YEARBOOK OF POPULATION RESEARCH IN FINLAND, 2001, No. 37
Motherhood in family context - Comparing professional practices in maternity and child health care in Finland and Scotland.
The purpose of this article is to examine professional practices in maternity and child health care in two countries, Finland and Scotland, concentrating on how motherhood is located in family context, on how family is defined and worked with. Subthemes analysed are the role of fathers, "family support" for mothers and the discussion over lone motherhood. The study was carried out through local case studies using ethnographic methods, mainly observation and interviews with health professionals. Results show that Finnish health professionals have adopted a family-oriented way of working emphasising the importance of pair relationships and shared parenthood, compared with their Scottish colleagues, who work in a more women-oriented way and emphasise the role of other women as social support for mothers. In conclusion the two different professional orientations are connected to wider social and cultural differences between the two countries.
(FINLAND, SCOTLAND, MOTHERHOOD, MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH, MEDICAL PERSONNEL, FAMILY ENVIRONMENT, FAMILY COMPOSITION, ONE-PARENT FAMILY, SOCIAL STRUCTURE, CULTURE).
English - pp. 5-22.
M Kuronen, Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
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The development of children and family policy in Estonia from 1945 to 2000.
The paper gives an overview of the formation of Estonian family policy in the period from 1945 to 2000. Deeper analyses are dedicated to the most recent decade and to the factors which have influenced family policy and the main objects of discussion. For that purpose statistics and interviews with policy makers are analysed. The paper comes to the conclusion that child and family policy carries traces of history, different institutions and traditions. Family policy has been classified according to time period: 1945-1970, 1970-1990, and 1990 to present. The main characteristics of the most recent decade's family policy include comparatively generous child benefits, a great dependency of policy on political decisions, and the development of an initially plain and simple children's and family policy towards a more complicated one.
(ESTONIA, CHILD CARE, FAMILY WELFARE, SOCIAL WELFARE, SOCIAL POLICY, DECISION MAKING, POLITICS).
English - pp. 23-40.
M. Ainsaar, Department of Social Policy, Tartu University, Estonia.
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Education and the division of household labor in dual-earner families.
This article is the first report of a study on policies and the division of paid and unpaid work in families in Finland. The article examines the division of household labor and its determinants in Finnish dual-earner families. The main objective is to examine whether education has any impact on the division of unpaid work and men's participation in it controlling for other variables. It was found, that among women, rising educational levels, non-traditional attitudes and younger age cohort had a negative impact on time spent on housework, while among men only reduced time in employment and non-traditional attitudes increased the contribution at home. While both men and women with higher education and non-traditional attitudes were more likely to perceive their relative division as more equal, an analysis of the absolute number of hours spent on housework seems to support the notion that more equal distribution of tasks at home is more or less a result of younger and educated women doing less housework. The data comes from a survey conducted in 1998, in which 2,500 Finnish men and women were questioned about time use, employment, attitudes about gender roles, work and family, and reconciliation of work and family. The Finnish study is part of a European research project which studies the division of labor in families indifferent cultural, political and societal settings.
(FINLAND, EDUCATION, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, DOMESTIC WORK, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOUR, CULTURE, ATTITUDE, COHORTS, DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH).
English - pp. 41-62.
A. Miettinen, the Population Research Institute, the Family Federation of Finland, P.O. Box 849, 00101 Helsinki, Finland.
pop.inst@vaestoliitto.fi.
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Computer assistance and the evolution of qualitative data analysis.
The aim of the paper is to examine the emergence of computer assistance in qualitative research and to describe its impact on research practices. The use of data analysis programs is approached from methodological frameworks of basic and structured qualitative approaches. Computer use is also examined from the viewpoint of concrete operations of data analysis. Particularly the new features, which software packages are claimed to have brought to data analysis, are discussed in the paper.
It is argued that computer assisted techniques provide possibilities for developing the often impressionistic qualitative data analysis procedures into something more integrated, explicit and systematic. However, it is also emphasised that analysis programs themselves do not represent any methodological approaches. By offering a special tool-kit for data processing, computer assistance should be understood only as an attempt to enhance analytic practices in qualitative research.
(COMPUTER PROGRAMMES, SOFTWARE, DATA ANALYSIS, DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH).
English - pp. 63-82.
P. Räsänen, Centre for Knowledge and Innovation Research, Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, Finland.
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Minority rights and minority identities - Sámi in Finland and Sorbs in Germany.
This paper deals with international minority rights and their meaning as an identity resource for ethnic minorities. It asks why small national groups, such as the Sámi and the Sorbs, have not vanished, as was prophesied by modernisation theorists. In fact, the opposite has occurred. In Europe, small national minority groups are now clearly gaining more opportunities to invent their own "national" policies. After a short introduction that provides some general background, I discuss some common definitions of minority rights and the specific meaning of "minority identity" used in this paper. Then, I show how minority rights and minority identities are linked to each other, and why and how international minority protection treaties have become a part of the everyday vocabulary of Sámi, Sorb and many other national movements. The examples I use originate mostly from my field studies with the Sorbs in Eastern Germany and the Sámi in Northern Finland. I argue that not only the image of the group projected to its members is influenced by these treaties, but that the definition of the group itself is also changed.
(FINLAND, GERMANY, ETHNIC GROUPS, NATIONAL MINORITIES, CULTURE, HUMAN RIGHTS, INTERNATIONAL LAW).
English - pp. 83-102.
R. Toivanen, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, U.S.A.
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Internal migration and specialising labour markets in Finland.
A short description on phases of internal migration and industrial changes in Finland is given from a historical perspective. The main part of the article concentrates on special features of internal migration that are related to the specialisation of the labour markets in the 1990s. Three interconnected developments are analysed -- internal migration and growth of urban centres with well-developed high-tech industries, unemployment, and the relationship of internal and international migration. Urban centres with developed high-tech industries have strengthened their edge over others in developing a new economy of network societies. The 1990s are also characterised by increased migration of the unemployed. The trend started during the depression in the 1990s, and seems to have continued ever since. Internal and international migration are related to each other. The largest urban centres play an important role as linking points of these two forms of migration. Internal migration can be seen as a step-wise approach to unfamiliar conditions. Almost three out of ten emigrants made internal moves before emigrating in the 1990s.
(FINLAND, INTERNAL MIGRATION, LABOUR MARKET, DIVISION OF LABOUR, INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, URBAN AREAS, URBAN DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS, UNEMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES, SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION).
English - pp. 103-125.
O. Kultalahti, University of Regional Studies and Environmental Policy, University of Tampere, Finland.
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Liminalities: Expanding and constraining the options of Somali youth in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
Somali youth, "the generation in-between", who arrived in Finland in their early teens or as teenagers in the 1990s have faced specific challenges in Somali diaspora in Finland. Their voice is often ambiguous in the processes of cultural construction and thenic reconstruction. Dissonant acculturation and role reversal within the families and a family culture that emphasizes strong parental authority place these young people in a liminal position. Measures which balance the pace of the acculturation between the generations could alleviate the situation.
In addition, the diasporic consciousness and transnational activities among Somalis along with the ethos of "integration" within the mainstream institutions challenge Somali youth. They may find themselves "betwixt and between" various future orientations. This should be acknowledged in educational planning, for example.
While liminal states may open up new opportunities, it is claimed that several simultaneous states of liminality may be confusing for a young person, and may create risks for becoming marginal from societal and cultural classifications, as well as limit a person from finding him/her own group of reference.
(FINLAND, SOMALIA, CITIES, INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, IMMIGRANTS, YOUTH, ETHNIC GROUPS, INTEGRATION, MIGRANT ASSIMILATION, ACCULTURATION, MARGINALITY).
English - pp. 126-147.
A. Alitolppa-Niitamo, the Population Research Institute, the Family Federation of Finland, P.O. Box 849, 00101 Helsinki, Finland.
pop.inst@vaestoliitto.fi.
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