Toimin yliopistotutkijana Jyväskylän yliopistossa yhteiskuntatieteiden ja filosofian laitoksella. Johdan Osallisuutta vahvistava rakenteellinen sosiaalityö (ORAS) -tutkimushanketta. Toimin tutkijana Johtajat puristuksessa - Sosiaalihuollon johtaminen ja sen tulevaisuus hyvinvointialueilla -tutkimushankkeessa (PURJO). Opetustyössänni olen keskittynyt erityisesti rakenteellisen sosiaalityön opetukseen. Aikaisemmin olen opettajan urallani ollut kehittämässä sosiaalityön koulutusta Kokkolan yliopistokeskus Chydeniuksessa.
My main research interests are structural social work, participation, and decision-making in Finland’s wellbeing services counties. In my research, I combine perspectives from social work and political science. My work is grounded in the understanding that both participation and structural social work are fundamentally concerned with defending democracy and combating inequality and injustice. Residents’ participation and opportunities to influence decision-making are not merely statutory obligations; they also support the development of services in ways that authority-driven approaches cannot achieve.
I analyze social work as a profession whose practices, knowledge base, and self-understanding are inherently political. I view the establishment of the wellbeing services counties not only as a reform of the service system, but also as the creation of a new level of political decision-making within Finnish society. Although the establishment of the wellbeing services counties has often been framed in terms of the economically efficient provision of services, these new institutions also create opportunities to make decisions about the service system in a more democratic manner and with greater attention to the voices and experiences of service users.
