This is renewed lecture about social discourse of parenting in Finland, 7th of March 2016 in international intensive course at Satakunta University of Applied Sciences

1. Social discourse of parenting in Finland – about
legislation, trends and policy guidelines for
professionals
7th of March 2016
Pasi Kumpulainen

2. Content
What means ”discourse”?
Legislation and parental policy in Finland
Policy guidelines – how to meet parents in social
and educational services

3. Social discourse in my presentation
Discourse from (critical) sociological point of view:
- Production of knowledge and meanings by social institutions
- Dominant discourses are considered as truth, normal and
right
- Alternative, competing discourses are considered as marginal,
wrong, deviant, even dangerous and extreme and they may
be stigmatized as such (by dominant discourses)
- Discourse is meaning-making process which is based on
power relations in society – power: ability to affect the
behavior of others

4. Karen Healey (2014) about discourse
”Discourse refers to a system or aggregate of meanings through
which certain social phenomena, such as ´need´, ´knowledge
'and intervention, are constructed”.
They make some actions possible whilst precluding (= block,
make impossible) others
Language is a form of social practice, rather than purely
individual activity

5. Critical discourse analysis and the freedom of the
professional (Healey 2014; op. cit Taylor 2013)
Critical discourse analysis helps us to understand how discourses
operating in our field construct our professional purpose and the
relations of power and knowledge in them with understanding
- how language use contributes to the dominance of certain
truth claims and
- privileging of particular actors within practice context and
- what, if anything, other actors can do to disrupt these truth
claims to allow for alternative meanings, including different
ways of understanding need and responding to ´problems´.

6. Healy: Institutional contexts of social work
Institutional contexts:
Dominant discourses
Public policies
Law
Organizational policies
Accepted practices
Service discourses
The institutional context
provides the terms of
reference for the (social)
work task, that is, what
the professional is
formally employed to do
What is our truth about
parents and parenting,
our way to meet
parents, our truth about
parents in society?

7. Critical discourse analysis
”Analysis of dialectical relations between discourse and other
objects, elements or moments, as well as analysis of ´internal
relations‘ of discourse.” (Fairclough 2010)
Discourse Social theory
Realist approach: power stuctures and properties of social reality
have constructive forces

8. Competing sites
”Welfare, health and education are sites of competing
discourses, each of which offer different interpretations about
nature of client needs, expert knowledge, the nature of social
work role, and, specifically, the kinds of ´help´ or interventions
that will best address the concerns and issues facing service
users. In these contexts, one discourse, or set of compatible
discourses, has gained dominance in determining the official
practices of the institution”. (Healey 2014; bolding PK)
- Profoundly shapes work practices
- It is not about ´right´ and ´wrong´; it is about understanding
how the practices are shaped, and make alternative
interpretations possible

9. PARENTS AND PARENTING DISCOURSE
IN FINNISH LEGISLATION

10. Three approaches to parent and parenting discourse
(in Finland)
1 Support discourse
2 Partnership discourse
- Organizational discourse?
- Espoused theory: the world view and values people believe their
behavior is based on
- Theory-in-use: the world view and values implied by their behavior
3 Family as a system discourse
4 Economy discourse (government program, poverty/ child poverty
and inequality)

11. The Constitution of Finland: Section 19 - The right to
social security
“… the public authorities shall support families and
others responsible for providing for children so that
they have the ability to ensure the wellbeing and
personal development of the children.”

12. “The parents of a child or other persons who have been awarded
custody of a child have custody of the child. … person who has
custody has the right to decide on the care, upbringing, place of
residence and other personal matters of the child.”
Custody by virtue of birth:
When the parents of a child are married to each other at the
time of the birth of the child, they both have custody of the
child. If the parents are not married to each other at the time of
the birth of the child, the mother has custody of the child. If one of
the parents has sole custody of the child and the parents conclude marriage with one another, both of them assume
custody of the child. (Act on Child Custody and Right of Access 361/1983, sections 3,
4 and 6)
Inquiry of fatherhood if the father is not the husband of the child´s mother
when the child was born  inquiry by welfare supervisor, or by nurse in
maternity and child health clinic (before the birth of the child) (Paternity Act)

13. Two conclusions
1 A child will always have a custodian so far s/he is under 18
years old; someone is always in charge of child´s welfare and
represents the child
- It is a parent or other custodian (persons or institutions)
- This is legal point of view; it is different how people feel
who is the parent (´real´ or not ´real´): biological,
psychological, social parenthood
2 A parent is in first case biological parent (the one who gives
birth to the child): normality, usual, mainstream
- What disrupt this normality? When is it necessary to ask
who is the parent?
- When it is need to discuss about parenthood or parenting:
what are the triggering effects to ask these questions?

14. Health Care Act 1326/2010:
Maternity and child health clinic services include
1) regular checks to ensure … the health of pregnant
women and new mothers according to individual needs;
4) support for parenthood and other wellbeing of families;
6) early identification of any special needs and tests
required by children and families as well as support for children and
families and, if necessary, referral to tests or treatment. (Health Care Act 1326/2010)
Clinics are very important hub to notice the needs of the
parents
 Social skills, values and practices in work with parents?

15. Basic Education Act 1998:
“Those providing education shall cooperate with pupils'
parents/carers”(); in Finnish version: “school must work with homes”
Child Walfare Act 2007:
The public authorities that work with children and families must
support parents and custodians in their child upbringing and must
endeavour to provide families with the necessary assistance at a
sufficiently early stage, and must refer the child and the family to the child welfare services
where necessary. ()
Child welfare must provide parents, custodians and other persons
responsible for child care and upbringing with support in child care
and upbringing by arranging the necessary services and support
measures. Under the conditions laid down below in this Act, a child
may be placed away from home or other measures taken to arrange
care for and custody of the child.

16. Early childhood education and care (EHEC)
Act on Early Childhood education 1973/2015
The goal of early childhood education is to co-operate with a child and
child´s parent or other custodian for the best of child´s balanced development and well-
rounded wellbeing and for the support of child´s parent or other carer in
upbringing the child
National Curriculum Guidelines on Early Childhood Education and Care
2004:
”Child´s well-being is best fostered when parents and educators
combine their knowledge of the child” “… partnership is
concerned not only with the attitudes of parents and staff
members to their common education task but also with the
related practical organization and arrangements in ways that
meet the wishes of both parties.”
- EHEC (early childhood education and care) plan to every child
jointly by parents and educators: to influence the content of
EHEC and evaluate its implementation

17. Social Care Act 2015, transl. PK
When providing or developing services to children, youth and
families with children, it must be taken care that these services
support parents, custodians and other persons who are
responsible of care and education of children, ..
Social Care Act is the frame to other acts:
- All services and activities where children and parents are met
should support parents in their educational and care activities
- Parents have the right to support even if they are not as a
client of child welfare/protection services
 development / trial of new kinds of activities and
services

18. Discourse and theory / methods
Legislation provides parent and parenting discourse but it does
not provide answers how to work with parents
Solution generated by single professionals, organizations and
communities
 Some policy guidelines: plans, partnership, dialogicity

19. Parents and parenting in strategic programme of
Finnish government:
Action plan for the implementation of the key project and
reforms defined in the Strategic Government Programme,
2016:
Parent and family related key projects of the Government
• Key project 1: Services to be based on customer needs
(notice: customer, not client; market orientation)
• Key project 3: Programme to address child and family
services

20. Key project 1: Services to be based on customer needs
Measure 1: Reform the operating process of social welfare and
healthcare services by placing the customer centre stage.
The reform will result in customer-responsive, accessible, multi-
professional electronic services tailored to customer needs and
capabilities.
 Welfare policy  economic policy  entrepreneurship
policy?

21. Key project 3: Programme to address child and
family services
The goal is to create services that are better based on the needs of
children and families, focus on prevention and are more effective.
Measure 1: Implement the programme to address child and family services
The reform will reduce the need for corrective services such
as taking into care and institutional care. Without the reform,
it will not be possible to respond to major health and
wellbeing challenges such as the social exclusion of children
and adolescents, the exacerbation of mental health problems,
the increasing need for child welfare services and the increase
in guardianship disputes.
- Social welfare deficit as an economic problem

22. Measure 1: Implement the programme to address
child and family services
- Heterogeneous service system will be reformed
- all services for children, adolescents and families will be
integrated into a single coherent service system (family
support centers)
- shift the focus towards preventive and early support
and care services.
- In this change, the best interests of children and support
for parents are paramount (= most important).
- will improve the wellbeing of children, adolescents and
families, and they will feel that they have an influence on
their own wellbeing and on the services provided for
them.

23. continue
- The reform can result in significant cost-cutting while
making services more timely and more effective.
- The reform will reduce the need for corrective services
such as taking into care and institutional care.
- New low-threshold services supporting parents will
be set up, for instance through digital services.
- A family centre model intended for all families with
children will be introduced nationwide, bringing the
related services of NGOs, parishes and peer support
together with low-threshold public-sector services.

24. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (to implement of
governments key projects):
Drivers of the change: Childrens´ rights and benefits; child and family
approach; social and cultural diversity of families
In-service training to meet (to work with) children, young and parents
Work package to counsel in ”parenting skills”
Electronic services to support parents
- Look websites of NGOs like Mannerheim League for Child Welfare,
Family Federation of Finland, and Finnish Parent´s League which
give advice and guidance in parenting issues
Recognition of children in adult services

25. Some conclusions
1 Parents are
recognized
2 Inter-professional
service system
3 Digitalization of the
services
4 Preventive
approach
5 Children in center
6 Cost-cuts
Family orientation – families as systems
and parents as actors IN the families
Families are social control system to
govern social problems based on
relationships between family members
Parents (especially mothers) are the
main actors to prevent developmental
and behavior problems of the children
Uncontrolled welfare problems in
families are fiscal/ financial problems
Not human services, but welfare services
to enhance economic-technological
development?

26. Parenting (policy) as a social control mechanism?
Is parenting a social mechanism to control the development and
well-being of the children?
- Socialization to parenthood of the time
- Children´s well-being and growing up to become a “good
citizens”: socialization task?
- In Finnish discourse on parenting is little, if at all, references
to parents well-being / parents as persons
- Parents are seen from child perspective only  parenthood
as a responsible relationship to the child in family context
- Responsibility to the child and to the society
- Familism as an idea of community, togetherness, and intimate
relationships, in individualized society?
Pasi Kumpulainen SAMK 5.5.2015

27. Parents and parenting – alternative discourse?
What is not manifest in this presentation?
There is stronger, dominant discourse of child-centeredness, the
best interest of the child!
Those sentences which refer to children are deleted
Maybe this explains why parents in ”the shadow” of Finnish
parent and parenting discourse

28. POLICY ANSWERS TO IN-SERVICE
PROFESSIONALS

29. Three policy discourses
1 Work with families (”family work”)
- child-centered orientation
- Parent-centered orientation
2 Partnership
- In educational services
- In social services
3 Dialogicity (principle, theory and practice)
- Client work
- Organization development

30. Work with families discourse
Fuzzy concept – many contexts – many approaches
Work with family: to help, to service, to activate, to couch, to offer therapy,
to consult; problems are prevented or corrected; the aim is to keep family
together, or a child will be take to custody etc. (Vuori & Nätkin 2007)
Orientations (Myllärniemi 2007):
- frame of family (as a system of internal relationships)
- frame of work with parenthood or to work with parent (like to enhance
the skills in parenting)
- child individualization orientation
- Child protection orientation
Parents are actors only in the family system; relationship
discourse; parents´ ability to control child´s development and
well-being if needed (that is: out of normality?)

31. Partnership discourse
Official policy guideline / National Institute for Health and
Welfare, and National Board of Education
- Legislation
- Governmental website of Partnership in upbringing
Early childhood education
Child welfare services

32. Partnership discourse
This should be strong according the legislation and policy
- Little knowledge (?) about practices; variation according
individual professionals in field and organizations
- Look: government´s project: in-service training to work with
parents is needed  lack of professional skills and
organization policies to meet and work with parents?
 Call for IPP?

33. Dialogicity discourse – as principle, theory and method
Look: Governmental website of Partnership in upbringing
Two orientations:
1 Client work (Seikkula, Arnkil T.E., Eriksson, Pyhäjoki)
- Researchers of National Institute of Health and Welfare
- ”listening” and team reflection (by Tom Anderson), open dialogues
by J. Seikkula; anticipation dialogues (Seikkula, Arnkil, Eriksson)
2 Organization development
- Arnkil R.: Cross-organizational and multiprofessional work
- Working life research: democratic dialogues /Work conference since
1980s, today e.g. DINNO-project / University of Tampere)
- International movement: 1 Isaacs W. 1999: Dialogue: The Art of
Thinking Together, 2. Bushe & Marshak (ed.). 2015: Dialogic
Organization Development

34. Child poverty
100 000 children
Poverty of
parents
Child benefit to
prevent child
poverty
Day Care / Kindergarten for Children:
Change in legislation: municipalities are obliged to
provide day care only 20 hours to families with a parent at
home (unemployment, newborn child etc.)
 Change in principle of universal rights (welfare state):
municipalities did not accept
 Vulnerable families / parents (to the risk)? Tired
parents, lack of help by grand parents, etc
 Is day care for children or for parents?
 Female workforce: effects?
 Fathers must stay more with children  effects to
families with low income
Single parents
Mothers
Risk for child poverty: single parent families with
unemployment
- Low paid service work of women
- Most single parents are women  gendered poverty
- Impact on self-esteem as a parent
- Opportunities to answer to the needs of the child?

35. What is the discourse that directs your thinking
and doing in work with parent?
Thank you for you patience and attention!