Research Team
Principal Investigator (PI) Rosi Enroos holds the title of Docent in Child and Family Social Work and serves as a University Lecturer in the Social Work discipline at Tampere University. In general, her research addresses issues related to child welfare and families in vulnerable life situations.
In this project, Enroos is particularly focused on developing research-based service pathways and support systems for children and parents affected by incarceration. This initiative leverages insights gathered from various stakeholders, including children, parents, and professionals in the field. Additionally, she investigates methodological challenges such as identifying the children who participate in research versus those who remain unrepresented, as well as examining how different social policy contexts influence family circumstances, the services available, and the support that children and families receive.
Jenni Repo (M.Soc.Sci.) works a researcher in the project. She is also working on a dissertation in social work in Tampere University concerning supervision of children’s residential homes in Finland. Additionally, she has previously worked in other research projects on child welfare from different perspectives.
In the VaVa-project, Jenni is particularly interested in the institutional perspective on childhood and parenthood in the shadow of prison: how do the views of professionals and the experiences, hopes and expectations of children and parents position themselves in relation to the service system? In addition to conducting research, her duties include various coordination and communication responsibilities.
Essi Julin (PhD in Soc.Sci.) works as a postdoctoral researcher in the project (from February 1, 2025). In her doctoral research, she studied the Finnish child abuse investigation process from the perspective of parents. After her PhD, her research interest has focused on the position and participation of children and young people involved in child protection in Finnish lawmaking.
In the VaVa project, Essi aims to utilize her previous experience by studying the service system to develop services and support for children and families living in the shadow of imprisonment, in a way that best meets their needs and considers their participation.
***
Partners
Jean Kjellstrand, Associate Professor (University of Oregon, US)
In the VaVa-project, Jean will work as a consultant and intervention expert. As an interdisciplinary social work researcher from the U.S., Dr. Jean Kjellstrand focuses on strategies to promote the healthy development and well-being of children, specifically children with an incarcerated parent. Using both basic research and community-participatory approaches, she conducts research that examines the impact of parental incarceration on children. This research then guides her work focused on developing, implementing, and evaluating interventions to support parents and their children during and following incarceration. For over 15 years, she researched this population and developed programs in the U.S. to help support incarcerated parents and their families.
Fulbright Finland Foundation on Rosi and Jean’s cooperation (link) on page 12.
*
The Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa (Pirha)
*
Life without crime (RETS)
Anastasia Lapintie works in Support for children and families department in Life without crime. She seeks to combine practice and theory, as well as to highlight experience-based viewpoints especially in advocacy work. Anastasia is interested in strengthening children’s agency and making family members’ needs visible. She thinks that to provide support, one must recognize the diversity of the families and understand the effects of incarceration to and the relationships between different family members.
Noora Alanen works in Support for children and families department. In her work, she organizes family camp activities for prisoners and their families as well as works with couples and individual family members. Noora’s interest is in human interaction, and she works through open discussion and applies a variety of methods and mentalization. When working with people, she emphasizes one’s active choosing of perspective.
Katariina Soihtu works in Support for children and families department as well. She works with individuals, groups and organizes family camps. In Katariina’s work, she supports both prisoners and their family members and their wellbeing. She seeks to use research in strengthening resilience, functional capacity and self-compassion. She is interested in how the dynamics of families and people’s self-image is shaped by incarceration and the inter-generational effects it has.
International advisory board
- Tarja Pösö, Professor (emerita) (Tampere University, Finland)
- Åsa Norman, Senior Research Specialist, Docent (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden)
- Jean Kjellstrand, Associate Professor (University of Oregon, US)
- Mark Eddy, Professor (The University of Texas at Austin, US).
*
A national advisory board will also be set up.