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The authors discuss recent developments in services for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) in the Nordic countries. They note that all of the countries saw important reforms during the 1990s, regarding both deinstitutionalization and decentralization. However, they posit that the litmus test of the reforms is not what happens during reform years, but after the reform energy decreases and political attention fades. Thus, developments after 2000 are of particular interest. The comparative analysis is based on research reviews in the five Nordic countries. The analysis observed a trend toward larger group homes and congregations, inequality across municipalities, marketization, and new public management, but also an increasing emphasis on consumer rights and the use of the personal assistance scheme in services for people with ID. The authors conclude that diverging trends coexist, with improvements going together with significant setbacks. They explore the trends from a political science perspective and, in particular, note how they relate to recent shifts in public management and changing drivers of change.

The farmers' role within the EU has recently been under reconstruction: in addition to primary agricultural production farmers should fulfill multiple functions such as maintaining the rural landscape, conserving nature and providing services. One essential feature of this new role is the demand for entrepreneurship. Farmers should be capable of competing in the worldwide, global agricultural market. They are also encouraged to diversify into business activities beyond agriculture. How do farmers see themselves in this situation? Is their self-perception compatible with this new reconstruction of the farming economy and the farmers' role? Research, thus far, seems to indicate that traditional or production oriented identities are still dominant among farmers. But there is also some evidence that new identities, such as the entrepreneurial identity, are emerging. In our study we are especially interested in how Finnish farmers have met the demand for adapting to the role of an entrepreneur. We approach the issue of the farmers' changing role from a social psychological perspective by utilizing the concept of identity. Our empirical evidence comes from two nation-wide postal questionnaire data sets, both containing samples from three subgroups: conventional farmers focusing solely on primary agricultural production, diversified farmers who also had other business besides agricultural production, and rural non-agricultural small-scale businesses. The results show that Finnish farmers do not experience "entrepreneur" as something distant from themselves and as not fitting in with their world of ideas, as the work of some researchers would depict. Instead, the majority of Finnish farmers, especially diversified farmers, conceive of themselves both as entrepreneurs and as producers. (Contains 6 tables.)

Reports on acquiescence in 616 persons (ages 18-69) with mental retardation. The data, collected in a nationwide Finnish quality-of-life study, found: 11 to 36% of subjects responded acquiescently in interviews; there was a significant relationship between acquiescence and interviewer/interviewee gender combinations; there were no significant correlations with level of mental retardation; and women acquiesced more. (Author/DB)

Purpose - Deinstitutionalization has impacts also on direct care workers and their work. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the attitudes of direct care workers towards the closure of the institution, and these attitudes' relation to workers' occupational identity. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected by postal questionnaire before the closure of the institution. The respondents consisted of two groups: direct care workers of the institution (n = 93) and direct care workers of community-based residential units run by the same organization (n = 117). Findings - The results clearly show that direct care workers in the institution, as a group, were against the closure of the institution. This is quite understandable, because the closure will irrevocably affect their work and also private life. Although this opposing is evident, there was also variance in the attitudes within this group: some were more willing to accept the change, some were more against it. Those opposing the closure seemed to be more reluctant in adopting the new kind of identity as supporters of the self-determination o f their clients and also they felt more insecure about their own competence. Originality/value - In deinstitutionalization research a staff perspective has not been very common. To successfully accomplish the change process it is important to take into account also the staff and how they experience the change. It would be far more beneficial to have staff promoting change than resisting it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]