Marjo Kristiina Romakkaniemi

Between Mobility and Belonging: The Meanings of Locality among Youth in Lapland in the Transition to Adulthood

The article analyses mobility and belonging to a place among young people living in rural areas in Finnish Lapland. Our focus is on the meanings of locality when young people make decisions concerning education, work and their living environment. The data consist of 24 interviews of persons in the transition stage to adulthood and in need of support in finding educational or training opportunities. The article highlights the diversity of young people’s aspirations as regards leaving, staying in or returning to their home region. We challenge the cultural discourse urging young people to move to growth centres from sparsely populated areas. Locality was found to play an important role in their lives and transitions. The key factors identified in the decisions of young people were embeddedness in one’s home region and local, social relations and the prospects of meaningful life choices in either the rural or urban context.

Locating Sámi social work in Finland: Meanings produced by social workers in working with Sámi people

This article examines culturally and locally relevant social work. Social work knowledge and practices are usually constructed on the basis of values and norms of the dominant culture. Our aim is to examine social work that is sensitive to local traditions by studying social work being carried out in Finland’s Sámi region. Our focus is on the meanings produced by social workers working with Sámi people. Sámi social work was found to be multidimensional. It was special, yet shared common features with mainstream social work. Cultural sensitivity is constructed in each encounter between a Sámi client and a social worker.