Next-generation modelling of community work and structural social work in Finland

Abstract

The recently reformed Finnish Social Welfare Act obligates public social work to enact structural social work, and to address the community-and structural-level social problems behind individual cases. This article examines how community work and structural social work are conceived by early career social workers. The empirical data consists of 26 project plans by social work Master's students studying in a working life-based parttime programme. The data includes designs for community work or structural social work to be applied in practice to address a real social problem or issue identified by the students in their working environment. The designs are analysed by content analysis and related to the theoretical categorizations of community strategies by Rothman, the community work models by Popple, and the task fields of structural social work by Pohjola. However, the strong evidence of mixed models in the results allows to suggest that categorizations as theoretical-conceptual frames are rather useful for identifying rich diversities and combinations, instead of clear-cut categories of community work and structural social work. The designs reflect the challenges created by the managerialist service systems themselves. They seek more cooperative structures to meet the reallife needs of local communities. It can be concluded that structural social work can become a powerful approach when taken as a legal mandate in the hands of early career social workers, enacting community and political perspectives in Finnish social work at all levels. This requires that they will not be prohibited or tamed in its applications.

Perspective Chapter: Structures of Thinking in Community-Based Working Culture – Renewing Social Work Practices

“…The vision was for Kototori to become an integral part of this space, emphasizing multilingual guidance and counseling, while still being a component of the larger community social work center. This shift would broaden the scope of social work to cater to the entire region's requirements, transcending linguistic barriers, as the evolving social and structural contexts necessitated a more expansive community-oriented approach to social work [5,10].…”

“…Reflecting on 2023, the community center L8's pivotal role in advancing community social work is evident. Its inception ignited a recognition of the significance and efficacy of community social work across Pirkanmaa and Finland, challenging the traditional, individual-focused approach of Finnish social work, which often limited initiatives to short-term projects [5,11]. Notably, the Social Welfare Act [3] of July 2023 included community and outreach social work, emphasizing the national subtle shift toward community-centric social work.…”

“…In essence, the facets of community social work (community centers, community counseling, outreach social work, and drop-in centers) are tailored to match unique societal and local contexts. They are shaped by the legal provisions of the Social Welfare Act, adapted to meet local necessities (see also [5]).…”

“…Such discernment was crucial, especially given arguments that political directions are becoming excessively economized, thereby diminishing the societal essence, even though social capital can bolster financial well-being [27]. The ethos of CSW, particularly its focus on democratic knowledge production and meaningful participation, intersects with structural social work [4,5,9]. In contrast to individually centered social work, CSW illuminates systemic injustices more vividly due to its foundational logic.…”

“…The researchers identified competencies such as relationship-based social work, fostering a sense of community, joint action for social change, creativity, analytical thinking, and close collaboration. They concluded that community and structural social work are intertwined; community social work necessitates moral courage to advocate for changes in existing structures when necessary [4,5]. We build upon and deepen this discourse, investigating how the adoption of these competencies influenced community social work practices in Tampere and the wellbeing services county of Pirkanmaa.…”