Immigrants In Finland Research Articles

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND EXPERIENCES OF PROTESTANT CHRISTIAN IMMIGRANTS IN FINLAND: AN INTEGRATING OR ALIENATING EXPERIENCE?

The contemporary Finland is more culturally diverse than previous years thanks to increased international migration. A large number of immigrants entering Finland today are religious in one way or another. This article is a case study of religious beliefs and experiences of protestant Christian immigrants in Finland with the aim of finding out the personal feelings of immigrants towards the Finnish society. A comparative analysis of Protestant Christian immigrants’ experiences in both the host country and country of origin was taken as a foundation for determining effects of the immigrants’ religious beliefs in Finland. This study takes a cross-cultural perspective in analyzing and evaluating the religious beliefs of immigrants. Even though religion is credited to have an upper hand in facilitating social integration of immigrants into host societies, this study found out that religious beliefs and experiences of protestant Christian immigrants in Finland can be integrating or alienating, depending on the degree of religiosity of the immigrants. An awareness of this observation as discussed in this article goes a long way in providing options to choose from in navigating the common problems faced by Protestant Christian immigrants in Finland.

Maintaining Quality Online: Piloting an Online Language Course for Immigrants in Finland

Finland’s educational system has aroused the interest of educational researchers worldwide. Teaching and learning with information and communication technologies (ICT) is one of the major methodologies in the present Finnish educational discourse. Feedback and assessment are questions of course design in online learning. This paper discusses and illustrates how to plan an online course for a higher education preparatory program in Finland by using digital methods with a focus on maintaining quality in the processes of feedback and evaluation. This paper also introduces and reflects recently published quality criteria that are recommended to be used in the design of online courses.

When the Name Matters: An Experimental Investigation of Ethnic Discrimination in the Finnish Labor Market

This article considers the possibilities and limits of human‐capital credentials in entering the labor market for immigrants in Finland. It reports findings of a correspondence study on how employers respond to job applicants of five different backgrounds who were otherwise equivalently matched on various demographic and human‐capital characteristics. The findings strongly indicate the continuing salience of ethnicity in securing employment opportunities in the Finnish labor market. Employers significantly prefer Finnish applicants over ethnic candidates, and within ethnic applicants, they prefer candidates with a European name over a non‐European name. They further show that locally acquired human capital provides a better payoff only when the job candidate belongs to a group that is placed higher on the ethnic preference ladder. Drawing on the empirical observations, the article thus suggests that a recruitment process driven by abstract or impersonal criteria and governed by mere considerations of human capital in real‐life situations is much less prevalent than often claimed.

Chapter 8 – Media reporting of migrants and migration

Chapter 8 – Media reporting of migrants and migration

Perceived Status and National Belonging: The Case of Russian Speakers in Finland and Estonia

Despite the abundance of research on disadvantaged minority group members, the research field on the ramifications of low group status is largely split between more material and psychological lines of explanation. There is also a lack of research on how subjectively perceived socio-economic status and discrimination cumulatively affect the sense of national belonging of ethnic minority group members. This survey study was conducted among Russian-speaking immigrants in Finland (N = 316) and Estonia (N = 501). The results in Estonia showed that for national identification to be high, both indicators of subjective group status had to be perceived as relatively high. In Finland, there was no interaction between the two indicators of subjectively perceived low group status. The study shows how perceptions of cumulative disadvantage may provoke a backlash in the form of immigrants’ psychological distancing from the national ingroup. The findings are discussed in relation to the pervasiveness of low status in different intergroup contexts and minority group members’ perceived investments to society.

Learning to read for the first time as adult immigrants in Finland

Against the backdrop of increasing global humanitarian migration to highly literate countries and the resulting necessity and challenge to provide language and literacy education to non-literate or low-literate adult second language (L2) learners, this article calls for more research on a new population of late literacy learners, particularly in Finland. The article begins by outlining the pressing necessity for research on this special group of L2 learners who has traditionally been ignored by Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research. It will then go on to illuminate essential components of developing reading literacy, drawing on relevant previous research on pre-literates. Further, the role of orthography, in particular the shallow transparency of the Finnish language, are critically examined with regard to alphabetic literacy. As adult non-literacy is a relatively new phenomenon in the highly literate society of Finland, there is a scarcity of research on how non-literate adults acquire Finnish. Growing academic interest and emerging Literacy Education and Second Language Learning for Adults with little or no schooling (LESLLA) research in Finland, with focus on reading literacy skills, is presented and discussed. The article highlights the possibilities of technology to enhance the individual literacy process for LESLLA learners and presents the Digital Literacy Instructor (DigLin) as one technology-enhanced practice environment for the very first steps in learning to decode the alphabetic code. Finally, conclusions on LESLLA learners’ late literacy acquisition and a future research perspective are drawn, emphasizing the potential of computer-assisted language learning (CALL).

Negotiations of immigrants’ cultural citizenship in discussions among majority members and immigrants in Finland.

Negotiations of immigrants’ cultural citizenship in discussions among majority members and immigrants in Finland.

Decomposing Cross-Country Differences in Skills: Evidence from Four Nordic Countries

ABSTRACTThis paper performs multivariate analysis of skill differences in four Nordic countries as assessed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies survey of adults aged 16–65. The differences in average skills between Finland and each of the three Scandinavian countries are decomposed into a component that is due to different skill levels in subgroups of the population and a component that is due to differences in the composition of subgroups. The decompositions show that the high Finnish average skill level compared to the three Scandinavian countries can be attributed to the low share of immigrants in Finland and to high scores among Finns with high school and less than high school education. The Finnish average score is pulled substantially downwards as a consequence of the low numeracy skill level among older Finns, which is consistent with an increase in the quantity or quality of Finnish education over time, relative to the other three Nordic countries.

Usage of healthcare services and preference for mental healthcare among older Somali immigrants in Finland

ABSTRACTObjectives: The aims of the study were, first, to describe and analyze healthcare services utilization patterns of older immigrants in Finland, and particularly to compare the availability and accessibility of health services between older Somalis and Finns. The second aim was to examine the preferences for mental healthcare within the group of Somalis. The third aim was to test the existence of a service usage gap expected to be characteristic of the Somali group, in which high levels of mental health problems occur alongside simultaneous low levels of mental health service usage.Design: The participants were 256 men and women between the ages of 50–85; half were Somali migrants and the other half Finnish matched pairs. The participants were surveyed regarding their usage of somatic, mental, and preventive health services, as well as symptoms of depression, general distress, and somatization. The Somali participants were also surveyed regarding their usage of traditional healing methods and preferences for mental healthcare.Results: The Somali group had significantly lower access to personal/family doctors at healthcare centers as well as a lower availability of private doctors and occupational health services than the Finns. Instead, they used more nursing services than Finnish patients. The Somali participants attended fewer age-salient preventive check-ups than the Finns. The majority of the Somalis preferred traditional care, most commonly religious healing, for mental health problems. The hypothesized service gap was not substantiated, as a high level of depressive symptoms was not associated with a low usage of health services among the Somalis, but it was found unexpectedly among the Finns.Conclusion: Our findings call for culturally appropriate general and mental health services for older immigrants, which requires awareness of clients’ preferences, needs, and alternative healing practices. Somali participants encountered institutional barriers in accessing healthcare, and they preferred informal mental healthcare, especially religious healing instead of Western practices.

Borders, Borderscapes, and Border-Crossing Romances in Contemporary Migrant Writing in Finland by TaoLin and Arvi Perttu

ABSTRACTThis essay examines the crossing of national and cultural borders in contemporary fictional narratives by first-generation immigrants in Finland. While immigrant writing has a long-standing status in countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany, the situation is different in Finland where mass immigration is historically more recent. Yet recent years have seen the publication of several novels, autobiographies, and anthologies by migrants with focus on border crossings and adaptation to a new life. This essay examines two recent novels written in Finnish by immigrants to Finland. Through an analysis of TaoLin’s Suomen taivaan alla [Under the Finnish Sky] (2008. Turku: Enostone), the first novel by its Chinese author, and Skumbria by the established migrant novelist Arvi Perttu (2011. Helsinki: Like) with roots in Russian Karelia, I will discuss the role that borders and borderscapes play in these two novels telling of cross-border romances between Finns and non-Finnish migrants. By paying particular attention to their use of the interethnic romance plot as a narrative convention characteristic of immigrant fiction, and its role in constructing and negotiating new Finnish identities, the essay will address the border crossings of the texts and place them in the context of nation and the conventional privileging of Finnishness. I will suggest that the two texts provide markedly different perspectives on the issue, TaoLin’s novel as a pedagogical and Perttu’s a performative narrative of nation. The paper shows how cultural encounters lead to the formation of new borderscapes as signs of emergent migrant identities that reflect on Finnishness and its transformation.

Perceived threat and prejudice towards immigrants in Finland: A study among early, middle, and late Finnish adolescents

ABSTRACTUsing integrated threat theory, this study examined how perceived threat, or fear of immigrants, manifests among early, middle, and late Finnish adolescents, and the relationship between perceived threat and prejudice among early, middle, and late adolescents. The sample consisted of 795 Finnish adolescents between 11 and 19 years of age. Realistic and symbolic threats were the most perceived threats and were more prevalent among late adolescents. There was a positive relationship between prejudice and realistic threat, and between prejudice and symbolic threat, but a negative relationship between prejudice and negative stereotyping, and this relationship remained relatively stable from early to late adolescence. Implications on the fight against prejudice towards immigrants among early, middle, and late adolescents are also discussed.

Consumption of healthy foods and associated socio-demographic factors among Russian, Somali and Kurdish immigrants in Finland.

We evaluated the consumption of healthy foods among Russian, Somali and Kurdish immigrants in Finland, and examined the relationship between socio-demographic factors and food consumption. We used data from the Migrant Health and Wellbeing Study (Maamu), a population-based health interview and examination survey in six different municipalities in Finland between 2010 and 2012. Altogether, 635 men and 737 women, aged 18-64 years, of Russian ( n = 527), Somali ( n = 337) and Kurdish ( n = 508) origin were included. The important socio-demographic determinants of healthy food consumption - sex, age, education, place of residence and household size - were assessed by logistic regression. Based on the consumption frequencies of recommended healthy foods - fruits, berries, vegetables, fish and rye bread - immigrants of Russian origin had higher consumption of healthy foods than their peers of Kurdish and Somali origin. Low consumption of fresh vegetables, fruits and berries was found among Somali immigrants. Sex and age were the most important determinants of healthy food consumption, as women and older age groups had diets closer to the national nutrition recommendations. High educational level was also positively associated with healthy food consumption. We found ethnic differences in the consumption of healthy foods among the immigrant groups of Russian, Somali and Kurdish origin in Finland. Socio-demographic factors, especially age, sex and education, seem to also play an important role in immigrants' food consumption. Further studies examining the consumption of fruits, berries and fresh vegetables among Somali immigrants in Finland are needed.

African Immigrants in Finland in Onward Translocal and Transnational Mobility and Migration, and the Political Implications

This article examines the onward translocal and transnational mobility and migration of African immigrants in Finland, and finds that this is because of racism, and hence more of a search for belonging than just for greener pastures. In the process of this mobility/migration, they represent translocal and transnational identities that crisscross translocal and transterritorial spaces, experiencing transcultural practices. Along the way, they acquire transcultural, multicultural, and cosmopolitan skills with which they negotiate their identities and belonging in the places they visit or reside. This article argues that these multifaceted forms of mobility and migration say something about new dynamics in today’s migration, and its political implications, and hence could be a veritable empirical contribution to mobility and migration research and studies today.

Knowledge on sexual and reproductive health of teen-age immigrants in Finland

Background Finnish teen-age students’ knowledge on sexual and reproductive health has decreased in recent years. The knowledge of immigrant teenagers is poorly known. The purpose of this study was to find out the level of knowledge on sexual and reproductive health of teen-age immigrants in Finland. Methods Data are based on a national School Health Promotion Study carried out at three different levels of schools in …

Self-reported oral health and use of dental services among asylum seekers and immigrants in Finland-a pilot study.

The number of asylum seekers and immigrants arriving in European countries is growing explosively. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate self-reported oral health, oral health habits, dental fear and use of dental health care services among asylum seekers and immigrants in Finland. The interview study carried out in 2012 comprised 38 participants (18 males and 20 females) from 15 different countries, nine of whom were asylum seekers and 29 immigrants. The youngest participant was 17 and the oldest 53 years old. Each interview took approximately 30 min. The participants reported high need for dental treatment. Compared with the immigrants, the asylum seekers reported significantly more frequently dental pain and other symptoms and were less satisfied both in getting a dental appointment and in the quality of treatment they had received. All the asylum seekers and almost half of the immigrants found it difficult to get an appointment. The immigrants were more aware of good oral health habits than the asylum seekers. The asylum seekers suffered from dental fear more often than the immigrants. Despite the small number of participants, our interview-based study indicates that asylum seekers and immigrants have need for acute and basic dental treatment and health education.

Discussion rules as a method to resolve scientific disputes

Introduction: In the science-policy interface, we need better tools to synthesise discussions. We tested whether freely expressed discussions can be synthesised into resolutions using a few simple rules. We aimed at understanding key issues, not at mutual agreement of participants. Methods: We studied two case studies about controversial topics and reorganised the information produced by participants. The topic was defined as research questions, and all content was evaluated against capability to answer the questions. The content was summarised into statments and, if possible, organised hierarchically so that statements attacked or defended one another. Statements not backed up by data were given little weight. Results: The first case was a scientific dispute about how to estimate attributable deaths of air pollution in Lelieveld et al., Nature 2015: 525(7569):367-71. Discussion between the authors and critics was reorganised to identify and clarify the essence of the dispute. The information structure produced by the rules showed that the main dispute was about whether excess fraction or etiologic fraction should have been used. In the second case, we reorganised open web discussion about security risks caused by irregular immigrants in Finland in 2015. The discussion was held on a website coinciding with a national TV discussion. Most participants talked about their personal experience, but a few provided links to scientific studies and statistics, providing material for evidence-based discussion almost real-time. Conclusions: Disputes about even heated and controversial topics can be clarified, understood or even resolved by using a set of rules for participation and information synthesis. Complex topics, openness, or large number of lay people participation did not hamper the process. Such rules should be tested in resolving scientific disputes on a large scale. If successful, the use of science in the society could benefit from practices of open collaboration.

Patterns of Integration: <i>A Longitudinal View of the Labour Market Attachment of Immigrants in Finland</i>

The labour market integration of immigrants is often time-consuming and a socially selective process that depends on macroeconomic, institutional and individual characteristics. In this paper, we studied the labour market integration of immigrants as a longitudinal process through different patterns of labour market attachment. Using information about individuals’ main activity statuses based on the Finnish Longitudinal Employer-Employee Data (FLEED) and using sequence analysis, we followed the labour market transitions of immigrants during the years 2000–2010. The theory on transitional labour markets provides an analytical tool for analysing the heterogeneity of the individuals’ labour market attachment. The results contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the labour market integration of immigrants.

Slipping through the Cracks of a Welfare State: Children of Immigrants in Finland

We document large differences in educational attainment, criminal sentences and use of psychotropic medication between the children of immigrants and natives living in Finland. Among the offspring of immigrants from the OECD countries and the former Soviet Union, the disadvantage in education reverses and differences in criminal sentences disappear once we condition on parental income and location of residence. In contrast, large gaps remain for the children of immigrants from other regions, even conditional on background characteristics. Furthermore, the children of immigrants from all source areas are substantially less likely to use psychotropic medication than the offspring of natives despite their higher self-reported mental health problems. These results suggest that institutions designed to help disadvantaged natives do not fully reach the children of immigrants.

Integrating Immigrants: The Impact of Restructuring Active Labor Market Programs

We examine the impact of restructuring active labor market programs for unemployed immigrants in Finland. Exploiting a discontinuity in the phase-in rules of the reform, we find that it increased c...

The majority influence on interminority attitudes: The secondary transfer effect of positive and negative contact

Among minority members, positive contact with the majority was previously found to improve not only the attitudes toward the majority but also the attitudes toward minority outgroups (the secondary transfer effect; STE). However, the roles of negative intergroup contact and minority groups’ social status in the STE have not been yet examined. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated the association between both positive and negative contact with the national majority group (Finns) and mutual attitudes among high-status Estonian (n=171) and low-status Russian (n=180) immigrants in Finland. Two mediators of the STE were tested: attitudes toward the majority (attitude generalization) and public collective self-esteem (diagonal hostility). While positive and negative STEs emerging via attitude generalization were expected to occur among both immigrant groups, the mediating effect of public collective self-esteem was assumed only for members of the low-status group. In both immigrant groups, the relationship between positive contact with the majority group and attitudes toward the other immigrant group was positive and indirect through more favorable attitudes toward majority group members. The same mechanism characterized negative contact, where the indirect effect was mediated by less positive attitudes toward Finns. As predicted, public collective self-esteem mediated the effects of positive and negative contact with majority group members on attitudes toward the other minority only among low-status Russian immigrants. The results call for the acknowledgement of different mechanisms explaining the STE among minority groups enjoying different social statuses in host society.