care and education is based on the ethos of welfare society, where the state and the families are seen to share the responsibility for the child population. In this vein, families and schools are seen as partners who both have a caring attitude to children s welfare and learning. The study shows that discourses and terminology in the mainstream educational policy texts in Finland create a chaotic linguistic game which makes it difficult to have a rational discussion about the roles of family and school in the holistic care and education of children. This has opened the door to political discourses where familist interpretations of the question of responsibility are claimed to be based on law.

Sosiaalipalveluja kaikille ja kaiken ikää? : Tutkimus suomalaisten mielipiteistä ja kokemuksista sosiaalipalveluista sekä niiden suhteesta legitimiteettiin

This research analyses opinions on the system of social welfare services from the point of view of clients and the public in general in Finland. The approach is quantitative, drawing on theories of the welfare-state tradition. The data used comes from the comprehensive Welfare and Services in Finland survey compiled by STAKES. While previous research on the welfare state has predominantly focused on surveying public opinion on social protection, this research focuses on social welfare services. The main focus of this research is on publicly funded care provided by municipal social welfare services. In this research, social welfare services include child day care, services for people with disabilities, home-help services, counselling by social workers and social assistance. The research considered in particular whether the clients or the population has different opinions towards social welfare services or social benefits. In addition, the research partly covers areas of informal care provided by family and friends. The research material consisted of the STAKES Welfare and Services in Finland survey. The data was compiled in 2004 and 2006 by Statistics Finland. The research comprises five articles. Additional data have been extracted from social welfare statistics and registers. Multiple approaches were applied in the survey on welfare and services the methods in this research included interviews by phone and mail, and register data. The sample size was 5 810 people in 2004 and 5 798 in 2006. The response rates were 82.7% and 83.7%, respectively. The results indicate that a large majority (90%) of the Finnish population is of the opinion that the public sector should bear the main responsibility for organising social and health services. The system of social welfare services and its personnel have strong public support 73% and 80% respectively. However, new and even negative tones have emerged in the Finnish debate on social welfare services. Women are increasingly critical of the performance of social welfare services and the level of social protection. Furthermore, this study shows that women more often than men wish to see an increase in the amount of privately organised social welfare services. Another group critical of the performance of social welfare services are pensioners. People who had used social welfare services were more critical than those who had not used them. Thus, the severest criticism was received from the groups who use and gain most from public services and benefits. However, the education and income variables identified in earlier studies no longer formed a significant dividing line, although people with higher education tend to foster a more positive view of the performance of social welfare services as well as the level of social protection. Income differences did not bear any significance, that is, belonging to a high or low income group was not a determining factor in the attitude towards social welfare services or social benefits. According to the research, family and friends still form an informal yet significant support network in people's everyday lives, and its importance has not been diminished by services provided by the welfare state. The Finnish public considers child day care the most reliable form of social welfare services. Indeed, child day care has become the most universal sector of our system of social welfare services. Other services that instil confidence included counselling by social workers and services for people with disabilities. On the other hand, social assistance and home-help services received negative feedback. The negative views were based on a number of arguments. One argument contends that the home-help service system, which was originally intended for universal use, is crumbling. The preventive role of home-help services has been reduced. These results mirror the increasingly popular opinion that social welfare services are not produced for all those who need them, but to an increasing extent for a select few of them. Municipalities are struggling with their finances and this, combined with negative publicity, has damaged the public's trust in some municipal social welfare services. A welfare state never achieves a stable condition, but must develop over time, as the world around it changes. Following the 1990's recession, we are now in a position where we can start to develop a system that responds to the needs of the next generation. Study results indicating new areas of dissatisfaction reflect the need to develop and improve the services provided. It is also increasingly essential that social welfare services pay attention to the opinions of clients and the public. Should the gap between opinions and actual activities increase, the legitimacy of the whole system would be questioned. Currently, the vast majority of Finns consider the system of social welfare services adequate, which provides us with the continuity required to maintain and improve client-oriented and reasonably priced social welfare services. Paying attention to the signals given by clients and the general public, and reacting to them accordingly, will also secure the development and legitimacy of the system in the future.

Ryhmärajoja ja hierarkioita : etnografinen tutkimus peruskoulun yläasteen liikunnanopetuksesta

This study examines gender as a dimension of group divisions and differences in physical education (PE) lessons at school. The aim is to look at those structures and practices which direct the ways the girls and the boys move their bodies at secondary school in 2000’s while growing up to become women and men. Theoretically, the goal is to clarify how the social is inscribed to the bodies in the context of physical education lessons at school. This ethnographic study was conducted in the physical education lessons of 7th graders (13-14-year-olds) by observing the everyday life in five PE groups and by interviewing pupils (N=27) and their teachers (N=2). This method has given the researcher “a sense of the game”; an embodied experience of the feel for the game of the studied phenomenon. The access to the contextual “positions of expertise” does not seem to be socially and materially equally distributed in physical education. In PE the criteria of inclusion and exclusion were intertwined with physical skills and friendships, these hierarchies becoming visible in the situations of team choice in PE lessons. Not all families have possibilities to enable their children to participate in expensive leisure sports activities. Therefore the family’s societal position is in relation to the construction of leisure time activities. The access to certain possibilities demands time and money. In Finland the physical education is mainly carried out in differentiated groups for girls and boys. In physical education, the gender-differentiated groups, and partially the different practices of these groups activate, and on the other hand suppress, situations of gender related borderwork. In this research, both pupils and PE teachers repeatedly mentioned the naturality of the differences while speaking about gender. The differences were also restored to gender. I apply Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical view to the social situations, ethnographic fieldwork and interviews. My central statement is that in ethnography the audience has access to the backstage of the researcher since reporting does not follow the traditional division to the public and the private.

Lapsen osallisuuden mahdollistaminen päiväkodin toimintakulttuurissa : Tilastollinen tutkimus osallisuuden tasomallista

Children s participation has been a subject in the international research since past ten years. This research has explored participation from the standpoint of the UN s Convention of the Rights of the Child and focused mainly on schoolchildren or on the working youth s chances in developing countries to have impact on their own lives (eg. Sinclair, 2004 and Thomas, 2002). In Finland there has been less research about the children s rights while the main focus has been on the customers of the child welfare system. This study examines children s participation in Helsinki metropolitan area via the views and the practices of the personnel of early childhood education. The adopted viewpoint is Shier s level model of participation (2001), in which the children s participation process is building in phases, is observed via the everyday actions of the kindergarten personnel. Attention has been paid on the special characteristics of the Finnish early childhood education. This study was part of VKK-Metro s research project. The inquiry in May 2010 was directed to all working teams in the kindergartens of the Helsinki metropolitan area. Of these 56.59 % (1116 teams) answered. The quantitative data analyzed by principal component analysis gave four principal components, from which three were named after Shier s participation model. The fourth component included variables about rules and power. The level model of participation fit well to assess early childhood education in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The professionalism of the personnel became emphasized in the area of everyday interactions between the personnel and the children. Important aspects of the children s participation are to become heard, to get support in the play and in interaction and to be able to share both power and responsibility with personnel of the early childhood education.

Monimenetelmäinen kuntoutuksen tutkimus. Artikkelikatsaus kuntoutuksen 3. valtakunnallisesta tutkimusseminaarista

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Egyptin kristillisten kirjureiden jäljillä : Tutkimus 100- ja 200-lukujen Uuden testamentin kanonisten ja apokryfisten käsikirjoitusten ulkoisista piirteistä

Tutkimukseni tarkoituksena on tutkia kaikkein varhaisimpia Uuden testamentin kanonisia ja apokryfisia käsikirjoituksia sekä niiden kirjureita. Huomion keskipisteenä ovat kyseisten käsikirjoitusten ulkoiset piirteet, kuten esimerkiksi kirjoitusmateriaali, muoto, koko ja käsiala. Näiden avulla vertaan kanonisia käsikirjoituksia apokryfisiin ja pyrin selvittämään, erosivatko näiden kopiointimenetelmät toisistaan. Yksi keskeisimmistä kysymyksistä on se, voidaanko ulkoisten piirteiden avulla päätellä jotain käsikirjoitusten asemasta ja arvostuksesta. Tutkimuksen aluksi esittelen tutkimusaineistoni käsikirjoitukset ja tekstit. Päädyin vertaamaan kanonisia evankeliumeita kaikkiin 100- ja 200-luvuilta löydettyihin apokryfisiin käsikirjoituksiin, joihin sisältyy esimerkiksi Tuomaan ja Pietarin evankeliumit sekä Hermaan paimen. Kaikki tämän ajanjakson kristilliset käsikirjoitukset ovat löytyneet Egyptistä, minkä vuoksi tutkimukseni keskittyy Egyptiin ja sen kirjureihin. Ennen varsinaista käsikirjoitusten analyysiä käsittelen käsikirjoitusten löytöpaikkoja, kaanonin sekä antiikin kirjureiden historiaa. Ensimmäiseksi käsittelen käsikirjoitusten materiaalia, eli papyrusta ja pergamenttia. Tässä suhteessa kanoniset käsikirjoitukset eivät eroa apokryfisista, vaan aineistot ovat tämän suhteen identtisiä. Tämän jälkeen huomio kiinnittyy käsikirjoitusten muotoon, eli siihen kirjoitettiinko käsikirjoitukset koodeksiin vai kääröön. Analyysin edetessä paljastuu, että apokryfisissa käsikirjoituksissa käytettiin useammin käärömuoto kuin kanonisissa käsikirjoituksissa. Voidaan esittää, että kristityt kirjoittivat koodeksiin kaikkein arvostetuimmat tekstit, joten käärömuoto voi kertoa käsikirjoituksen sisältävän tekstin alemmasta arvostuksesta. Tutkimuksen seuraavissa osioissa käsitellään koodeksien kokoa, marginaaleja, palstoja sekä käsialan kokoa. Lukujen perusteella voidaan sanoa, että kanoniset koodeksit muodostavat hieman yhtenäisemmän linjan kuin apokryfiset koodeksit. Kanonisten koodeksien kirjureiden toimintatavat ovat siis olleet hieman yhtenäisempiä. Käsikirjoitusten käsialan tarkempi analyysi paljastaa kuitenkin, että niin kanoniset kuin apokryfiset käsikirjoitukset kirjoitettiin suhteellisen hyvällä käsialalla. Tutkimuksen viimeisessä luvussa käy ilmi, että apokryfisten koodeksien epäyhtenäisyys johtuu osittain niiden erilaisista käyttötarkoituksista. Apokryfisia koodekseja valmistettiin enemmän kristittyjen henkilökohtaiseen käyttöön verrattuna kanonisiin koodekseihin. Tästä huolimatta suurin osa käsikirjoituksista oli seurakuntien liturgisessa käytössä. Toisin sanoen niin kanonisia evankeliumeita kuin apokryfisia tekstejä luettiin ääneen seurakuntien kokoontumisissa, mikä kertoo niiden arvosta.

Haastavat asiakkuusprosessit Kelassa. Tutkimus haastavista asiakasryhmistä ja sosiaaliturvan (toimeenpanon) ongelmista

63 s.

Luottamus koulussa : Tutkimus yhdeksännen luokan oppilaiden luottamus- ja epäluottamuskertomuksista ja niiden merkityksestä oppilaiden kouluarjessa

The aim of this study is to explore trust at school and its meaning for 9th grade students. The intent is to investigate students views about trust and mistrust in school relationships. Three research questions are posed: 1) what meanings do students give to their experiences of trust and mistrust at school and how do they evaluate connection of these experiences to their well-being and enjoyment in the classroom? 2) what and how important, is the teacher s role according to the students writings, and 3) what might the different pedagogical and administrative structures of schools reveal about trust and mistrust in a particular school culture? The data consists of 134 writings of 9th grade students (secondary school) from three schools in one of the biggest cities in Finland. The schools differ from others in terms of their pedagogical or structural backgrounds. The study is restricted to the micro-level of, disposition of Educational Sociology, focusing on trust in schools relationships. The theoretical framework of the study is trust, as a part of social capital; however trust is also approached from the sociological, the psychological and philosophical perspective. The methodological approach is narrative research concerning school practice . Analysis of narrative consist mostly content analysis, but also some elements of holistic-content reading, thematic reading and categorical content. The analysis found three main themes: 1) individual stories of trust, 2) the teachers role in making trust possible in the classroom, and 3) school as a community of trust. According to the study trust at school (1) is a complex phenomenon consisting of people s ability to work together and to recognize the demands that different situations present. Trust at school is often taken for granted. In the students experiences trust is strongly connected to friendship, and the teacher s ability to connect with students. Students experiences of mistrust stem from bulling, school violence, lack of respect as well as teachers lacking basic professional behavior. School relationships are important for some students as source of enjoyment, but some feel that it is difficult to evaluate the connection between trust and enjoyment. The study found that students trust of teachers (2) is linked to the teacher s professional role as a teacher, a caring human being open to dialogue. In other words, the students describe teachers abilities to create a sense of trust in terms of three expectations: the teacher was better, the same or worse than expected. Better than expected, means the teacher engender a high degree of trust and has excellent communication skills. Same as expected means the teacher comes across as familiar and secure, while lower than expected means the teacher creates no trust and has poor communication skills. Finally, it was shown that trust at school (3) should not only exist between some individuals, but between (all) members of the school community. In other words, according to the study there is some evidence that trust is strongly committed to school culture. Further, trust seems to depend on (school-) cultural background, values, beliefs, expectations, norms as well as staff behaviour. The basic elements of an optimum level of trust at school are favourable school structure and pedagogical background; however, good relationships between teachers and students as well as high professional skills are also needed. Trust at school is built by good communication, working together and getting to know each other.

Pilkahduksia Pilkkeestä – tutkimus ikääntyvien päihteidenkäyttäjien päivätoimintaryhmistä

Tutkimuskohteenani ovat Helsingin Diakonissalaitoksen Pilke-projektin päivätoimintaryhmät ikääntyville päihteidenkäyttäjille. Helsingin Diakonissalaitoksen Pilke-projekti on osa Sininauhaliiton Liika on aina liikaa – ikääntyminen ja alkoholi -hanketta ja sitä rahoittaa Raha-automaattiyhdistys. Idea tutkimuksen tekoon nousi Liika on aina liikaa – ikääntyminen ja alkoholi -hankkeen tutkimustarpeiden myötä, tarpeesta saada kuuluviin yhden osahankkeen asiakkaiden ääni ja nostaa esiin heidän näkemyksensä ja kokemuksensa ryhmätoiminnasta, johon he osallistuvat, ja jota ei ole tutkittu vielä. Yhtenä perusteluna tutkimuksen tekemiselle on myös se, että aihe on uusi ja sitä ei ole juurikaan tutkittu. Tutkimusotteeni on etnografinen. Olen havainnoinut kolmea, Helsingin Diakonissalaitoksen eri tiloissa kokoontuvaa Pilke-ryhmää reilun puolen vuoden ajan. Tämän lisäksi olen haastatellut ryhmien jäseniä ryhmähaastattelun keinoin. Tutkimusnäkökulmaani olen laajentanut koskemaan myös ohjaajien työtä, koska pidän heidän työnsä näkyväksi tekemistä tärkeänä. Analyysissä yhdistän etnografisen aineiston temaattista luentaa ja diskurssianalyyttisempää otetta kiinnittäen huomiota puheella tuotettuihin ja puheen tuottamiin merkityksiin, vuorovaikutukseen keskustelijoiden välillä sekä identiteetin rakentumiseen puheessa. Tutkimuksessa pyrin kuvaamaan ja ymmärtämään ikääntyvien päihteidenkäyttäjien ryhmätoimintaa ja sen merkitystä ikääntyville sekä sitä, miten ryhmään löydytään. Ryhmähaastatteluissa kiinnostukseni kohdistuu etenkin siihen, miten ikääntyvät kokevat Pilke-ryhmätoiminnan ja millaisia määrittelyjä he itsestään ja suhteestaan ryhmätoimintaan tai alkoholiin antavat. Tuon esiin myös sitä, millaisiin haasteisiin tutkija voi törmätä tutkiessa ikääntyneitä päihteidenkäyttäjiä. Pohdin esimerkiksi afaattisesti puhuvien ihmisten haastattelemista ryhmähaastattelun keinoin sekä miksi havainnointi on mielestäni hyvä tapa tutkia ikääntyneitä päihteidenkäyttäjiä. Tulo Pilkkeeseen alkaa etsivästä työstä. Verkostojen yhteistyöllä ryhmiin päätyvät sellaiset ikääntyvät, joista suurin osa ei olisi kotonaan aktiivisten eläkeläisten harrastuspiireissä, koska niissä ei ole totuttu käymään ja sosiaalinen elämä on rajoittunut esimerkiksi lähiöravintolaan. Puhutaan haastavanakin pidetystä vähemmistöstä ikääntyneiden joukossa. Alkoholia on käytetty jo pitkään, tai sitä on ryhdytty käyttämään runsaasti vasta iäkkäänä. Pilkkeeseen löytyvistä ikääntyvistä varsin suuri osa kuitenkin kiinnittyy ryhmään. Tähän syynä ovat uusien ihmiskontaktien saamisen tärkeys, ohjaajien persoona, keskustelumahdollisuus ja mahdollisuus tehdä käsillä jotain, mitä kenties ei koskaan tulisi kotona tehtyä. Kynnys osallistumiseen on matala ja vaatimuksia elämäntapoja muuttamiselle ei ole. Pilkkeen merkitys siihen osallistuville on tulosteni mukaan suuri. Pilke katkaisee usein yksinäiseksikin koettua arkea ja muut ryhmässä käyvät koetaan tärkeiksi. Pilke tarjoaa mahdollisuuden jakaa ajatuksiaan ja omaa elämäntarinaansa. Huumori kantaa Pilke-tapaamisia. Myös käsillä tekeminen koetaan tärkeäksi ja sen huomaaminen, että tekemisen taito on tallella, voimaannuttaa. Pilke luo uudenlaista järjestystä elämään ja sen myötä myös alkoholinkäyttö osalla vähenee. Etenkin pitkäaikaisille jäsenille Pilkkeen voi sanoa muodostuvan kiinnipitäväksi ympäristöksi, joka on tutkimukseni keskeinen, alun perin D.W. Winnicottin käyttämä käsite.

OP-Pohjola-ryhmän sidosryhmät : laadullinen tutkimus sidosryhmävalinnasta ja siihen vaikuttavista tekijöistä.

Tutkimus on kvalitatiivinen tapaustutkimus. Tutkimuksen tarkoitus on selvittää mitkä ovat OP -Pohjola-ryhmän tärkeimmät sidosryhmät, millä perusteella sidosryhmät erottuvat muista organisaation ympäristössä toimivista tahoista, sekä millaisten ominaisuuksien perusteella sidosryhmien tärkeyttä arvioidaan OPPohjola- ryhmän näkökulmasta. Sidosryhmät ovat yrityksen ympäristössä toimivia ryhmiä tai tahoja, joiden asema sidosryhmänä perustuu yleensä niiden kykyyn vaikuttaa yrityksen menestykseen (esimerkiksi asiakkaat) tai oikeutettuun asemaan yrityksessä (esimerkiksi omistajat ja henkilökunta). Viimeaikaisissa sidosryhmiin keskittyvässä tutkimuksessa on tunnustettu sidosryhmien merkitys yritysten menestymisen kannalta. Toisaalta kaikkien sidosryhmien huomioimiseen perustuvalla liikkeenjohtamisella on myös eettisiä perusteita. Yleistyneen käsityksen mukaan yrityksellä on vastuuta myös muita tahoja, kuin omistajiaan kohtaan. Sidosryhmien laaja-alainen huomiointi on siis osa vastuullista liiketoimintaa ja sitä kautta yritysten yhteiskuntavastuun lähtökohta. Sidosryhmiä on pyritty määrittelemään lukuisilla eri tavoilla eri tutkijoiden toimesta. Erilaiset määritelmät ovat hämärtäneet sidosryhmän käsitettä jopa niin, että käytännössä kaikki yrityksen ympäristössä toimivat tahot voidaan nähdä yrityksen sidosryhmiksi. Yrityksen on kuitenkin hyödyllistä tunnistaa sen tärkeimmät sidosryhmät, jotta se voi toteuttaa suunnitelmallista sidosryhmäpolitiikka näihin tahoihin päin. Tämä tutkimus pyrkii luomaan yleiskuvan siitä, mitkä ovat OP-Pohjola-ryhmälle sen keskeiset sidosryhmät ja miksi. Tutkimus perustuu OP-Pohjola-ryhmässä työskentelevien henkilöiden teemahaastatteluihin. Haastattelumateriaalia on analysoitu käyttäen apuna sisällönanalyysiä ja sisällön erittelyä. Tutkimuksen teoreettisena viitekehyksenä toimii Mitchellin, Anglen ja Woodin ns. sidosryhmien identifikaation malli, jonka mukaan sidosryhmän tärkeys yrityksen näkökulmasta perustuu siihen, onko sidosryhmällä valtaa, legitiimi asema tai kiireellisiä vaateita suhteessa yritykseen. Sidosryhmien identifikaation mallin mukainen analyysi osoitti, että OP-Pohjola- ryhmän tärkeimmät sidosryhmät ovat asiakkaat sekä lainsäätäjät ja viranomaiset. Muita OP-Pohjola- ryhmän sidosryhmiä ovat omistajat, hallinto, media, henkilökunta, kansalaisjärjestöt ja palkansaajajärjestöt. Sidosryhmän tärkeyteen OP-Pohjola- ryhmän näkökulmasta näytti vaikuttavan eniten sidosryhmän kyky vaikuttaa organisaation menestykseen. Tämä kyky saattoi perustua joko välilliseen tai välittömään valtaa tai esimerkiksi asiantuntemukseen finanssialasta. Se, kuinka ”äänekäs” sidosryhmä on, ei yksistään vaikuta sidosryhmän tärkeyteen yrityksen näkökulmasta. Tutkimuksessa käytettiin lähteinä enimmäkseen 2000- luvulla tehtyjä sidosryhmätutkimuksia sekä teoreettista kirjallisuutta sidosryhmiin ja yritysten vastuullisuuteen liittyen.