THE UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE COMMUNITY: immigrant women's perspective
Vysna, Lubica (2023)
2023
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023090125260
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023090125260
Tiivistelmä
Lubica Vysna
The Understandings of the Community: Immigrant Women’s Perspective
97 pages and 7 appendices
August 2023
Diaconia University of Applied Sciences
Master’s degree
Master of Social Services
Global Change and Community Development
The thesis aims to explore immigrant women’s understandings of the community and its purposes. By the community is meant the International Working Women of Finland ry (registered association), the non-governmental and non-profit organization that was the partner of the thesis.
In the theoretical part, critical social work perspectives were introduced. The research was conducted in a qualitative research design. The semi-structured interviews with 9 participants were collected to fulfill the thesis objectives: to explore the women’s perceptions of community and to identify empowering aspects of community involvement. Data were analyzed through Braun’s and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis.
The research has deepened the understanding of the empowering aspects of community involvement on individual, group and community levels together with the importance of female friendships and self-organizing of immigrant women.
The main findings also describe how volunteering enhances the active citizenship of immigrant women and supports the development of their social capital.
The research conducted in the thesis supports the previous findings on the benefits of women’s self-organizing such as overcoming social exclusion and loneliness; developing social capital; empowerment; and capacity building.
In the thesis, future areas of development of International Working Women of Finland ry (registered association) are identified, including e.g., different community-organizing, development of participatory processes or management of volunteers.
Keywords: immigrant women, community, empowerment, volunteering, critical social work, feminism, reflexive thematic analysis
The Understandings of the Community: Immigrant Women’s Perspective
97 pages and 7 appendices
August 2023
Diaconia University of Applied Sciences
Master’s degree
Master of Social Services
Global Change and Community Development
The thesis aims to explore immigrant women’s understandings of the community and its purposes. By the community is meant the International Working Women of Finland ry (registered association), the non-governmental and non-profit organization that was the partner of the thesis.
In the theoretical part, critical social work perspectives were introduced. The research was conducted in a qualitative research design. The semi-structured interviews with 9 participants were collected to fulfill the thesis objectives: to explore the women’s perceptions of community and to identify empowering aspects of community involvement. Data were analyzed through Braun’s and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis.
The research has deepened the understanding of the empowering aspects of community involvement on individual, group and community levels together with the importance of female friendships and self-organizing of immigrant women.
The main findings also describe how volunteering enhances the active citizenship of immigrant women and supports the development of their social capital.
The research conducted in the thesis supports the previous findings on the benefits of women’s self-organizing such as overcoming social exclusion and loneliness; developing social capital; empowerment; and capacity building.
In the thesis, future areas of development of International Working Women of Finland ry (registered association) are identified, including e.g., different community-organizing, development of participatory processes or management of volunteers.
Keywords: immigrant women, community, empowerment, volunteering, critical social work, feminism, reflexive thematic analysis