Att skaffa arbete i ett nytt land kan inte vara enkelt, för människor med utländsk bakgrund som migrerat till Sverige består ofta de första åren av någon biståndsform. Det sociala nätverket är en viktig kanal för att komma ut i arbetslivet och med tanke på problematiken med att få arbete som människor med utländsk bakgrund utan nätverk har uppsatsen som syfte med denna att undersöka på vilket sätt nätverk har haft betydelse för individerna i arbetsmarknads etableringen som kommit till Sverige från Kosovo. Undersökningsfrågorna som kommer att besvaras under arbetet är på vilket sätt har nätverk påverkat människor med utländsk bakgrunders karriärval i Sverige? Och Vilka olika typer av socialt kapital har haft betydelse i arbetsmarknadsetablering? Syfte och frågeställningar grundar sig i Milnet, Migrants Labour Networks. Detta är ett nytt forskningsprojekt som undersöker vilka former av nätverk personer från forna Jugoslavien rör sig i.Uppsatsen tar utgångspunkt i begreppen socialt samt överbryggande och anknytande kapital av Bourdieu samt Hodkinson & Sparkes brytpunkter. Vidare bygger uppsatsen på en social nätverksanalys och innehållsanalys.Några av de centrala resultaten är att informanterna har genomgått olika brytpunkter och att dessa har påverkat deras karriär på olika vis, samt att våra informanter har ett anknytande socialt kapital och börjat utveckla ett överbryggande socialt kapital. / Obtaining a job in a foreign country is not an easy task. People who have immigrated to Sweden are often dependent on government support during the first year. Therefore, social networking is an important factor in becoming a part of society and settling into the work-life. Considering how difficult it is to get a job without any connections, we have decided to examine how the social network has played a role in the lives of individuals who have immigrated from Kosovo to Sweden. Further, we will discuss how it has affected them in the labor market. The inquiry questions that will be answered in this essay are: How have social networks affected those with foreign backgrounds with their career choices and which types of social capitals have played an important role in their work establishment? The purpose and the questions of the issue are based in Milnet, Migrants Labour Networks. This is a new research project which examines the different types of networks that individuals from Yugoslavia move in. The essay has its starting point in the concepts of social together with superstructure and relating capital of Bourdieu and Hodkinson & Sparkes. Further, this essay is based on social network analysis, as well as content analysis. Some of the main results are that the informants have undergone different inflection points and that these have affected their careers in various ways. Further, the results have shown that our informants have a relating social capital and have started to develop an overworked social capital.

Master of Science / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional & Community Planning / Stephanie Rolley / This is an exploratory study investigating: How those currently experiencing homelessness perceive the influence of bonding and bridging social capital on their future successful residential reintegration. It is an important consideration in understanding the emotional and intellectual circumstances of residents entering a rural shelter environment, and discovering what types of social capital residents need and have access to. This research used phenomonography to gain access to the thoughts and opinions of residents of the Harvey County Homeless Shelter, coupled with grounded theory to discover emergent themes in those transcripts. The study topic was explored through direct inquiry of people experiencing homelessness in Newton, Kansas. Through an interview process, five areas of inquiry were studied: demographics, residential history, social connections, community connections, and social connectedness and community belonging. Using grounded theory methodology, the responses were coded and the writing of rich memos determined and explored themes. Emergent themes; an analysis of their relevancy to the study topic; an examination of the areas the study topic satisfied; and, identification of areas where it failed to satisfy are topics of exploration concerning the findings. Community courtesy, individual personality, healthy relationships, and social connections over address were the four emergent themes to come from the five categories of inquiry. In general, resident’s perceptions of social capital were important to their future efforts toward residential reintegration, although in slightly different ways than the study topic assumed.

Recent studies on networking, social capital and elites have done much to expand academic knowledge in each of these topic areas. Elites are defined in several ways, including their attributes and their use of and access to power. However, far less research has been conducted on how those attributes and/or power are used by local political elites. A great deal of research has also been conducted on social capital, what it is and how it can benefit society, but less work has been done on the local politician’s individual production and use of social capital. Despite the important role that networks and networking play in producing social capital, local elite networks thus remain largely unexplored. We know little of how their networks are constructed and used in the pursuance of status and less on how the elite adapt the use of their networks in response to socio-economic change. In focusing on the construction and use of social capital networks by the Borough Aldermen and Councillors in Northampton over the longue durée, this work redresses those shortcomings. The research uses a large number and variety of sources which provide a wealth of qualitative and quantitative data with which to explore elite networking and social capital in the town. The work contributes towards furthering academic knowledge on how elites gain maintain and propagate status. The research reveals that the elite use two different constructs of networks, each of which provides different benefits for the user. It is the symbiosis of these networks which enables the political elite to respond to socio-economic and political events. The research also finds that overlapping networks produce the largest exchange of social capital, which is translated into gaining and maintaining status. It is clear that, over the longue durée, the importance of business networks in producing social capital has drastically reduced, and has been replaced by the growing importance of political association membership. It is also evident in the research that the expansion of formal institutions in the business and political arenas has led to individual Councillors and Aldermen making strategic choices. Using a market mentality of returns, they decide which networks give greater social capital and are thus more valuable and useful in gaining and maintaining elite status.

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This thesis puts forth an ethnographic, social constructionist account of tattoo shops with the aim of examining how heavily tattooed individuals negotiate positive social meaning in a constructed society. This research assumes that heavily tattooed individuals may be viewed as deviant, which can create problems associated with labeling and stigma. Consequently, these individuals need to develop ways to cope, and can do this by seeking out the company of like-minded people who can help them define away stigma. The central focus of this research will be on the social structures of the space (tattoo shops) and the individuals who visit it - more specifically on their interactions, conversations and experiences. Data were collected from both participant observation and semi-structured open ended interviews with participants. The results from this study demonstrate that tattoo shops are environments that can be interpreted as ‘new third places.’ / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2013-08-02 18:45:32.617

Recent Scottish Government policy has increasingly emphasised lifelong learning as the means of developing the nation’s skills and employability. Colleges are frequently presented as the key driver of widening access to lifelong learning in Scotland and are expected to provide effective responses to both social and economic problems. This research focuses on the balance struck in government policy in relation to Scotland’s colleges with regard to social and economic objectives and how this policy is mediated in three diverse colleges. Utilising case studies of three colleges in Scotland, this study found that the economic focus of the Scottish Government, coupled with the market values of the college sector following the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992, has resulted in some colleges emphasising economic priorities at the cost of social objectives. College education is presented as the bridge to the labour market and this has resulted in students equating college learning with acquiring the necessary qualifications to obtain employment. In the larger colleges (both the result of recent mergers) social network development is treated as a by-product rather than a central objective and the connections made by students tend to be confined to narrow subject areas. Learning at these colleges is compartmentalised, so that students develop ‘bonding’ rather than ‘bridging’ social capital, which may narrow rather than widen their horizons (Putnam, 2000). Pursuit of funding initiatives and performance indicators at the larger colleges led to tensions amongst staff members over the loss of community focus and, in the case of one college, a significant increase in learners under 16. The smaller college exhibited a clear community focus, allowing for greater levels of social interaction. It is suggested that colleges need to develop further their role as generators of social, as well as human, capital.

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Thesis advisor: Joseph O'Keefe / Thesis advisor: James Marini / Using social capital theory as a conceptual framework, this qualitative study of one Massachusetts district analyzed how principals’ relational trust and interconnectedness with central office administrators (COAs) correlated with their perceptions of district efforts to support their growth and development. Data included interviews with principals and COAs and document analyses. Findings revealed a decided split among principals, with some reporting high trust levels and close connections with COAs and others reporting distrust and isolation. Of the district’s five major initiatives designed to support principals, two were perceived positively by most principals, two received mixed reactions with connected principals more favorable than isolated principals, and one received widespread negative perceptions. District initiatives widely perceived to be effective mirrored principal goals, provided opportunities for COA direct assistance, and were structured to facilitate the development of professional assistance relationships. Conversely, the initiatives with mixed or negative perceptions lacked such relationship-building opportunities. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: James E. Lubben / The fact that destination countries in contemporary migration are predominantly welfare states marks a distinct departure from historical patterns. While the impact of international migration on the welfare state is highly contested in the literature, the other side of the relationship--the ways in which advanced welfare states influence the incorporation of immigrants--has barely been examined. This study tests the applicability of an extension of the Welfare Regime Theory in the incorporation of foreign-born as compared to natives across 24 European nations clustered in 5 different welfare regimes. Specifically, it explores how much of the variability in self-reported economic and social capital indicators of incorporation is attributable to the nature of the welfare state and to specific theoretical traits associated with different welfare regimes. Results indicate that immigrants fare economically better in countries with comprehensive welfare systems of social protection and that country's amount of social spending has a positive influence in the economic incorporation of foreign-labor. The impact of the welfare state on individuals' economic well-being is higher for the native-born population than for their immigrant counterparts. Generous welfare systems are also beneficial for the social capital formation of immigrant communities. Immigrants residing in countries representative of the Scandinavian regime report higher levels of generalized trust, trust in institutions and frequency of informal social contacts than immigrants residing in countries representative of other welfare regimes. The same pattern is observed for the native-born population. Country's spending in social benefits increases the social trust and frequency of socialization of both groups, although the impact is larger for the native-born population. Country's spending in means-tested social benefits decreases social trust while country's spending in non-means-tested benefits increases it. Native-born individuals report higher levels of generalized trust and socialize more often than equivalent immigrants. However, the level of trust in country's institutions is higher for immigrant than for their native peers. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

We can observe a well-documented decline of trust levels in Western societies: from the reputation of political representatives as being "not trustworthy" to the rise of anti-system-oriented populist parties. Yet the implications of different forms of distrust for a society and democratic institutions have been theorized in conflicting ways so far. In order to illuminate existing inconsistencies in social and democratic theory, this article addresses two research questions: What are the implications of different manifestations of distrust for the acceptance of democracy and democratic institutions? How do different forms of distrust affect the motivation to become engaged in democratic decision-making and in civil society institutions? Taking empirical evidence from 25 focus groups in Germany, our findings show that growing social divisions affect the role distrust plays for political interest representation of social groups and for the acceptance of liberal representative democracy.