Äiti, emäntä, virkanainen, vartija. Köyhäintalojen johtajattaret ja yhteiskunnallinen äitiys 1880-1918

Abstract

1800-luvun lopussa Suomeen ryhdyttiin perustamaan köyhäintaloiksi kutsuttuja laitoksia, joihin sijoitettiin huollettaviksi kaikki köyhäinhoidon elätit vammaisista aviottomiin äiteihin. Köyhäintalot olivat oman aikansa vastaus sosiaalihuollon ongelmiin. Aihepiirin kysymykset ovat edelleen ajankohtaisia: miten ehkäistä kerjuuta, miten kasvattaa työnvieroksujista kunnon kansalaisia, miten tarjota inhimilliset olot vanhuksille, vammaisille, mielisairaille ja pitkäaikaissairaille?

Köyhäintalon toiminnan onnistumisesta oli vastuussa laitoksen johtaja. Tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin köyhäintalon johtajan ammatin rakentumista ja ammatissa toimineita henkilöitä. Tulokset osoittavat, että köyhäinhoidon ylimmät virkamiehet sitoivat johtajuuden yhteiskuntaluokkaan ja sukupuoleen niin, että johtajan toimesta muodostui 1900-luvun alkuun mennessä keskiluokkainen naisammatti. Köyhäintalon johtaja oli siis yleensä köyhäintalon johtajatar.

Ammatin naisvaltaistumisen taustalla vaikutti sivistyneistön ja muodostuvan keskiluokan näkemys, jonka mukaan kasvatus ja hoiva olivat naisten erityisosaamisen aluetta, naiskansalaisen tärkein tehtävä. Tutkimuksessa osoitettiin, että luodakseen köyhäintaloille mahdollisimman hyvät toimintaedellytykset köyhäinhoidon ylimmät virkamiehet sulkivat vähitellen miehet kokonaan pois köyhäintalon johtajan ammatista. Tämä tapahtui rajaamalla kelpoisuusehtoja, valintamenettelyä ja johtajien koulutusta.

Väitöskirjassa kiinnitettiin huomiota siihen, että sukupuolella oli vaikutusta johtajan ammatin palkkakehitykseen. Koska johtajan toimi miellettiin naisten kutsumustyöksi, jolla oli myös uskonnollisia ulottuvuuksia, siitä ei aikalaisten käsityksen mukaan tarvinnut maksaa kovin suurta palkkaa. Tässä suhteessa johtajattaret rinnastuvat kansakoulunopettajiin ja sairaanhoitajiin ja ehkä myös 2010-luvun virkanaisiin, jotka työskentelevät naisvaltaisilla aloilla hoivan ja kasvatuksen parissa, edelleen huonosti palkattuina.

Tutkimuksessa nostettiin esiin köyhäintalojen toiminta kurinalaistavina laitoksina, joissa kerjäläisistä ja työttömiksi jättäytyneistä oli tarkoitus kasvattaa ahkeria ja velvollisuudentuntoisia kunnon kansalaisia . Väitöskirjassa osoitettiin, että johtajattarien oli sisäistettävä sivistyneistön näkemys kunnon kansalaisuudesta voidakseen toimia kansalaisen mallina hoidokeille. Ihannejohtajatar oli koulutettu sivistyneistön edustaja, ja tätä kautta johtajattaren ammatti kytkeytyi tiiviisti kysymykseen yhteiskuntaluokasta.

Tutkimuksen keskeiseksi teemaksi kohosi johtajattaren ammattiin liitetyn ideologian ja todellisuuden välinen ristiriita. Johtajattarina toimineet naiset eivät välttämättä kokeneet työtään yleväksi kutsumustehtäväksi vaan ryhtyivät siihen pakon edessä, esimerkiksi taatakseen puoliorvoille lapsilleen elannon. Köyhät, joista oli määrä kasvattaa kunnon kansalaisia , eivät aina alistuneet nöyrästi osaansa vaan alkoivat kapinoida. Laitosten muu henkilökunta ja kuntien köyhäinhoitohallitukset, joiden olisi pitänyt auttaa johtajatarta tämän vaikeassa työssä, saattoivat evätä tukensa kokonaan. Laajemmin ristiriitaisuudet heijastavat yhteiskuntaluokkien erilaisia käsityksiä sukupuolesta ja kansalaisuudesta suomalaisen yhteiskunnan suuressa murroksessa.

Väitöskirja antaa uutta tietoa sosiaalityön varhaisvaiheista, sukupuolijärjestelmän rakentamisesta ja keskiluokan noususta yhteiskunnalliseen valta-asemaan. Köyhäintalojen kautta on mahdollista tarkastella tuoreessa valossa myös 1900-luvun alun poliittista kuohuntaa sekä vuoden 1918 tapahtumia. Johtajattarien henkilökuvat tarjoavat lukijalle ensimmäistä kertaa mahdollisuuden kurkistaa hoiva-alan pioneerien elämään ja sen myötä köyhäinhoitolaitosten kirjavaan arkeen, jotka ovat aiemmassa tutkimuksessa jääneet lähes huomiotta.

The subject of this study is women who worked as poorhouse directresses (female superintendents, wardens, matrons) in late 19th century and early 20th century Finland. The profession of poorhouse directress is one way of observing how the educated classes understood women s position in society: as motherhood was considered the primary calling for women, care and education were seen as inherently female duties within the private sphere of home as well as in society in general. Middle-class women working outside the private sphere were regarded as practising extended, social motherhood (yhteiskunnallinen äitiys).

In the case of poorhouse directresses, the concept of social motherhood can be examined through four sub-roles that were interconnected: a poorhouse directress served as mother, matron, female civil servant and guardian. These four roles reflect the contemporary ideas of gender, class and citizenship, offering a viewpoint on Finnish society during its period of transition 1880 1918.

Swedish-style poorhouses, established in Finland from the 1880 s onwards, served two purposes. On the one hand, they were shelters for the poor incapable of work and thus entitled to municipal poor relief. On the other hand, poorhouses served as corrective institutions for the able-bodied poor resorting to poor relief. The latter group, regarded as an unnecessary burden on municipal poor relief, was to be converted into respectable citizens by subjecting them to the strict discipline of a poorhouse. Because the objective of the institution was both care and education, an educated woman, sharing the educated classes view of citizenship, was regarded as the most suitable for the position of poorhouse director by the state officials managing the whole of the Finnish poor relief.

By the end of the 1890 s, most poorhouses were being managed by a female directress. The greatest advocate of female leadership was Gustaf Adolf Helsingius, who served as Chief Inspector 1889 1915. With the power to exert influence over the appointment of poorhouse directors in most municipalities, Helsingius can be seen as the gatekeeper of the profession. Helsingius qualification system, based on gender and class, resulted in a situation where professionalization equalled female dominance inside the profession. In the 1920 s the Finnish government organized a women-only course for poorhouse directresses. Gradually the course became the principal requirement for entry to the position, to the total exclusion of men.

The idea of motherhood i.e. care and education as the heart of womanhood offers an interesting viewpoint on the so-called semi-professional occupations. According to Frank Parkin, the occupations connected with care and education were usually created and monitored by the state, leaving the practitioners only limited opportunities to raise the status of their occupation. Instead of being regarded as proper professions (such as medicine, the law and the church), they remained on a semi-professional level. However, Parkin has not discussed the fact that many of the semi-professions were founded on the concept of motherhood, which itself may have retarded elevation to full professional status: according to the educated classes understanding, considerations such as the status of the profession and wages were of secondary importance, when it came to a vocation, imbued with the idea of altruism. Connecting a calling with industrial activity was considered inappropriate. Traces of such attitudes can be found in the actions of Inspector Helsingius and other ideologists within the poor relief system.

The core of the profession of poorhouse directress was the concept of model citizenship, and therefore a directress can be seen as the guardian of the educated middle-class set of values. Model citizenship also defined the directress roles as mother and matron: only the elements relevant to the directress mission of converting the poor into respectable citizens were to be included in the whole of motherhood or housekeeping. This also defined the boundaries that could not be crossed without corrupting the image of the directress as a model citizen.

The poor were called into respectable citizenship in three ways. Firstly, the directress was to set an example by her own impeccable conduct: managing a poorhouse was, in fact, a performance of class and gender, as described by Judith Butler. Secondly, the inmates were subjected to authoritarian discipline, which can be analyzed both using foucauldian discourse of discipline and the idea of Total Institution described by Erving Goffman. Thirdly, the actions of the directress offer an example of caring power, a concept introduced by Annemieke van Drenth and Francisca de Haan. At the heart of caring power was the understanding of the inmates accepting the helpers set of values alongside care and material aid. Thus, respectable citizenship could be achieved by following an example, internalizing the concept of discipline or accepting a package of values wrapped in care or all three at the same time.

If either the directress, her subordinates or the inmates misunderstood their role in the educational project, the poorhouse was unlikely to fulfill its purpose. On the other hand, in many cases these episodes can be considered misunderstandings from the state officials point of view only, as it was their picture of an ideal poorhouse and its ideal directress that was attacked. The directresses did not necessarily share the same picture. Even though the directresses had to adapt their lives and conduct to the requirements imposed by state officials as well as municipal boards, their work was also influenced by their personal standpoints.

According to Kimberlé W. Crenshaw, female identities are not defined solely by gender, but also by ethnic background and class among other things. The concept of intersectionality is a useful tool in the context of poorhouse directresses: these women did not adopt a ready-made model identity of a poorhouse directress as if they were putting on a uniform, but developed an identity of their own, building on their background, education and the course of their lives in general.

In reality, not all directresses came from the educated middle-class, nor did they choose the profession just because they wanted to follow the noble call to extended motherhood, promoted by the state officials. Instead, they chose the profession from their own motives, which in turn directed their actions as poorhouse directresses. The same trait of independence can also be found in the birth of the professional association, Suomen Köyhäinhoitovirkailijain Yhdistys, organized 1917 by a group of energetic poorhouse directresses, who wanted to redefine the terms of serving as a female civil servant. For them, having a vocation for poor relief did not mean giving up good terms and conditions of employment.

The idealism fostered by the state officials was also tested by the poor themselves: it appeared that they were not entirely receptive to the gospel of respectable citizenship. With the rise of the labour movement after the general strike of 1905, the poor began to gain a voice. This put the poorhouse directresses in an awkward situation: they were subjected to great stress both by the stubborn state officials, clinging to their soon-to-be-outdated ideas, and the rebellious poor, backed up by the ambitious socialists.

The unrest around the poorhouses was a part of the process in which the social position of a poorhouse directress was being defined, particularly at the grass root level, but also in society in general. This process was fuelled by the nationwide political development, which led to the polarization of Finnish society and eventually to a civil war in winter 1918, shortly after Finland had gained independence from imperial Russia. The war was fought between the Reds, recruited from the working class, and the Whites, defending middle-class values. The situation of the poorhouse directresses was defined by the split: because the model of a poorhouse directress was strongly connected with the values of the educated middle-class, the directresses were to stand on the White front as civil servants, if not by personal political choice. They were treated as Whites, which might cause serious trouble in the areas dominated by the Reds.

After the victory of the Whites, the poorhouse directresses were regarded as guardians of the White peace, alongside teachers and other educators. The goal of the educational project, ranging from poor relief to primary schools and club activities, was to ensure that the future of the new nation was built according to the plans of the White party. As a concrete action, the state officials began to pay even closer attention to the appointment and schooling of the directresses, which resulted in organizing a course for poorhouse directresses, as mentioned above. In addition to the pivotal importance of gender, the professionalization process of the occupation was also inextricably linked to the development of the Finnish nation.