Avohuollon lastensuojelutyön arviointi : tutkimus Kirkkonummen lastensuojelusta

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.Arviointi ja lastensuojelun ammatillisen laadun parantaminen on ollut usean, viime vuosina käynnistyneen kehittämishankkeen teemana. Lapsen ja perheen tueksi tarkoitetun toiminnan vaikutusten arviointi kuuluu oleellisena osana lastensuojelun avohuollon sosiaalityöhön. Ihmisiin kohdistuvien vaikutusten arvioinnissa korostuvat erityisesti eettiset periaatteet ja kysymykset. Avohuollon lastensuojelutyön arviointia koskeva pro gradu- tutkielma käsittelee Kirkkonummella toteutettavaa lastensuojelun avohuollon työtä. Kirkkonummi on kuntana mielenkiintoinen tutkimuksen kohde, sillä Kirkkonummi on kasvukunta joka on väestöpohjaltaan hyvin lapsirikas. Kirkkonummen koko väestöstä noin 28 prosenttia on 1-17–vuotiaita lapsia ja nuoria, mikä vuoksi juuri lapsiperheiden palveluiden tarve on kunnassa erityisen suuri. Tutkimusympäristönä on kunnan lastensuojelun palvelujärjestelmä. Tutkimuksessa selvitetään, minkälaisia avohuollon tukitoimia Kirkkonummella on tarjottu lapsiperheille, miten lapsi otetaan huomioon lastensuojelutyötä toteutettaessa, miten lastensuojelutoimenpiteitä ja niiden tuloksia arvioidaan sekä miten viranomaisvalta ilmenee sosiaalityöntekijän ja asiakkaan välisessä suhteessa. Tutkimuksen pääpaino on sosiaalityöntekijöiden suorittamassa arvioinnissa, jonka tavoitteena on asiakkaiden suoriutumisedellytyksien parantaminen. Tutkimusmenetelminä käytetään sekä diskurssianalyyttistä tutkimusmenetelmää että temaattista sisällön analyysiä. Tutkimuksen pääasiallisina lähteinä toimivat Aino Kääriäisen vuonna 2003 (Lastensuojelun sosiaalityö asiakirjoina. Dokumentoinnin ja tiedonmuodostuksen dynamiikka), Johanna Hurtigin vuonna 2003 (Lasta suojelemassa. Etnografia lasten paikan rakentumisesta lastensuojelun perhetyön käytännöissä) ja Sirkka Rousun vuonna 2007 (Lastensuojelun tuloksellisuuden arviointi organisaatiossa) valmistuneet väitöskirjat, joissa lastensuojelun problematiikkaa on lähestytty eri näkökulmista. Tutkimuksessa jäljitellään asiakirjoissa esiintyviä diskursseja etsimällä etenkin työn arviointiin liittyviä avainkäsitteitä, ilmaisuja ja teemoja. Avohuollon asiakirjat sisältävät runsaasti vuoropuhelua ja eri positioista lausuttua puhetta. Sosiaalityöntekijän viranomaisvalta tulee ilmi asiakkaan tilanteen ja tarjottavien tukitoimien arvioinnissa. Sosiaalityöntekijän valta ilmenee lisäksi siinä, että dokumentoijana sosiaalityöntekijä pääsee valitsemaan sen, kenen ääni asiakkaan asiakirjoissa pääsee kuuluviin. Lastensuojelutyön moniammatillinen työote näkyy dokumentaatiossa vuoropuheluna eri viranomaisten ja asianosaisten kanssa. Lastensuojelutyön arviointimenetelmistä on yhä pulaa, vaikka uusia menetelmiä onkin viime aikoina kehitetty. Tutkimus osoittaa, että erilaisia arvioinnin mittareita syntyy kuitenkin käytännön työssä perheen arjen reflektoinnin ja seurannan kautta. Lastensuojelutyöhön liittyy erityinen herkkyys työntekijöiden kohdatessa ihmisiä vaikeissa elämäntilanteissa. Sosiaalityöntekijä voi pyrkiä hallitsemaan työskentelyä ja asiakassuhteen laatua tietoisella ammatillisella kehittymisellä ja herkällä eettisellä suhteella asiakastyöhön. Avohuollon asiakassuhteen päättyessä kirjallinen loppuarvio voi helpottaa avohuollon työn arviointia ja vaikutusten seuraamista. Loppuarviosta voi olla hyötyä myös avohuollon asiakastyöntekijöiden arviointiosaamisen kehittämisen kannalta

Overweight, body size perceptions, lifestyle changes and health concerns in young adults. The Tromsø Study, Fit Futures . A combined approach using qualitative interviews and a population-based cross-sectional study

The aims of this thesis were to expand our knowledge on overweight issues including motivation and obstacles for weight management in the young, and especially the female population. Late adolescence and early adulthood are important stages of life regarding lifestyle habits. There has been a lack of research into environmental determinants of food choices, physical activity and body size perceptions in the young population. A combined approach using qualitative and quantitative methods was used in the study. The second wave of the cross-sectional youth cohort survey Fit Futures, part of the Tromsø Study, formed the basis of the quantitative part. The sample for the present study consisted of 629 young women and men, 18-22 years old. The participants for the qualitative part of the study were recruited from the same cohort. This part of the study was accomplished as semi-structured life-world interviews with 12 young women, 18-20 years old. The results show that young women experience a huge focus on overweight issues with an attention on appearance rather than health. We found presence of motivation for lifestyle changes, not just dependent on weight management. Challenges and obstacles for weight management connected to the transitions to independent adult life were also described. We found high prevalence of overweight and obesity in both genders. Body size confusion and weight change wishes were widespread, but not related to self-perceived health. We suggest a more relaxed attitude towards appearance and more attention on health and well-being when addressing overweight issues in the young. Health education and affordable healthy food and sports activities should be considered. The lack of relation between body size confusion, body size dissatisfaction and self-perceived health in both genders was difficult to interpret. The explanation might be found in how the young define and percept their own health

Revisiting the ideal of neutrality

Revisiting the ideal of neutrality The idea of a neutral library and a neutral librarian is appealing. Without influencing or judging, the librarian trusts the citizens own judgement and steps away from her own opinion in order to serve and guide the users. The notion of neutrality as an ideal has been the dominating position among both librarians and Library and Information Science-researchers. Advocates for the principle of neutrality claim that the idea of neutrality is both an expression of representative democracy and respect for the individual’s rights and that neutrality is an active choice (Blomgreen & Sundeen, 2020; Tewell, 2018). One can argue, that it is by adhering to this principle, the library has gained its credibility and trustworthiness. Other parts of LIS-research have questioned the idea of neutrality; in the representation of materials on the shelves, in the categorization and the role of the librarian (Drabinski 2013, Mathiesen & Fallis 2008, Iversen 2008). According to this more activistic part of the LIS-field, insistence of neutrality contributes to reproduction of oppressive structures that historically has been dominating society, they claim that it is necessary to reject the idea of neutrality to serve the whole community. In my masters thesis (Bollerup, 2021), I conclude that the question of neutrality should not be treated as binary. Both advocates for a neutral approach and an activistic approach justify their work from the same core value: a library and a librarian should serve all citizens and the whole community. Climate, racism, sexism, inequality etc. should not be seen as controversial political topics, but as common human responsibilities, also for the library and the librarian. Instead of making the principle of neutrality a choice – to be or not to be neutral – let us ask: What values do we want our library to reflect? Maybe it is not neutrality as a value but democratic values such as social justice, equity and solidarity. ___________________ List of references Bollerup, A. (2021). The librarian on the soapbox: between neutrality and activism. Masters thesis, University of Copenhagen. Denmark. Blomgren, R. & Sundeen, J. (2020). Offentliga bibliotek som arena för aktivism: En fallstudie av vänsterpolitisk biblioteksideologi p  1970- och 2010-talen. In Nordisk kulturpolitisk tidskrift (Vol. 23, Issue 2, p. 159–179). Drabinski, E. (2013). Queering the Catalog: Queer Theory and the Politics of Correction. The Library Quarterly (Chicago), 83(2), 94–111. Iverson, S. (2008). Librarianship and Resistance. I: Lewis, A. (2008). Questioning library neutrality : essays from Progressive librarian. Library Juice Press. Mathiesen, K., & Fallis, D. (2008). Information Ethics and the Library Profession. I: Imma, K., & Tavani, H. (2008). The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics (1st ed., pp. 219–244). Wiley. Tewell, E. (2018). The Practice and Promise of Critical Information Literacy: Academic Librarians’Involvement in Critical Library Instruction. College & Research Libraries, 79(1)

Environmental factors, metabolic profile, hormones and breast and endometrial cancer risk

Breast cancer is the leading cancer among women in the Western world. In Norway, 2,503 cases of female breast cancer were diagnosed in 2000, which corresponds to an age-adjusted incidence rate of 72.1 per 100,000 women per year (1). The risk of breast cancer increases with age from puberty, doubling about every 10 years until the menopause, when the rate of increase slows dramatically and a flattening of the age-specific incidence curve is observed in some populations (1). In general, breast cancer spreads to distant organs and progresses to fatal disease more rapidly the younger the woman is at the time of diagnosis (2). This has made breast cancer the leading cause of death among Norwegian women aged 35-55 years in 2001 (3). Endometrial cancer is the most common type of malignant tumour in the uterine corpus. In Norway, 554 cases of corpus uteri cancer were diagnosed in 2000, which corresponds to an age-adjusted incidence rate of 14.6 per 100,000 women per year (1). In contrast to breast cancer, endometrial cancer is entirely a disease of middle-aged and elderly women

Forecasting inflation with an uncertain output gap

The output gap (measuring the deviation of output from its potential) is a crucial concept in the monetary policy framework, indicating demand pressure that generates inflation. The output gap is also an important variable in itself, as a measure of economic fluctuations. However, its definition and estimation raise a number of theoretical and empirical questions. This paper evaluates a series of univariate and multivariate methods for extracting the output gap, and compares their value added in predicting inflation. The multivariate measures of the output gap have by far the best predictive power. This is in particular interesting, as they use information from data that are not revised in real time. We therefore compare the predictive power of alternative indicators that are less revised in real time, such as the unemployment rate and other business cycle indicators. Some of the alternative indicators do as well, or better, than the multivariate output gaps in predicting inflation. As uncertainties are particularly pronounced at the end of the calculation periods, assessment of pressures in the economy based on the uncertain output gap could benefit from being supplemented with alternative indicators that are less revised in real time.Output gap, real time indicators, forecasting, Phillips curve