The purpose of this essay is to shed some light upon the children who grew up in Sweden after their parents fled the war in former Yugoslavia. Did the parents spread their own opinions about the other ethnicities which they fought against in the war to the children, even though they live in a new country? And if so, was it an act of patriotism for the country they once lived in and who was to blame for the war? Did the children who grew up in Sweden share the same attitudes as their parents? To find out about this we used interviews with four people, all with heritage from former Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Croatia. What we found out was that the thoughts from the parents partially were passed down to their children, even though the children thought that they had formed their own opinions. In this case the thoughts didn’t relate to any kind of patriotism or who to blame for the war, they rather believed that they shouldn’t blame the other ethnic groups for the war. Instead they moved on with their lives and with the belief to never hate each other.

The aim of this thesis is to overview studies examining the effect ethnicity has on the neural and physiological responses associated with empathy and the underlying mechanisms behind this effect.  It has been revealed that ethnicity can modulate the empathic responses in that faster physiological arousal and greater sensorimotor resonance occurs during the perception of own ethnic members in suffering. A reduction and even total absence of activity in empathy-associated brain regions such as anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula, temporo partial junction and medial prefrontal cortex has further been seen during the perception of other ethnic members in pain. There have however been studies where ethnicity has not had an effect on empathic responses, indicating that it might not be ethnicity per se but instead other underlying mechanisms that causes the difference in empathic responses. There is an ongoing debate on which these mechanisms might be. It has been suggested that it might be attitudes, similarity and familiarity with the target, general ingroup bias, differences in perceptual processes and culture. The thesis will end with a discussion on how the results can be interpreted, the implications of the results, proposals for future research directions and a conclusion.

Bakgrund: Vi lever i en globaliserad värld och Sverige är en nation med en stor demografisk mångfald. Detta gäller även hälso- och sjukvården. Tidigare vetenskapliga studier och rapporter från fackföreningar visar att diskriminering mot sjuksköterskor av etnisk minoritet är vanligt i hälso- och sjukvården. Rapporter från fackföreningar i Finland och Storbritannien visar att uppemot 40 till 50 procent av sjuksköterskorna upplevt diskriminering på ett eller annat sätt. Diskrimineringen uttrycks på olika sätt och yttras från patienter, deras anhöriga samt personal. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att beskriva konsekvenserna för sjuksköterskans arbete när denne upplever diskriminering. Metod: Detta är en litteraturstudie baserad på tio stycken vetenskapliga artiklar av kvalitativ ansats. Resultat: Vid analysen av artiklarna hittades följande sex teman om hur sjuksköterskans arbete påverkas av diskriminering: otrygghet, osynliggörande, särbehandling, benägenhet att byta arbetsplats, underbetalda & brist på karriärmöjligheter och nedvärdering av färdigheter. Slutsats: Konsekvenserna av diskrimineringen av sjuksköterskor av etnisk minoritet är stora för de utsatta sjuksköterskornas arbete. I slutändan påverkar diskrimineringen av sjuksköterskor patientsäkerheten och leder till en större personalomsättning. Klinisk betydelse: Denna studie kan ge större förståelse för hur diskriminering yttras och visar vad konsekvenserna blir för de utsatta sjuksköterskornas arbete. Att man blir medveten om detta på vårdinrättningarna kan vara till hjälp vid utformningen av riktlinjer för hanteringen av diskriminering vilket på sikt kommer öka patientsäkerheten. / Background: We live in a globalized world and Sweden is a nation with a great demographic diversity both in the society as a whole but also in the healthcare industry. Previous scientific studies and reports from trade unions show that discrimination against ethnic minority nurses is common in health care. Reports from trade unions in Finland and Great Britain show that as much as 40 to 50 percent of nurses have experienced discrimination in one way or the other. The discrimination is manifested in different ways and are being expressed by patients, their relatives and staff. Aim: The aim of this study is to describe the consequences on nurses’ work when he or she experiences discrimination. Method: This is a literary review based on ten scientific studies with qualitative approach. Results: The analysis revealed the following six themes on how the nurses’ work is affected by discrimination: insecurity, invisibility, different treatment, propensity to change job, underpaid & lack of career opportunities and devaluation of skills. Conclusion: The impact of discrimination against ethnic minority nurses is great for the victimized nurses’ work. Ultimately this affects the safety of patients and lead to a greater employee turnover. Clinical significance: This study may provide a better understanding how discrimination is expressed and what consequences follow for the exposed nurses’ work. By being aware of the discrimination in the healthcare industry it might be of help when developing policies how to handle discrimination which in the long-term will improve the safety of patient.

Transracial adoption occurs when a child of one race is adopted by parents of another race. Transracial adoption increased in the 1960s as racial integration policies developed. In the 1970s, however, transracial adoption became a controversial issue. The National Association of Black Social Workers posed several problems with this practice such as institutional racism, cultural genocide, and providing inadequate coping skills to combat racism.This study examines the racial identity of White parents who adopt transracially or inracially. It provides a racial identity profile to determine if White parents who adopt a Black or Biracial child encourage the transracially adopted child to experience Black culture. Currently, adoption agencies utilize some selection process for parents who adopt transracially. This study will further examine the White parents' racial identity and the level of commitment they have to exposing the transracially adopted child to Black culture in an effort to instill a positive Black racial identity in the adopted child. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

In Canada, the growth and intensity of neo-liberal governance and philosophy, which includes idealizing a self-sufficient and independent citizenry continues to inform public policies at the federal and provincial levels. These policies, in turn, have implications for individuals’ health and well-being. Health implications are further visible and intensified along gender, class and ethnic lines. In this study, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with eight low income single mothers who had been affected by employment and assistance policies and regulations in British Columbia. The findings revealed the ways in which these women were affected by neo-liberal policy initiatives that held them individually accountable and responsible for managing their life circumstances in order to achieve the expectations bestowed upon them as citizens. It also revealed the inequalities that existed at the intersection of gender, class and ethnicity. The findings point to the need to address the policy barriers that confront lone mothers. / Graduate / 2015-02-12 / 0630 / 0628 / amyh@uvic.ca

The hypotheses of the current study are that (1) black women will be more spiritual and (2) will have more knowledge of the Holy Spirit than white women, and (3) spirituality will be negatively correlated with eating disorder symptomatology and body dissatisfaction. (4) African American women will have lower body dissatisfaction and (5) less eating disorder symptomatology than Caucasian women. It is predicted that (6) ethnicity will have more influence on eating disorder symptomatology and spirituality than current and ideal weight. (7) Current weight will have more influence on body dissatisfaction than ethnicity or ideal weight. Finally, (8) the ideal weight of black women will be higher than that of white women. Participants included 95 African American and Caucasian female college students. All the hypotheses were supported. Prospective research can discern whether racial differences in spirituality have causal influence on healthier body image held by many black women.

This essay is a study of the film and novelization of the story of King Kong from the 1930’s. The aims of this paper are to analyze ways in which the character Kong represents the stereotypical image of the black male that existed in American society in 1930 by applying theories of masculinity and ethnicity and how they combined make Kong a representation of an Other. In order to study the construction of Kong as an Other an analysis of the film and a close reading of selected passages of the novelization were made in combination with the theories. Masculinity and ethnicity are studied in terms of how they create Kong’s otherness, casting him as a metaphor of a black male.          The conclusion is that the construction of Kong’s ethnicity and masculinity makes him a metaphor of the stereotype of the black male that existed in the American society of the 1930s, i.e. an Other. The conclusion is based on how the contrast is portrayed between Kong and the main characters, the fact that he is a god of the black natives of his island, and how the novelization literally describes Kong as black (and the only black character) in the fictional representation of the hegemonic white city New York.

This thesis explores the pervasive political divide within Canada’s Hungarian communities between communists and nationalist conservatives. Both sides in this conflict struggled for ownership of Hungarian national symbols and the right to be seen as the “true” guardians of Hungarian identity in Canada. While religious differences between Roman Catholic and Calvinist Hungarian immigrants served as a divisive force in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the arrival of a massive wave of new immigrants from the lands of the defunct Austro-Hungarian Empire after the First World War introduced into Canada the fiery political divisions between the far left and right that engulfed Hungary in 1918/19. Throughout the interwar period, during the Second World War and in the Cold War era, successive regimes in Budapest intervened, further politicized and divided Canada’s Hungarian communities, separating them into “loyal” and “disloyal” camps. But both communist and conservative Hungarian-Canadian leaders demonstrated a significant level of agency by often charting their own course and thus confounding their allies in Budapest. This thesis argues that Hungarian-Canadian communists only paid lip service to the Marxist language of class conflict, while national self-identification trumped class-based identity or internationalism, and conservative nationalists represented a large, politically heterogeneous camp, divided by generational conflicts and tensions between immigrant cohorts.

This thesis examines the 1Malaysia campaign, an initiative by the Malaysian state that seeks to address ethnic and religious divisions and economic inequality in the country to for continued political stability and economic growth. This campaign seeks to promote unity among the nation’s diverse population. The thesis uses the concept of political technologies to analyze the 1Malaysia campaign and show how it draws on, but also differs from other similar strategies in the nation’s history. I will analyze the ways that the state in colonial and post-colonial Malaysia created political tools to manage diverse ethnic and religious groups. This thesis addresses a shift in state policy that may offer insights into the strategies pursued by other postcolonial governments that have diverse ethnic and religious groups. I argue that the political technologies prior to the 1Malaysia campaign had created and maintained ethnic and religious divisions in Malaysia, particularly leading to the implementation of affirmative action policies that benefitted only specific ethnic and religious groups. I contend that the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) party views ethnic and religious divisions as a problem and hindrance to economic growth and modernization. It is also trying to define what it is to be Malaysian by creating and fostering its definition of unity and tolerance to be practiced by its citizens. Lastly this work will also examine opposing views of unity and multiculturalism from emerging film movements and public demonstration in Malaysia. This will highlight that the ruling government is facing opposing views to creating solidarity and further highlighting that this nation is going through a period of transition in defining multiculturalism. / Graduate

This thesis is an attempt to document and explain the manifest changes that have been taking place in Welsh identity since 1979, and the political consequences thereof. It is presupposed that before any autonomist outbursts and other, related political changes take place in a sub-national region such as Wales, some sort of identive change has to occur. This 'identive change' is posited to take place in two stages - identity transformation followed by identity mobilisation. Central chapters deal with this process in two, non-exclusive, dimensions - institutions and individual agents. Alongside institution-building, certain policy areas are deemed to be of crucial importance in relation to the maintenance and dissemination of Welsh identity, namely education and broadcasting. In addition, the relationship between endogenous and exogenous forces affecting Welsh identity is considered in the context of civil society, political praxis, the economy and the European Union. These events are charted and analysed by means of primarily qualitative techniques which emphasise the importance of the positional and strategic confluence of individual 'gatekeepers', who are able to influence policy and, perhaps more importantly, affect the perception and reception of new ideologies and institutional exigencies.