Russia is relevant to the Nordic context since it has a physical border with Finland and a long history. In addition, according to Statistics Finland (Citation2021), the Russian language is one of the most spoken native languages among minorities (i.e. persons whose native language is other than Finnish, Swedish or Sami), as it is spoken by 84,000 persons. The history and domestic and foreign politics of Russia and Finland and the relations between them may have influence attitudes towards the Russian-speaking population of Finland (e.g. Mähönen and Jasinskaja-Lahti Citation2012; Heino Citation2018).
The social policy of both countries has been discussed in the media, especially during 2008–2017, and cases in which children with Russian background who lived in Finland were taken into custody by Finnish authorities were brought into the public discussion (e.g. Zagar Citation2015; Jäppinen Citation2015). One explanation behind those discussions, misunderstandings and disputes is the fact that the social policy and social protection system in Russia and Finland differ from each other. Therefore, the understanding of the different sociopolitical contexts is important and the book Reforming child welfare in the post-Soviet space: Institutional change in Russia provides valuable supplement for deepening this understanding.
The book concentrates on the Russian child welfare reform, which started after 2010. The reform is based on the idea that every child has a right to live in a family and aimed to change child protection and to provide alternative care systems by developing foster care, domestic adoptions, and support services for birth families. One of the goals was to reduce large peripherally located residential institutions inherited from the Soviet era. The remaining institutions were changed to smaller apartment-like premises with fewer children in each of the unit. This development follows global trends of deinstitutionalization. (An and Kulmala Citation2021.) This means dismantling large residential institutions and replacing them with alternative home-like residences and services that are close to peoples’ everyday living conditions and support their autonomy and human rights.
Child welfare reform in Russia became a governmental priority and was implemented in the whole country at a fast schedule. The legacy of residential care in large institutions and authoritarian political environment influenced the outcomes of the reform. These factors lead to a situation in which, regardless of the ideals behind reform and political as well as administrative plans, the reform brought many tensions and unintended consequences of many kinds. For example, there is mismatch between qualitative goal of good care and its measurements in quantitative terms. Also, actors working in the field of foster care has different views and they struggle over resources which has led to different and fragmented practices. Overall reform has been concentrated on a foster care while support for birth families has got less attention.
The book is divided into four parts besides the introduction and conclusion. Different chapters describe the implementation of reform in multi-sided ways from the perspectives of statistics (chapters 2, 5 and 6), media representations (chapter 3), public institutions, NGOs, and foster families (chapters 4, 7 and 8), and children and young people who were taken into care (chapters 9 and 10).
In the introduction, the authors describe broadly the wider societal, political, and ideological context of the child welfare reform in Russia and present key concepts related to this issue. Factors that lead to the reform are the collapse of the Soviet Union and economic changes in the 1990s that increased poverty, substance abuse, and unemployment as well as the number of children without parental care. During the 2000s, political actors described Russia’s decreasing population as a demographic crisis and promoted family-centred values (e.g. Heino Citation2012). Economic growth enabled new investments in family policy. At the same time Russia’s international relations deteriorated, which both led to the promotion of domestic adoption.
In the chapters of the book, the authors take a close look at the implementation of reform from the perspectives of different actors in light of various data sets and research methods, which is a very ambitious approach and provides in-depth information about the subject. In the concluding chapter, the authors present different reasons for the difficulties faced by the reform and provide development suggestions.
Overall, according to the research results presented in the book, the number of placements of children in families has increased and large residential institutions have declined since the initiation of reform. However, only a part of the reform goals has been realized.
The book provides a multi-sided picture of Russia’s child protection, alternative ways to provide out-of-home care and child welfare reform. It analyzes the Russian child welfare system and the difficulties that are present when large-scale changes are pushed through in a very narrow time frame. The strength of the book is that it manages to describe the outcomes of the reform from the perspective of different actors which gives reader a lot to think about.
Chapters of the book are interesting to read for everyone who is interested in social policy and child protection in Russia regardless of the reader’s existing knowledge. It also helps to understand the ideals, ideas, and values prevalent in today’s Russian society and politics. In addition, even though it is not the theme of the book, this understanding also benefits comparative research of differences and similarities of organizations and principles of child protection in Russia and other countries, such as Finland. The book is analytical and very well edited, and all chapters are written in relation to others. So, the book forms a coherent whole, which makes the book accessible.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
References
- An, S., and M. Kulmala. 2021. “Global Deinstitutionalisation Policy in the post-Soviet Space: A Comparison of Child-welfare Reforms in Russia and Kazakhstan.” Global Social Policy 21 (1): 51–74. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1468018120913312.
- Heino, E. 2012. “Concern over the Future of the Nation. A Discourse Analytical Study on Changes in Russian Demographic Policy in the Years 2000–2010.” In Finnish Yearbook of Population Research, edited by A. Rotkirch, I. Söderlig, and E. Heikkilä, 65–89. Helsinki: Population Research Institute.
- Heino, E. 2018. Yhteiskunnan jäsenyyden ehdot. Arjen kansalaisuuden rakentaminen ja peruspalvelukokemukset venäläistaustaisten perheiden kertomuksissa. Helsinki: University of Helsinki.
- Jäppinen, M. 2015. “Lapsikiistat.” In Venäjän palatseissa ja kaduilla, edited by M. Kivinen, and L. Vähäkylä, 173–205. Helsinki: Gaudeamus .
- Mähönen, T., and I. Jasinskaja-Lahti. 2012. “Anticipated and Perceived Intergroup Relations as Predictors of Immigrants’ Identification Patterns. A Follow-Up Study.” European Psychologist 17 (2): 120–130. doi:https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000114.
- Statistics Finland. 2021. “Foreign-language Speakers.” Accessed 21 November 2021. https://www.tilastokeskus.fi/tup/maahanmuutto/maahanmuuttajat-vaestossa/vieraskieliset_en.html
- Zagar, K. 2015. Suomi voidaan julistaa lapsiperheille vaaralliseksi. Representaatio ja identiteetti vuoden 2012 Suomen Ja Venäjän välisen lapsikiistan uutisoinnissa Helsingin Sanomissa ja Izvestijassa. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto.