The thesis aims to highlight successful stories of female ex-offender reentry into the community. Success, rather than failure, seems to be a current research gap in reentry literature. To gain an insight on the matter, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with seven female ex-offenders. These women had previously taken part of the program, Exodus Ministries in Dallas, Texas. Systematic Text Condensation (STC) was utilized to analyze the qualitative data from the interviews. The results were then discussed in a theoretical framework in regard to previous research. Two theories were utilized; namely, the theory of “making good” by Maruna (2001) and the theory of cognitive transformation by Giordano, Cernkovich and Rudolph (2002). In conclusion, the results of the thesis point to reentry programs, such as Exodus Ministries; motherhood; religion; fundamental life changes; identity transformation and utilizing resources as essential factors needed for successful reentry into the community upon release from institutionalization.

Aim: According to Swedish and Danish law interventions must be based on evidence, and evidence related to rest orthoses in contracture management is limited and inconclusive, making justification of using rest orthoses difficult. The aim is to understand the clinicians’ perceptions of the benefit of rest orthoses when managing wrist and hand contractures, to shape a basis for clinical evidence.Method: A qualitative interview study was made and a total of 13 participants with 2 to 40 years of experience was included. Interviews were transcribed and translated into English. A thematic analysis was undertaken by two researchers. Three themes and seven subthemes were identified and discussed. Results: There was congruence among the participants that rest orthoses can maintain RoM when used but they need to be used at least 6 to 8 hours every day. Combination of botox and rest orthoses has a good effect in many patients with spasticity for maintaining RoM and some function. Many patients gain a benefit in maintaining hygiene, a reduction in pain and easier for patients getting dressed. Conclusion: The interviewed clinicians perceived that rest orthoses can impact pain and prevent contracture formation however evidence was inconclusive, but it merits further research. / Syfte: Enligt svensk och dansk lag måste insatser baseras på evidens, och evidensen relaterad till viloortoser i kontrakturhantering är begränsad och motsägelsefull, vilket gör det svårt att motivera användningen av viloortoser. Syftet är att förstå klinikernas uppfattningar om fördelarna med viloortoser vid hantering av hand- och handledskontrakturer, för att skapa en grund för klinisk evidens. Metod: En kvalitativ intervjustudie genomfördes och totalt 13 deltagare med 2 till 40 års erfarenhet inkluderades. Intervjuerna transkriberades och översattes till engelska varpå en tematisk analys utfördes av två forskare. Tre teman och sju underteman identifierades och diskuterades. Resultat: Det fanns samstämmighet bland deltagarna att viloortoser kan bibehålla rörelseomfång när de används, men de måste användas minst 6 till 8 timmar varje dag. Kombinationen av botox och viloortoser har god effekt hos många patienter med spasticitet för att bibehålla rörelseomfång och viss funktion. Många patienter får fördelar i form av bibehållen hygien, minskad smärta och det blir lättare för patienter att klä på sig.Slutsats: De intervjuade klinikerna ansåg att viloortoser kan påverka smärta och förhindra kontrakturbildning, men evidensen är ofullständiga och kräver ytterligare forskning.

This dissertation examines the association between transformational leadership and public organizational performance using different data and methods. Each of the three articles collected in this dissertation contributes to the scholarship exploring the interplay of transformational leadership and organizational performance using distinct data and interpretive methods, examining the interplay of its elements and a widely used outcome measure – organizational performance as a dependent variable. The first article presents evidence of the empirical studies analyzing the association between transformational leadership and public organizational performance. Based on a formal, replicable search method informed by current practices for the systematic evaluation of published evidence, this review collects and analyzes empirical research articles examining the association between transformational leadership and public organizational performance. A total of seven journal articles were identified that met the study criteria. The measures of the transformational leadership construct in these studies are different but show a common pattern of survey questionnaires with multiple-level responses. Moreover, transformational leadership is found to be positively associated with public organizational performance. Organizational performance is operationalized using several factors such as development, growth, creativity, and effectiveness in the included studies. Acknowledging the gap in the included studies, this review offers two research questions for further exploration to address the gaps in the existing studies. The second article explores the association between the elements of transformational leadership and federal organizational performance in very large and large federal agencies using Ordinal Logistic Regression (OLR) on quantitative survey data drawn from results of the OPM Federal Employment Viewpoint Survey. Statistical findings of this study show a positive relationship between the elements of transformational leadership and organizational performance. This study contributes to the transformational leadership and public management literature by adding the scholarship exploring the association between the elements of transformational leadership and public organizational performance. The third article explores the association between transformational leadership and organizational performance from the experiences and perspectives of U.S. federal agency employees. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with federal leaders from very large and large agencies, as per the Office of Personnel Management's classification. The perceptions of federal employees reflect the interplay between transformational leadership behaviors and perceptions of organizational performance. The informants' interviews enhance the understanding of transformational leadership-organizational performance association from the employee perspective. A process of thematic coding and interpretation is employed to analyze the interview data. The study findings contribute to the management and leadership literature by exploring the lived experiences of federal employees and their perceptions of the influence of transformational leadership on organizational performance. Moreover, the replicable qualitative interview process and analysis methodology create a pathway for future qualitative research. / Doctor of Philosophy / The influence of leadership is widely studied in terms of organizational performance. Among the leadership theories thought to influence organizational performance, transformational leadership is the most widely studied theory. The theory has gained much attention in the past 40 years for its contribution to many positive organizational outcomes, including meaningful work, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and organizational performance. Despite a rich history of research in positive organizational outcomes, scholars still argue that there are scopes further to advance the empirical research on transformational leadership theory. Hence, the purpose of this dissertation is to address this claim and analyze the interplay between transformational leadership and public organizational performance. Study findings will contribute to the literature on transformational leadership by empirically examining the interplay of its elements and federal organizational performance. Moreover, the application of three distinct methods and interpretative data analysis will add new evidence to the research of public management and leadership.

The motivation of the study was to explore the problems of families in South Africa who struggle to manage their children with autism and to find out whether they were receiving appropriate assistance. This was done by assessing the needs of the parents of children with autism by means of semi-structured interviews. Through these interviews, the parents were given the opportunity to express what information or recommendations they would like to have available to them. How the parents view their experience, their feelings about these experiences, and the strategies and actions that they take in order to cope with raising their child with autism, is important information. The aim of the study was to explore the problems South African families have so that this may form the base of information supplied to professionals such as psychologists, social workers, and educators thereby assisting in improving service delivery to parents of children with autism. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Play Therapy)

Through literature and personal experience it became apparent that cerebral palsy is a condition that poses physical challenges to the everyday lives of children diagnosed with this condition. Negative feedback from society and significant others in the lives of these children may lead to an emotional imbalance in these children. Although various models for addressing emotional issues in children with cerebral palsy exist, their needs within a therapeutic setting are not addressed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of the Schoeman model in therapy with the child with cerebral palsy. The Schoeman model is a therapeutic model that is based on the Gestalt philosophy and is used in conjunction with Gestalt play therapy. Through applying the different aspects of this model the study sheds light on the usefulness of the Schoeman model in therapy with the child diagnosed with cerebral palsy. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Spelterapie)

Hälsa i arbetslivet är ett prioriterat område i politiken och återfinns i målområde fyra som är kopplat till det svenska folkhälsomålet. På senare år har hälsa i arbetslivet uppmärksammats eftersom den arbetsrelaterade ohälsan har ökat, vilket har resulterat i sjuktal som skjuter i höjden med ökande kostnader som följd. Människor spenderar stor del av sin livstid i arbetslivet och för att bibehålla en god hälsa genom livets alla skeden är goda arbetsförhållandena en förutsättning för att människor ska må bra. En viktig del i det hälsofrämjande arbetet i arbetslivet handlar om ledarskap, vilket påverkar människors hälsa i stor utsträckning. Tidigare studier visar att ledarskap har stor betydelse för människors hälsa och därför har denna studie genomförts. Syftet med studien är att undersöka chefers upplevelse av ledarskapets betydelse för medarbetarnas hälsa. En kvalitativ metodansats har används för att besvara studiens syfte. Fem chefer inom den privata sektorn har deltagit vid individuella semistrukturerade intervjuer. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats genom en manifest innehållsanalys. Resultatet visar att cheferna anser att ledarskap har stor betydelse för medarbetarnas hälsa. En utmaning som framkommit i studien är att cheferna uttrycker en frustration över bristande resurser och prioritering från företagsledning, vilket försvårar för cheferna att bedriva ett hälsofrämjande ledarskap. / Work related health is a priority area in national policy, being the fourth public national health target area which is connected to the Swedish public health goal. In recent years work related health has been highlighted due to that work related illness has increased, with the result of increased morbidity and with increasing costs as a result. People spend a whole lot of their lifetime at work, to keep a good health through all stages in life it is important that working conditions are good. Health promoting leadership is important at work, and affects people greatly. Previous research show that leadership affects people’s health and this is the reason why the study was conducted. The aim of this study was to examine the managers’ perception of the importance of leadership for employee health. A qualitative method was used to answer the purpose of the study. In this study five mangers in the private sector has participated in individual semi-structured interviews. The empirical material was analyzed by a manifest content analysis. The result show that leadership is important for the employees’ health. A challenge for managers in this study is a frustration over the lack of resources and priority from upper management.

What topics are discussed within the female genital mutilation debate? And who gets to speak out? Are there any prominent patterns able to detect? This thesis tries to elaborate these thoughts examining the journalistic coverage of FGM in Swedish newspapers during the year of 2016. A content analysis of all published newspapers during the year of interest sets the empirical basis, and is supported by interviews with journalists covering the issue. The dissertation holds a constructionist approach meaning that the perception of reality is constructed, and thereof differs. This approach also clarifies that there is no constant truth, but several. Findings within the empirical data are mainly discussed connected to feminist theory as well as the concept of agenda-setting, eventually involving discussions about human rights issue as a value for journalism. What is clear here is that women are overrepresented within the debate, and are depicted as strong individuals, are seldom victimized or depicted in stereotyped gender roles as opposed by scholars. Meanwhile, participating journalists are somewhat semi-aware about their own portrayals since they opine that they are focusing on representing female characters in their articles. This might indicate that the FGM debate is unilaterally represented in some ways. The result also shows a clear pattern in representing FGM in media as a global issue treating the prevalence of FGM around the world, even when a domestic perspective is used. The issue of interest is also perceived as a procedure aiming to control women and/or their sexuality in a quite vast extent, scholarly as well as empirically

The media landscape has evolved significantly over the last decades. Previously, the extent of media choice was limited to a handful of newspapers and radio- and TV broadcasts. However, with the rise of cable TV and internet access, people are faced with a multitude of choices regarding what media and content they choose to consume. Scholars have argued that these developments may enable people who are not interested in news consumption to avoid news more than previously. Considering this transformation of the media landscape, this paper aspires to shed light on the factors that affect news media choice. More specifically, the aim of this essay is to study upper secondary school students’ news interest, news consumption and their trust in news media.   This essay employs uses and gratifications and Bourdieu’s symbolic and cultural capital theory to analyze the empirical data. This data is based on 6 semi-structured interviews with students in the first or second year in two upper secondary schools.  The analysis demonstrates that parents’ political interest in addition to students’ uses and gratifications are significant to understand news interest and news consumption among upper secondary school students. Furthermore, the analysis highlights that the interviewees with higher cultural capital perceive news media with a higher symbolic capital as more trustworthy, while students with a lower cultural capital trust tabloid media to a greater extent.

The global climate threat has intensified Sweden’s ambitions to build wind power stations. This thesis explores the planning of, and opposition to, wind power in the inland rural and forest regions of Sweden. It is in these autonomous communities that the plans are implemented and the aim of the thesis was to, from a local perspective, understand and analyse the planning and acceptance challenges that large-scale wind power development faces in places that are both sparsely populated and have good wind conditions. This thesis is based on qualitative methods and was conducted as two studies. The case study area comprises four municipalities in Dalarna County. The first study analyses the planning and establishment process in three municipalities using interviews and an analysis method called process tracing. The second study analyses one wind power establishment, in which the interviews form the basis for a discourse analytical approach. One striking finding highlights the relationship between the global and the local. Global environment and energy aspects are absent in the local process, and wind power becomes a technical land issue that clashes with other local land interests. Another finding of the study reveals that planning for wind power establishment follows a rational planning tradition. The feelings and memories of the individual – different views regarding the landscape – play a background role in the formal permit process, while measurable observable conditions have a more prominent role. Wind power developers thereby acquire a more significant position than what they probably would have had if the planning had included local residents’ views on wind power in the landscape at an early stage.

The goal of the diploma thesis was to describe critical moments for solving systems of linear equations at the primary school. First, various methods of solving systems of two linear equations with two unknowns are summarized, the history of systems of linear equations is briefly outlined and the theme is described from the point of view of curricular documents. Based on the review of literature, the critical moments and types of mistake made by pupils are described. My own research used the mixed research strategy, where the main strategy was qualitative and the secondary strategy was quantitative. The research consisted of semi-structured interviews with four mathematics teachers, the preparation and realization of a questionnaire for primary school pupils and the creation, realization and analysis of a didactic test. The main results of the thesis consists of the description of the most frequent pupils' problems when solving systems of linear equations, the didactic analysis of textbooks and teachers' views of the topic and its teaching. Keywords: linear equations and their systems, pupils' problems, mistakes, semi-structured interviews, didactic test Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)