Margi research group | Tampere universities

MARGI research group (including seven social work researchers) concentrates on social and welfare work among adults, especially on mental health, substance abuse and supported housing services. The services are located at the margins of welfare services in the sense that they are targeted to vulnerable people living in difficult conditions and having complex support needs.

Research focus and goals

The methodological roots of our research lie in social constructionism and ethnomethodology. Accordingly, we apply various discursive and text analytical methods in scrutinising everyday institutional encounters. We also do analysis jointly with workers and clients with an ultimate aim to develop service practices at the margins of welfare.

Research is closely connected to the issues of inequality and poverty. In our recent research projects the aim has been to explore for example homelessness from the point of view of the Housing First principle, responsibilisation of workers and clients in mental health and substance abuse services and latest home-based service interactions at various supported housing settings.

In studying services our main interest is on everyday grass-roots level practices. This means that we focus on institutional encounters between workers and clients or among workers including face-to-face conversations and meetings as well as virtual or text-based interactions.

Our projects:

Geographies of home-based service interactions at the margins of welfare in Finland and Sweden (2017-2021)
Responsibilisation of Service Users and Professionals in Mental Health Practices (2011-2016)
Long-term Homelessness and Finnish Adaptations of the Housing First Model (2011-2015)
Client-centeredness in Community-based Mental Health Rehabilitation of Young Adults (2010-2012)