In October 2022 the Swedish governing parties and the Sweden Democrats signed an agreement called Tidöavtalet. The aim of this thesis is to explore what the problem regarding criminality is represented to be in that political agreement. To answer the research question the analysis have been based on Carol Bacchi´s methodological and theoretical approach “What´s the problem represented to be?” (WPR) to through the suggested solutions understand the underlying representations of the problem. Additionally, theories of punishment have been used to better understand the material. Following four main problems have been identified: Insufficient laws and punishments, insufficient methods to solve crimes, gang violence and immigration. The method also targets what is left unproblematic and since drug policy and zero tolerance historically have been the salient topic of criminal policy in Sweden, the absence of a discussion regarding drugs in Tidöavtalet was surprising. Furthermore, the rehabilitative process of convicted criminals is also left unproblematic, and the deleterious consequences of incapacitation are not addressed. / <p>2023-06-09</p>

Sweden is one of the most equal countries in the world. Despite this studie show that every fifth woman is subjected to serious sexual violence and 14 percent of women have been subjected to threats of physical violence. Men’s violence against women is a global, societal problem and occurs in all cultures throughout the world. To stop men’s violence against women the Swedish government have made an equality policy goal named “men's violence against women must end”. This essay will examine how Länsstyrelsen Västernorrland och Länsstyrelsen Västra Götaland use the national policy about men’s violence against women. With Carol Bacchi's What's the problem represented to be method and poststructuralist theory, the problem representations of the county administration policies, their underlying assumptions and their effects are analyzed. The results show that the problem represented in the county administrations' documents is: lack of routines as a problem, insufficient competence and knowledge as a problem and women as a problem. The analysis also shows that the problem representations originally come from the national strategy and that they create different effects that affect society. / <p>2023-06-20</p>

Purpose: Our main task is to find out how the Swedish government deals with media and information literacy (MIL) among the general public, and which key actors it identifies in this process. More specifically we want to know whether public libraries are considered to be such key actors – which is the common view within library and information science (LIS). Method: This is a document study, applying Carol LeeBacchi's WPR approach, on a selection of Swedish government assignments published 2018–2022. Findings: From earlier looking at digitalization in positive connotations, today the Swedish government talks more alarmistically about the dangers of digitalization and attributes MIL as a safeguard and as a means in the protection of democracy, leading to the presence of MIL in practically all of the governmental offices. Major joint investments are emphasized to achieve high MIL. But due to the shifting and situation-dependent understanding of the MIL concept, the results of the investments run the risk of being ineffective. In 2019 the government therefore assigned The Swedish Media Council (Statens medieråd) to coordinate the promotion of MIL. As for the apparent urgency of MIL issues in our research material, LIS and the public libraries extensive MIL expertise should be taken into account. How the Swedish Media Council perceives the library field's competence within MIL can have a major impact on public libraries' future promotion of MIL. The result raises the question of how the library field can mediate its solid knowledge of MIL to the outside world.

This study addresses the need to enhance Sweden's defence capability considering global changes and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with a focus on defence innovation. It examines how the Swedish government's assumptions about defence innovation shape defence capabilities, emphasizing the government's strategic direction for defence innovation. Using Carol Bacchi's WPR method and critical discourse analysis, the study identifies two central problem representations: inertia and isolation. Inertia refers to the slow adaptation to new technological and organizational changes, while isolation pertains to the lack of collaboration between the defence sector and civilian actors. These representations lead to a discourse advocating increased risk-taking and faster development, often overlooking potential negative consequences. The study highlights the need for a balanced strategy that integrates innovation and conservatism to ensure sustainable defence development. Understanding these assumptions can help develop a more holistic and long-term strategy, which is crucial for strengthening Sweden's defence capability.

The Swedish Library Act stipulates the libraries responsibility to pay specific attention to people with impairments. However, no explicit definition of impairments or disability is offered. Findings in previous disability research show that using the term disability without connection to a theoretical framework leads to an understanding of disability as a phenomenon simply caused by the impairments of individuals rather than aspects of the environment. In the everyday usage disability is thereby commonly determined by visually overt signifiers as wheelchairs or hearing aids. “Invisible” impairments and social or relational aspects of disability is seldom accounted for. In this study, ten randomly selected present public library plans were analyzed through a discourse analysis, focusing on how disability is perceived in the plans. Findings show that disability is predominantly understood as a phenomenon caused by impairments connected to individuals and that these individuals usually come in second place when library services are planned and designed. Furthermore, the design of library services is also depicted as something that could cause disability, especially aspects of the physical environment and alternative formats to facilitate reading are in focus. The acknowledgement of attitudinal or relational aspects of disabilities were not visible in the plans that were analyzed. The overall emerging picture is thus a traditional view of what libraries and library use are, as well as a traditional view of what causes disability. Nevertheless, the responsibility to pay specific attention to people with disabilities is evident and a strong connection to human rights is thereby visible.

Syftet med denna studie är att synliggöra intressekonflikter som uppstått mellan kommun och branschorganisation när en kommun ansökt om att få bli leverantör till Arbetsförmedlingen för en tjänst som tidigare endast upphandlats med privata aktörer. Vidare är vårt syfte att undersöka huruvida demokratiska eller ekonomiska incitament ligger till grund för Karlshamns kommun respektive branschorganisationens ställningstagande i denna fråga. Karlshamns kommun har med bakgrund av SOU 2020:41 Kommuner som utförare av tjänster åt arbetsförmedlingen - en analys av de rättsliga förutsättningarna, skickat in en ansökan till arbetsförmedlingen för tjänsten Kundval Rusta och matcha. Karlshamns kommun var den första kommunen i Sverige att skicka in en sådan ansökan. Genom att analysera primärkällor i form av texter från Karlshamns kommun respektive branschorganisationen Almega med hjälp av Bacchis metod WPR analys avser vi att synliggöra hur problemet representeras från respektive part. Genom att koppla dessa representationer till politisk styrning, offentligt etos och makt visar vårt resultat att Karlshamns kommun drivs av både demokratiska och ekonomiska incitament medan å andra sidan branschorganisationen nästan uteslutande drivs av ekonomiska incitament. Vidare är vår slutsats att nuvarande politiska styrning av den Svenska arbetsmarknadspolitiken inte gynnar ett gott samarbete mellan medverkande på den svenska arbetsmarknadspolitiska arenan. Fokus bör vara den arbetssökande och reformer behöver komma till stånd. Det är Arbetsförmedlingen och därmed staten som besitter ansvaret och makten. Närmare bestämt den strukturella makten att fördela vem som ska få tillgång till kunskap och därmed aktörsmarknaden. I våra referensländer har ansvaret för arbetsmarknadspolitiken decentraliserats till lokala kommuner, vilket är ett alternativ som denna studie föreslår att Sverige bör undersöka närmare. / The purpose of this study is to make visible the conflicts of interest that have arisen between a municipality and one of Sweden's Trade associations. These conflicts arose when the municipality applied to become a provider for the Swedish Public Employment Service regarding a service that so far only has been procured with private actors. Furthermore, this study also aims to investigate whether democratic or economic incentives form the basis for Karlshamn's municipality and the Trade association's position regarding the conflict of interest. Based on SOU 2020:41 Municipalities as providers of services to the employment service - an analysis of the legal conditions, Karlshamn municipality has submitted an application to the Swedish Public Employment Service regarding the Kundval Rusta and matcha. The municipality of Karlshamn was the first municipality in Sweden to submit such an application. By analyzing texts from Karlshamn municipality and the Trade association as primary material through Bacchi's method WPR analysis, we intend to make visible how the problem is represented by each party as well as analyzing the incentives behind the representations of what is perceived as a problem. By linking these representations to political governance, public ethos and power, our results show that Karlshamn's municipality is driven by both democratic and economic incentives, while on the other hand the Trade association is almost exclusively driven by economic incentives. We also conclude that the current political governance of Swedish labor market policy does not favor good cooperation between actors on the Swedish labor market policy arena without reforms having to take place. It is the Swedish Public Employment Service and thus the state that possesses the power, responsibility and more specifically, the structural power to distribute who should have access to the player market. In our reference countries, this responsibility has been decentralized to local municipalities. Which we, after this study, consider to be an alternative that Sweden should investigate further.

Children’s sexuality has historically been, and still is, a taboo subject. Children with sexual behavioral problems is a fenomen difficult to define because it varies depending on time, situation, and culture, which can make it difficult for social workers to assess. This essay has studied the construction of children with sexual behavior problems in interviews with social workers’ based on Bacchi's (2009) discourse analytical method and theory to achieve the purpose of the study. The essay has led to an understanding of how the construction of children with sexual behavior problems affect the social work and these children. The empirical material consisted of semi-structured interviews with ten social workers who work with children with sexual behavior problems. The interviews resulted in both equivalent and conflicting discourses in the field of social work. The equivalent discourses construct children with sexual behavior problems as a problem that needs to be remedied. The results showed that there is a battle of power between different discourses to achieve the dominant discourse that can win people's understanding of how children with sexual behavior problems should be understood and treated, above all between private actors.

Fallet ”Lilla hjärtat” föranledde en granskning samt en förändringsprocess av socialnämndernas sätt att arbeta med tvångsvård av barn. Förloppet som följde ledde fram till promemorian Barnets bästa när vård enligt LVU upphör som är framtagen av en utredare på Socialdepartementet. Utredaren presenterade fyra förslag på förändring av lagstiftningen som ämnar att stärka barnets bästa. Jag har genomfört en diskursanalys av promemorian med utgångspunkt i forskningsfrågan: Hur påverkar en specifik händelse, omdebatterad såväl medialt som politiskt, det sociala arbetets styrning? Det är tydligt att de lagförslag som utredaren presenterar har en påtaglig koppling till socialnämndens hantering och debatten kring fallet Lilla hjärtat. Därtill präglas promemorian av en rättslig diskurs som i och med översättningsprocessen från det sociala arbetets praktik till en rättslig praktik förenklar representationen av problemet vilket resulterar i att socialarbetarens maktposition befästs medan barn framställs som passiva mottagare av stöd och skydd. Om lagförslagen antas kommer de påverka den enskilda socialarbetarens handlingsutrymme inom området tvångsplacering av barn. / The case "Lilla hjärtat" led to an evaluation of the social welfare committees' way of working with compulsory care of children. The process that followed led to the memorandum “The child's best interests when care according to LVU ceases” prepared by an investigator at the Ministry of Social Affairs. The investigator presented four proposals for changes in the legislation that aim to strengthen the best interests of the child. I have conducted a discourse analysis of the memorandum based on the research question: How does a specific event, debated both in the media, and politically, affect the governance of social work? It is clear that the legislations presented by the investigator have a strong connection to the Social Welfare Board's handling of the case and the debate surrounding the case Lilla hjärtat. Moreover, the memorandum is characterized by a legal discourse which, through the translation process from social work practice to a legal practice, simplifies the representation of the problem, which results in the social worker's position of power being consolidated while children are portrayed as passive recipients of support and protection. If adopted, the legislations will affect the individual social worker's capacity of action in the area of child protection.

The purpose of the thesis is to study how Umeå municipality explicitly approaches what constitutes quality and problems in school activities and how it can be understood in relation to segregation andequality. Using Bacchis ``What's the problem represented to be´´-approach we seek to analyse what problems are presented, how the municipality aims to handle the problem and what the discursive effects of these representations are. The analysis is based on the Municipality's quality report 2019/20.The main problem discussed lies with school staff who partly do not understand their assignment and partly prioritize certain parts of the curriculum over others. Non-ethnic Swedish students (“recently arrived”, “multi lingual students” and “students born abroad”) are described as a monolithic and especially problematic category due to parents’ cultural views and lacking language skills. In both these representations the wider social context of e g segregation, is disregarded, and power of the municipality to deal with the described problems are minimized.

I och med den rådande coronapandemin kännetecknas dagens svenska arbetsliv till stor del av hemarbete och digital kommunikation. Att synliggöra diskursen om digital kommunikation ur ett arbetsgivarperspektiv blir relevant då dagens händelser kan tänkas påverka diskursen om hur arbete ska utföras. Genom en kvalitativ diskursanalys med Foucault som utgångspunkt ämnar denna studie att belysa de föreställningar som konstrueras och reproduceras om digital kommunikation utifrån arbetsgivares perspektiv samt hur dessa kan tänkas styra utformningen av det digitala kommunikations- och arbetssättet i det svenska arbetslivet. 15 artiklar ur VD-tidningen valdes ut, vilka analyserades med hjälp av Bacchis What’s the problem represented to be?-ansats. Resultatet visar att digital kommunikation ses som otillräckligt och svårhanterligt. Antaganden om att människan är en social varelse som ogillar förändringar samt att kompetens är nyckeln till effektivitet reproducerar de negativa föreställningarna om digital kommunikation. Därmed är ”vanans makt” central, varför arbetsgivare bör reflektera kring användandet av digital kommunikation.