...implementation process. As the key result of my study, I identify three major spatio-legal barriers to developing retirement villages and other intermediate senior housing solutions, which are (a) the polarised division between the fields of elderly care and housing in both law and practice, (b) the prevalence of ‘local law’ in spatial planning and service provision for elderly people, and (c) the inflexible
(Publisher abstract)
Retirement villages are an increasingly popular senior housing option that aims to comprehensively integrate accommodation, care services, social activities and interaction opportunities for ageing people. The research literature about retirement villages and communities is extensive, but less studied are the contextually varying spatial, legal and political processes of how such villages and other intermediate housing-with-care solutions for older people are initially constituted, especially in novel national and local contexts. In this paper, a spatio-legal approach is employed to study the many legal possibilities and barriers that have arisen while developing retirement villages in Finland. As a specific case, I examine the new Finnish Virkkulankylä retirement village concept and its implementation process. As the key result of my study, I identify three major spatio-legal barriers to developing retirement villages and other intermediate senior housing solutions, which are (a) the polarised division between the fields of elderly care and housing in both law and practice, (b) the prevalence of ‘local law’ in spatial planning and service provision for elderly people, and (c) the inflexible funding system regarding alternative housing-with-care solutions for seniors. I argue that although the ‘in-betweenness’ of retirement villages may facilitate a more comprehensive understanding about the housing and care of older adults, in practice their intermediary position translates into many ambiguities and challenges.
(Publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
older people, retirement communities, integrated care, law;
Contains sections on: exploring a common drug control space; the present space in EC and national laws; and conclusions and recommendations. Countries looked at are: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.
Contains sections on: exploring a common drug control space; the present space in EC and national laws; and conclusions and recommendations. Countries looked at are: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.
Subject terms:
law, prevention, drug misuse;
Location(s):
Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Europe, Finland, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom
German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth
Publication year:
2017
Pagination:
53
This paper focuses on ‘working carers’, people in paid work who also provide unpaid care for family or friends in need of care or support because of a disability, serious illness or frailty in old age. It highlights the context for national legislative and policy approaches to supporting people in employment to manage their paid work alongside a caring role in eight countries: Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and the UK. It also provides detailed information about the voluntary support provided by ‘Employers for Carers’, an employer-led forum established in the UK by the national charity Carers UK. It also details approaches to work-care reconciliation from six of its membership organisations to inform wider policy debates. The report aims to indicate how policy developments in several different spheres – support for older people; flexibility and leave options at work; and financial assistance, recognition and rights for carers – shape carers' experience. The conclusion emphasises that linking these policies is vital if caring is to be feasible and sustainable, without unfair health, financial or social penalties for carers, in ageing societies dependent on high employment rates.
(Edited publisher abstract)
This paper focuses on ‘working carers’, people in paid work who also provide unpaid care for family or friends in need of care or support because of a disability, serious illness or frailty in old age. It highlights the context for national legislative and policy approaches to supporting people in employment to manage their paid work alongside a caring role in eight countries: Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and the UK. It also provides detailed information about the voluntary support provided by ‘Employers for Carers’, an employer-led forum established in the UK by the national charity Carers UK. It also details approaches to work-care reconciliation from six of its membership organisations to inform wider policy debates. The report aims to indicate how policy developments in several different spheres – support for older people; flexibility and leave options at work; and financial assistance, recognition and rights for carers – shape carers' experience. The conclusion emphasises that linking these policies is vital if caring is to be feasible and sustainable, without unfair health, financial or social penalties for carers, in ageing societies dependent on high employment rates.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
carers, employment, policy, law, conditions of employment;
Content type:
research
Location(s):
United Kingdom, Sweden, New Zealand, Japan, France, Finland, Canada, Australia
Social Work and Society: International Online Journal, 9(2), 2011, Online only
Publisher:
University of Bielefeld
This article describes procedures leading to the establishing of the first Finnish Child Welfare Act (1936) and Juvenile Crime legislation (1940–43) and discusses the changing interpretations of and societal reactions to juvenile crime. The process from the first parliamentary motion to the final drafts in 1936 and 1940 took nearly forty years. During this period, child welfare and juvenile crime discourses and doctrines changed and the actors of the legislative processes varied. This article analyses the types of changes that emerged within these legislative processes and asks why the child welfare and juvenile crime acts finally became what they are. Thus, the applied description is a historical and political analysis where the questions of childhood, youth, child welfare and juvenile crime are structured and restructured within the space of the constitutional state.
This article describes procedures leading to the establishing of the first Finnish Child Welfare Act (1936) and Juvenile Crime legislation (1940–43) and discusses the changing interpretations of and societal reactions to juvenile crime. The process from the first parliamentary motion to the final drafts in 1936 and 1940 took nearly forty years. During this period, child welfare and juvenile crime discourses and doctrines changed and the actors of the legislative processes varied. This article analyses the types of changes that emerged within these legislative processes and asks why the child welfare and juvenile crime acts finally became what they are. Thus, the applied description is a historical and political analysis where the questions of childhood, youth, child welfare and juvenile crime are structured and restructured within the space of the constitutional state.
Subject terms:
law, policy formulation, social work history, youth justice, child protection;
...process of the law and demonstrates how this issue of fundamental values and resources was turned into a question of apolitical governance and expert management, resulting in a dubious, status-quo supporting law. It presents a case of how the subsumption of homo politicus in the neoliberal era in practice can happen, and how depoliticisation can function in a context with which neoliberalism
(Edited publisher abstract)
Many European nations share a political challenge: the ageing population and recessionary economics lead to dwindling resources for welfare services, while scandals and reports of unacceptable deficits in particular in care services for older people arise. In Finland this situation was responded to with a new Care Act for Older People that was passed in 2013. This article tracks the legislative process of the law and demonstrates how this issue of fundamental values and resources was turned into a question of apolitical governance and expert management, resulting in a dubious, status-quo supporting law. It presents a case of how the subsumption of homo politicus in the neoliberal era in practice can happen, and how depoliticisation can function in a context with which neoliberalism is not often associated: namely the care policy of a traditionally social-democratic Nordic welfare state.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
social policy, participation, politics, welfare state, governance, cutbacks, law;
Child and Family Law Quarterly, 26(2), 2014, pp.152-172.
Publisher:
Jordan Publishing
Intentional effort to ensure compliance with Article 12 to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, giving every child the right to be heard in all matters is having an impact. This article addresses the child's voice in the family setting, exploring the benefits of listening to children and young people and the obstacles to doing so. It considers the mechanisms by which children's participation rights can be secured in that setting and and, using the lens of the Finnish, South African and Scottish experiences, excamines whether legislative privisions requiring parents and other caregivers to listen to children are effective. It concludes that culteralnorms play a larger part in influencing behaviour than legilsation and that legislaiton alone may not be enough, particularly where it is at odds with deep-seated cultural values.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Intentional effort to ensure compliance with Article 12 to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, giving every child the right to be heard in all matters is having an impact. This article addresses the child's voice in the family setting, exploring the benefits of listening to children and young people and the obstacles to doing so. It considers the mechanisms by which children's participation rights can be secured in that setting and and, using the lens of the Finnish, South African and Scottish experiences, excamines whether legislative privisions requiring parents and other caregivers to listen to children are effective. It concludes that culteralnorms play a larger part in influencing behaviour than legilsation and that legislaiton alone may not be enough, particularly where it is at odds with deep-seated cultural values.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
participation, children, families, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, rights, young people, law;
...the following headings: academic publications and research reports; employment statistics and trends; laws and policies, type and quality of jobs; specific examples of good practice; and conclusions and recommendations. New qualitative data indicate that there are 43,534 disabled people in the public labour market in Finland. This represents a fall of 4.4% in the employment rate of this group between 2000
This report, relating specifically to Finland, is one of a series reviewing national implementation of the European Employment Strategy from a disability equality perspective. It provides an update as at November 2009 to a first report published in 2008. Evidence is summarised, along with a comment on the current economic crisis. It is then briefly reviewed in a standardised format under the following headings: academic publications and research reports; employment statistics and trends; laws and policies, type and quality of jobs; specific examples of good practice; and conclusions and recommendations. New qualitative data indicate that there are 43,534 disabled people in the public labour market in Finland. This represents a fall of 4.4% in the employment rate of this group between 2000 and 2008. However labour market training has increased in parallel. The government budget for the employment of disabled people was 36m Euro in 2008. One of the most important policies in this area is the long term development of intermediate labour markets. New research evidence shows that 15-20% of disabled people have a paid job compared to 70% of the whole population. Detailed data on the direct impact of the economic crisis on the employment of disabled people in Finland is not yet available.
Subject terms:
labour market, law, disabilities, employment, equal opportunities, government policy;
Social Policy and Administration, 43(5), October 2009, pp.464-482.
Publisher:
Wiley
This article aims to portray the underlying constructions of the parliamentary discourse on child protection by investigating Finnish MPs’ constructions of children and state intervention during the parliamentary debates relating to the 1983 and 2006 Child Protection Act. It looks at the politicisation of children within a parliamentary framework and the role of dominant discourses, ideas and ideological views in shaping child protection policy. A review of MPs speeches from preliminary debates found that the notion of the child as an actor with individual rights was still controversial among MPs in 1983. This controversy revolved around whether or not parental authority should be weakened in favour of enhanced child agency, and whether there should be more intense public intervention in the family sphere. By 2006 the idea of children's rights and agency had become an uncontested principle underlying most of the speakers' statements. However, this emphasis on the child's agency was accompanied by rather gloomy evaluations of the well-being of contemporary families with children, including calls for more rigorous public actions in order to regulate family-related risks.
This article aims to portray the underlying constructions of the parliamentary discourse on child protection by investigating Finnish MPs’ constructions of children and state intervention during the parliamentary debates relating to the 1983 and 2006 Child Protection Act. It looks at the politicisation of children within a parliamentary framework and the role of dominant discourses, ideas and ideological views in shaping child protection policy. A review of MPs speeches from preliminary debates found that the notion of the child as an actor with individual rights was still controversial among MPs in 1983. This controversy revolved around whether or not parental authority should be weakened in favour of enhanced child agency, and whether there should be more intense public intervention in the family sphere. By 2006 the idea of children's rights and agency had become an uncontested principle underlying most of the speakers' statements. However, this emphasis on the child's agency was accompanied by rather gloomy evaluations of the well-being of contemporary families with children, including calls for more rigorous public actions in order to regulate family-related risks.
Reports on a document analysis of the most significant Child Welfare Acts, and other important documents of child welfare published in Finland in relation to parent education. The study revealed that the idea of influencing parent' child-raising strategies has been an essential part of Finnish child welfare ideology since the 1750's. After the 2nd World War, the outlook of parent education, as well as child welfare in general, has shifted from socialisation and best interests of the society to securing the well-being and healthy development of the individual child, and since the 1990s, also increasingly towards her autonomy and self-determination.
Reports on a document analysis of the most significant Child Welfare Acts, and other important documents of child welfare published in Finland in relation to parent education. The study revealed that the idea of influencing parent' child-raising strategies has been an essential part of Finnish child welfare ideology since the 1750's. After the 2nd World War, the outlook of parent education, as well as child welfare in general, has shifted from socialisation and best interests of the society to securing the well-being and healthy development of the individual child, and since the 1990s, also increasingly towards her autonomy and self-determination.
Subject terms:
law, parental skills training, policy, social welfare, social work history, socialisation, children;
The problem considered in the article is to what extent the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child have been implemented in the national legislation on compulsory placement in the five Nordic countries. The Convention lays particular stress on "the best interests of the child" and the right of children to express their own opinion on matters concerning themselves. One main conclusion is that the Convention has roughly the same status in the five Nordic countries. The countries differ, however, when it comes to the actual measures that each country has taken to translate the intentions of the Convention into reality. Norway and Sweden seem to have taken the most radical steps, followed by Denmark. The Children's Convention has evidently been of lesser importance for Finnish and Icelandic practice.
The problem considered in the article is to what extent the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child have been implemented in the national legislation on compulsory placement in the five Nordic countries. The Convention lays particular stress on "the best interests of the child" and the right of children to express their own opinion on matters concerning themselves. One main conclusion is that the Convention has roughly the same status in the five Nordic countries. The countries differ, however, when it comes to the actual measures that each country has taken to translate the intentions of the Convention into reality. Norway and Sweden seem to have taken the most radical steps, followed by Denmark. The Children's Convention has evidently been of lesser importance for Finnish and Icelandic practice.
Subject terms:
law, social policy, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, United Nations, children, childrens rights;