The eco-social approach in social work and the challenges to the expertise of social work

Abstract

Sosiaalityöntekijät saavat työssään erityistä tietoa muun muassa asuinalueiden syrjäytymis- ja eheytymisprosesseista. He työskentelevät näköalapaikalla ja näkevät rakenteellisen muutoksen ja ihmisen selviytymisen välisiä monimutkaisia suhteita. Näin ollen heidän tietonsa voi syventää ymmärrystä ekososiaalisesti kestävistä paikallisista asuin- ja elinympäristöistä.Tämä selviää Kati Närhen väitöstutkimuksesta, jossa hän on tarkastellut suomalaisten aluesosiaalityöntekijöiden ekososiaalisen sosiaalityön rakentumista vuosina 1995–2000 Jyvässeudulla. Närhi tutki, millaista ekososiaalista sosiaalityötä aluesosiaalityöntekijät rakentavat jokapäiväisessä työssään toiminnan ja tiedonmuodostuksen vuoropuheluna.

This research examines the way that Finnish community based social workers constructed eco-social social work in an action research context in the Jyväskylä region during 1995-2000. Eco-social social work was constructed during the study in a dialogical process between social workers’ practical action and practical knowledge. Eco-social social work, as constructed by the social workers in this study, aimed to exercise an influence by structural means at various levels of social work and to give a voice to and act as a voice of marginalised groups. Additionally, eco-social social work seemed to be horizontal, participative and participatory, including an important element of reflection upon eco-social self-understanding.This research consists of five articles and a summary article. The first article introduces social impact assessment (SIA) as one of the tools of structural and preventive social work and concentrates on describing SIA and its relationship to eco-social social work as it was applied in the study. The second article provides a conceptual and historical overview of German, Anglo-American and Finnish discussions on ecological social work. The third article studies the strategies and roles of community based social workers in questions related to the relationship between the living environment and human welfare in a context of spatial marginalisation. The fourth article focuses on how community based social workers conceptualise the relationship between the local living environment and social exclusion and inclusion processes. The fifth artic le analyses what kind of knowledge base the social workers used in constructing their expertise concerning spatial marginalisation.