Heidi Niemi


General description

I work as a senior lecturer in Social Work in the Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy. My fields of teaching and research are social welfare law and social work. In research I am interested in the themes of fundamental right to work and long-term unemployment. Unemployment issues on a personal level and service paths are also an interest of mine as well as the operation and regulation of public authority. Social rehabilitation as a fairly new addition to law as a social service is an interest of mine. In intermediate studies I teach social welfare law and arrange legal case exercises regarding it. The rest of my teaching is directed to the Master’s courses of which one is my Master’s thesis seminar group starting again in January of 2024. I have a qualification as a social worker legalized by Valvira and I am especially enthusiastic about the connection of the practicalities of social work and theoretical knowledge and I like to work on both levels. Previously I have worked inter alia in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, in the field of public law at University of Tampere and, also as a social worker.


Active JYU affiliations


Research interests

In my dissertation from 2018 (Link: https://trepo.tuni.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/104153/978-952-03-0818-6.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y)
I research legislation concerning long-term unemployment from the point of view of municipalities. My dissertation regarding public law is primarily a study in legal dogmatics in which the empirical part utilizes interviews from social workers regarding the topic. My main interest has been the application of the fundamental right to work from the perspective of the unemployed individuals as well as the public actor. Legal sociology connects my research interest well to the field of social work. Thematically I am interested in structural social work, in which the legislation is an important way to intervene grievances. My newest interest in the thematics of social rehabilitation has emerged from practical work experience, in relation to which I am in charge of the project “Pilot study for game development based youth work in cooperation between the University Consortium of Seinäjoki and adult education centre of Seinäjoki”.

Before 28.02.2023 my publications can be found in the Tunicris system of the University of Tampere and publications made after that are in the Converis system of the University of Jyväskylä. Link to Tunicris: https://researchportal.tuni.fi/en/searchAll/index/?search=heidi+niemi&pageSize=25&showAdvanced=false&allConcepts=true&inferConcepts=true&searchBy=PartOfNameOrTitle


Personal keywords

social welfare law, social work, fundamental right to work, long-term unemployment, social rehabilitation


Keywords (YSO)


Publications and other outputs


Last updated on 2024-11-11 at 15:53