"Public welfare services, disability organisations and governance structures Antti Teittinen

Starting points What is the ethos of disability organisations in transforming society? Evaluating long-term study of the disability phenomenon in modern society The intention is to characterise a functional field, where disabled persons and their organisations (the third sector) are as a part of services processes in the transforming circumstances of welfare state The third sector represents social relationships, which are appearing, when traditional courses of action are getting weathered in modern society In the 1990s and 2000s the role of the third sector has become more significant in public social services than earlier. We can focus this change on disability services

Change in the system of welfare state Process welfare state to welfare society. In new sociable deal risks are defined such issues that threat a work-based society Practical points of a societal change in welfare services are globalisation, competition of services (private and public) and the possibility of a versatile collaboration between a public and third sector

Collaboration of disability organisations and associations with a public sector is based on negotiations, where equilibrium states and compromises are searched It is also a question of power relationship: –Relationships between clients and authorities and the role of disability organisational activities –Authorities duties and obligations to their employer organisation

Setting the research tasks In an attempt to evaluate disability organisations on the basis of the starting points presented above, one may condense the issue in the following three questions: –1. The role of disability associations in their local circumstances and culture. –2. The co-operation between local disability associations and national disability organisations. –3. Disability organisations as a part of the existing social order.

Research materials Haavi-project (Slot Machine Association of Finland) A survey of disability policy in Finland Municipality for All 2001 (Ministry of Social and Health Affairs) Research programme of economical depression of the 1990s funded by Academy of Finland and Government Institute for Economic Research ( ) Disability and economical depression of the 1990s in Finland Research and development projects of Finnish Association on Mental Retardation (adequancy of public disability services, deinstitutionalisation, housing, living conditions, modernisation of disability acts)

Analytical levels Research questions can be understood as an analysis of different levels of power relationships Power relationships are situated in different levels, but they are composing an entity, where the real position and substantial importance of disability organisations exist as actors of the third sector to uphold the welfare state

The first level of power relationship: The role of disability associations in their local circumstances and culture or how the local disability association is formed and how it define its political position The second level of power relationship: The co-operation between local disability associations and national disability organisations or activities of a local disability association can be depended on the central disability organisations policy

The third level of power relationship: Disability organisations as a part of the existing social order or a public welfare system has a leading role and legal authorisation to govern services, but disability organisations as the third sector actors have increasing responsibility in the existing social order Disability organisations as the third sector actors include the idea and practice of a collective struggle and potentiality to changes. However they are producing the supplement services of public services and are under the control of a public sector.

Evaluations of contemporary situation Views of disability organisations: –Equal rights and participation to everyone in society –Legislation is the best way to improve disability rights –Independent attorney of disability issues Views of authorities: –All the services available in one institution –Combining disability acts –Training of attitudes A new kind of welfare regime is formed as an unpredictable result of different active social sectors and environmental factors (neo- liberalism?)