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Children and families are at the heart of social work all over the world, but, until now, Nordic perspectives have been rare in the body of English-language child welfare literature. Is there something that makes child welfare ideas and practices that are in use in the Nordic countries characteristically 'Nordic?' If so, what kinds of challenges do the current globalization trends pose for Nordic child welfare practices, especially for social work with children and families? This book covers a broad range of child welfare issues. It provides examples of Nordic approaches to child welfare, looking at the differences and similarities between Nordic States. The book considers and critically examines the particular features of the Nordic welfare model. It draws on contemporary research and debates from different Nordic countries, and it examines how social work and child welfare politics are produced and challenged as both global and local ideas and practices.
List of contents
Introduction ~ Hannele Forsberg and Teppo Kroger; Nordic families and family policies: similar or country-specific contexts for social work? ~ Gudnu Bjork Eydal and Teppo Kroger; A Nordic model in child welfare? ~ Helena Blomberg, Clary Corander, Roberto Scaramuzzino and Hans Sward; From welfare to 'illfare'? Reflecting public concern for childhood in Finland ~ Hannele Forsberg and Aino Ritala-Koskinen; Supporting families? Family work in Finnish child welfare ~ Marjo Kuronen and Pia Lahtinen; Children in families receiving income support: visible or invisible? ~ Inger Marii Tronvoll; Children's involvement in child welfare: a tension between adults' and children's perspectives? ~ Reidun FellesA and Kate Mevik; Listening to children's narratives on experiences of mother getting beaten ~ Magareta Hyden; 'Now you see them, now you don't': institutions in Finnish child welfare policy ~ Author tbc; Foster care in Nordic light: reflections on parent-child perspectives ~ Gunilla Linden; Challenges of family focused social work methods ~ Sigrun Juliusdottir; Epilogue ~ Keith Pringle.
About the author
Hannele Forsberg is Professor of Social Work at the Department of Social Work Research, University of Tampere, Finland. Her main research fields are family and childhood research and social work practices. Her on-going research project concerns contested family relations and moral reasoning. Teppo Kroger is Academy Research Fellow, working at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. Formerly he has been a social worker and a lecturer in social work. His main research interests focus on comparative research on social care, including child care, care for disabled people and care for older people. He is the founder and co-ordinator of the Nordic network that produced this book.
