Syftet med arbetsstudien är att utforska och få en bredare syn på hur barns perspektiv beaktas och värderas, samt hur barns delaktighet hanteras av en LSS-handläggare utifrån ens upplevelser och erfarenheter. Det empiriska materialet har erhållits genom en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer där urvalet består av sex LSS-biståndshandläggare från tre olika kommuner i Sverige. Resultaten visar att dessa deltagande LSS-biståndshandläggarna är medvetna om sina skyldigheter att använda barnperspektiv i sina arbeten. Men att tolkningen och definitionen av barnperspektiven varierar mellan samtliga deltagare. Resultaten visade även att implementeringen av barnkonventionen har trappats upp hos kommun A, medan hos andra kommuner har man inte framkommit lika långt. Resultaten visar också att det finns ett antal olika tillvägagångssätt för en biståndshandläggare inom LSS att genom sitt arbete kunna befrämja barns delaktighet genom exempelvis miljö, dokumentation, möten och kommunikation. Dessutom visar studien att det finns ett visst antal utmaningar som har påverkat barns delaktighet och hindrat barnen till att komma till tals. Dessa resultat kategoriseras under rubriken Brist på kunskap och kommunikationshjälpmedel gällande dialog och samtal med barn med funktionsnedsättning. Resultaten visar även att det finns ett enormt intresse och en stor vilja hos studiedeltagarna att avlägsna en del av dessa hinder. Nuläget kräver därför nya arbetsmetoder och specialiserade utbildningar som kan möjliggöra för LSS-handläggarna att vidareutveckla arbetet med barnperspektiven för att ännu bättre kunna implementera barnkonventionen. / The aim of the work study is to investigate and gain a wider view of how children's perspectives are considered and appreciated and how children's participation is handled by the LSS administrator based on their own experiences and encounters. The empirical material was obtained by a qualitative method with partially structured interviews in which the sample consisted of six LSS development aid officials from three different municipalities in Sweden. The results showed that LSS development aid workers participating in the program are aware of their responsibilities to use the child's perspective in their work. But that the interpretation and definition of a child's perspective differs among all participants. The results also showed that the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child was accelerated in municipality A, while in other municipalities it has not progressed as far. The results also show that there are several different approaches for a development assistance officer within LSS to be able to promote children's participation through, for example, the environment, documentation, meetings, and communication. In addition, the study shows that there are a few challenges that have affected children's participation and prevented children from speaking out. These results are categorized under the heading Lack of knowledge and communication aids regarding dialogue and conversations with children with disabilities. The results also show that there is an enormous interest and a great willingness among the study participants to remove some of these obstacles. The current situation therefore requires new working methods and specialized training that can enable the LSS administrators to further develop the work with the child perspective to be able to implement the children's convention even better.

Våld i nära relation är ett utbrett och komplext problem i dagens samhälle. En del av våldet som ofta glöms bort är det våld som sker i äldres nära relationer och detta ses ofta som en egen kategori: våld mot äldre. Äldre kvinnor som utsätts för våld i nära relation är speciellt ett problem som riskerar att förbises. Denna uppsats har undersökt hur konstruktioner av våld i nära relation samt äldres våldsutsatthet görs i svenska kommuners policydokument i arbetet mot våld i nära relation. Syftet har varit att analysera dessa konstruktioner utifrån ett intersektionellt perspektiv för att se om intersektionen mellan kön och ålder synliggörs i policydokumenten, alltså om den äldre kvinnans dubbla utsatthet ryms i dessa dokument. För att analysera policydokumenten användes Carol Bacchis policyanalysmetod What’s the problem represented to be?. Metodens teoretiska grund med avstamp i ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv har även varit en del av uppsatsens teoretiska utgångspunkt. Resultatet visar att majoriteten av de undersökta kommunerna framställer våldet som ett könsneutralt problem. Undersökningen visar även att äldres våldsutsatthet till viss del förstås som en del av problemet våld i nära relation. Dock ses våld mot äldre i första hand som en konsekvens av den sårbarhet som ökad ålder kan innebära. Den äldre kvinnan var i princip obefintlig i policydokumenten, det saknas således ett intersektionellt perspektiv där den specifika risken med att vara just kvinna och äldre framkommer.

A question addressed in this study is; how are identities of children constructed using narratives and photographs in humanitarian discourse? This study is a sociological exposition of ethical issues that arise from representations of children within humanitarian discourse. Humanitarian discourse is treated as a special type of cultural representation. This discourse entails uses of a special form of language that constructs represents and portrays stereotypical identities of children. Such cultural representation illustrates how children’s identities are socially constructed realities. Constructions of realities of children are shaped, influenced and ‘controlled’ by intentions of humanitarian professionals as social actors. Humanitarian professionals’ actions as agents are also located within socio-cultural structures and contexts that give rise to the humanitarian discourse. This means reality is not ‘unified’ but a product of intentional and conscious inter-subjective human actions in specific contexts. Such is an assumption of phenomenological sociological theory that situates this study. This assumption also influenced qualitative research methods of this study. Qualitative methods emphasise the significance of individual perceptions and interpretations when analysing social issues. Identified ethical issues arise from practical program situations causing humanitarian professionals to collect children’s narratives and photographs in the first instance. Those situations include; conducting child focused researches, designing children’s programs, writing child rights advocacy articles and policy briefs, marketing children’s issues, media publishing, writing project proposals, monitoring and evaluating projects. Ethical issues that arise from the above include; violations of children’s privacies, lack of informed consent to collect and use children’s narratives and photographs, uses of enticements to induce information from children, disclosures of sensitive data, exaggerations, sensationalising and manipulations of children’s identities. Based on study findings, knowledge or academic contribution situated within phenomenological sociology is proposed. The study’s knowledge contribution is that constructions of children’s identities reveal how perceptions and interpretations of identities create socially determined realities within humanitarian discourse. / Sociology / D. Phil. (Sociology)

<p>Migrationsverket is Sweden’s central government authority for alien affairs. It is responsible for permits for people visiting and settling in Sweden, and for the asylum process. Migrationsverket consists of five divisions, Visas, Work Permits and Residence Permits is one of these divisions. The employees in this division mainly work with interviewing the applicants and the referees, and with lengthening residence permits.</p><p>This study is about organizational identity, which can be described as the beliefs, thoughts and emotions the employees have about their organization. The employee’s perspective serve as a starting point in our discussion, and this is because of the purpose of our study. The purpose is to illustrate and interpret the organizational identity at Migrationsverket.</p><p>In our study we use a qualitative method, and perform ten unstructured interviews. We use the abductive approach, which is characterized by a mutual influence of theory and empirical investigation. We see reality as a social construction, and the hermeneutic approach has influenced our work with this study.</p><p>A sense of belonging and mutual feelings is a part of organizational identity, and this is why we illustrate both the individual and the group. We also describe the importance of social constructions as a part of organizational identity. The central part of this study is the beliefs, thoughts and emotions the employees have about their organization. The employees at Migrationsverket see the interaction with people as a central part of their work, and they point out the delightful solidarity within the division. The big problem, however, is the enormous work load, which prolongs the processing time for applications. For the employees this means that they feel frustration in their work.</p><p>We see humanity, responsibility, belonging, and frustration as the four differential characteristics at the division. Humanity is foremost seen as a part of the interaction with the applicants but also in the relations between the employees. Responsibility is, as we see it, an element in humanity. This because of the humanity the employees feel towards the applicants. The sense of belonging is expressed through the identification the employees have with each other and with the organization. The frustration has its foundation in the work load that exists in the division.</p> / <p>Migrationsverket är den centrala utlänningsmyndigheten i Sverige. De ansvarar bland annat för visum för besök, tillstånd när en person vill bosätta sig i Sverige och handläggande av asylärenden. Migrationsverket är uppdelat i fem verksamhetsområden och Besök och bosättning är en av dessa. Medarbetarna inom detta verksamhetsområde arbetar främst med seriositetsintervjuer och förlängningar av uppehållstillstånd.</p><p>Uppsatsen handlar om organisationsidentitet, som kan beskrivas som medarbetarnas uppfattningar, tankar och känslor om den organisation de är medlemmar i. Vi utgår från medarbetarnas perspektiv, och detta har sin grund i vårt syfte som handlar om att belysa och tolka organisationsidentiteten på Migrationsverket.</p><p>Vi använder en kvalitativ metod och genomför tio ostrukturerade djupintervjuer. Vi har den abduktiva ansatsen som utgångspunkt, och den kännetecknas av att teori och empiri ömsesidigt påverkar varandra i tolkningsprocessen. Vi ser verkligheten som en social konstruktion och hermeneutiken har influerat oss i vårt arbete.</p><p>Tillhörighet och gemensamma känslor är en del av organisationsidentiteten, så vi belyser både individen och gruppen, samt den betydelse sociala konstruktioner har på organisationsidentiteten. Det centrala i uppsatsen är medarbetarnas uppfattningar, tankar och känslor om organisationen. Medarbetarna på Migrationsverket ser mötet med människor som en central del i arbetet och de framhåller den härliga sammanhållningen på enheten. Det som ses som det stora problemet är arbetsbelastningen, vilket leder till att handläggningstiderna ökar och för medarbetarna innebär detta att de känner frustration i sitt arbete.</p><p>Vi tolkar humanitet, responsibilitet, tillhörighet och frustration som de utmärkande karakteristika på tillståndsenheten. Humaniteten visar sig främst mot de sökande men även mellan medarbetarna på tillståndsenheten. Responsibiliteten är en del av humaniteten då den kommer ur den medmänsklighet medarbetarna känner mot de sökande. Tillhörigheten finns bland annat i medarbetarnas identifiering med varandra och organisationen. Frustrationen kommer från den höga arbetsbelastning som råder på tillståndsenheten.</p>

In 1995 the Swedish government launched the first area-based initiative Special initiatives in immigrant-dense neighbourhoods as a response to the current debate concerning the failings of the integration policy. The area-based policy and projects undertake the mission to reverse the trend in marginalized neighbourhoods in Sweden’s major cities from 1995 to 2014. The empirical material is from the projects Area-programs for a socially sustainable Malmö (2010-2015) and Lindängen towards the future (2012-2014), Malmö municipality. Adopting a social constructionist approach the study’s aim is to examine the projects’ assumptions concerning what – and who – should be changed and how.  Based on the policy´s claim to achieve structural change the study also examines if, and if so what, possibilities the projects have to create opportunities for structural change.   The study shows that the area-based projects cannot create opportunities for structural change but rather work to reduce the social consequences of structural deficiencies that are made visible through the reproduction of marginalised neighbourhoods. In the projects the social problem is constructed as consisting of four interrelated factors: long-term unemployment, foreign background, segregation and lack of social responsibility. The strategy is to mobilise public, private and civil sector actors so that they – despite society’s exclusion of people of foreign background in situations of long-term unemployment – take their social responsibility and make available resources to individual residents in order to prepare them for becoming active citizens. As they are not able to reduce poverty, promote inclusive political and economic processes or legitimate relationships between those in power and representatives of civil society with demands for changing conditions, their ability to create opportunities for structural change is found to be  limited. / 1995 implementeras det första områdesbaserade projektet Särskilda insatser i invandrartäta bostadsområden som svar på den pågående debatten rörande samhällsutvecklingen och den misslyckade integrationspolitiken. Den områdesbaserade politiken syftar till att vända utvecklingen i marginaliserade bostadsområden i Sveriges storstäder 1995-2014. Här studeras Malmö stads Områdesprogram för ett socialt hållbart Malmö (2010-2015) och Lindängen mot framtiden (2012-2014). Genom att anlägga en socialkonstruktionistisk ansats syftar studien till att undersöka föreställningar om vad - och vem - som bör förändras och hur. Med bakgrund i politikområdets anspråk om att uppnå strukturell förändring undersöker studien även om, och i så fall vilka, förutsättningar politikområdet och projekt i praktiken har att möjliggöra strukturell förändring.   Studien visar att de områdesbaserade projekten inte har möjlighet att verka strukturförändrande utan snarast arbetar för att minska de sociala konsekvenserna av strukturella brister som synliggörs genom reproduktionen av marginaliserade bostadsområden. Projekten konstruerar det sociala problemet som bestående av fyra interrelaterade faktorer: långvarig arbetslöshet, utländsk bakgrund, boendesegregation och bristande samhällsansvar. Deras strategi är att mobilisera offentliga, privata och civila sektorsaktörer för att de – trots samhällssystemets exkludering av människor med utländsk bakgrund i situationer av långvarig arbetslöshet – ska ta sitt samhällsansvar och tillgängliggöra resurser till enskilda invånare för att förbereda dem för att bli aktiva samhällsmedborgare. Projektens möjlighet att skapa strukturell förändring hindras av att de inte kan minska fattigdom, främja inkluderande politiska och ekonomiska processer, eller bidra till legitima relationer mellan makthavare och aktörer från det civila samhället med krav på förändrade villkor. / <p>QC 20161213</p>

This study focuses on how leadership is constructed in the Social Service of Sweden. The aim is to study how first line managers experience expectations on themselves as leaders and how they handle these as well as how they perceive their possibility to live up to these expectations. The study is based on eight interviews with first line managers in the fields of Social Service. Even though the result show that first line managers experience a lot of, sometimes conflicting, expectations, both from within the organisation but also external expectations from society, they feel that they can handle the pressure. The managers appear to have developed strategies to handle these expectations by re-formulating them into new expectations that is easier to live up to. Also, they believe that they have good opportunities as they feel supported in their work and they have a good self-esteem. Overall the interviewed first line managers don’t describe themselves as stressed or overworked, troubled with meeting up to expectations on them, which somewhat contradicts the result of previous research.

This is a dissertation on education that focuses on leadership making at the departmental level of higher education. The aim of this dissertation is to generate knowledge about the making of leadership, seen as identity development in the discourse on academic leadership. This by studying the logic and tensions of discourse, what leadership identities the discourse expresses at different times and by describing an understanding of different processes of leadership identity development. The frame of reference in this study is based on a relationistic and non-dualistic theoretical framework, which suggests that discourse theory can help us understand the reality as discursive and the view on leadership in higher education as socially constructed through talk and other actions within a specific discourse. Two empirical studies were performed by making interviews and then a multivariate correspondence analysis of the nodes (symbolic areas of talk) that the informants attached significance were carried out. Study I focuses on the discourse on academic leadership expressed by 15 departmental heads at five occasions, from the time where the heads were novices to a time four years later when they were more experienced. These interviews were used for the construction of three empirically based study objects; the novice discourse, the problem discourse and the experience discourse. Study II was conducted in four case departments. Its aim was to shed light on the discourse on academic leadership from the point of view of staff members, rather than from that of departmental heads themselves. Totally, in these four departments, 33 interviews with different categories of staff members were performed. The empirically based study object was here the staff members’ discourse. Each discourse construction may be said to be built up by the discourse episteme, subepisteme and subject positions and a relational analysis of the discourse structure have been used to describe the discourse’s logic and tensions and its identity expressions. By contrasting the discourse constructions over time also identity development was illuminated. For study I, one of the aspects of the logic of discourse on academic leadership is that in the course of time it goes from being a heterogeneous discourse with only a few common episteme nodes towards being a more homogeneous, unified and coherent discourse with a larger common core. The shared leadership identity base is thereby made more extensive. Six central symbolic areas of talk recur in similar ways at the three points of time for the analysis of study I: the handling of the economy, staff management (HRM), laws, ordinances and rules for the headship, the heavy workload and time shortage, delegation of tasks and responsibilities and support through leadership training and education. Examples of three relatively common identity development processes in the discourse on academic leadership are: 1) a vague development process where a non-head of department leadership identity is strong over time, 2) a process of development from an uncertain and fuzzy to a positive and obvious manager identity, and 3) a process of development from an uncertain and fuzzy to a gender-related and problem-orientated leadership identity. Thus the main result of the studies is the visualisation of the gender segregation process that the discourse makes possible and the different ways in which academic leadership is expressed in the male-dominated versus the female-dominated positions. The discourse logic for staff members in study II also shows a partly gender-separated discourse. On the other hand, there are not much content similarities, through nodes, in the gender-separated relational structure in the sense that the female staff/heads and the male staff/heads in both studies express similar symbolic areas of talk.

Migrationsverket is Sweden’s central government authority for alien affairs. It is responsible for permits for people visiting and settling in Sweden, and for the asylum process. Migrationsverket consists of five divisions, Visas, Work Permits and Residence Permits is one of these divisions. The employees in this division mainly work with interviewing the applicants and the referees, and with lengthening residence permits. This study is about organizational identity, which can be described as the beliefs, thoughts and emotions the employees have about their organization. The employee’s perspective serve as a starting point in our discussion, and this is because of the purpose of our study. The purpose is to illustrate and interpret the organizational identity at Migrationsverket. In our study we use a qualitative method, and perform ten unstructured interviews. We use the abductive approach, which is characterized by a mutual influence of theory and empirical investigation. We see reality as a social construction, and the hermeneutic approach has influenced our work with this study. A sense of belonging and mutual feelings is a part of organizational identity, and this is why we illustrate both the individual and the group. We also describe the importance of social constructions as a part of organizational identity. The central part of this study is the beliefs, thoughts and emotions the employees have about their organization. The employees at Migrationsverket see the interaction with people as a central part of their work, and they point out the delightful solidarity within the division. The big problem, however, is the enormous work load, which prolongs the processing time for applications. For the employees this means that they feel frustration in their work. We see humanity, responsibility, belonging, and frustration as the four differential characteristics at the division. Humanity is foremost seen as a part of the interaction with the applicants but also in the relations between the employees. Responsibility is, as we see it, an element in humanity. This because of the humanity the employees feel towards the applicants. The sense of belonging is expressed through the identification the employees have with each other and with the organization. The frustration has its foundation in the work load that exists in the division. / Migrationsverket är den centrala utlänningsmyndigheten i Sverige. De ansvarar bland annat för visum för besök, tillstånd när en person vill bosätta sig i Sverige och handläggande av asylärenden. Migrationsverket är uppdelat i fem verksamhetsområden och Besök och bosättning är en av dessa. Medarbetarna inom detta verksamhetsområde arbetar främst med seriositetsintervjuer och förlängningar av uppehållstillstånd. Uppsatsen handlar om organisationsidentitet, som kan beskrivas som medarbetarnas uppfattningar, tankar och känslor om den organisation de är medlemmar i. Vi utgår från medarbetarnas perspektiv, och detta har sin grund i vårt syfte som handlar om att belysa och tolka organisationsidentiteten på Migrationsverket. Vi använder en kvalitativ metod och genomför tio ostrukturerade djupintervjuer. Vi har den abduktiva ansatsen som utgångspunkt, och den kännetecknas av att teori och empiri ömsesidigt påverkar varandra i tolkningsprocessen. Vi ser verkligheten som en social konstruktion och hermeneutiken har influerat oss i vårt arbete. Tillhörighet och gemensamma känslor är en del av organisationsidentiteten, så vi belyser både individen och gruppen, samt den betydelse sociala konstruktioner har på organisationsidentiteten. Det centrala i uppsatsen är medarbetarnas uppfattningar, tankar och känslor om organisationen. Medarbetarna på Migrationsverket ser mötet med människor som en central del i arbetet och de framhåller den härliga sammanhållningen på enheten. Det som ses som det stora problemet är arbetsbelastningen, vilket leder till att handläggningstiderna ökar och för medarbetarna innebär detta att de känner frustration i sitt arbete. Vi tolkar humanitet, responsibilitet, tillhörighet och frustration som de utmärkande karakteristika på tillståndsenheten. Humaniteten visar sig främst mot de sökande men även mellan medarbetarna på tillståndsenheten. Responsibiliteten är en del av humaniteten då den kommer ur den medmänsklighet medarbetarna känner mot de sökande. Tillhörigheten finns bland annat i medarbetarnas identifiering med varandra och organisationen. Frustrationen kommer från den höga arbetsbelastning som råder på tillståndsenheten.

The aim of this study is to create a deeper understanding of the disease known as eating disorder. The study is based on four autobiographies written by individuals who themselves have been affected by eating disorders. These stories have been studied using a narrative approach. To achieve the purpose, the study is focused on what participants describe as the factors underlying the onset of the disease, the factors that participants describe maintained their eating disorders, as well as what is described to be the factors responsible for their recovery. By my interpretation of the stories, I have been able to identify common factors that all participants describe to be influential in their disease course. The common factors that have been identified are relationships, expectations and emotions. The result shows that it is possible to see a variation in how these factors have influenced the participants' disease course. The variety of how these factors have influenced suggests that each individual's care is unique. The results have been analyzed by using the theory of social construction.

A question addressed in this study is; how are identities of children constructed using narratives and photographs in humanitarian discourse? This study is a sociological exposition of ethical issues that arise from representations of children within humanitarian discourse. Humanitarian discourse is treated as a special type of cultural representation. This discourse entails uses of a special form of language that constructs represents and portrays stereotypical identities of children. Such cultural representation illustrates how children’s identities are socially constructed realities. Constructions of realities of children are shaped, influenced and ‘controlled’ by intentions of humanitarian professionals as social actors. Humanitarian professionals’ actions as agents are also located within socio-cultural structures and contexts that give rise to the humanitarian discourse. This means reality is not ‘unified’ but a product of intentional and conscious inter-subjective human actions in specific contexts. Such is an assumption of phenomenological sociological theory that situates this study. This assumption also influenced qualitative research methods of this study. Qualitative methods emphasise the significance of individual perceptions and interpretations when analysing social issues. Identified ethical issues arise from practical program situations causing humanitarian professionals to collect children’s narratives and photographs in the first instance. Those situations include; conducting child focused researches, designing children’s programs, writing child rights advocacy articles and policy briefs, marketing children’s issues, media publishing, writing project proposals, monitoring and evaluating projects. Ethical issues that arise from the above include; violations of children’s privacies, lack of informed consent to collect and use children’s narratives and photographs, uses of enticements to induce information from children, disclosures of sensitive data, exaggerations, sensationalising and manipulations of children’s identities. Based on study findings, knowledge or academic contribution situated within phenomenological sociology is proposed. The study’s knowledge contribution is that constructions of children’s identities reveal how perceptions and interpretations of identities create socially determined realities within humanitarian discourse. / Sociology / D. Phil. (Sociology)