Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur olika aktörer inom det människobehandlande området arbetar med hemmasittande ungdomar. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkter är KASAM, systemteori och nyinstitutionell organisationsteori. Datainsamlingen skedde genom kvalitativa, strukturerade intervjuer med sex olika aktörer inom det människobehandlande området. Resultatet av denna studie visar att det är skolan som uppmärksammar problemet och att det inom vissa områden arbetas i större utsträckning med målgruppen än på andra, men att det inte finns något generellt övergripande arbetssätt med hemmasittande ungdomar i de aktuella kommunerna. Det framkommer även att samverkansformen SIP – samordnad individuell plan – används framgångsrikt i samtliga kommuner. Att genomföra samverkan beskrivs av de flesta aktörer fungera bra, men att önskat resultat av samverkan inte alltid uppnås. En bra relation mellan elev och lärare samt ett gott samarbete mellan hemmet och skolan är de mest främjande faktorerna för att få en elev tillbaka till skolan. / The aim of the study has been to examine how different actors within human service professionals deal with dropout-students. The theoretical perspectives used are KASAM, general systems theory and neo-institutional organizational theory. The data for this study was collected in a series of qualitative and structured interviews with six participants within various human service professionals. The outcome of this study shows that it is the school that signals if there is a problem and it shows that in some areas this pursues higher focus on target groups but there isn’t an overall way of working with dropout-students in the local authorities that this study contains. It also emerges that the form of collaboration – Coordinated Individual Plan – used successfully in all municipalities. To implement collaboration described by most actors works well, but the desired result of collaboration is not always achieved. A good relationship between student and teachers and a good collaboration between home and school are the most promoting factors to get a student back to school.

Previous research about dropout-students where the student has a long absence from school shows different complicated causes to them staying at home. Non secondary education leads to less chances of work and eventually a worse quality of life, often related to mental illness. The purpose of the study was to investigate the causes of staying at home from school, how the professional closest to these students work, and with what resources they can get adolescents back to school. From three research questions we have investigated the professionals perceive the courses about staying at home from school, how the different professionals with the dropout-students work and which factors has according to the professionals greatest impact to get the dropout-students back to school. The result has come from interviews with different professionals that later are thematically analyzed with help from the ecology development, salutogenesis and SOC (Sense of Coherence). It showed that combinations of different courses for example neuropsychiatric disabilities, mental illness, bad relationships and lack of support may be behind the adolescents long-term school absence. Collaboration and good relations between home and school and with other professionals is important to strengthen the individuals own resources for a comeback. / Tidigare forskning om hemmasittare där eleven har långvarig skolfrånvaro visar att det finns olika komplexa orsaker till att eleven börjar stanna hemma från skolan. Utebliven gymnasieutbildning leder till mindre chanser att få arbete och på sikt en sämre livskvalitet, ofta relaterad till psykisk ohälsa. Syftet med studien var att studera yrkesverksammas uppfattningar om orsaker till hemmasittande, hur de yrkesverksamma närmast hemmasittande gymnasieelever arbetar, samt med vilka resurser de kan få ungdomar tillbaka till skolan. Utifrån tre frågeställningar har vi undersökt; vad uppfattar de yrkesverksamma att orsakerna kan vara bakom hemmasittande, hur arbetar de olika professionerna med hemmasittande elever och vilka faktorer har enligt de yrkesverksamma störst påverkan för att få tillbaka hemmasittare till skolan. Resultatet har framkommit genom intervjuer med olika professioner som sedan analyserats tematiskt med hjälp av utvecklingsekologin, salutogenes och kasam (känsla av sammanhang). Det visade sig att kombinationer av orsaker som till exempel neuropsykiatriska funktionshinder, psykisk ohälsa, dåliga relationer och bristande stöd kan ligga bakom att ungdomen blir långvarigt borta från skolan. De olika relationerna eleven har samt bemötandet från olika yrkesverksamma är viktiga faktorer för återgång till skolan. Samarbete och goda relationer mellan hem och skola, samt med andra yrkesverksamma är viktigt för att stärka individen och ta vara på dennes egna resurser för en återgång.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Educational Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018 / The primary aim of this study was to investigate the growing rate of dropout phenomenon within the ambiance of higher education and to develop a support model for lower-postgraduate students. Anchored within Maxwell’s (2012) model of qualitative design, this case-study research has employed the deficit theory and the theory of transactional distance to guide the investigation. While the theoretical evidence was garnered through the application of traditional (narrative) literature review design, the empirical evidence was achieved by targeting lecturers, administrative officers and dropout students. These participants were only those who have respectively taught an advanced communication research (COM4809) module which is offered in the department of communication science as part of the honours programme, who have been involved into the administration of the module in the same department and who have dropped out of COM4809 between 2011 and 2016. Purposive selection technique was used to sample distinct units of analysis at various levels. At the first level, the University of South Africa (Unisa) was used as a case ODL university. At the second level, COM4809 was used as an ideal module to demonstrate that dropout is prevalent at an honours postgraduate level within the ODL domain. At the third level, lecturers were also purposively included into the study since they were key informants. With regard to administrative officers, a census approach was adopted to include the only two administrative officers who have been involved in the administration of COM4809 between 2011 and 2016. Dropout students were selected using snowball and purposive sampling techniques. While the purposive selection of dropout students from the given dataset (statistical information) of 219 dropouts, which was requested from the information and communication department (ICT), was used, the snowball selection method came into play when lecturers identified twenty-one dropout students from their personal records and furnishing the researcher with detailed contact information about them. However, the researcher has managed to hold focus-group interviews with a group of six dropout students and telephonic interviews with ten dropout students, summing up to 16 participants. Focus-group interviews were also undertaken with a cohort of eight lecturers while another seven lecturers have participated in the in-depth interviews. Data were analysed through the use of qualitative content analysis method, and O’Connor and Gibson’s (n.d) design viii    to analyse qualitative data was used. To ensure the credibility and dependability of findings, a triangulated approach to data collection and analysis were used. The study unveiled four major themes on dropout factors, namely: dropout factors associated with students’ personal circumstances, with lecturers’ personal circumstances, with institutional (academic) circumstances and with those factors which are determined by circumstances of other units of analysis (other research contexts). The study has further revealed that while the majority of factors can be controlled, others cannot. Based on the findings and the literature, an integrated honours student-centred support model (IHSCM) was developed to serve as a framework within which to understand dropouts of lower-postgraduate students in an ODL institution. Findings have demonstrated the importance of providing support services in an ODL environment and advocate for a holistic approach towards addressing attrition. The proposed model is envisaged to better expound dropout attributes, which lead students to discontinuing their studies in the ODL environment, and to assist ODL institutions to effectively address the concern. ODL institutions, which want to apply the proposed IHSCM, should do that with caution in mind owing to the fact that the model is not yet tested. Hence, it is inferable to suggest that future research should focus on its impact in the reduction of dropouts of honours students in ODL contexts.   Key words: Student dropout (attrition), dropout student, open and distance learning (ODL) institution, Higher education institution, distance education, student support intervention (services, intervention, mitigation strategy) and student support model (framework).