Sanni
Salonen
Areas of expertise
Biography
I work as a University teacher in social work at the University of Turku. I hold a Master of Social Sciences degree and am a licensed social worker as well as a Bachelor of Social Services (UAS). In addition, I have completed pedagogical qualifications for teaching. I am working on my PhD.
I have worked in various roles with children and families, including early childhood education, substitute care in child protection, and family rehabilitation. My main areas of interest include multidisciplinary collaboration within and around child protection, as well as structural social work.
Research
In my doctoral research, I am interested in social workers as agents of policy engagement. My dissertation takes the form of an article-based thesis, with its sub-publications examining social work students' views on policy engagement (Salonen et al., 2024), the voluntary political participation of social work students and social workers, the policy engagement practiced by social workers in their professional roles, and social workers who have transitioned into political decision-making.
Additionally, my research interests extend to the field of child protection, social workers as representatives of their profession, and social work students.