Historical Inquiry on Child Abuse and Neglect in Child Protection Institutions and Foster Homes in Finland

The paper will present preliminary findings of a historical inquiry on child abuse and neglect in child protection institutions and foster homes in Finland. The project focuses on the years 1937-83, which was the period of the... [ view full abstract ]

The paper will present preliminary findings of a historical inquiry on child abuse and neglect in child protection institutions and foster homes in Finland. The project focuses on the years 1937-83, which was the period of the first Finnish Child Welfare Act. A minimum of 300 oral, qualitative interviews will be conducted in 2014-15 collecting memories and experiences of the victims, eye witnesses and abusers alike. Special emphasis is paid on research ethics, confidentiality, and skills of the interviewers to carry out interviews on sensitive and traumatic experiences. Interviewees are invited on a voluntary basis by advertising the project widely in the media and via relevant organizations.
The project is accomplished by a multidisciplinary research team combining substantial expertise of social work researchers in child welfare and child abuse, historians’ expertise in historical contextualization, methods and analysis, and ethnological expertise in studying memory, experiences and oral history.
An important aim of the inquiry is to recognize and make visible misconduct taken place in the past, and to provide for the victims an opportunity to speak about their difficult and often traumatic experiences they have carried with them through their lives. A leading principle of the project is to take their memories and experiences as real and valuable without comparing them with historical “facts”, but also to locate them firmly in a specific historical context of the Finnish society and its child protection system. The project aims at learning from the past and to find solutions to prevent and intervene more effectively into such misconduct in the future.
The inquiry was initiated by the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, and it is related to similar inquiries that have been previously accomplished in many other countries.