About
Suvi Raitakari is an Associate Professor in Welfare Sciences at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University. Her roles include teaching and research in social work methodologies, homelessness studies, and mental health service practices. She holds a doctorate from Tampere University (2006) focusing on interactive and rhetorical aspects of child welfare meetings and records. Her work emphasizes qualitative research methods, particularly in analyzing service user interactions and institutional practices.
Research interests center on homelessness pathways, client-centered service design, interprofessional collaboration in welfare systems, and responsibilisation dynamics in marginalized populations. Notable contributions include studies on housing transitions for mental health/substance abuse clients, interactional practices in social work meetings, and the theoretical intersections between welfare policy and frontline practice.
Her publications (2015–2021) explore themes such as recovery-oriented care models, discourse analysis of housing policies, and ethnographic studies of mental health home visits. She co-edited the influential volume Responsibilisation at the Margins of Welfare Services (2017) and leads projects related to integrative welfare practices through the Margi research group. Active in international academic networks, her work bridges social work practice, policy analysis, and critical theory.
Key collaborations include the DANASWAC network and ongoing engagement with European homelessness studies. Her research has been cited in policy debates about low-threshold services and participatory welfare models, emphasizing both empirical rigor and practical relevance for social service systems.
