Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie var att undersöka hur olika professionella med kunskap om sexuella problematiker, tänker kring och uppfattar sex som självskada. Sex som självskada är ett relativt nytt ämne inom forskningssammanhang och forskningen är därmed begränsad. För studien genomfördes tio kvalitativa intervjuer med professionella som arbetar med klienter/patienter med olika typer av sexuella problematiker i storstadsområden, samt en mellanstor stad i Sverige. Det insamlade materialet bearbetades genom en tematisk analys och analyserades utifrån teorin det sexuella scriptet. Studien visar att de professionella menar att sex som självskada inte har något med vilken typ av sexuell aktivitet en person ägnar sig åt, utan av vilken anledning en person har sex samt hur personen mår under eller efter sex/övergrepp. De menar att det är upp till en person själv att definiera huruvida hen ägnar sig åt ett sexuellt självskadebeteende eller ej. Studien pekar även på att det finns osäkerheter hos det professionella kring vad begreppet innebär. / The aim of this qualitative study was to examine how different professionals with knowledge of sexual problems, perceive and think about sex as self-injury. Sex as self-injury is a relatively new subject in research contexts and hence the reaserch is limited. For this study ten qualitative interviews were conducted with professionals who work with clients/patients with different kinds of sexual problems in metropolitan areas and one medium-sized city in Sweden. The material collected was processed by thematic analysis and analyzed based on the sexual script theory. The study indicates that the professionals believe that sex as self-injury has nothing to do with the type of sexual activity a person engages in, but rather for what reason, and how the person feels during or after sex/abuse. Whether or not a person is engaging in sex as self-injury is something that has to be defined by a the persons themselves, according to the professionals. The study also indicates that the professionals feel uncertain about what the term actually entails.

Studier visar på att transpersoner i Sverige upplever sämre villkor för sexuell hälsa jämfört med övriga befolkningen. Den forskning som finns att tillgå pekar på att normer kring kön och sexualitet är en av de faktorer som influerar transpersoners upplevda sexuella hälsa. Mot denna bakgrund konstateras på flera håll att människobehandlande professioner behöver satsa på kunskapshöjning och kompetensutveckling för att förbättra transpersoners möjligheter till god hälsa. En förutsättning för detta är att det finns kunskap som representerar transpersoners egna erfarenheter av hur normer och förväntningar samspelar med sexuell hälsa. Det är något som saknas i nuläget. Studiens syfte är därför att fylla denna kunskapslucka genom att undersöka transpersoners subjektiva upplevelser av hur köns- och sexualitetsnormer påverkar förutsättningarna för sexuell hälsa. Uppsatsens empiri bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer med 8 personer som identifierar sig själva som transpersoner. Materialet har analyserats och tematiserats med hjälp av Sara Ahmeds (2006) queera fenomenologi och Gagnon och Simons (2005) teori om sexuella script. Resultatet visar att normer kring kön och sexualitet upplevs influera sexuella livsvillkor på komplexa och mångfacetterade sätt. Denna påverkan tycks ske genom att normer influerar såväl samhällsstrukturer, interpersonella möten som intrapsykiska attityder. Normer upplevs på så vis som ett yttre och inre tryck på samma gång. Studiens slutsats är att personer med normöverskridande könsidentiteter bemöts av omvärlden på ett sätt som begränsar förutsättningarna för sexuell hälsa. Samtidigt pekar resultatet på att normöverskridandet kan främja vissa aspekter av sexuell hälsa genom att det medför en vidgad horisont från vilken det blir möjligt att utforska sex och sexualitet bortom rigida genusnormer. Att existera helt bortom samhällets normativa strukturer upplevs dock som en omöjlighet. Det är därför tydligt att ett mindre cisnormativt samhälle krävs för att transpersoner ska kunna åtnjuta samma sexuella livsvillkor som den övriga befolkningen. Denna slutsats trycker på att det finns ett behov av att utveckla det sociala arbetets praktik för att säkra transpersoners rätt till jämlika levnadsvillkor. / Studies show that the transgender population in Sweden experience poorer conditions for sexual health compared with the rest of the population. The available research indicates that gender norms are one of the factors that influence transgender people's perceived sexual health. Against this background it has been argued that human service organizations need to invest in knowledge and skill development in order for transgender people’s sexual health to be improved. Knowledge that represents transgender people's own experiences of how norms and expectations interact with sexual health is needed for this to be possible. This knowledge is currently lacking. The purpose of this study is therefore to fill this gap by examining transgender people’s subjective experiences of how social norms affect the conditions for sexual health. The study is bases on qualitative interviews with 8 people who self-identify as transgender. The material has been analyzed and thematized based on Sara Ahmed’s (2006) queer phenomenology and Gagnon and Simon's (2005) sexual script theory. The results show that norms are perceived to influence sexual living conditions in complex and multifaceted ways. This influence seems to occur as societal structures, interpersonal encounters as well as intrapsychic attitudes are shaped by social norms. In this way, norms are experienced as an external and internal pressure simultaneously. The study concludes that transgender people are treated in a way that creates poor conditions for sexual health. At the same time, the results indicate that gender nonconformity can promote sexual health by creating space for sexual exploration beyond rigid gender norms. To exist completely beyond society's normative structures, is however perceived as an impossibility. It is therefore clear that a less cisnormative society is required for transgender people to be able to enjoy the same sexual living conditions as the rest of the population. This conclusion emphasizes the need to develop the social work practice to secure transgender people’s rights to equal living conditions.

Lorsqu’elle se manifeste publiquement dans la ville, la sexualité est-elle une forme consubstantielle de l’urbanité ? Sur les plans sociologique, historique et urbanistique, quels relations peut-on établir entre cultures urbaines et subcultures sexuelles ? En mêlant apprentissages théoriques et arpentages empiriques, cette thèse parcourt trois terrains exemplaires de tels rapports : les lieux de l’homosexualité masculine, les territoires de la prostitution, les commerces érotico-sexuels à Paris au début des années 2000. La méthode d’enquête combine l’analyse cartographique et l’observation ethnographique en défendant une heuristique du regard et de la description. Sous un angle territorial et macro-géographique, l’analyse met en exergue des processus d’agrégation, de dispersion et de diffusion des pratiques et des lieux, à différents niveaux de visibilité et d’accessibilité. Sous la focale ethnographique, elle décrit comment des « scripts sexuels » s’adaptent à l’environnement urbain et, inversement, comment des architectures dédiées à la sexualité publique altèrent ou reconfigurent les pratiques. Ces interactions singulières entre le spatial et le sexuel sont enfin rassemblées sous quatre registres d’interprétation : écologique, économique, moral et imaginaire. Ce sont également quatre paradigmes pour comprendre comment la ville se conjugue à la sexualité. / Is sexuality, exhibited in public spaces of the city, a consubstantial part of urbanity ? What relationships can we uncover, from a sociological, historical and urbanistic standpoint, between sexual subcultures and urban culture? Mixing theorical examinations and empirical inquiry, the dissertation focuses on three exemplary cases in order to investigate such relationships : male homosexuality in urban places, prostitution areas, and adult business and sex market in early 2000s Paris. The data collection method brings together mapping tools and ethnographic observation, while defending a heuristics of gaze and description. On a geographical scale, the analysis points out processes of aggregation, scattering and diffusion at different levels of visibility and accessibility. From an ethnographic point of view, it describes the ways in which "sexual scripts" get organized in public urban environments and, conversely, the ways in which architecture and urban design dedicated to public sexuality affect these practices. Finally, these particular interactions between space and sex are regrouped under interpretative schemes : ecology, economy, morals and imaginaries. These themes indeed constitute four paradigmatic ways to elucidate the ways in which the city and sexuality mingle.

In Sweden there is a limited research about adults with intellectual disabilities and their sexuality through a social work perspective. This study aims to study how workers in group homes and their managers describes the residents sexuality and describes how they approaches their sexuality at work. And if there’s any facilities or hindrance that affects the sexual space. 5 semi-structured interviews with managers and coordinators, and 3 focus groups with carers where made. For analysis script theory and the charmed circle have been used. The result shows that people who works at group homes has no guidance or collective ways to approach sexuality in their work. They talk about an open approach but often describes the residents as asexual and connects sexuality with the level of disabilities. The respondents acknowledge that they need more knowledge. The conclusion is that there’s a need for more knowledge and guidance for people who work at group homes to extend the space for sexuality for adults with intellectual disabilities.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur ungdomar upplever att deras föreställningar av sex och relationer påverkas utav pornografiskt material samt hur vuxna kan vara ett positivt stöd för ungdomar vid utforskandet av sin sexualitet och relationer. 217 ungdomar deltog varav 85 tjejer, 128 killar och 4 identifierade sig som icke-binär. Medelåldern på deltagarna var 17 år. Studien genomfördes via en kvantitativ ansats och webbenkät via Microsoft Forms bestående av 42 frågor. Analys av empiri gjordes genom programmet IMB SPSS statistics v. 28 där deskriptiva samt bivariata parametriska t-tester utfördes.Vidare användes Pearsons korrelationsanalys vid parametriska tester och vid fåtal tillfällen användes Spearmans korrelationsanalys vid icke normalfördelade variabler. Teori om sexuella skript brukades för att förstå, tolka samt analyseraresultat. Resultaten visade att ungdomar påverkades utav pornografiskt material i deras föreställningar om sex och relationer både i förväntningar på sex samt vad det ska innehålla samt att vi fann skillnader för de ungdomar som var i relation jämfört med de som var singlar. Fynd visade även att ungdomar hade behov av stöd av samhället och vuxna i utforskandet utav relationer och sex då många ungdomar saknade en vuxen att tala med. Det framkom även att ungdomarna upplevde brister i skolans sexualundervisning. Avslutningsvis redogörs diskussion kring problematiken att killar och tjejer uppvisade skillnader mellan våldsamt sex och samtycke samt förslag på framtida forskning.

This study aims to understand how social and sexual relations are initiated, negotiated and constructed among homo- and bisexual men within a specific sexual field; the geo-social application Grindr. It’s based on qualitative and semi-structured interviews with six self-identified homosexual men in Sweden from various age groups and with various social backgrounds who are using, or has used, Grindr in order to initiate and establish contacts with other homo- and bisexual men. Of certain interest are their experiences of using the application and being a part of its social and sexual setting.   In order to analyse the interviews, a combination of sexual script theory and sexual field theory has been used, together with Norbert Elias theories on the relationship between the established and the outsiders. The results indicate that Grindr is a refuge and safe space for homo- and bisexual men and queer persons from the social and sexual norms that prevails in a heteronormative society. As such, Grindr could be understood as a social and sexual field of its own, in which interpersonal scripts and negotiations are crucial for establishing contacts of various kinds. There is also a remarkable sexual stratification based on various sexual capitals that the users of Grindr use to position themselves in relation to each other in order to be regarded as desirable. One consequence of these “structures of desire” is that some personal and bodily qualities often are regarded in a less favourable way, sometimes with stigmatization and marginalization of groups of people as dire consequences of these structures of sexuality. There’s also a remarkable distinction, resistance and ambivalence against the heteronormative society and its cultural scenarios, but at the same time it was a necessary part in the collective self-image of being an outsider group.

Socio-cultural factors oppress and construct women as men’s objects of desire and pleasure, thus increasing women’s vulnerability to HIV infection and, subsequently, maintaining the HIV and AIDS epidemic and prevalence in South Africa’s rural areas. South Africa’s rural women and their sexuality has not received adequate attention to date. This qualitative study sought to explore rural women’s perceptions on their sexuality and HIV prevention within the socio-cultural context of Schoemansdal (South Africa). A sample of ten participants, who are women from the Swazi ethnic group between the ages of twenty and fifty, were purposefully drawn to participate in this study. Data were collected by means of tape–recorded, face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions. Results of the study reveal that women’s social and cultural contexts have an influence on their perceptions of sexuality and HIV prevention, and that this poses a hindrance to women’s HIV-prevention behaviours such as condom use. The study’s findings reveal that in examining HIV infection and prevention, women’s diverse contexts and experiences cannot continue to be overlooked. This is because they may provide relevant understanding of the epidemic that is plaguing South Africa’s rural women. / An explorative study of rural women's perceptions of sexuality and HIV prevention in their local socio-cultural context : a case study of rural Schoemansdal, Mpumalanga / Social Work / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)

Socio-cultural factors oppress and construct women as men’s objects of desire and pleasure, thus increasing women’s vulnerability to HIV infection and, subsequently, maintaining the HIV and AIDS epidemic and prevalence in South Africa’s rural areas. South Africa’s rural women and their sexuality has not received adequate attention to date. This qualitative study sought to explore rural women’s perceptions on their sexuality and HIV prevention within the socio-cultural context of Schoemansdal (South Africa). A sample of ten participants, who are women from the Swazi ethnic group between the ages of twenty and fifty, were purposefully drawn to participate in this study. Data were collected by means of tape–recorded, face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions. Results of the study reveal that women’s social and cultural contexts have an influence on their perceptions of sexuality and HIV prevention, and that this poses a hindrance to women’s HIV-prevention behaviours such as condom use. The study’s findings reveal that in examining HIV infection and prevention, women’s diverse contexts and experiences cannot continue to be overlooked. This is because they may provide relevant understanding of the epidemic that is plaguing South Africa’s rural women. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Behaviour Studies in HIV/AIDS)