Abstract  In 2011, the war broke out in Syria, affecting a significant portion of the Syrian population. Many have been forced to flee the war in search of a safe and secure life. However, those who have left Syria have also left their loved ones behind and carry with them the traumas of war. The main purpose of this essay is to examine the challenges that Syrian refugees diagnosed with PTSD face when they arrive in Sweden. The essay is based on qualitative research methodology and semi-structured interviews with six Syrian refugees. The results of the essay identify the significance of war traumas for these refugees and their negative impact on their ability to integrate into Swedish society. The lack of access to specialized psychiatric care and communication barriers exacerbates the situation and emphasize the importance of a person-centered approach in healthcare. Gender differences are highlighted, where both men and women face unique challenges based on their cultural norms and experiences. Special emphasis is placed on the need for targeted interventions to address the needs of Syrian refugee women, who are at increased risk of gender-based violence and psychological distress.   The essay contributes to a better understanding of the specific challenges that Syrian refugees with PTSD face in Sweden and underscores the importance of designing adequate support and care programs to meet their needs.

Denna IMER studie handlar om att undersöka bosniska flyktingars integration på arbetsmarknaden. Det valda syftet om bosniska flyktingars etablering på arbetsmarknaden identifierar de strategier och faktorer som har varit viktiga för att få inträde till arbetsmarknaden. Frågeställningarna som besvarats är, vilka faktorer som varit betydelsefulla för bosniers integration på arbetsmarknaden i Sverige? samt om utbildning i Bosnien och/eller Sverige haft betydelse för integrationen på arbetsmarknaden och i så fall på vilket sätt? Studien avgränsas till 90- talets flyktingvåg och fokuserar på individer med någon form av utbildning, som var mellan 20–30 år när de anlände till Sverige. För att besvara studiens syfte har en kvalitativ metod använts, i form av intervjuer. De valda teoretiska utgångspunkterna är humankapital, integration och assimilation. Undersökningens resultat visar på att språk och utbildning har varit nyckeln till att inträda den svenska arbetsmarknaden. Intervjupersonerna var förändringsbenägna och reflexiva i sitt förhållningssätt. Genom att snabbt lära sig det svenska språket och utbilda sig på nytt i Sverige, samt sträva efter att bli en del av den svenska samhörigheten kunde de etablera sig på arbetsmarknaden. / This IMER study is about the integration of Bosnian refugees in the labor market. The chosen theme on the establishment of Bosnian refugees in the labor market identifies the strategies and factors that have been important in entering the labor market. The questions answered in the study is, witch factors have been significant for Bosnian’s integration in the labor market? And has education in Bosnia and/or Sweden had any significance for integration on the labor market and, if so, in what way? The study is limited to the refugee wave of the 90s and focuses on people who have some form of education, and who were between the ages of 20 and 30 when they arrived in Sweden. The approach is a qualitative method, in the form of interviews. The chosen theoretical starting points are human capital, integration, and assimilation. The results of the study show that language and education have been the key to entering the labor market. The interviewees were prone to change and reflexive in their approach. By quickly learning the Swedish language and re-educating in Sweden, as well as striving to become part of the Swedish community, they were able to establish themselves on the labor market.

The aim of this study is to describe and explain how five women with a non-European background find the expression of everyday racism in today’s Swedish society, how everyday racism can affect their mental health and how they experience that the Swedish majority population handle and respond to everyday racism. The study is qualitative and was made with semi-structured interviews. The theories used are the theory of everyday racism, "we" and "the Others" and Goffman’s stigma. The results indicate that everyday racism is manifested through the population's ignorance and silence, comments, prejudices and stereotypes and is mainly expressed in arenas where there are many people at the same time. According to the women, the school and the labor market are the two most common arenas for the expression of everyday racism. They witness that the Swedish majority population rarely deal with the occurrence of everyday racism. Their mental health is negatively affected by everyday racism and can lower the individual's self-esteem. The study’s three theories that include everyday racism, “we” and “the Others” and stigma can be applied to the women's stories about their experiences and feelings about everyday racism in the Swedish society.

Family and children are brought to the front in contemporary Russia and constitute an important policy area. Manifesting the centrality of family and children, the period 2018―2027 has also been officially proclaimed “the decade of childhood”, leading to numerous policy initiatives and momentous media attention. The thesis explores this current development with a particular interest in what role the family plays in asserting and negotiating (state) power and in the overall national project of constructing Russianness. The aim is thus to examine the articulations of Russianness and family in policy and media in contemporary Russia. The analysis is conducted mainly at the level of discourse and is inspired by Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. Applying constructivist theories of nationalism in conjunction with feminist theories that critique the concepts of the nation and the state, the thesis demonstrates how the discourse articulated in policy documents and state-controlled media interconnects “family”, “tradition”, and “Russianness” and what possible effects are produced as a result. It also discusses how categories of gender, class, ‘race’/ethnicity and sexuality inform the articulated national identity. The thesis argues that despite civic “Russianness” (rossiyskaya naciya) being furthered as the desired national project, a number of articulations clearly point to nation’s ethnic character. As “Russianness” and “tradition” are loosely defined the viability of such articulations is questioned, given both Russia’s history and the coming transformations of the Russian welfare state.

Den här studien handlar om en grupp barn som inte har några föräldrar i Sverige, och som därför bor på institution. På senare tid har man tillskrivit dem kategoriseringen ensamkommande. Bakom det begreppet finns barn i olika åldrar som har lämnat sin familj och sitt hemland för ett nytt liv på en plats i världen med större framtidsmöjligheter. Många av dessa barn, som flyr till västvärlden på egen hand, delar erfarenheter av att placeras på institution. Mer precist är det en sådan tillvaro denna studie kommer att kretsa kring.

Belly dance is popularly practised in the West, and every year, thousands of enthusiasts and professionals from around the world travel to attend belly dance festivals in Egypt, which is considered the cultural centre of the dance. This bachelor’s thesis examines the discourses produced by Western or ʽwhiteʼ belly dancers from Sweden and Finland, on the topics of tourism in Egypt and belly dance festivals in Egypt. The texts are analysed using James Paul Gee's discourse analytical framework, combined with postcolonial theory, complemented with an intersectional approach. From the postcolonial and feminist perspectives, belly dance discourse in the West and tourism discourse are problematic, as they perpetuate Orientalist tropes and unequal global power structures, which build on colonial discourse. It is hoped that by identifying and questioning these aspects of discourse that are problematic in terms of equity, this study will make a small contribution towards mitigating its adverse effects, and towards social change. / <p>ORCID for Mavis Hooi : 0000-0002-0049-1095</p>

The average time for an individual to be located in a refugee situation is 17 years. That people are fleeing for such a long period of their life means that a large part of their human rights can easily be neglected. This study examines the humanitarian organizations MSB’s and UN- HCR's implementation of refugee camps and how they allow refugees to play a part in this process. This essay intends to examine the policy the organizations adhere to, namely the in- ternationally recognized handbooks Handbook of Emergencies and The Sphere Project. Em- pirical material is based on a qualitative interview method where a comparison between poli- cy and practice is investigated. Employees of organizations and experts on refugee camp de- sign, management and urban planning have served as respondents in this study. The city planning theory collaborative rationality is used to examine the empirical data to answer how organizations work with refugee camps, if a dialogue processes occur between organizations and refugees, and what benefits the theory can provide. This is followed by a discussion re- garding the human rights of the refugees and whether these are considered in the implementa- tion of the camp. A question raised in the discussion is whether a clarification of the concept could help the organizations' employees to meet the human rights of the refugees. The aim of this thesis is to create an interdisciplinary understanding across disciplinary boundaries. The idea is that the amalgamation of disciplines can improve the humanitarian organizations’ work and aid refugees living conditions. This study highlights a discrepancy in the relation- ship between policy and practice in relation to the procedure manuals, but also in relation to refugees and the satisfaction of human rights. A majority of the respondents testify a wish that a dialogue should be conducted between the organization and the recipients of humanitar- ian aid but that issues such as time pressure, ignorance and power relations complicates this process. What is needed for an improvement of dialogue processes is that the organizations need to take clearer positions on how the practical implementation should play out which would more easily control their employees to execute their work. States need to review their approach to refugees and to take responsibility for the people who need help. Last but not least, the concept of human rights and Nussbaum's definition of it is offered as a suggestion as to how UNHCR and MSB could simplify their work to accommodate that the refugees are treated within the realms of the human rights legislation.

No description available.

This thesis is about newly arrived adult migrants’ meaning making and learning in Swedish society during the two years’ introduction period, after they have received the residence permit. I have specifically studied Arabic speaking adults’ meaning making and learning, by carrying out observations and individual in-depth interviews with 12 migrants. The introduction period consists mainly of three so called introduction measures; the civic orientation course, Swedish for immigrants (SFI), and different work related activities, such as internship at different work places. The results show that etablering is about shaping the newly arrived adult migrants into ”good” citizens, through the introduction measures, among other things in the civic orientation course, which is regulated through the policy documents, and which so to say provides meaning to the newly arrived. The “good” citizen has some specific characteristics, which, roughly, are that he or she is independent (and advocates individuality), free, equality thinking, secularized, law-abiding (which includes being honest), responsible, and a “good” parent. These characteristics are expressed in different ways in the civic orientation course, for instance through the course material. The Swedish society is described as something desirable, and different from what is implied to be ”Arabic” values and ways of thinking. The idea of the “good” citizen appears to aim at constructing the adult migrants’ (and their families’) identity, something which many of the study’s respondents make a resistance to. As concerns the migrant’s new experiences, it is, for example, those which the migrant get through the contact with the Swedish Public Employment Service (SPES) that affect the meaning making in the new society. The meaning which most of the respondents have made of the SPES’s measures for them is that this authority only offers “prepackaged” solutions, and does not provide the help or support that they need. Also the experiences which the migrant has in the civic orientation course, and the meaning which ”old” migrants give to him or her, play a role when he or she makes meaning of Sweden and Swedes, and of his or her new life situation. Further, it has been shown that it is those experiences that the adult individual has been socialized through, and those which he or she has gained through work or education in his or her country of origin, which affect his or her meaning making in Sweden. It is mostly values which concern child upbringing and religion that lead to a certain understanding and construction of one’s new life. These values, when related to the values which are included in the ”good” citizen idea, also lead to either a resistance or a readiness towards the meaning giving that is embedded in the ”good” citizen notion. / Denna studie handlar om nyanlända vuxna migranters meningsskapande och lärande i det svenska samhället under deras tvååriga introduktionsperiod, efter att de har fått uppehållstillstånd. Jag har specifikt studerat arabisktalande vuxnas meningsskapande och lärande, genom observationer och enskilda djupintervjuer med 12 nyanlända. Introduktionsperioden består främst av tre s.k. etableringsinsatser; kursen i samhällsorientering, svenska för invandrare (SFI) samt olika arbetsrelaterade och arbetsfrämjande insatser, såsom praktik på olika arbetsplatser. Resultatet visar att etablering handlar om att forma de vuxna nyanlända till ”goda” medborgare, genom etableringsinsatserna, bl.a. i samhällsorienteringskursen, som regleras genom policydokumenten, och som s.a.s. tillhandahåller mening för de nyanlända. Den ”goda” medborgaren har vissa specifika kännetecken, vilka, i grova drag, är att han eller hon är självständig (och förespråkar individualitet), fri, jämlikhetstänkande, sekulariserad, laglydig (vilket inkluderar ärlig), ansvarsfull, och en ”god” förälder. Dessa karaktärsdrag kommer på olika sätt till uttryck i samhällsorienteringskursen, exempelvis genom kursmaterialet. Det svenska samhället framställs då också som något eftersträvansvärt, och skilt från det som antyds vara ”arabiska” värderingar och tänkesätt. Föreställningen om den ”goda” medborgaren verka syfta till att konstruera den vuxna nyanländas (och dennas familjs) identitet, något som många av studiens respondenter gör motstånd mot. Vad gäller migrantens nya erfarenheter, är det exempelvis de som migranten har fått genom kontakt med Arbetsförmedlingen som påverkar meningsskapandet i det nya samhället. Den mening som de flesta av respondenterna har gjort om Arbetsförmedlingens insatser för dem är att denna myndighet enbart erbjuder dem ”förpaketerade” lösningar, och inte tillhandahåller den hjälp eller det stöd som de behöver. Även erfarenheter som migranten gör i samhällsorienteringskursen, samt den mening som ”gamla” migranter förmedlar till honom eller henne, spelar roll för hur vederbörande skapar mening om Sverige och svenskar, och om sin nya livssituation. Dessutom har det visat sig att det är de erfarenheter som den vuxna har blivit socialiserad genom, samt de som han eller hon har fått genom utbildning eller arbete i ursprungslandet, som påverkar migrantens meningsskapande i Sverige. Det är främst värderingar som är knutna till barnuppfostran och religion som leder till en viss förståelse och konstruktion av ens nya liv. Dessa värderingar leder också, när de stöts mot de värderingar som ingår i föreställningen om den ”goda” medborgaren, antingen till ett motstånd mot eller en beredvillighet inför det meningsgivande som ingår i den ”goda” medborgaren.

This study examines the view on integration in Sweden. The material consists of debate articles from 2020 regarding exempting Malmö from EBO, the law on the right for asylum seekers to arrange their own housing. The findings reveal two dominating positions representing different views on successful integration: the municipalities’ right to self-government and the individual’s right to self-determination. The municipal position and politicians who represent the municipalities interests are mainly represented, while no interest groups or asylum seekers are active in the debate. The municipal position reproduces a negative view on integration and reproduces the discourse of failed integration. The individual position tries to change the negative discourses. Lastly, the dominating position moves towards an assimilatory approach, implying a shift in the view on integration in Sweden. This study contributes with an updated analysis of the perception of EBO and increases the knowledge about views on integration in Sweden.