Merja Laitinen
Biographic Data
| ID | 5822554 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Merja Laitinen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Merja |
| FAMILY NAME | Laitinen |
| SIGNATURE | LAITINEN M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Lapland |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9418-5004 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 5 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Social Worker’s Perspectives on a Child-Centred Approach in High-Conflict Separations—Three Dimensions of a Child-centred Approach
In this paper, we explore social workers’ perspectives of a child-centred approach in high-conflict parental separations. The aim is to define a child-centred approach in social work with children, adolescents and families in these situations. The data consists of vignette interviews with Finnish child protection and child and family social workers ( N = 46). The research question is: How do social workers construct a child-centred approach in hi…
Addressing Post-Separation Parental Stalking
Purpose Based on our research, the purpose of this paper is to examine the production of knowledge about children’s exposure to parental stalking after their parents have separated. The paper addresses the following questions: (1) What dimensions of knowledge has the multimethod qualitative approach produced in our research? and (2) What methodological choices are conducive to conducting ethically sound research on parental stalking? The aim is t…
Using the Capability Approach in Social Work with Children Experiencing Post-Separation Parental Stalking
This article analyses Finnish children’s experiences of post-separation parental stalking as a form of domestic violence and explores how the capabilities approach (CA) can help social workers understand the issue and support children. The data consist of thematic interviews with eighteen children and young people (aged 4–21 years) whose father or stepfather has stalked their mothers after separation. The theory-driven data analysis was carried o…
Does children’s fear matter? Evaluating children’s positions in Finnish court decisions on stalking
Children are at particular risk when one parent is targeted by the other parent's stalking behaviors post‐separation. In this article, we explore how court decisions position children when assessing fear, distress, and unlawfulness in cases of parental stalking. The data comprised 127 court decisions on stalking that involved a relationship (dating, cohabitation, or marriage), separation/divorce, and one or more children. Using discourse analysis…
High-Conflict Separations and Differentiated Professional Responses – From Confrontational Interaction to Post-Separation Violence and Stalking
This study explores high-conflict divorces and separations by critically analyzing their central features. It draws on qualitative materials produced through professionals’ work with high-conflict cases. A content-oriented analysis of the materials revealed three types of high-conflict separations differentiated by the following features: 1) confrontational interaction, 2) exacerbation of complicated psychosocial problems, and 3) post-separation …
Children’s Sense of Belonging in the Context of Post-separation Parental Stalking
Drawing from previous research on domestic violence and stalking, this study addresses children's experiences of their family relations in post-separation parental stalking contexts from the perspective of stalking as a form of violence against women and children. Despite the fact that violence perpetrated by a parent fundamentally changes family dynamics and children's perceptions of family security, research on children's family relations in th…
Cross-national insights into social workers’ multi-dimensional moral agency when working with child abuse and neglect
This paper analyses social workers’ moral agency in addressing child abuse and neglect. We argue that ethically sound social work requires the capacity to exercise strong, multidimensional moral agency. The contribution is based on a qualitative interpretative meta-synthesis of four studies representing different forms of child abuse and neglect in varied contexts. Drawing on our analysis, we identify three thematic categories of moral considerat…
Coercive control and technology-facilitated parental stalking in children’s and young people’s lives
Knowledge of technology-facilitated abuse and stalking has increased in recent decades, but research on how children and young people are exposed to these behaviours by their parent is still lacking. This article examines how technology-facilitated parental stalking manifests in children’s and young people’s everyday lives in contexts where parents have separated and fathers/father-figures have stalked mothers as part of post-separation coercive …
Gender- and power sensitivity, securitisation and social peace
This article offers a rethinking of protection based on synthesised data from Finland and Sweden on children’s and mothers’ experiences of post-separation stalking, and social workers’ case reports on children risking exposure to gender-based violence after separation. Drawing on critical childhood studies and a feminist approach to violence and security, we ask how children’s everyday lives can be incorporated in a rethinking of protection for c…
When Coercive Control Continues to Harm Children
This article shows how domestic violence perpetrators can use coercive control against their children after their ex‐partner has separated from them. Coercive control can include violence, threats, intimidation, stalking, monitoring, emotional abuse and manipulation, interwoven with periods of seemingly ‘caring’ and ‘indulgent’ behaviour as part of the overall abuse. Crucially, what this article provides is knowledge, hitherto largely missing, ab…
My Stage
This article discusses how art-based research can function as a decolonizing research method. Its analysis is based on the collaboration of social work and art education disciplines for advancing social justice and deconstructing power dominances. Empirically, the research builds on a participatory theatre project, “My Stage,” with immigrant women. The project was established as part of a larger interdisciplinary project, “Art Gear,” in Northern …
Individual, Group and Organised Experiential Expertise in Recovery from Intimate Partner Violence and Mental Health Problems in Finland
This paper examines recovery from intimate partner violence and mental health problems through the perspective of experiential expertise (EE). The aim is to investigate the formation of EE in the context of empowerment-oriented recovery in non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This triangulated study includes both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative part was acquired through a survey on people with personal experience of mental h…
Social work practices and research with Sámi people and communities in the frame of indigenous social work
Social work practices and research with Sámi people and communities in the frame of indigenous social work
Addressing Post-Separation Parental Stalking
Purpose Based on our research, the purpose of this paper is to examine the production of knowledge about children’s exposure to parental stalking after their parents have separated. The paper addresses the following questions: (1) What dimensions of knowledge has the multimethod qualitative approach produced in our research? and (2) What methodological choices are conducive to conducting ethically sound research on parental stalking? The aim is t…
Using the Capability Approach in Social Work with Children Experiencing Post-Separation Parental Stalking
This article analyses Finnish children’s experiences of post-separation parental stalking as a form of domestic violence and explores how the capabilities approach (CA) can help social workers understand the issue and support children. The data consist of thematic interviews with eighteen children and young people (aged 4–21 years) whose father or stepfather has stalked their mothers after separation. The theory-driven data analysis was carried o…
Individual, Group and Organised Experiential Expertise in Recovery from Intimate Partner Violence and Mental Health Problems in Finland
This paper examines recovery from intimate partner violence and mental health problems through the perspective of experiential expertise (EE). The aim is to investigate the formation of EE in the context of empowerment-oriented recovery in non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This triangulated study includes both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative part was acquired through a survey on people with personal experience of mental h…
Social work practices and research with Sámi people and communities in the frame of indigenous social work
Individual, Group and Organised Experiential Expertise in Recovery from Intimate Partner Violence and Mental Health Problems in Finland
This paper examines recovery from intimate partner violence and mental health problems through the perspective of experiential expertise (EE). The aim is to investigate the formation of EE in the context of empowerment-oriented recovery in non-governmental organisations (NGOs). This triangulated study includes both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative part was acquired through a survey on people with personal experience of mental h…
When Coercive Control Continues to Harm Children
This article shows how domestic violence perpetrators can use coercive control against their children after their ex‐partner has separated from them. Coercive control can include violence, threats, intimidation, stalking, monitoring, emotional abuse and manipulation, interwoven with periods of seemingly ‘caring’ and ‘indulgent’ behaviour as part of the overall abuse. Crucially, what this article provides is knowledge, hitherto largely missing, ab…
My Stage
This article discusses how art-based research can function as a decolonizing research method. Its analysis is based on the collaboration of social work and art education disciplines for advancing social justice and deconstructing power dominances. Empirically, the research builds on a participatory theatre project, “My Stage,” with immigrant women. The project was established as part of a larger interdisciplinary project, “Art Gear,” in Northern …
Cross-national insights into social workers’ multi-dimensional moral agency when working with child abuse and neglect
This paper analyses social workers’ moral agency in addressing child abuse and neglect. We argue that ethically sound social work requires the capacity to exercise strong, multidimensional moral agency. The contribution is based on a qualitative interpretative meta-synthesis of four studies representing different forms of child abuse and neglect in varied contexts. Drawing on our analysis, we identify three thematic categories of moral considerat…
Coercive control and technology-facilitated parental stalking in children’s and young people’s lives
Knowledge of technology-facilitated abuse and stalking has increased in recent decades, but research on how children and young people are exposed to these behaviours by their parent is still lacking. This article examines how technology-facilitated parental stalking manifests in children’s and young people’s everyday lives in contexts where parents have separated and fathers/father-figures have stalked mothers as part of post-separation coercive …
Gender- and power sensitivity, securitisation and social peace
This article offers a rethinking of protection based on synthesised data from Finland and Sweden on children’s and mothers’ experiences of post-separation stalking, and social workers’ case reports on children risking exposure to gender-based violence after separation. Drawing on critical childhood studies and a feminist approach to violence and security, we ask how children’s everyday lives can be incorporated in a rethinking of protection for c…
Does children’s fear matter? Evaluating children’s positions in Finnish court decisions on stalking
Children are at particular risk when one parent is targeted by the other parent's stalking behaviors post‐separation. In this article, we explore how court decisions position children when assessing fear, distress, and unlawfulness in cases of parental stalking. The data comprised 127 court decisions on stalking that involved a relationship (dating, cohabitation, or marriage), separation/divorce, and one or more children. Using discourse analysis…
High-Conflict Separations and Differentiated Professional Responses – From Confrontational Interaction to Post-Separation Violence and Stalking
This study explores high-conflict divorces and separations by critically analyzing their central features. It draws on qualitative materials produced through professionals’ work with high-conflict cases. A content-oriented analysis of the materials revealed three types of high-conflict separations differentiated by the following features: 1) confrontational interaction, 2) exacerbation of complicated psychosocial problems, and 3) post-separation …
Children’s Sense of Belonging in the Context of Post-separation Parental Stalking
Drawing from previous research on domestic violence and stalking, this study addresses children's experiences of their family relations in post-separation parental stalking contexts from the perspective of stalking as a form of violence against women and children. Despite the fact that violence perpetrated by a parent fundamentally changes family dynamics and children's perceptions of family security, research on children's family relations in th…
Addressing Post-Separation Parental Stalking
Purpose Based on our research, the purpose of this paper is to examine the production of knowledge about children’s exposure to parental stalking after their parents have separated. The paper addresses the following questions: (1) What dimensions of knowledge has the multimethod qualitative approach produced in our research? and (2) What methodological choices are conducive to conducting ethically sound research on parental stalking? The aim is t…
Using the Capability Approach in Social Work with Children Experiencing Post-Separation Parental Stalking
This article analyses Finnish children’s experiences of post-separation parental stalking as a form of domestic violence and explores how the capabilities approach (CA) can help social workers understand the issue and support children. The data consist of thematic interviews with eighteen children and young people (aged 4–21 years) whose father or stepfather has stalked their mothers after separation. The theory-driven data analysis was carried o…
Social Worker’s Perspectives on a Child-Centred Approach in High-Conflict Separations—Three Dimensions of a Child-centred Approach
In this paper, we explore social workers’ perspectives of a child-centred approach in high-conflict parental separations. The aim is to define a child-centred approach in social work with children, adolescents and families in these situations. The data consists of vignette interviews with Finnish child protection and child and family social workers ( N = 46). The research question is: How do social workers construct a child-centred approach in hi…
Psychology (9 works) · Criminology (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Stalking (8 works) · Intimate Partner and Family Violence (7 works) · Medicine (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Child Welfare and Adoption (6 works) · Developmental psychology (6 works)