Lapsen osallisuuden toteutuminen : lastensuojelun työntekijöiden kokemuksia lapsen osallisuudesta perheväkivaltatilanteiden käsittelyssä

Tutkielman tarkoituksena oli selvittää, kuinka lasten osallisuus toteutuu työntekijöiden mielestä lastensuojelutarpeen selvityksessä perheväkivaltatilanteiden käsittelyssä. Tutkielma on toteutettu yhteistyössä Länsi-Helsingin lastensuojelun avohuollon toimipisteen väkivaltatyöryhmän kanssa. Tutkimuskysymyksemme ovat: Millä tavoin lastensuojelun avohuollon työntekijät ottavat lapsen osallisuuden huomioon lastensuojelutarpeen selvityksessä kun perheessä on ollut vanhempien välistä väkivaltaa? Miten työntekijöiden mielestä lasten osallisuutta pitäisi parantaa? Aineistoa kerättiin haastattelemalla Länsi-Helsingin alueeseen kuuluvan lastensuojelun avohuollon toimipisteen sosiaalityöntekijöitä ja sosiaaliohjaajia. Haastattelumenetelmänä toimi teemahaastattelu ja analyysimenetelmänä käytimme opinnäytetyössämme teemoittelua sekä teorialähtöistä sisällönanalyysia. Tuloksista käy ilmi, että työntekijöiden mielestä perheväkivalta on tullut viime vuosina näkyvämmäksi. Perheväkivallan syiksi mainittiin vaikea taloustilanne, mielenterveys- ja päihdeongelmat, perheen sisäiset vuorovaikutusongelmat ja avun hakeminen liian myöhään. Työntekijät kokevat, että on olennaista kuulla lasta ikätasonsa mukaisesti selvitystilanteissa käyttämällä erilaisia toiminnallisia menetelmiä sekä keskustelemalla tapahtuneesta lapsen kanssa. Osallisuutta haittaavina tekijöinä nähtiin resurssi- ja aikapula sekä liian vähäinen työntekijämäärä, osallisuutta edistävinä tekijöinä puolestaan nähtiin lapsen kokonaisvaltainen huomioiminen sekä hyvä yhteistyö. Lasten osallisuutta voisi tulevaisuudessa parantaa työkäytäntöjen kehittämisellä lapsilähtöiseen suuntaan, ajankohtaisilla koulutuksilla ja ennaltaehkäisevällä työllä. Tuloksista voi päätellä, että työntekijät tukevat lapsia mielipiteiden ilmaisemisessa ja heidän näkemyksensä otetaan huomioon päätöksenteossa. Työntekijöillä on pääasiassa riittävät mahdollisuudet kuulla lapsia, ja he ovat tietoisia velvollisuuksistaan. On myös tärkeää, että työntekijät tiedostavat väkivallan lyhyt- ja pitkäaikaisvaikutukset lapsen kehitykseen.The purpose of our thesis was to find out how children’s participation was implemented, in social workers’ opinion when making an investigation of the need for child welfare services in case of domestic violence. The thesis was conducted in co-operation with a work group that tries to find ways to deal with violence cases. The work group is run by child welfare workers in western Helsinki family centre. The study questions were: How do the child welfare workers take children’s participation into account when making an investigation of the need for child welfare services when there has been domestic violence between the parents? How should the children’s participation be improved, in workers’ opinion? We collected the data for this study by interviewing six child welfare workers in the western area social office. The interviewing method was theme interview and the analysis method comprised themes and theory based data analysis. The results showed that domestic violence had become more visible during the last years in the workers’ opinion. As reasons for domestic violence they mentioned difficulties in economic situations, mental health problems, drug problems, difficulties in family interaction, and asking for help too late. According to the child welfare workers it was essential to hear the child as their age allowed it by using functional methods and by discussing the incident with the child. Matters that prevented participation were lack of resources, time and personnel. Matters that improved participation were as considering the child’s situation comprehensively and cooperating. The study revealed that by developing working practices, organizing relevant education and using preventing actions, children’s participation could be improved in future. The results showed that workers supported children to express their views and their perspective was taken into account when making decisions. Workers had mainly adequate opportunities to listen to the children and they were aware of their duties. It is also important that the workers understand the consequences that domestic violence has in children

Evaluation of machine learning algorithms for Health and Wellness applications: a tutorial

Research on decision support applications in healthcare, such as those related to diagnosis, prediction, treatment planning, etc., have seen enormously increased interest recently. This development is thanks to the increase in data availability as well as advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning research. Highly promising research examples are published daily. However, at the same time, there are some unrealistic expectations with regards to the requirements for reliable development and objective validation that is needed in healthcare settings. These expectations may lead to unmet schedules and disappointments (or non-uptake) at the end-user side. It is the aim of this tutorial to provide practical guidance on how to assess performance reliably and efficiently and avoid common traps. Instead of giving a list of do's and don't s, this tutorial tries to build a better understanding behind these do's and don't s and presents both the most relevant performance evaluation criteria as well as how to compute them. Along the way, we will indicate common mistakes and provide references discussing various topics more in-depth.Comment: To be published in Computers in Biology and Medicin

Potentials and Costs for Mitigation of Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases in Annex 1 Countries: Version 2.0

This report documents the specific methodology of IIASA's GAINS model on methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases that has been used for comparing mitigation efforts across Annex I Parties. More details are available at gains.iiasa.ac.at

Fine particle emissions, emission reduction potential and reduction costs in Finland in 2020

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the atmosphere have been associated with severe human health effects. This report explores future emissions of primary PM2.5, their reduction potential and related reduction costs in Finland. One activity pathway of 2020 of the Finnish Climate Strategy was studied with two different PM emission control utilization scenarios: (1) "Baseline" which involves PM control technology utilization complying with current legislation, and (2) "Reduction" which assumes the use of maximum technically and economically feasible emission reduction measures. The studied sectors included stationary combustion and industrial activities. The work was performed using the Finnish Regional Emission Scenario (FRES) model of Finnish environment institute (SYKE). Total emission reduction potential below "Baseline" was estimated at 6.7 Gg(PM2.5) a-1, or 22% of the total emissions. The biggest relatively cost-efficient reductions (marginal cost below 5000 € Mg-1) can be achieved by the use of small electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) in domestic wood log boilers, 2.0 Gg a-1. In large-scale combustion installations in power plants and industry the reduction of 1.2 Gg a-1 is possible by fabric filter installations instead of ESPs. A comparable reduction with slightly higher costs can be achieved in small (below 5 MWth) industrial boilers by the introduction of ESPs. For industrial processes potential occurs in few individual plants. The uncertainties in emission reduction and cost estimates are biggest for domestic combustion and industrial processes. This report presents cost-efficiency estimates of future emission reductions per mass of PM2.5 reduced. However, the magnitude of health benefits gained from emission reductions are different for different emission sources, depending on e.g. the altitude of emission release, the emission location in relation to the location of population etc. The results of this study are used in the integrated assessment modeling framework developed in the KOPRA project in order to link the information of emission reductions and costs, atmospheric dispersion and induced health impacts

The GAINS Model for Greenhouse Gases - Version 1.0: HFC, PFC AND SF6

Many of the traditional air pollutants and greenhouse gases have common sources, offering a cost-effective potential for simultaneous improvements of traditional air pollution problems and climate change. A methodology has been developed to extend the RAINS integrated assessment model to explore synergies and trade-offs between the control of greenhouse gases and air pollution. With this extension, the GAINS (GHG-Air pollution INteraction and Synergies) model will allow the assessment of emission control costs for the six greenhouse gases covered under the Kyoto Protocol (CO2, CH4, N2O and the three F-gases) together with the emissions of air pollutants SO2, NOx, VOC, NH3 and PM. This report describes the first implementation (Version 1.0) of the model extension model to incorporate emissions of the Fgases, i.e., HFC, PFC and SF6. GAINS Version 1.0 assesses 230 options for reducing F-gas emissions from the various source categories. It quantifies for 43 countries/regions in Europe country-specific application potentials of the various options in the different sectors of the economy, and estimates the societal resource costs of these measures. Mitigation potentials are estimated in relation to an exogenous baseline projection that reflects current planning. The initial implementation of GAINS 1.0 estimates for 1995 total F-gas emissions in the European model domain (39 countries including the European part of Russia) at around 87 Mt CO2eq. With current legislation emissions are expected to increase by a factor two in 2020, due to the expected increase in HFC emissions from mobile air conditioning and refrigerating. 34 mitigation options for F-gases have been identified and implemented in GAINS 1.0. Full implementation of these options could reduce in 2020 total European F-gas emissions by more than 70 percent (compared to the current legislation baseline projection), which would keep these emissions below their 1995 levels. Marginal costs of these options range from 0.1 to 64 Euro/tCO2eq. More than half of these options have costs below 20 Euro/tCO2eq. More than half of these options have costs below 20 Euro/tCO2eq. Uncertainties in the estimates of emissions (and hence control costs) are large due to uncertainties in emission factors, the future penetration of technologies and abatement measures as well as lack of data on activities in a number of countries

Application and the Interpretation of the CISG in Finnish Case Law 1997–2005

The United Nations Convention for the International Sale of Goods (hereinafter the CISG or the Convention) was unanimously approved by a Diplomatic Conference of sixty-two States in Vienna, Austria on 11 April 1980. As of 15 August 2010, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) reports that 76 States have adopted the CISG, including the Nordic Countries, Russia, USA and China.1 The purpose of the CISG is to promote uniformity in the sphere of international commerce. Private international law and the conflict of law rules do not always provide the predictability and certainty needed in the international trade concerned. Finland ratified the CISG on 20 March 19872 and the CISG came into force on 1 January 19893. The purpose of this article is to introduce the main findings and conclusions of the English language licentiate thesis ‘The application and the interpretation of the CISG in the Finnish case law 1997-2005’. The core of the thesis covers nine cases tried in public courts in Finland between the years 1997 and 2005: 1. Turku Court of Appeal, S 95/1023 (18 February 1997); 2. District Court of Kuopio, 95/3214 (5 November 1996)4; 3. Turku Court of Appeal, S 97/324 (12 November 1997); 4. Helsinki Court of Appeal, S 96/1129 (29 January 1998); 5. Helsinki Court of Appeal, S 96/1215 (30 June 1998); 6. Helsinki Court of Appeal, S 00/82 (26 October 2000); 7. Turku Court of Appeal, S 00/855 (12 April 2002); 8. Helsinki Court of Appeal, S 01/269 (31 May 2004); 9. Turku Court of Appeal, S 04/1600 (24 May 2005). All these decisions have become final after the proceedings in the Court of Appeal. The analyses of the cases were restricted to the issues relating to the CISG. The Decision by the Supreme Court on 14 October 2005 (KKO:2005:114, S 2004/50) that returned the matter to the District Court to be retried on the merits relating to the CISG has been left to lighter scrutiny. From both the academic and practical point of view, the main issues of the case relate to matters of jurisdiction. The CISG Database maintained by the Institute of International Commercial Law at the Pace University was essential in writing the thesis.5 The CISG is an international convention and it is essential that internationality is promoted in its application. The analyses of the cases rendered in the Finnish legal system increases the understanding of the CISG by scholars, business practitioners, lawyers and judges alike and promotes uniform application in the future. Furthermore, for a truly international instrument of law, it is important that the case law from even a small legal community is incorporated and discussed in the sphere of the larger community. From a practical point of view, it is not sufficient to know the black letter law to be well prepared for unanticipated incidents in advance. One must understand the meaning of the black letter law