Professor Joa Hiitola: Transnational and anti-racist social work dismantles discriminatory structures

As a professor of social work, Joa Hiitola calls for an approach that tackles societal problems structurally. 

“The current global situation demands that social work actively seeks to change discriminatory structures and addresses various forms of vulnerability. Incorporating anti-racism – an approach that dismantles racialised power relations – into social work education is essential. We need to move beyond individual blame and focus on structural causes.” Hiitola says. 

Transnational child protection is an emerging research area with limited prior research. The Transnational Child Protection - Knowledge and Service Paths for Social Work

SUOJATIE project – which was led by Hiitola and jointly conducted by social work and legal scholars – developed new service pathways and translated research findings into practical applications for social work. Sub-studies within the project were led by associate professor of law Sanna Mustasaari (University of Eastern Finland) and associate professor of social work Maija Jäppinen (University of Helsinki).

“Transnational child protection is often viewed through sensational headlines, such as families returning from conflict zones. Yet the need for cross-border child protection can also arise when a family travels abroad and a child must be urgently placed in care,” Hiitola explains.

The researchers examined situations where child protection had to be carried out across national borders. At the end of the project, a tour of training events was organised for social workers. 

“It felt very important to step out of the academic bubble for a moment and travel to train social workers in the regions. In my view, meaningfulness in social work research comes from interaction with the field, which is always present in one way or another in both social work research and education,” Hiitola points out.

The service pathway model of transnational child protection developed in the project was published in the Child Protection Handbook. 

Integration is not solely the responsibility of the individual

Hiitola’s research approach is also referred to as structural or radical social work, which focuses on the structural causes of problems people face, rather than individualised explanations.   

Photo: Jonne Renvall/Tampere University

Hiitola has co-led a sub-project within the Mobile Futures consortium, funded by the Strategic Research Council (STN). The Oulu-based sub-project was initially led by docent Johanna Leinonen, with Hiitola and docent Seija Jalagin later taking over leadership of the work package. Mobile Futures aims to promote a just and sustainable society by exploring two-way integration. 

Hiitola has also researched family reunification among refugees in a Research Council of Finland-funded project led by senior researcher Marja Tiilikainen at the Migration Institute of Finland. The project, titled Family Separation, Migration Status and Everyday Security: Experiences and Strategies of Vulnerable Migrants, examined the impact of prolonged separation on families. 

“Too often, integration is framed solely as a question of an individual’s ability to adapt when in fact society also bears responsibility for enabling integration. This becomes painfully clear in situations where administrative delays force individuals to remain separated from their families for years. It is unrealistic to expect integration to occur under such circumstances.”

Open-minded about research

Hiitola describes themself as a generalist and hopes to remain open in their choice of research topics. For example, in the Spitting Image project, which they led, they explored the experiences of adults discovering new relatives through commercial DNA testing. The project was funded by the North Ostrobothnia Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Eudaimonia Institute at the University of Oulu. 

Hiitola is particularly interested in how new genetic technologies are reshaping family relationships and in the journey of biological samples as they go through commercial testing processes. Hiitola leads the international DNADialogues network, which brings together researchers studying the societal and social phenomena surrounding commercial genetic testing. The network organises seminars and other academic events and is now relocating to Tampere University. 

“Through saliva samples, we uncover new family secrets. People often rewrite their identity when the results are unexpected or even shocking. This topic is relevant to social work, for instance, in the context of adoption,” Hiitola explains.

Hiitola has also participated as a researcher in a Tampere University project funded by the Kone Foundation and the Finnish Cultural Foundation, which sociologically examines the measurement of inner truth.  In the project led by University Lecturer Valtteri Vähä-Savo, Hiitola has collaborated on the evaluation processes related to gender-affirming care. 

“We are still writing articles based on our findings, but I am particularly concerned about the difficult situations trans- and non-binary children and young people are facing. Their lives have been politicised, yet there is little genuine interest in their actual wellbeing – especially during the heavy gender identity assessment processes or amid transphobic media coverage,” Hiitola says.

Hiitola explores this topic, along with other issues related to gender and sexual diversity, as part of the new Finnish Network for LGBTQI+ Research in Social Work (SosQ).

Photo: Jonne Renvall