The study examines the experiences of street hawkers and contributes to the current but less represented debate on hawkers’ ways of appropriating the urban space through space modification and codification that serve greatly their capitalist purposes and how those daily activities influence their sense of belonging to the urban public space. The hawkers in the study area; La- Nkwantanang-Madina Area, Ghana show some social concerns in their informal day-to-day street activities that account for some of the relocation issues that render the repressive measures of city authorities futile. In understanding the space appropriation and sense of belonging from the hawker’s perspective, the study introduces the concept of “right to the city” for which the purpose of this study conceptualizes it as “the right to the street” so it can better attend to the experiences of place and sense of belonging by the hawkers, the informality concept and the urban citizenship. The study uses qualitative approach which included methods; participant observation, in-depth interviews and Focus group discussion to help unearth some of the issues that contribute to the debate. The research finds that although the space contestations between the street hawkers and city officials still lingers on, the hawkers are able to successfully reproduce their belonging to the urban streets through exchange value of space and the diversification of urban streets which forms part of the urban fabric without dominating the streets to obstruct the use value for other urban dwellers.

The economic capital, cultural capital especially social capital have significant effect on forming the small-sized Chinese city. This article argues for understandings of the spatial form of capital based on the special context in China and mainly focuses on social network in the scale of neighborhood. Reviews of documentation in the city discussed are exemplified as firsthand data for case study. Furthermore, the qualitative narration concerning five elements of social capital- “social network, trust, security, sense of belonging and participation”-is adopted as useful lens for evaluating the existing situation and better involvement of social capital in space is prompted as an effective solution. An overall assessment of the performance of social capital in the case is concluded and recommendations are presented for future improvement of enhancing social capital onsite.

Alla vill tillhöra något och vara med likasinnade. Mobbning är ett samhällsproblem som kan få förödande effekter, inte bara för de inblandade utan för alla. Syftet med denna kvalitativa intervjustudie var att undersöka hur mobbning bidrar till individers identitetsskapande hos subgrupps-medlemmar samt att undersöka vilken betydelse det har haft för individens sökande efter grupptillhörighet i subgrupper. Med en socialpsykologisk ansats studerades detta genom teorier om social identitet, konformitet, stämplingsteorin och gruppdynamik. Tio semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med individer som tidigare varit utsatta för mobbning och som sökt sig till olika subgrupper. Resultaten visar att mobbning uppstår för att andra individer anser att andra människor på något sätt sticker ut från folkmassan, att identiteter ser olika ut för olika individer och att människor söker sig till subgrupper där de kan känna sig som hemma. / Everyone wants to belong to something and be with like-minded people. Bullying is a societal problem that can have devastating effects, not only for those involved but for everyone. The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to investigate how bullying contributes to individuals identity creation in subgroup members and to investigate what significance it has had for the individual's search for group affiliation in subgroups. With a social psychological approach, this was studied through theories of social identity, conformity, the labeling theory and group dynamics. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals who had previously been exposed to bullying and who applied to different subgroups. The results show that bullying occurs because other individuals believe that other people in some way stand out from the crowd, that identities look different for different individuals and that people seek out subgroups where they can feel at home.

The aim of this essay is to investigate the physical aspects in and around inner courtyards, as well as the use of them, in the city district of Ålidhem in Umeå. Ålidhem was built as part of “the million programme” in Sweden in the 1960’s and 70’s and present an example of how these large courtyard areas can function in this aspect. The essay will be centred around four themes, namely size, primary and secondary delimitation, belonging and activities. The form of the courtyards, their contents and their immediate surroundings will be investigated through eight example-courtyards in a field study from the district in question, as well as from the residents' point of view. The residents' answers were gathered through a questionnaire, that also examines how the residents view and use their closest courtyard in addition to the physical aspects. On top of this a shorter analysis of social activities in these types of areas will be examined, as a part of the concept of “life between buildings”. The results of this study find several connections to theories about how inner courtyards are framed by, among others, buildings, and how this affects residents view and use of them.

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This study is about how eight mixed-race women, residing in urban Sweden, experience their own becoming through body and sexuality and through the way they experience that other individuals and the outer world view them. The methods used are ethnographic interviewing and autoethnographic writing.The theoretical framework is mainly located in the field of feminist and anti-racist phenomenology and includes becoming, belonging, intersubjectivity, disidentification, and affect theory. I find that the women of this study become through negotiation of circulating images, stigmas, and norms and that becoming is a corporeal process that is felt and thought. We create belongings through our becoming.

Is legal status a master status for migrant belonging? If not, how do other factors--such as social networks, religious participation, language and cultural familiarity--shape belonging? Over the past few years, some migration scholars have suggested that legal status is a "master status"which determines migrant outcomes (Gonzales 2015). Other literature suggests that migrant outcomes are determined by a variety of factors, asserting that migrant experiences can be better understood by studying the interaction between these factors (Enriquez 2017; Valdez and Golash-Boza 2020). Utilizing 73 semi-structured interviews with migrants in Utah, I compare the experiences of refugees, permanent migrants, temporary migrants, and unauthorized migrants through an interrelational perspective and evaluate how legal status and other factors shape their sense of belonging across legal, economic, social, and cultural spheres. In testing whether or not legal status is a "master status,"I find that legal status matters, though other factors are also salient. Numerous factors affect belonging (e.g., religion, language, and social networks) and within some spheres, these other factors outweigh legal status in shaping integration and belonging. These findings suggest that legal status is not always a "master status,"and migrants can access multiple pathways to achieve belonging beyond their legal status.

Idag lever vi i ett samhälle som drabbats av en ensamhetsepidemi där de värst drabbade är äldre människor över 60 år. Ensamheten påverkar oss människor mentalt och fysiskt, vilket kan vara en faktor som leder till en mer fortgående mental åldringsprocess men även en tidigare bortgång. Detta arbete syftar till att utforska hur en användarcentrerad designprocess kan bidra till att öka sociala nätverk hos äldre. Studien bygger på litteratursökning, kvalitativa intervjuer och observationer med äldre över 65 år. För att avgöra vem som känner sig ensam gjordes en `UCLA Loneliness Scale´ som vanligtvis används i forskningssyfte för att mäta ensamhet. Designarbetet består av en förstudie (intervju, observation och autoetnografi) och designprocess som innefattar kravspecifikation och idegenerering. Arbetet resulterade i ett produktförslag i form av en brosch som bärs av användaren. Tanken är att den ska ge en känsla av tillhörighet vilket kommer minska känslan av ensamhet eller till och med förhindra förekomsten av ensamhet hos användaren. Produkten är avsedd för kommande generationer och utesluter inte digital utveckling. / Today we live in a society affected by an epidemic of loneliness where the worstaffected are  older people over 60 years. Loneliness affects us people mentally and physically, which can be a factor that leads to a more progressive mental aging process but also earlier death. This work aims to explore how a user-centered design process can contribute to incease social networking amongst elderly people. Research strategy involves literature search, qualitative interviews and observations with elderly over 65 years. Design work consists of survey methods (interview and observation) and design process, which includes requirements specification and idea generation. To determine who feels lonelly, a ´UCLA Loneliness Scale´ was made, which is commonly used in research studies to measure loneliness. Design work consists of research methods (interview, observation and autoetnography) and design process, which includes requirements specification and ide generation. The work results in a product proposal in the form of a badge that is used as an accessory. This would give the user a sense of belonging and reduce the feeling of loneliness or prevent the feeling of loneliness. The product is intended for future generations and does not exclude digital development.

Even within counseling psychology’s multicultural literature, attention to individuals of Arab descent remains narrow (Awad, 2010; Abdel-Salam, 2019). Despite counseling psychologists’ goals regarding multiculturally proficiency, the dearth of systematic empirical research on the counseling of Arab Americans remains conspicuous. The present study attempts to fill this gap by exploring the impact of racial ambiguity and legal invisibility on Arab Americans’ sense of belonging and well-being. This exploratory consensual qualitative research (CQR) investigation analyzed interview data from 13 non-veiled Arab American women. The interview probed their reactions to Arab Americans’ legal invisibility in the US, queried how they believed White people versus people of color racially perceived them, and examined their subsequent emotional responses and coping strategies. The study’s results revealed participants’ feelings of invisibility, invalidation, and hurt when they were not recognized as a person of color (PoC) and brought the participants’ perpetual experience of exclusion to the forefront. The results not only have implications for professional practice and education but also for policy. Specifically, this study lends support to Arab and Middle Eastern North African (MENA) advocacy efforts for census recognition, as this acknowledgment of the Arab/MENA community would foster a sense of belonging not only among other PoC but also within US society as a whole.

The first South African democratic general election of 1994 precipitated the eradication of South Africa’s separate and unequal education system. The presidential tenure of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela brought much hope that the majority of South Africans would not have thought possible. The new era carried, among other promises, the transformation of South African policies, to ensure that all South African children would have access to a school of their choice and that no child would be turned away from school on grounds of race, ethnicity, class and/ or religion. School desegregation has been one of the means of attaining social cohesion and ensuring that all learners have access to all South African schools. School desegregation can be said to have been taking place on at least five (5) or more (taking also to consideration that there are typologies of ethnic and/ or religion desegregations taking place) different levels or typologies. These typologies are equally important as the African-to-White school migrations that have been taking place in South Africa. Thus, using a case study, this thesis - Integration and learners' feelings of belonging in a desegregated former House of Delegates school - contributes to the debates on social cohesion; desegregation and integration of the learning environment bestowed with diverse learner and teacher populations. It however traces the experiences of Black and Indian learners in a desegregated former House of Delegates school to determine the successes and possible challenges of ensuring social cohesion and racial integration at a school level. The study concludes that social cohesion and school integration is possible when the focus is learner-centered, the school environment is enabling and that feelings of belonging and integration are intertwined and it is challenging to achieve one without the other. Undertaken at a specific school context, this study does not claim that the findings are a trend in other schools although this cannot be ruled out in similar school and context. Learners in this study seemed not to be constrained by the racial classifications but defined and formed friendships along their likes, commonness, and future aspirations. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted