Professional work in remote northern communities

Latitude, temperature, vegetation, and types of transportation are a few of the criteria that Hamelin included in the development of the Polar Value Scale designed to measure the degree of nordicity in terms of a particular place or community. [...] Space is the world of the present and the future; it is more abstract and associated with experience of the location. [...] However, in a small isolated community the behaviour of the social worker’s children and the social worker’s spouse or partner are highly visible and may be the subject of community scrutiny and judgment of the social worker. [...] The issue of high visibility is not altogether negative for social workers or other professionals in that the visibility of the clients or service users enables a professional to keep track of a person’s progress. [...] The member of the clergy has been encouraging the woman to report the matter to the police but she is hesitant as her memory of the event is not clear.