Social work is today faced with a bigger diversity in society and ethnically mixed client groups. Mainstream social work methods are not always enough to meet the needs of all these new client groups. Therefore, social work has to develop its practices to be able to meet the challenges of the multi-ethnic society. The aim of this study is to compare how social work in England and Finland has responded to its minority ethnic clients, what policies and practices are developed. The study is a case study of social work in two local areas, namely the London borough of Islington in England and the city of Vantaa in Finland. The study material consists of semi-structured interviews with twelve social workers from different social service departments in Islington and Vantaa and of policy and practice documents. The study is a qualitative study and the interview material is analysed by using grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin 1990) and comparative methodology (Miles & Huberman 1994). A comparative framework was developed firstly by comparing different concepts used in each country concerning social work and minority ethnic groups, secondly by examining the situation of the minority ethnic groups in each country and finally by using theoretical literature for analysing the study material. The theoretical framework was mainly developed by theories about minority political ideologies (Ely and Denney 1989), theories about ethnic identity (Liebkind 1992, Hutnik 1991) and by a multicultural awareness framework (Matinheikki-Kokko 1997). The results of the study show that both countries have developed some responses to take into account the needs of minority ethnic clients. However, in Vantaa the process has just recently started. In Vantaa the services are based on an equality principle, which means in Finnish conditions that all clients are given the same kind of services. This has shown to be problematic as the service are often based on majority needs, which does not support minority groups. The effects might be the opposite, that is assimilationist. In Islington the social workers strive also for equality, but the starting point is more pluralistic, as the social workers attempt to take into account cultural background when providing services. The study showed also the importance of a clearly stated policy, which particularly takes into account minority ethnic groups. The policy has to be clearly outlined for all staff and even for clients. To put policy into practice means that it has to be effectively implemented. This means firstly that the whole social service department has to be aware of the needs of minority ethnic groups and of adequate intervention strategies to meet the needs. Secondly, the social workers have to be aware of the situation of their minority ethnic clients. This means that the social workers cannot be left alone with the responsibility to improve services. The social service department has to support the social workers by providing them means to develop the services. This includes a clear policy statement, training for all staff and regular supervision and discussions in meetings about issues concerning minority ethnic groups.

It is common in nation states worldwide for the ethno-cultural relations of groups in their jurisdiction to be rife with tensions and conflict. The end of the cold war and the spread of globalisation have intensified and spread the social, political and economic changes that had already been evident for several decades. The result is that resurgence is now an even more visible and compelling theme for social scientists, particularly in the political domain. Ethnicity of itself does not cause violent conflict. For the most part, ethnic groups peacefully pursue their interests in society through political or other lawful channels. At times, however, acute social uncertainty and the fear of the future may make ethnic groups emerge as one of the major fault-lines along which societies start to disintegrate. Today ethnic pluralism, competitiveness and primordial antagonism appear to be the factors that most often cause ethnic conflicts and violence. The rate of increase of political or military interference in many parts of the world, and the escalation of ethnic and intra-ethnic strife, may be partly attributed to differences in ethnic composition. In some states like Belgium, Austria, Poland, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Cuba, China, Togo, Benin, Malawi or Tanzania this escalation may be less salient than in others such as Nigeria, the Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, Colombia, Yugoslavia or the Mediterranean region (Cyprus-Greece-Turkey), where fragmentation of power is evident in weak and corrupt structures, some of them legacies of colonialism. This preface, however, is about the study of problems in Nigeria: protracted ethnic tension and the intermittent resurgence of disintegration. This study combines some key ideas and questions by looking at them from many perspectives, with the intention of informing or reminding readers about the ethnic problems in Nigeria. This task is complicated because there are many ways of studying, explaining and keeping up to date with this field of study. There are differences between frameworks and empirical realities that will be examined. The approach of my study is eclectic, but I have avoided presenting an ethnicity framework as a fixed or essentially primordial concept. Some of my explanations are related to the wider tradition of socio-biology, as described by van den Berghe, and to nationalism, which I presume to be inadequate to do justice to the political groupings of ethnic allegiances in Nigeria.

Recent media studies in Europe have stressed the importance of studying societies’ negotiations on migration and the ability of migrants and other ethnic minorities to participate in these processes. Social media platforms have been widely praised for their openness to culturally diverse voices and representations. For minorities who have often been ignored and misrepresented in traditional media, these platforms arguably provide an empowering space where they can self-represent their identities, provide counter-representations to large and diverse audiences, and enhance their careers as media professionals. The video streaming social media platform, YouTube, is at the forefront of media participation. However, YouTube also has been criticized for promoting a highly commercialized culture of self-commodification and entertainment that maintains the status quo instead of enabling progressive social change. This study presents the results of an examination of the YouTube scene in Finland, a country with the lowest percentage of foreign-born inhabitants in Northern and Western Europe, where few YouTubers with migrant backgrounds have become increasingly visible within the last few years. Drawing on interviews with YouTubers, the study presents new insights into ethnic minority participation on YouTube and challenges binary oppositions between commercialism, entertainment and social change.

This study aimed at researching the quality of social and health care services from minority ethnic older persons' perspective. This was done by identifying the dimensions of the services where quality was experienced as poorest as well as studying the factors that influenced the experienced quality of the services. The client based quality was analysed as the congruence between the clients' expectations and perceptions. The information gathered from elderly people belonging to ethnic minorities was compared with data from social and health care service personnel. With the help of the analyses of experienced quality, the study aimed at identifying ways to develop and organise the social and health care services so that they would provide high quality services also for the elderly clients belonging to ethnic minorities. The data of this study consisted of two samples. The service user sample included constructed interviews with 119 Russians, 50 Vietnamese and 126 Sami respondents. The service provider sample consisted of 71 respondents, from whom data were gathered by postal survey with a questionnaire. Both of the samples were analysed by using quantitative, statistical methods. The area where quality was experienced as poorest, both among the service users and service providers, was access to services. The individual aspect that was most connected to the quality experiences of the service users, was the experience of racial harassment in the services. In the service user data, differences in the experienced quality of care were strongly connected to the ethnic group. This was the case partly because the respondents in different ethnic groups had different expectations and perceptions about the services, and partly because they emphasised different aspects of the services as being important to them. The results highlight the importance of equal treatment, cultural sensitivity and the principles and praxis of non-discrimination in the health and social services, in order to guarantee high quality care for all the service users. This forms a challenge to be taken into account in basic education and in the in-service training of social and health care professionals. Also the service design and culture should be developed towards care based on the individual. In order to provide high quality services for the aged, the unique situation of the individual should always be thoroughly examined and taken into account. This includes also acknowledging the ethnic background of the client.