Our workshop addresses social work with queer people and is connected to an ongoing social work textbook project. By queer people, we refer broadly to individuals who belong to gender, sexual, or relationship minorities. This diverse group includes, for example, people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, queer, or intersex.
Finnish research concerning the service needs of sexual and gender minorities or their experiences in social services remains limited, with the majority produced outside the discipline of social work and/or by civil society organisations. The central theme of the workshop is the right of individuals and communities to define questions concerning themselves and their lives. We also examine minority stress, which refers to repeated and ongoing experiences of discrimination as well as the fear of discrimination and heightened vigilance these experiences generate. However, we challenge minority stress theory by exploring questions of minority joy and community.
The workshop aims to deepen understanding of queer clients’ experiences and the foundations of service encounters. Through this, we seek to strengthen social work professionals’ competencies in meeting clients belonging to sexual and gender minorities sensitively and affirmatively. In the workshop, we seek tools for encountering clients in ways that prevent bypassing and support seeing them as whole individuals. The workshop primarily addresses chapters from the forthcoming Finnish language textbook ”Sosiaalityö sateenkaariasiakkaiden kanssa,” but participants may also propose presentations separate from the book for inclusion in the workshop.
The workshop is organized by Joa Hiitola (
Abstract submission for working groups opens on November 15, 2025, and closes on December 15, 2025.
An abstract is a summary of the content of your presentation. The abstract may be no longer than 250 words. Do not include figures, images, tables, or sources in the abstract. You will be notified of the acceptance of your abstract by January 15, 2026.
You can submit your abstract using the
You can also participate in the working group as a listener and discussant without giving a presentation. If you come to the working group in person, you must register for the conference and pay the registration fee, regardless of whether you are giving a presentation or not. Registration is open from November 15, 2025, to January 31, 2026.
More information about the abstract submission and the conference can be found on the Social Work Research Days