Women, Vulnerabilities and Welfare Service Systems by Marjo Kuronen

Author:Marjo Kuronen [Kuronen, Marjo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367228026
Goodreads: 53369585
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-10-09T00:00:00+00:00

Women’s challenges in receiving services in the welfare system

Being released from prison and having a background with substance abuse, violence, criminality and even homelessness leads women to a situation that challenges the welfare system’s ability to help them. As a result, they are seen as a service user with demanding needs. The welfare service system could not always respond to the needs of released women. In some cases, the structure of the service system seems to be system-oriented instead of service-user-oriented, and there might be diversion or expulsion (Määttä 2012; Metteri 2012). Anu describes her experiences:

My prison counsellor phoned to Kela1 and there was this very lovely person. She said that I have plenty of opportunities although I am on a disability pension. If you first go and see a doctor, you could go to the work try-out. You can also study when you are on a pension. So, when the probationary freedom ends, I go to the doctor. And then I got myself an appointment at Kela. There the clerk said that I couldn’t go to a work try-out. He was a young bloke. Then I said that we just called you guys with my counsellor from prison. The bloke replied that no one could have said anything like that because there is no record here that you had called. I said that my counsellor made the call. He again replied: ‘It is not possible because there isn’t any record of any phone calls’. Then I asked him: ‘Are you saying that she didn’t make the call?’ ‘Yes’, he replied, ‘because there is no record of the phone call’. He decided that I couldn’t do any work.

(Anu)

The service system seems to be so complex that even those working in it could not help service users and even they did not have enough knowledge of the services as a whole. Anu described her experiences with the National Insurance Institution Kela and the conflicting advice offered about its services. Preparation for her release was done in prison. The preparation included getting familiar with the service system and the different kinds of offices. Both Anu, other women and the professionals working with them reported that opportunities for face-to-face contacts with authorities were scarce and weak. Many services are available online and require filling in an application form or participating in a written online chat. There is an urgent need for contacting and starting the cooperation between prisoners and the authorities already during the incarceration period. But unfortunately the authorities both outside and inside prison find it hard to contact each other. From the perspective of the prisoner being released, the role of the social worker and other authorities is rather limited. In addition, authorities seemed to be acting as gatekeepers who have the right to provide or deny the service (Lipsky 1980; Kallio and Saarinen 2013; Blomberg, Kallio and Kroll 2016). Women’s experiences of being marginalised with regard to services increase their feelings as outsiders in the society. In the following extract,

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