Promoting Intercultural Competences in Collaboration between Police and Social workers Turku Mira Ojalehto, Education planner Turku University of Applied Sciences

Immigrants, Police and Social work Experiences are based on Immigrants, Police and Social work (IPS) project Project aimed at promoting the integration of third-country nationals in the EU countries by 1)Identifying good and promising practices in cooperation between police and social work 2)Developing appropriate professional working methods with participatory and empowering aspects Project was implemented in Finland, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and Great Britain 12/ /2011 Co-financed by the EU under European Integration Fund Community Actions for 2008

Three Outcomes In a delicate subject the IPS project had quite ambitious goals which the project consortium managed to achieve 1. Comparative research of good and promising collaboration practices between police and social work –Book published in March Professional development program for social workers and police officers –Joint pilot courses for the professionals in spring Production of joint education model for futher education –Online manual published in May 2011

Pilot Courses The course aims at promoting intercultural competences in cooperation between Police, Social work and Immigrants Objectives of the course are to 1.Promote integration and active citizenship in the multicultural society 2.Develop intercultural competences of the key professionals 3.Enhance collaboration between police and social work in the multicultural contexts

Approach The added value of the course is to train the two professional groups together by including perspectives of the immigrant communities Interculturality –between people in the society and in the communities –between professionals and their clients –between different professions –Understanding that my experiences, thoughts and expentations are different from yours

Learning Outcomes The course aims at enhancing the work competences of the practitioner. On completion of the education module the participant has developed his or her awareness of integration as a two- way process has developed skills to communicate, interact and negotiate with diverse client groups in the intercultural settings has developed skills to work in multi-professional networks and to seek joint solutions and practices between police and social work

Key questions In the beginning we asked ourselves… What kind of cultural competent practices and competences do social workers and police-officers need when working with immigrants? What challenges do we face in training police officers together with social workers? What is common and what differs in the way the two professions work with immigrants? What are their roles and responsibilities?

Pilot course in concrete We had common framework for the pilot course but each implementation was unique and adapted to national context. Course structure Extent of the course: 6 ECTS 3-8 contact days in a period of three months Discussions and independent learning assignments Different options for implementation Open access course Local or area based course In-house training

Pilot course in concrete Composition of pilot groups In Finland we had 18 students of whom 10 were police officers and 8 social workers. In the Netherlands they had 14 students of whom 7 were police officers and 7 social workers. There were also 5 participants with non-western background. In Sweden course was organized for local group of community police and social workers who already had some cooperation. In Spain course was a process consisting of several seminars

Contents and methods In the contents two learning themes were linked together 1.Multi-professional collaboration 2.Intercultural competences Collaboration Understanding professional roles –Legislation and responsibilities –Common clients but different view points –What are the possibilities and limitations of the professional? Tensions between the two professions –What goes well and what doesn’t work?

Contents and methods Start with “ice-breaking” exercises which do not need to be related to the theme of the course but create a positive atmosphere. This helps to generate a good and confidential group atmosphere. Begin by introducing the two professions and the professional roles and responsibilities of the participants. The participants are curious to learn more about each others’ professions. It is important to give the participants an opportunity to share their thoughts, experiences and expectations about the professions of others.

Contents and methods Intercultural competences Becoming more knowledgeable about diversity, culture, and intercultural work Finding tools for a better connection between the professional and client (e.g. how to persuade without sanctions) Attitude and skills in the work place: –Open mindedness –Recognizing prejudice / assumptions –Communication

Contents and methods Give participants rehearsals which are confusing and have complicated instructions. This may lead to change: we need to look actively things from the migrants point of view. Focus not on cultural differences but on looking for ways of improving the police-officers´ and the social workers´ ability to work productively in intercultural settings. Professionals usually already have knowledge and skills (interaction, negotiating and networking) that are important in intercultural work. Sharing tacit knowledge through discussions with peer professionals is important.

Challenges Some challenges according to our experiences… Involving immigrants in the planning and implementation processes to bring in the input of the different multicultural communities –Invite immigrants as educators, participants and representatives of the immigrant community. Confidential information in different organizations –There are limitations in sharing information and the limits are not always completely clear. Participants can be afraid to share information. Responsibilities, resources and power

Reflections Three days of training with some independent learning assignments is only a starting point for bringing about a joint reflective discussion on the intercultural competences attached to the work Intercultural competence can be a fairly new topic for the participants. Even professionals with extensive working experience might need time to process knowledge, skills and attitudes related to these topics

Reflections Managerial level should be engaged. Also the superiors need to acknowledge that today work has new challenges and employees need to update or confirm their competences. As educators we need to respect the experience of the professionals. Participants need time for discussions and for sharing their thoughts together. Course can offer valuable time for self reflection and network building which wouldn’t be possible in work place.

More information Educational material produced in the project Halttunen, Lundqvist, Ojalehto, Tuominen & Vanhanen. (2011) Working Together for Better Integration - A joint professional development course on intercultural competences and cooperation for police and social work. Online manual. -Download the manual: project.fi/en/documents-and-publications.phphttp:// project.fi/en/documents-and-publications.php Publication of good practices Heikkilä, Danker, Cómez Ciriano, McLaughlin & Reubsaet (edit.) (2011) Working Together for Better Integration - Immigrants, Police and Social Work. Migration Studies C18.Institute of Migration: Turku. -Download the webreport:

Contact information Turku Univeristy of Applied Sciences Education planner Mira Ojalehto mira.ojalehto(a)turkuamk.fi Turku Univeristy of Applied Sciences Project manager Sari Vanhanen sari.vanhanen(a)turkuamk.fi University of Turku Education coordinator Kia Lundqvist kia.lundqvist(a)utu.fi