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The Finnish comprehensive school system has got wide international recognition for its equality and quality. Yet, since 1990's Finland among many other western countries has adapted a new neoliberal educational policy which challenges the grounds of the comprehensive school ideology. Instead of equality neo-liberal education policies emphasizes the market ideology and the competition. This study focuses on one of the consequences of the new educational policy, school choice. The detailed research questions were: 1) What kind of lower secondary school choices families in Espoo do and what kind of reasons do they give to their choices? 2) How do parents' level of education and income explain their choices? 3) Do families that have made a different school choice differ in their attitudes towards choice? In addition the purpose of the study was to tests the measurement scales, which were used, for a prospective school choice survey. The study is part of a research project PASC, which examines the affiliation between parental educational strategies, social segregation and local school choice policies in Finland and Chile. The data (N=441) was gathered with a questionnaire that was send by e-mail to the parents of 6th graders during the school year of 2010 2011. The respond rate was 23,8 %. The data was analysed using qualitative and quantitative methods. Reasons given to the choices were analysed using content analysis. Parents' educational level and incomes were analysed by cross-tabs and chi-square- test. The summary variables of the attitudes were computed using factor analysis and differences in attitudes were analysed by analysis of variance. As a result of the research four different kinds of school choice types were done (the nearest - other than nearest school / emphasized - non-emphasized class). The choice was different in all of these types according to parents' level of education and income and the reasons behind their choices. Children whose parents had a high level of education and income applied for emphasized teaching more often than others. The role of the child in the school choice process varied in different school choice types. Families who had chosen emphasized class in their local or in distant school highlighted the child's opinion in the school choice process, whereas families who had applied for non-emphasized class stressed the importance of the friends in the choice process. One of the key reasons that families in all of the school choice types gave to their choice concerned the reputation of the school. Families who had chosen their local school stressed the good reputation of the chosen school whereas those who had applied for distant school had doubts about the reputation of their local school. The indicators and measurements of the school choice attitudes needs some further research.

Homeschooling in Finland is a rare phenomenon, though it has been steadily increasing in the past years. Extensive research about homeschooling has been conducted internationally, whereas this field of study has not been researched widely in Finland. The reasons for parents to choose homeschooling is one of the most explored topics within the field and information on their motives can be found in many countries where homeschooling has been researched. The purpose of this thesis is to examine motives for Finnish families to choose homeschooling and about their experiences and opinions about its strengths and weaknesses. The aim is to discover what kinds of knowledge and skills homeschooling offers and what kinds of gaps it may leave. This study was carried out as a qualitative case study. The material was collected by interviewing three former homeschooling students and their parents. The interview method was semi-structured thematic interview. The interviews lasted 52 minutes on average and they were recorded and transcribed for more thorough analysis. The material was analyzed by using content analysis. The study shows that Finland has similar reasons for choosing to homeschool as the rest of the world. In this study, the primary reasons that emerged were to provide children with the appropriate worldview, the desire of parents to keep children near and hold the family together, and the gifted child's dissatisfaction with schooling together with social and school-related problems. School criticism or academic reasons were not emphasized, which suggests that the Finnish school system is valued. The study brings up a variety of strengths and weaknesses of homeschooling. However, they are not unequivocal. Homeschooling also varies between families and even within the same family. This research can be considered an overview of the topic, but the generalization of the results should be done with caution given the small sample size. Further studies on homeschooling in Finland, parents' motives to choose homeschooling, and the experiences of homeschooling families should be conducted in order to ensure a fuller picture of the phenomenon.

Objectives. The aim of the study was to examine the influence of family and peer relations on the incidence of substance use disorders in juvenile offenders. The studies so far have mainly focused on the associations between adolescents' social relations and early substance experimentation and amount of substance use but there are only few studies that have examined the social aspects of adolescents with substance use disorders. This study aimed to find out whether the social aspects that studies have found to be associated with substance use also come up in the sample of juvenile offenders with substance use disorders, and if there were factors that protect from substance use disorders. Methods. The participants in this study were drawn from an American study, The Pathways to Desistance. The 1354 participants were enrolled into the study between November 2000 and January 2003 from the juvenile and adult court systems in Mericopa County and Philadelphia County. The participants were between 14 and 18 years old at the time of their committing offense. The 1302 participants that had answered the questionnaires regarding substance use disorders were included in this study. The participants were divided into two groups: adolescents that had had substance use disorders and to adolescents that had never had substance use disorders. The groups were compared by factors relating to family and peer relations cross-sectionally with logistic regression analysis. Results and conclusions. According to the results, maternal hostility, parents' drug problems and antisocial behavior and influence of the peers were associated with the group of substance use disorders. Factors that protect from substance use disorders were high paternal warmth, parental knowledge and parental monitoring. These results support the earlier findings of the importance of social relations in adolescents' substance use and also raise hypotheses of possible factors influencing the development of substance use disorders. It is highly important to be aware of the risk factors influencing young adolescents' substance use so that it is possible to create early interventions and prevent future problems.

There is a growing concern over marginalization of people, which is also present in the current educational discourse. The issue is best tackled at an early age and schools offer a possibility for an early intervention before problems associated with marginalization begin to accumulate. Well-functioning cooperation between the school and home helps support children during difficult turning points in life and promotes healthy social development. Cooperation with homes can also pre-emptively prevent difficulties from piling up and the extended social circle acts as a safety net against current and future adversities. The aim of this study was to inspect different experiences from family class programs and reflect on the experiences from the early support point of view. Family classes are built to support cooperation between home and school and organized to help finding workable solutions to different kind of challenges pupils face. This study maps the experiences that are accomplished from family classes by interviewing different actors from school and guardians, who had partaken in the arrangement. This study was conducted as qualitative research. Four participants, acting in different roles in two different family classes from the year 2020 were interviewed. The interviews were done remotely and recorded. The method used was half-structured theme interviews with identical questions, which varied in the order and form of presentation. The recordings were transcribed, and analysed, and recurring themes were highlighted. Family classes aimed to improve understanding and trust between home and school and mitigate challenges in class and cooperation between home and school. Family classes were described as enhancing the cooperation significantly. The interviewees felt, the boundary between the two instances was lowered. The understanding at home on the methods and values associated with teaching and the multidisciplinary aspect grew and became more concrete. The atmosphere in classes improved, and pupils took more responsibility on their studying. The program enabled families and relatives to see new perspectives on how to work together with the pupil and supported the parents on upbringing. This study provides evidence on how family classes can improve the cooperation between home and school and support the pupils’ development.

Objective Psychopathy is closely associated with criminality. There has been disagreement among researchers whether the psychopathy construct is applicable to children and adolescents. However, studies suggest that psychopathy is a life-long disorder. Biological, as well as environmental factors influence the development of psychopathic traits, although psychosocial risk factors of psychopathy - especially in the case of juveniles - are not well known. The first aim of the study was to examine whether adolescent's psychopathy can be predicted with seven familial and parental risk factors. The second aim was to examine whether adolescent's psychopathy can be predicted with cumulative risk. Methods The data included 14-19 year-old juvenile offenders (n=1293). Psychopathic traits were assessed with PCL: YV. Based on interviews with parents or other collateral reporters, five risk factors were assessed: parental mental problems, parental substance abuse, parental criminality, yearly household income and adolescent's history of social services. Parental monitoring and knowledge were assessed using The Parental Monitoring inventory. Cumulative risk was constructed dichotomizing each risk factor and then summing the dichotomous scores. The associations between risk factors and adolescent's psychopathic traits were examined with linear regression analysis. The association between cumulative risk and psychopathic traits were examined with ANOVA. Results and conclusions Parental mental problems, parental drug and alcohol problems, parental criminality, low parental monitoring, low parental knowledge and adolescent's history of social services predicted adolescent's psychopathy. However, after controlling the effects of other risk factors, only parental monitoring, parental knowledge and adolescent's history of social services remained significant predictors of psychopathy, as the effects of the other variables were explained by these three risk factors. Household income was not associated with adolescent's psychopathic traits. In addition, the more risk factors one had, the more he/she had psychopathic traits on average. This information can be applied in preventing psychopathy, improving treatment of psychopathy and reducing criminality.

This master’s thesis studies the interviews of young people with majority population and immigrant backgrounds about their education. Special attention has been given to what kind of meaning they give to their family background regarding to secondary education expectations. In earlier studies, the family background has been noticed to guide young people's educational choices based on their inherited educational level as well as on the resources offered by the family (e.g. Myllyniemi & Kiilakoski 2017, Saari 2016, Bourdieu 2011). Especially among students with immigrant background, family has been noticed to associate with educational choices (e.g. Kalalahti et al. 2017, Hyvärinen & Erola 2011). The aim of this thesis is to get new perspectives and topical information about how the family affects the young people's educational choices and how immigration background affects how one speaks about family. The material of this thesis consists of 16 interviews given by 9th-graders, of which eight had immigrant background and eight were part of the majority. The interviews were done originally for the Transitions and educational trajectories of immigrant youth -project. The material was analyzed with theory-driven content analysis. The focus of the analysis was on the meanings given to family background in relation to education and future in young people’s speech. In addition, the possible meanings, which related to immigrant family background, were observed. The resources provided by the family were a significant guiding factor in the educational path of the young. The educational status and the educational-cultural capital of the family shaped the young’s mind about possible educational opportunities. The attitude of the family towards education was seen as an important factor. Especially the parent’s appreciation for education was present among the immigrant youth's educational speeches. The goals of the youth were constructed largely based on the model, attitudes and educational values offered by the family, which young people did not necessarily recognize. Especially young people with immigrant backgrounds seemed to value the importance of the family as part of the education choice. Also, hobbies, working life experiment and interest in a particular field were mentioned in the interviews speeches as guiding factors for the educational choices.

Study aims. Crime behaviour can be influenced by individual characteristics such as lack of impulse control or social factors such as loose social controls. What the main risk factors for crime are can vary between different contexts. The causes of crime can also differ in adolescence when many people experiment with crime as compared to in adulthood. The primary aim of this study was to compare the effects of family risk factors and personality on juvenile crime in Finland. The expectation was that in the individualistic Finnish context personality would have a larger impact on youth's crime behaviour than family risk factors. The second aim of the study was to assess whether the impact of family risk factors on delinquency was partially mediated by personality. Methods. The study data was from a Finnish cross-sectional self-report survey on youth crime collected in Spring 2012. The sample consisted of 4059 Year 6 students from 102 primary schools and 4855 Year 9 students from 51 secondary schools. Personality was measured using an abbreviated Finnish version of the original Big Five Inventory of personality (BFI-S). Delinquency was measured through self-reports of crimes committed in the previous year and included 12 varied offences including eg. graffiti, theft, burglary and battery. Family risk was assessed using a cumulative measure of five risk factors; parental unemployment, large family size, subjective ratings of poor financial situation, being from a divorced family and immigrant status. Results and discussion. After adjusting for gender and school year group both cumulative family risk and personality, apart from the dimension of Neuroticism, were found to be significant predictors of delinquency. As hypothesized, personality had a larger effect on delinquency than cumulative family risk. However, including both personality and cumulative family risk in a model predicting delinquency produced the best predictive power. Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were linked with decreased delinquency, whereas Extroversion and Openness to experience were linked with increased delinquency. Personality also partially mediated the effect of cumulative family risk on delinquency. The results of the mediator analyses suggest that the family risk factors may have increased personality dispositions to react in a certain way, which in turn added the risk of participating in criminal behaviour or protected youth from reacting through delinquency.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the topic of the teacher as a person in ECEC teacher education. Previous research has shown that pedagogical practices are dependent on science and socio-political and economic trends but also subjective to interpretation by the individual teacher. According to Gallas (2010), just like researchers, teachers are never entirely objective. Personal beliefs, values and views influence a teacher's pedagogical work. Awareness and reflection not only as improving pedagogical practices for better results but also as rethinking one’s own motivations behind pedagogical choices and socio-emotional competences can have a profound effect on a teacher’s professional identity (Virmani et al., 2020). Research suggests that a holistic approach to teacher education (Körkkö, 2021; Klein, 2008), of building an inner perspective of the student’s own self, helps future teachers’ work practices. The research questions of this study look at how the teacher as a person is acknowledged and how the personhood of the teacher is supported in ECEC teacher education. To answer the research questions, an analysis of the curriculum for ECEC teacher education at the University of Helsinki was conducted. The method used was Discourse analysis with Bakhtin’s Dialogic theory as a theoretical framework. The results of this study suggest that the topic of the teacher’s personhood is sporadically present and rarely supported. The teacher as a person is meaningful when related to professional development. In general, the curriculum gives an impression of the teaching profession as normative and prescriptive, focused only on child-centred results. Leaving the person out of the professional in the curriculum could lead to teacherhood being seen as a technical occupation. Taking the personal aspect under consideration, on the other hand, could shed more light on teacher burnout and job dissatisfaction.

Aims. The aim of this study was to examine what kind of identity profiles are found among high school students in Finland and whether the groups with different identity profile differ in social identity and in school belonging. Personal identity refers to an individual's consistent understanding of who he or she is and what he or she wants to pursue. The sense of belonging is examined through social identity and school belonginess. Social identity is decsribed as identification with different groups, and school belonginess can be described as an individual's social and emotional connection to school. It is important to study the connection between personal identity and the sense of belonging in order to gain a deeper understanding of how identity formation takes place in the context of the social environment and how young people can be supported in these processes. Methods. The data (N=766) was collected as part of Bridging the Gaps-project from high school students in Helsinki during spring 2019. Participants filled in a questionnaire that measured identity, social identity and school belonging. Participants were divided in groups by using Two-Step Cluster analysis. Group differences in social identity and school belong- ing were studied by analysis of variance. Results and conclusions. Five different identity groups were identified, and the groups were named as achievement, searching while committed, carefree diffusion, troubled diffusion and moratorium. About third of students were committed to identity goals. More than 60% of the high school students had an unclear identity and about 40% of them were worried about their future. Identity groups differed in terms of school belonginess as well as their social identity. High school students with a higher commitment to their future goals had a higher sense of belonging in school as well as in different groups. Those high school students who were worried about their future experienced a lower sense of belonging to different groups. Based on the study, it seems that commitment to identity is related to a sense of belonging. The results are largely in line with previous research.

Objectives: Juvenile delinquency and substance use are significant social problems. Delinquency and substance use started in adolescence often lead to lifetime persistent behavior patterns. According to previous research the most important individual factor in relation to juvenile delinquency and substance use is personality and one of the most important environmental factors in relation to these behaviors is parental monitoring. In this study I tried to replicate earlier results on the links of personality and parental monitoring with juvenile delinquency and substance use. Moreover I examined the quality of interactions between the Big Five personality traits and parental monitoring in relation to juvenile delinquency and substance use; these interactions have not been studied comprehensively before. Methods: Data for this study was taken from the Finnish national delinquency survey from 2012 collected by the National Research Institute of Legal Policy. The sample consisted of 8914 Finnish 6th and 9th grade pupils (age range 12–17). I analyzed the amount of self-reported criminal acts from the previous year in three classes of crime: aggressive and non-aggressive criminal acts as well as substance use (incl. alcohol use). I used multinomial logistic regression to examine the links of the Big Five personality dimensions, parental monitoring and their interactions to different classes of criminal acts. In each class of crime I compared separately occasional and repetitive offenders to those who reported minimal amounts of criminal acts. Results and conclusions: Parental monitoring had strong positive links to all classes of crime independent of the amount of criminal acts. Agreeableness and conscientiousness had negative relationships with all criminal behavior following previous research. Extraversion in turn had positive relations to all crime contrary to many previous results. Personality traits and parental monitoring had two separate kinds of interactions: in many occasions when parental monitoring was lower some personality trait was reduced in its power to predict criminal acts; contrary to this the positive relationship of extraversion to repetitive aggressive crime raised as parental monitoring decreased in amount. The significance of parental monitoring in relation to juvenile delinquency and substance use is highlighted in my results. According to my results it will be profitable to put effort in reinforcing parental monitoring to fight juvenile delinquency and substance use.