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This project study addressed the problem of the low percentage of a Mid-Atlantic university's radiography graduates passing their credentialing registry examination. The cohort had a 2014 pass rate of 83% while the majority of surrounding schools had pass rates of 100%. In order to become registered radiographers, graduates must be able to take what they have learned in their educational program and directly apply it to their professional skill set. The conceptual framework for the study was social constructivism, adapting and transforming what was new information to previous experiences and group activities. A qualitative case study research design was chosen, and interviews were conducted with 9 graduates from the 2014 radiography cohort. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, manually coded, and analyzed for emerging themes. Key results indicated the graduates needed to self-monitor, self-motivate, and self-propel to successfully pass their credentialing exam. A 3-day professional development plan for graduates was created based on the findings from the study. Passing the credentialing exam affects social change in that knowledge and education produces positive outcomes, and for allied health professionals, it produces optimum patient care. Social change is possible through education, which will enhance an individual's self-efficacy, thereby enriching the society and culture to which they contribute. This knowledge will support the local problem in that optimum performance for radiography graduates will be monitored for standards of excellence.

In recent years media have reported increasing gun violence in what media call “vulnerable areas” (in Swedish “utsatta områden”). This study aimed to analyse the present discourse regarding “vulnerable areas”, with the purpose of highlighting how media produce information about these areas. In this study, the portrait of “vulnerable areas” through news articles from the Swedish newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet from the last year were analysed. The primary research question was the selection of spokesperson which thereby forms the discourse. Based on discourse theory, social constructivism and the power of language have been used as theoretical tools for analysis. The results indicate that media predominantly portrays “vulnerable areas” with a negative language use. People with authority are often allowed to express themselves and shape the discourse. The three most frequently themes in the articles were: criminality, insecurity, and distrust in authorities. In our concluding remarks we discuss how underlying structural reasons that leads to social consequences in “vulnerable areas” seldom are mentioned and can be better reported by media. Furthermore, we discuss the need of future research. / I takt med det senaste årets intensiva medierapportering om det ökade skjutvapenvåldet har ”utsatta områden” kommit att bli alltmer omskrivna. Denna studie har undersökt den nuvarande diskursen av ”utsatta områden” i syfte att synliggöra hur media konstruerar och framställer dessa områden. Studien hade för avsikt att analysera hur ”utsatta områden” porträtteras i tjugo nyhetsartiklar och reportage från Dagens Nyheter och Svenska Dagbladet det senaste året. En av studiens mest centrala frågor var vilka som får komma till tals och på så sätt forma diskursen. Med utgångspunkt i diskursteori har socialkonstruktivismen och språkets makt utgjort de teoretiska analysverktygen. Resultatet visar att media övervägande porträtterar ”utsatta områden” i samband med ett negativt språkbruk. Det föreligger till viss del en maktasymmetri där personer med auktoritet ofta får uttala sig samt forma diskursen. De tre mest återkommande temana i artiklarna var; kriminalitet, otrygghet och misstro till myndigheter. Avslutningsvis förs en diskussion om huruvida strukturella orsaker som får sociala konsekvenser i ”utsatta områden” sällan lyfts i media samt förslag på framtida forskning.

Människor har genom alla tider alltid varit otrogna, även långt innan sociala medier fanns. Det finns idag en uppsjö av sociala medier och appar som människor kan använda sig av för att interagera med varandra och hitta nya bekantskaper. Sociala medier har tveklöst förändrat människors sexuella beteenden, och gjort det lättare än någonsin att skapa sexuella kontakter. Vi ställde oss då frågan om denna tillgänglighet var något som lockade även när det kommer till otrohet? Syftet med studien var således att undersöka människors erfarenheter av att vara otrogna över sociala medier. Vi ville med hjälp av intervjuer få fram hur synen på otrohet ser ut bland personer som använder sociala medier och har egen erfarenhet av otrohet på nätet, samt på vilket sätt de sociala medierna kunde användas för detta ändamål, och hur detta kan förstås ur ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv. För att få svar på dessa frågor genomfördes tio kvalitativa intervjuer med personer som varit otrogna med hjälp av sociala medier någon gång under de senaste tio åren. Insamlad data har sedan analyserats med en tematisk analys. Resultatet visar att otrohet som sker över sociala medier är svårdefinierat och gör det svårare med gränsdragningarna för vad som klassas som otrohet och inte. Det visar även på att sociala medier har förändrat våra sexuella script, och att de sociala mediernas lättillgänglighet och känsla av anonymitet är en bidragande faktor till detta. Vår studie visar att det behövs mer forskning inom området för att ytterligare undersöka hur den ökande användningen av sociala medier kan komma att påverka etablerade partnerrelationer, och för att få en bredare samsyn kring vad som kan räknas som otrohetspraktiker online. / People have always been unfaithful, even long before social media existed. Today, there is a plethora of social media and apps that people can use to interact with each other and find new acquaintances. Social media has undoubtedly changed people's sexual behaviors, making it easier than ever to make sexual connections. We then asked ourselves if this availability was something that also attracted when it comes to infidelity? The aim of this study was thus to examine people’s experiences of online infidelity. We wanted to interview people who had been unfaithful with the help of social media and investigate their view on online infidelity. And also to get an idea of how the different types of social media were used for this specific purpose, and how it can be understood using a social constructivist perspective. To get the answer to these questions we held ten qualitative interviews with people who had been unfaithful with the help of social media at some point during the last decade. The collected data has been analyzed with a thematic analysis. The results show that infidelity that takes place over social media is difficult to define and makes it more difficult to draw the boundaries of what is classified as infidelity and not. It also shows that social media has changed our sexual scripts, and that social media's ease of access and sense of anonymity is a contributing factor to this. Our study shows that more research is needed in this area to further investigate how the increasing use of social media may affect established partner relationships, and to get a broader consensus on what can be counted as infidelity practices online.

The aim of the study has been to investigate if age is impacting the social workers interpretationand application of the Swedish compulsory care legislation for people with substance abuse, Lag(1988:870) om vård av missbrukare i vissa fall [LVM]. This with a specific focus on the elderly,thus clients over 65 years. Moreover it aims to examine whether the Swedish legal principles ofequality and objectivity are complied with in the practice of social work. The study is based oneight qualitative semi-structured interviews with eight social workers, at the time working withhandling of such matters. The theories used in the analysis are social constructivism with theunderlying concepts of age-coding and client construction, as well as ageism. The findings of thestudy show, despite the fact that the social workers clarifies that all people are covered by theLVM-legislation, that younger client groups are given higher priority than the older whenallocating resources based on the law. The reasons were found to be several, but were, amongother things, attributed to the fact that rehabilitation opportunities were seen less for the elderly,that the social indication of the law was seen as more applicable on a young’s life circumstances,as well as ethical doubts about the use of compulsory care occurred to a greater extent regardingthe elderly. The social worker’s interpretations and applications of the law were seen to beinfluenced by social age-constructions that exist in Swedish society. Constructions which, if theyare not noticed and questioned, can imply discriminatory practices towards the elderly, and thusageism-effects.

This thesis addresses the ethical implications of NATO securitizing Russia without being in direct warfare,seeking to contribute to the debate of the integration of ethics into IR. This thesis contributes to that argument by integrating ethical dimensions of normative character through Floyd's Just Security Theory (JST) within the framework of social constructivism to develop new theoretical insights. The research is structured around theresearch question exploring how NATO's identity construction undergoes changes due to the tense relationship withRussia. The formation of identity plays a crucial role in threat construction. The findings from Rousseau andGarcia- Retamero's Threat Assessment, revealed through NATO Annual Reports, confirm the fluidity of NATO's identity construction and its designation of Russia as a threat. The second portion of the research question suggestthat attributing a threat status to another actor in the international system has significant ethical implications, necessitating ethical considerations in the securitization process and its influence on security discourse. The thesis findings support the need for ethical considerations, while acknowledging that these considerations aresubject to critique based on the chosen theoretical framework. It emphasizes the need for ethical considerations in the securitization process, and by extension in IR; and argues for the moral justifiability of NATO's securitization of Russia.

This thesis explains Putin’s motive to go to war against Ukraine. Specifically, I studied the roleof ideology, identity, discourse, othering, and the social construction of reality in this war. Incontrast to other analyses, I consider materialism and geopolitics not important variables thatcan best explain the reason behind the Russian war against Ukraine.I have used critical discourse analysis to analyse four different discourses by Putin from1999-2022. My findings suggest that Putin produces a discourse to convince Russians that heis the best leader for them and increase his legitimacy. This strategy is conducted by sociallycreating the West as the “enemy” of Russians by constantly using discourse that is attackingand discrediting the West who aims to impose abnormal and unacceptable values in the Russiansociety to destroy Russia from “within”. However, If democracy could prosper in a countrywhere ordinary Russians have a cultural, linguistic and historical affinity, then it could succeedin Russia as well. And this, according to my social constructivist perspective, what pushedPutin to go to war against the rising democracy in Ukraine.

No description available.

The study aims to, based on a critical discourse analysis, study the judgments in administrative courts in LVU cases in order to identify the occurrence of the concept of the best interests of the child and the significance it is given. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates that childrens’s rights are safeguarded, that children must have the opportunity to participate in decisions that affect them and that in all measures concerning children, the child´s best interests must come first. On January 1, 2020, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child became Swedish law with the aim of further clarifying the rights of the child and ensuring that they are safeguarded and taken into account by law enforcement. Incorporation of the Convention on Rights of the Child is described as having contributed to a more children’s right-based approach in all public activities, which it intends to study and review. Previous research in the field shows that children's participation and decision-making processes that concern them are often deficient, despite the fact that many children wish for increased participation. Previous research has also been able to demonstrate that, however, there are no general guidelines for how the legal objective of the best interests of the child should be achieved in legal processes. The critical discourse analysis used to analyze 10 of the administrative court's judgments in LVU cases has been able to demonstrate that the administrative court does not use the concept of the child's best interest in its assessments and decisions at all.

Lärares villkor att ingå i skolutvecklingsprojekt är starkt kopplat till samhälls- och policyförändringar på makro- meso- och mikronivå. På mikronivå har ämneslärare i en särskild undervisningsgrupp ingått i ett forskningsutvecklingsarbete inom Språkutvecklande digitaliseringsarbete då det finns ett utvecklingsbehov inom dessa områden. I utbildningssammanhang och då det talas om lärares handlingskraft och attityder talas det om "agency" och kopplas till självförtroende, motivation, vilja, målmedvetenhet och kreativitet. Syftet med studien var att undersöka vad som är utmärkande för lärares erfarenheter samt vilka villkor och möjligheter ämneslärare i årskurs 6-9 upplever med att ingå i ett forskningsutvecklingsarbete på vetenskaplig grund. Studien genomfördes på fyra ämneslärare med avsikten att utifrån ett socialkonstruktivistisk förhållningssätt analysera vilka nyvunna insikter framträder i de sociala samspelen i foksugruppen. Analysen skedde via tematisk analys utifrån den induktiva metoden. Det som framträdde i analysen var teman kopplade till olika framträdande koder. Några nyckelfaktorer visade sig vara de pedagogiska samtalen, att växa tillsammans i en grupp, förmågan att kunna se det positiva och kontiniuitetens betydelse. Vidare ansågs det mer relevant att ingå i ett forksningsutvecklingsarbete skapat utifrån ett  "down-top" perspektiv. Motståndet bland informanterna visade sig vara kopplat till plötsliga förändringar som bestäms utifrån ett "top-down" perspektiv – där förutsägbarhet och tydlighet visades vara betydelsefullt för elever som ingår i en särskild undervisningsgrupp. Sammantaget visade studien att ingå i ett forskningsutvecklingsarbete med fokus på ett sociokulturellt perspektiv och heterarkier främjar kollegialt lärande som engagerar ämneslärare och bidrar till proffesionsutveckling både på individ och organisationsnivå. / Teachers' conditions to be included in school development projects are strongly linked to societal and policy changes at the macro, meso and micro level. On a micro level, subject teachers in a special teaching group have been involved in research development work within Language Development digitization work as there is a development need in these areas. In the context of education and when talking about teachers' power of action and attitudes, they talk about "agency" and it is linked to selfconfidence, motivation, will, determination and creativity. The purpose of the study was to investigate what is distinctive about subject teachers' experiences and what conditions and opportunities subject teachers in grades 6-9 experience with participating in research development work on a scientific basis. The study was carried out through a focus group of four subject teachers with the intention of analyzing, based on a social constructivist approach, which newly gained insights emerge in the social interactions in the focus group. The analysis took place via thematic analysis based on the inductive method. What emerged in the analysis were themes linked to various salient codes. Some key factors were shown to be the educational conversations, growing together in a group, the ability to see the positive and the importance of continuity. Furthermore, it was considered more relevant to be included in a project created from a "down-top" perspective. The resistance among the informants turned out to be linked to sudden changes that are determined from a "topdown" perspective - where predictability and clarity were shown to be significant for students who are part of a special teaching group. Overall, the study showed that being part of a school development project with a focus on a socio-cultural perspective as well as from heterarchies promotes collegial learning that engages subject teachers and contributes to professional development both at individual group and organizational level