Search results for "514"
showing 10 items of 369 documents
Financial Behaviour Under Economic Strain in Different Age Groups: Predictors and Change Across 20 Years
2021
AbstractThe present study examined the multiple micro- and macro-level factors that affect individuals’ financial behaviour under economic strain. The following sociodemographic and economic factors that predict financial behaviour were analysed: age group, year of data gathering, and attitudes towards consumption (economical, deprived, and hedonistic). Subjective financial situations and demographic characteristics were controlled for. Finnish time series data that consisted of five cross-sectional nationally representative surveys were used (n = 10 043). The analyses revealed four types of financial behaviour: cutting expenses, borrowing, increasing income, and gambling. Young adults aged…
Social mechanisms and strategic action fields: The example of the emergence of the European Research Area
2017
The point of departure of this article is Fligstein and McAdam’s A Theory of Fields. It is argued that their theoretical framework would be strengthened by a more systematic focus in social mechanism-based explanations since this would increase understanding of how new strategic action fields (SAFs) emerge. This argument is illustrated by exploring the emergence of the European Research Area (ERA) as a SAF. In identifying social mechanisms the article draws both on Fligstein and McAdam’s studies and on academic capitalism literature. The main conclusion is that the emergence of the ERA was brought about by multiple social mechanisms such as collective attribution of threat/opportunity, soc…
To work or to care? Working women's decision-making
2015
Recent changes in older people's public care services in Nordic countries in particular in Finland and Sweden are based on implicit expectations that family members will increase their involvement in care. In Nordic countries, the care of small children has been acknowledged to be a social matter that concerns gender equality and the work life participation of both men and women, while the situation of working carers of older people is much less acknowledged. This study addressed the question of how Finnish working women who give care to their older parents argue for and against their decisions of working and caring and the meaning of work and care in these decisions. Majority of the interv…
Framing Social Work Discourses of Violence Against Women. Insights From Finland and India
2021
Violence against women (VAW) is a global social problem. In India, its high prevalence is connected to gender inequality, whereas Finland suffers from the so-called Nordic Paradox—that is, the existence of both gender equality and a high prevalence of VAW. This qualitative study employed a critical constructioniist approach and frame analysis to analyze data from interviews with Finnish (n =20) and Mumbai (n =18) social workers. We asked how social workers frame their response to VAW and how ways of framing elucidate institutional practices that facilitate the interventions. Anti-oppressive, juridical, procedural, and collaborational frames revealed institutional practices mirroring how soc…
Leisure Adjustments of Older Finnish Adults during the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic
2022
The current approach to “aging well” emphasizes the importance of active leisure participation in late adulthood. This relates to the view that leisure activities enable older adults to stay physically, mentally, and socially active, and they thereby contribute to wellbeing. In spring 2020, leisure activity engagement was significantly hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explores leisure-related experiences and adaptation strategies among Finnish older adults during the period of strict physical distancing. The data comprises letters (N = 77) written by Finnish people (aged 70–93) that were analyzed using content analysis. The study suggests that the reorganization of leisure was …
Ecosocial Innovations and Their Capacity to Integrate Ecological, Economic and Social Sustainability Transition
2019
The article contributes to sustainability transition research by indicating the significance of transformative grassroots innovations in the context of social work research. We introduce the integrative concept of ecosocial innovation in order to demonstrate how grassroots innovations can successfully combine social, ecological and economic aspects of a sustainability transition. By ecosocial innovations, we refer to social innovations with a strong ecological orientation (e.g., recycling workshops, urban gardening, participatory unemployment projects and new local economies). The data consists of 50 examples of ecosocial innovations in Finland, Italy, Germany, Belgium and the UK. We invest…
Aktiivisen kansalaisuuden mahdollisuudet kotouttamistyön ulkoisten ehtojen ja maahanmuuttajien tarpeiden ristipaineissa
2018
Nykyisessä poliittisessa keskustelussa aktiivinen kansalaisuus ymmärretään usein kapeasti työkansalaisuutena. Artikkelissa analysoidaan, miten aktiivinen kansalaisuus rakentuu kotouttamistyön rakenteellisten ehtojen ja maahanmuuttajien tarpeiden huomioimisen ristiriidassa. Teoreettisesti nojaudutaan Amartya Senin toimintamahdollisuuksien teoriaan, joka painottaa erilaisten kyvykkyyksien sekä autonomisten toimintamahdollisuuksien merkitystä aktiivisessa kansalaisuudessa. Tuloksena havaitaan, että ammattilaisten näkemyksissä painottuu ristiriita järjestelmän tarpeille rakentuvan työkansalaisuuden ja kotoutujien autonomiaa tukevien toimintamahdollisuuksia vahvistavan työn välille. Myös kotiäi…
Application of the International classification of functioning, disability and health in Taiwan : victory of the medical model
2017
AbstractSince July 2012, eligibility for disability benefits and services in Taiwan has been assessed based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. This study examines disabled people’s experiences of this new assessment system: does it incorporate the social model or a multidimensional understanding of disability and assess the needs of disabled people adequately? In-depth interviews were employed with 24 disabled persons to answer these questions from the perspective of disabled people. The findings show that the new assessment model is still medicalised: social roles and social participation are not considered, the assessment process is dominated by pro…
A Prospective Study of Social Isolation, Loneliness, and Mortality in Finland
2016
Objectives. To estimate the simultaneous effects of social isolation and loneliness on mortality. Methods. We analyzed a representative Finnish sample (n = 8650) from the cross-sectional Living Conditions Survey of 1994, with a 17-year follow-up period (1995–2011), by using Cox regression models adjusted for several possible confounding variables. We examined the possible nonlinear threshold effect of social isolation on mortality. Results. The analyses revealed that social isolation predicted mortality even after we controlled for loneliness and control variables. The connection between social isolation and mortality was linear in nature and there was no synergistic effect between social …
“Healthy to Heaven” : Middle-Agers Looking Ahead in the Context of Wellness Consumption
2016
Concentrating on personal health and well-being has become a central objective for people living in wealthy societies. In an age of consumerism, the current health enthusiasm can be observed particularly in the fast-growing wellness industry, the popularity of which has increased, in particular, among mature consumers, a trend also evident in people's individual strategies for aging well. As it is generally assumed that aging people consume wellness mainly to delay signs of aging, this study focuses on this understudied phenomenon with the aim of deepening the profile of mature wellness consumers. The data consist of eight group interviews of Finnish middle-agers (50–65 years). Interviewees…