The focus of this research was to describe gender role experiences and gender transformation from a systems psychodynamic stance. Women have fought to overcome past oppressions but society intended to label women continually as traditional homemakers. In organisations, women are still subjected to receiving certain non-challenging jobs, such as administrative tasks, secretarial and office assistant duties as compared to men who fulfil professional and managerial roles. Men, on the other hand, experience the daily pressures of living up to societal brandings, which regard them as tough bosses and breadwinners. Hermeneutic phenomenology enabled participants to share their lived gender role experiences. Furthermore, the hermeneutic paradigm assisted the researcher with an in-depth understanding of participants’ phenomenological experiences. The researcher therefore explored, analysed and described the phenomenological gender experiences of male and female employees and a transgender employee from a systems psychodynamic stance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four male and four female participants. Men and women often projected positive behaviours onto each other that would result in them challenging and breaking the obsolete, stereotypical thinking handed out by society. The isolation and loneliness experienced by transgender persons manifest in unauthentic and false living. The organisation created high levels of anxiety in its employees’ which contributed towards male, female and transgender role experiences. Individual defence mechanisms were used as a method of addressing anxieties. Men, women and v transgender persons were affected by their constant need for recognition and advancement in the organisation but refused to show any concerns for fear of consequences from the leaders of the organisation. Men, women and transgender persons became containers and shared the emotional burdens of the organisation and their family life in different ways. Recommendations for gender transformative approaches are discussed to address issues of inequality in the organisation. / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Försvarsmekanismer är vanligt förekommande svar på predation och aggression bland djur. Till exempel uppvisar många terrestra sniglar en högre aktivitet och förändrat rörelsemönster när de identifierar kemiska signaler från predatorer. I denna studie undersökte jag hur kemiska signaler från en attackerad artfrände påverkade försvarsbeteenden hos trädgårdssnigel (Arion distinctus), där pantersnigel (Limax maximus) representerade aggressor. Ett laboratorieexperiment utfördes med fyra behandlingar (totalt 48 replikat): med slemspår av en trädgårdssnigel, med spår av en pantersnigel, med spår av båda arter tillsammans, samt utan spår. Jag förutspådde att spår av en attackerad artfrände (det vill säga spår från båda arter tillsammans) skulle medföra högre aktivitet och undvikande beteende hos trädgårdssnigeln, samt att båda arter under förberedelsen för behandlingarna skulle uppvisa en högre aktivitet vid närvaro av den andra arten än ensamma. Resultaten visade ingen signifikant effekt av behandling på trädgårdssniglarnas aktivitet eller rörelsemönster, eller på någon av arternas aktivitet vid närvaro av varandra. Eftersom sniglars försvarsbeteenden är kostsamma, är det möjligt att pantersnigeln inte utgjorde ett tillräckligt stort hot för att det skulle vara fördelaktigt för trädgårdssnigeln att utföra dessa beteenden. / Defence mechanisms are a common response to predation and aggression in animals. For example, many terrestrial slugs exhibit a higher activity and change their movement patterns when identifying chemical signals from predators. In this study, I examined how chemical signals from an attacked conspecific affected the defence mechanisms of the common garden slug (Arion distinctus), where the leopard slug (Limax maximus) represented the aggressor. A laboratory experiment was conducted with four treatments (48 replicas in total): with mucus trails from a common garden slug, with trails from a leopard slug, with trails from both species together, and without trails. I predicted that trails from an attacked conspecific (i.e. trails from both species together) would result in increased activity and an avoiding behaviour in the common garden slug, and that both species during the preparation for the treatments would exhibit an increased activity in presence with the other species than alone. The results showed no significant effect of treatment on the common garden slug’s activity or movement pattern, or on both species’ presence of each other. Because slugs’ defence mechanisms are costly, it is possible that the leopard slug did not pose a threat big enough to be beneficial for the common garden slug to execute these behaviours.

Although fear is an integral part of normal human functioning, it is important to obtain knowledge of children’s normative fear and defence mechanism in order for parents and caregivers to understand and contribute towards mediating potentially stressful experiences of children in their care. This combined qualitative and quantitative study aimed to identify a dominant defence mechanism for children in their middle childhood in dealing with fear. In order to reach the aim of this study a conceptual framework was done exploring terms central to this study including: development in middle childhood, fear, coping mechanisms and defence mechanisms. Miller and Dollard’s learning theory as a theoretical perspective was applied to the study. Interviews were conducted with eleven children in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. The data was analyzed and several findings were identified and explored. Implications, limitations as well as suggestions are part of the concluding chapter of the report. / Sociology / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

Although fear is an integral part of normal human functioning, it is important to obtain knowledge of children’s normative fear and defence mechanism in order for parents and caregivers to understand and contribute towards mediating potentially stressful experiences of children in their care. This combined qualitative and quantitative study aimed to identify a dominant defence mechanism for children in their middle childhood in dealing with fear. In order to reach the aim of this study a conceptual framework was done exploring terms central to this study including: development in middle childhood, fear, coping mechanisms and defence mechanisms. Miller and Dollard’s learning theory as a theoretical perspective was applied to the study. Interviews were conducted with eleven children in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. The data was analyzed and several findings were identified and explored. Implications, limitations as well as suggestions are part of the concluding chapter of the report. / Sociology / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, 2008. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 1999. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Licentiatavhandling Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, 2006. / Härtill 3 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2008. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur socialarbetare, som arbetar med att utföra bedömningar om direkt omplacering av ett barn eller ej, hanterar sin stress som kan uppstå i denna situation. Studien undersökte fem socialarbetare uppfattningar om stresshantering genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med både socialarbetare och teamledare. Alla fem medverkande var utvalda genom tillgänglighetsurval. De fem deltagare arbetade i tre olika kommuner i Sverige. De teorier som användes i studien var KASAM, försvarsmekanismer samt olika former av copingstrategier. Det centrala ur resultatet från denna studie var att socialarbetarens stresshantering stöddes av tre olika delar: Socialarbetarens egen strategi, stödet från kollegor samt ett nära samarbete med organisationen. Valet av socialarbetarens egna strategier varierade mellan de olika deltagarna, men alla använde en egen strategi. Vanliga egna strategier var att planera och fokusera på de ärenden som prioriterades. Möjligheten att kunna diskutera ärenden med sina kollegor samt att få stöd från sin organisation visade sig ha en stor påverkan i hanteringen av stress hos socialarbetaren. Organisationerna hade olika resurser och policys som mallar och hälsovård för att förebygga samt minska stress hos socialarbetare. / The aim of this study was to investigate how social workers, who works with carrying out assessments about immediate relocation of a child or not, handle the stress that can appear in these kinds of situations. The study investigated five social workers view on how to handle stress by using semi structured interviews when interviewing them. All five social workers were selected by a accessibility selection. The five participants worked in three different municipalities in Sweden. The theories used in this study was KASAM, defence mechanisms and different kinds of coping strategies. The central of the result of this study was that the coping of stress by the social worker was depending on three different sections: The social workers own strategies, the support from colleagues and a close cooperation with the organisation. The choice of the social workers own strategy varied between the different participants, but they all used a strategy of their own. Common strategies used on their own was planning and focusing on the errand with the highest priority. The possibility to discuss errands with co-workers and to get support from the organisation was shown to have a big effect on how the social worker were able to handle stress. The organisation had different resources and policies such as templates and health care to prevent and reduce the stress of social workers.

The first chapter of the theoretical part of this master's thesis summarizes basic knowledge about crises. The second chapter deals with ways of protecting people from crises. It covers defence mechanisms, coping strategies and social support. Chapter 3 describes specialist help for people suffering crises, and provides a summary of basic information about crisis intervention. The next chapter deals with children in crisis situations, major types of stress situations for children, their manifestations and their consequences for the child's psyche and behaviour. The final chapter of the theoretical part of the master's thesis deals with ways of intervening in crises in the school environment. The practical part of the master's thesis is an empirical study in the form of semi-structured interviews with lower secondary stage teachers. The interviews investigate the experience and the preparedness of teachers for resolving crisis situations in the school environment. The research carried out in this project provides material for an analysis of the interviews. Keywords: crisis, crisis intervention, defence mechanisms, coping strategies, skills for crisis intervention.