Social discourse of parenting in Finland – about legislation, trends and policy guidelines for

professionals

7th of March 2016

Pasi Kumpulainen

Content

What means ”discourse”?

Legislation and parental policy in Finland

Policy guidelines – how to meet parents in social and educational services

Social discourse in my presentation

Discourse from (critical) sociological point of view:

- Production of knowledge and meanings by social institutions

- Dominant discourses are considered as truth, normal and right

- Alternative, competing discourses are considered as marginal, wrong, deviant, even dangerous and extreme and they may be stigmatized as such (by dominant discourses)

- Discourse is meaning-making process which is based on power relations in society – power: ability to affect the behavior of others

Karen Healey (2014) about discourse

”Discourse refers to a system or aggregate of meanings through which certain social phenomena, such as ´need´, ´knowledge 'and intervention, are constructed”.

They make some actions possible whilst precluding (= block, make impossible) others

Language is a form of social practice, rather than purely individual activity

Critical discourse analysis and the freedom of the professional (Healey 2014; op. cit Taylor 2013)

Critical discourse analysis helps us to understand how discourses operating in our field construct our professional purpose and the relations of power and knowledge in them with understanding

- how language use contributes to the dominance of certain truth claims and

- privileging of particular actors within practice context and

- what, if anything, other actors can do to disrupt these truth claims to allow for alternative meanings, including different ways of understanding need and responding to ´problems´.

Healy: Institutional contexts of social work

Institutional contexts:

Dominant discourses

Public policiesLawOrganizational policiesAccepted practices

Service discourses

The institutional context provides the terms of reference for the (social) work task, that is, what the professional is formally employed to do

What is our truth about parents and parenting, our way to meet parents, our truth about parents in society?

Critical discourse analysis

”Analysis of dialectical relations between discourse and other objects, elements or moments, as well as analysis of ´internal relations‘ of discourse.” (Fairclough 2010)

Discourse Social theory

Realist approach: power stuctures and properties of social realityhave constructive forces

Competing sites

”Welfare, health and education are sites of competing discourses, each of which offer different interpretations about nature of client needs, expert knowledge, the nature of social work role, and, specifically, the kinds of ´help´ or interventions that will best address the concerns and issues facing service users. In these contexts, one discourse, or set of compatible discourses, has gained dominance in determining the official practices of the institution”. (Healey 2014; bolding PK)

- Profoundly shapes work practices

- It is not about ´right´ and ´wrong´; it is about understanding how the practices are shaped, and make alternative interpretations possible

PARENTS AND PARENTING DISCOURSEIN FINNISH LEGISLATION

Three approaches to parent and parenting discourse (in Finland)

1 Support discourse

2 Partnership discourse- Organizational discourse? - Espoused theory: the world view and values people believe their

behavior is based on- Theory-in-use: the world view and values implied by their behavior

3 Family as a system discourse

4 Economy discourse (government program, poverty/ child poverty and inequality)

The Constitution of Finland: Section 19 - The right to social security

“… the public authorities shall support families and others responsible for providing for children so that they have the ability to ensure the wellbeing and personal development of the children.”

“The parents of a child or other persons who have been awarded custody of a child have custody of the child. … person who has custody has the right to decide on the care, upbringing, place of residence and other personal matters of the child.”

Custody by virtue of birth:

When the parents of a child are married to each other at the time of the birth of the child, they both have custody of the child. If the parents are not married to each other at the time of the birth of the child, the mother has custody of the child. If one of

the parents has sole custody of the child and the parents conclude marriage with one another, both of them assume

custody of the child. (Act on Child Custody and Right of Access 361/1983, sections 3, 4 and 6)

Inquiry of fatherhood if the father is not the husband of the child´s mother when the child was born inquiry by welfare supervisor, or by nurse in maternity and child health clinic (before the birth of the child) (Paternity Act)

Two conclusions1 A child will always have a custodian so far s/he is under 18 years old; someone is always in charge of child´s welfare and represents the child- It is a parent or other custodian (persons or institutions)- This is legal point of view; it is different how people feel

who is the parent (´real´ or not ´real´): biological, psychological, social parenthood

2 A parent is in first case biological parent (the one who gives birth to the child): normality, usual, mainstream- What disrupt this normality? When is it necessary to ask

who is the parent? - When it is need to discuss about parenthood or parenting:

what are the triggering effects to ask these questions?

Health Care Act 1326/2010:

Maternity and child health clinic services include

1) regular checks to ensure … the health of pregnant women and new mothers according to individual needs;

4) support for parenthood and other wellbeing of families;

6) early identification of any special needs and tests required by children and families as well as support for children and

families and, if necessary, referral to tests or treatment. (Health Care Act 1326/2010)

Clinics are very important hub to notice the needs of the parents

Social skills, values and practices in work with parents?

Basic Education Act 1998:“Those providing education shall cooperate with pupils' parents/carers”(); in Finnish version: “school must work with homes”

Child Walfare Act 2007:The public authorities that work with children and families must support parents and custodians in their child upbringing and must endeavour to provide families with the necessary assistance at a sufficiently early stage, and must refer the child and the family to the child welfare services where necessary. ()

Child welfare must provide parents, custodians and other persons responsible for child care and upbringing with support in child care and upbringing by arranging the necessary services and support measures. Under the conditions laid down below in this Act, a child may be placed away from home or other measures taken to arrange care for and custody of the child.

Early childhood education and care (EHEC)

Act on Early Childhood education 1973/2015The goal of early childhood education is to co-operate with a child and child´s parent or other custodian for the best of child´s balanced development and well-

rounded wellbeing and for the support of child´s parent or other carer in upbringing the child

National Curriculum Guidelines on Early Childhood Education and Care 2004:

”Child´s well-being is best fostered when parents and educators combine their knowledge of the child” “… partnership is concerned not only with the attitudes of parents and staff members to their common education task but also with the related practical organization and arrangements in ways that meet the wishes of both parties.”- EHEC (early childhood education and care) plan to every child jointly by parents and educators: to influence the content of EHEC and evaluate its implementation

Social Care Act 2015, transl. PK

When providing or developing services to children, youth and families with children, it must be taken care that these services support parents, custodians and other persons who are responsible of care and education of children, ..

Social Care Act is the frame to other acts:

- All services and activities where children and parents are met should support parents in their educational and care activities

- Parents have the right to support even if they are not as a client of child welfare/protection services

development / trial of new kinds of activities and services

Discourse and theory / methods

Legislation provides parent and parenting discourse but it does not provide answers how to work with parents

Solution generated by single professionals, organizations and communities

Some policy guidelines: plans, partnership, dialogicity

Parents and parenting in strategic programme of Finnish government:

Action plan for the implementation of the key project and reforms defined in the Strategic Government Programme, 2016:

Parent and family related key projects of the Government

• Key project 1: Services to be based on customer needs (notice: customer, not client; market orientation)

• Key project 3: Programme to address child and family services

Key project 1: Services to be based on customer needs

Measure 1: Reform the operating process of social welfare and healthcare services by placing the customer centre stage.

The reform will result in customer-responsive, accessible, multi-professional electronic services tailored to customer needs and capabilities.

Welfare policy economic policy entrepreneurship policy?

Key project 3: Programme to address child and family services

The goal is to create services that are better based on the needs of children and families, focus on prevention and are more effective.

Measure 1: Implement the programme to address child and family services

The reform will reduce the need for corrective services such as taking into care and institutional care. Without the reform, it will not be possible to respond to major health and wellbeing challenges such as the social exclusion of children and adolescents, the exacerbation of mental health problems, the increasing need for child welfare services and the increase in guardianship disputes.

- Social welfare deficit as an economic problem

Measure 1: Implement the programme to address child and family services

- Heterogeneous service system will be reformed- all services for children, adolescents and families will be

integrated into a single coherent service system (family support centers)

- shift the focus towards preventive and early support and care services.

- In this change, the best interests of children and support for parents are paramount (= most important).

- will improve the wellbeing of children, adolescents and families, and they will feel that they have an influence on their own wellbeing and on the services provided for them.

continue

- The reform can result in significant cost-cutting while making services more timely and more effective.

- The reform will reduce the need for corrective servicessuch as taking into care and institutional care.

- New low-threshold services supporting parents will be set up, for instance through digital services.

- A family centre model intended for all families with children will be introduced nationwide, bringing the related services of NGOs, parishes and peer support together with low-threshold public-sector services.

Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (to implement of governments key projects):

Drivers of the change: Childrens´ rights and benefits; child and family approach; social and cultural diversity of families

In-service training to meet (to work with) children, young and parents

Work package to counsel in ”parenting skills”

Electronic services to support parents

- Look websites of NGOs like Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, Family Federation of Finland, and Finnish Parent´s League which give advice and guidance in parenting issues

Recognition of children in adult services

Some conclusions

1 Parents are recognized

2 Inter-professional service system

3 Digitalization of the services

4 Preventive approach

5 Children in center

6 Cost-cuts

Family orientation – families as systems and parents as actors IN the families

Families are social control system to govern social problems based on relationships between family members

Parents (especially mothers) are the main actors to prevent developmental and behavior problems of the children

Uncontrolled welfare problems in families are fiscal/ financial problems

Not human services, but welfare services to enhance economic-technological development?

Parenting (policy) as a social control mechanism?

Is parenting a social mechanism to control the development and well-being of the children?

- Socialization to parenthood of the time

- Children´s well-being and growing up to become a “good citizens”: socialization task?

- In Finnish discourse on parenting is little, if at all, references to parents well-being / parents as persons

- Parents are seen from child perspective only parenthood as a responsible relationship to the child in family context

- Responsibility to the child and to the society

- Familism as an idea of community, togetherness, and intimate relationships, in individualized society?

Pasi Kumpulainen SAMK 5.5.2015

Parents and parenting – alternative discourse?

What is not manifest in this presentation?

There is stronger, dominant discourse of child-centeredness, the best interest of the child!

Those sentences which refer to children are deleted

Maybe this explains why parents in ”the shadow” of Finnish parent and parenting discourse

POLICY ANSWERS TO IN-SERVICE PROFESSIONALS

Three policy discourses

1 Work with families (”family work”)- child-centered orientation- Parent-centered orientation

2 Partnership - In educational services- In social services

3 Dialogicity (principle, theory and practice)- Client work- Organization development

Work with families discourse

Fuzzy concept – many contexts – many approaches

Work with family: to help, to service, to activate, to couch, to offer therapy, to consult; problems are prevented or corrected; the aim is to keep family together, or a child will be take to custody etc. (Vuori & Nätkin 2007)

Orientations (Myllärniemi 2007):

- frame of family (as a system of internal relationships)

- frame of work with parenthood or to work with parent (like to enhance the skills in parenting)

- child individualization orientation

- Child protection orientation

Parents are actors only in the family system; relationship discourse; parents´ ability to control child´s development and well-being if needed (that is: out of normality?)

Partnership discourse

Official policy guideline / National Institute for Health and Welfare, and National Board of Education

- Legislation

- Governmental website of Partnership in upbringing

Early childhood education

Child welfare services

Partnership discourse

This should be strong according the legislation and policy

- Little knowledge (?) about practices; variation according individual professionals in field and organizations

- Look: government´s project: in-service training to work with parents is needed lack of professional skills and organization policies to meet and work with parents?

Call for IPP?

Dialogicity discourse – as principle, theory and method

Look: Governmental website of Partnership in upbringing

Two orientations:

1 Client work (Seikkula, Arnkil T.E., Eriksson, Pyhäjoki)

- Researchers of National Institute of Health and Welfare

- ”listening” and team reflection (by Tom Anderson), open dialogues by J. Seikkula; anticipation dialogues (Seikkula, Arnkil, Eriksson)

2 Organization development

- Arnkil R.: Cross-organizational and multiprofessional work

- Working life research: democratic dialogues /Work conference since 1980s, today e.g. DINNO-project / University of Tampere)

- International movement: 1 Isaacs W. 1999: Dialogue: The Art of Thinking Together, 2. Bushe & Marshak (ed.). 2015: Dialogic Organization Development

Child poverty100 000 children

Poverty of parents

Child benefit to prevent child poverty

Day Care / Kindergarten for Children:Change in legislation: municipalities are obliged to provide day care only 20 hours to families with a parent at home (unemployment, newborn child etc.) Change in principle of universal rights (welfare state):

municipalities did not accept Vulnerable families / parents (to the risk)? Tired

parents, lack of help by grand parents, etc Is day care for children or for parents? Female workforce: effects? Fathers must stay more with children effects to

families with low income

Single parents

Mothers

Risk for child poverty: single parent families with unemployment- Low paid service work of women- Most single parents are women gendered poverty- Impact on self-esteem as a parent- Opportunities to answer to the needs of the child?

What is the discourse that directs your thinking and doing in work with parent?

Thank you for you patience and attention!