The Department of Social Work Education welcomed a Fulbright scholar and University of Lapland professor to the Henry Madden Library on March 15 to present a lecture about whistleblowing.
Laura Tiitinen presented her lecture: “Whistleblowing in the Finnish Child Protection System” and discussed the developments she’s made researching whistleblowing as a method in “macro social work.”
Finland, while progressive in its healthcare and educational systems, faces social issues such as depression, domestic violence and racism, said Tiitinen.
The scholar’s findings demonstrated corruption within the Finnish child protection system. Whistleblowing, when done properly and safely, is an approach social workers can use to address such issues.
According to the Social Welfare Act of Finland, “social workers are obligated to report about wrongdoings or risks of grievances.”
“It’s such a big risk.” Tiitinen said. “In Finland it can lead to being ignored by colleagues, negative discrimination and verbal harassment. Workers, of course, are going to weigh the costs and benefits.”
For Maggie Armistead, a lecturer for the department of social work education, speaking out on ethical dilemmas are decisions her students will eventually have to make when out in the field.
“It’s being prepared.” Armistead said. “Do I want to say something? Because it can be scary. This is our charge. This is who we are as social workers. It’s [about] problem solving. For them learning to take that stand to problem solve, it is taking a risk.”
Tiitinen stressed that a management response determines whether change is implemented to resolve such issues. In many cases, leaders are not understanding or willing to address problems identified.
A majority of the time grievances are ignored, Tiitinen said.
With the heightened risk, many social workers in Finland leak issues to the news media as a way to safely put pressure on political figures to enforce change, Tiitinen said.
“Media gave lots of pressure to change things because leaders (and) organizations, they don’t want to look bad in the media.” Tiitinen said. “They will say they will fix this. Then the journalist will follow the case.”
High media coverage of cases have already proliferated change. In 2012, the murder of an eight-year old child from the abuse of her father and step-mother caused uproar.
Viewers named the mistakes by social workers and their lack-of investigation into the child’s situation responsible for her death.
The case resulted in increased funds for social work education.
Tiitinen expressed her excitement for student attendance and understanding whistleblowing as an important aspect of social work.
“I hope [students] will be more aware of the whistleblowing, that it is [their] duty to do something when you see something illegal or unethical at work.” Tiitinen said. “We are obligated in our ethical statements.”
Kris Clarke, an associate professor in social work education, discussed the importance of Tiitinen’s lecture for Fresno State social work students.
“[The lecture] opened the window into all of the complexity of speaking up, becoming the voice.” Clarke said. “That’s really what we have to do as social workers we have to advocate for the most vulnerable, people who don’t always have their own voices.”
Clarke pinpointed the lecture as an eye-opening experience for Fresno State students to see how social issues are faced in other countries.
“It’s everywhere in the world,” Clarke said. “We need to talk more about how to behave ethically and to promote the interest of our clients.”