This thesis is an analysis of the production of assimilation discourse, in terms of Aboriginal people’s and white people’s social relations, in a small selection of popular fiction texts from the 1950s and 1960s. I situate these novels in the broader context of assimilation by also undertaking a reading of three official texts from a slightly earlier period. These texts together produce the ambivalent white Australian story of assimilation. They illuminate some of the key sites of anxiety in assimilation discourses: inter-racial sexual relationships, the white family, and children and young adults of mixed heritage and land ownership. The crux of my argument is that in the 1950s and early 1960s the dominant cultural imagining of Australia was as a white nation. In white discourses of assimilation to fulfil the dream of whiteness, the Aboriginal people – the not-white – had to be included in or eliminated from this imagined white community. Fictional stories of assimilation were a key site for the representation of this process, that is, they produced discourses of ‘assimilation colonization’. The focus for this process were Aboriginal people of mixed ancestry, who came to be represented as ‘the half-caste’ in assimilation discourse. The novels I analyse work as ‘conduct books’. They aim to shape white reactions to the inclusion of Aboriginal people, in particular the half-caste, into ‘white Australia’. This inclusion, assimilation, was an ambivalent project – both pleasurable and unsettling – pleasurable because it worked to legitimate white colonization (Aboriginal presence as erased) and unsettling because it challenged the idea of a pure ‘white Australia’.

<p>The growing role of communication using computers in people’s everyday lives is reflected by the debates about massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMOs) like World of Warcraft and the Internet as a whole. While people may be driven by the same psychological drives that have spurred interaction between people in the past, this interaction is increasingly facilitated with the use of computer mediated communication (CMC). Can strong relations form between people that are separated by great distances in space using CMC? The presence of strong relations in MMOs could open the possibility for MMO communities to thrive.</p><p>A social network analysis of a MMO guild with 50 members was conducted using an online survey, which produced a non-response rate of 50 percent. Participants were asked about their age, the time they had spent in the guild and their gender in order to explain the social structure of the networks. They were then asked to state the strength of their relations with each of the other members of the guild on a scale from ―one, neutral‖ to ―five, strong friendship‖. The social network analysis program Pajek was used to investigate the characteristics of the social network using so called sociograms.</p><p>The essay concludes that numerous strong relations exist within the guild and that a long time spent in the guild increases the number of strong relations a guild member has. The results show that guilds may form the cohesive backbone of MMO communities and proposes that future research be conducted on the brokerage between guilds in MMO communities in order to produce a comprehensive view of the social structure of MMO communities.</p>

<p>The purpose with our research in Varbergs Kurort is to study how persons that have been a part of the individual adjusted rehabilitation program First Step have found their stay during their program. The program holds a team of professionals that together work with the individual’s physical and mental health. In our study we have included eight women and to men in the age between 35-65 years who all suffered from a slight mentally illness. Out of a social psychological perspective we have based our study from the social and room environment and how their self-recovery has affected their wellbeing during their rehabilitation. In our study we have out of qualitative interviews put together our results. The interviews were out of a narrative character where the persons told us about parts out of their lives. Our results shows that there is a huge individual development depending on what faze they are in their depression ore on their way recovering from depression. Most of them felt an enormous support from the staff and by meeting people in similar situations as their own. Also the beautiful surroundings had a positive effect of their recovering. The results have been analysed from Johan Asplunds theory about <em>social responses</em> and <em>unsocial responses</em>, how the social environment affects the individual. We also made an environmental psychological analysis with the theory about <em>restorative surroundings</em> and the term <em>cognitive maps</em> that makes the spatial environmental affects of the individual rehabilitation.</p>

The growing role of communication using computers in people’s everyday lives is reflected by the debates about massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMOs) like World of Warcraft and the Internet as a whole. While people may be driven by the same psychological drives that have spurred interaction between people in the past, this interaction is increasingly facilitated with the use of computer mediated communication (CMC). Can strong relations form between people that are separated by great distances in space using CMC? The presence of strong relations in MMOs could open the possibility for MMO communities to thrive. A social network analysis of a MMO guild with 50 members was conducted using an online survey, which produced a non-response rate of 50 percent. Participants were asked about their age, the time they had spent in the guild and their gender in order to explain the social structure of the networks. They were then asked to state the strength of their relations with each of the other members of the guild on a scale from ―one, neutral‖ to ―five, strong friendship‖. The social network analysis program Pajek was used to investigate the characteristics of the social network using so called sociograms. The essay concludes that numerous strong relations exist within the guild and that a long time spent in the guild increases the number of strong relations a guild member has. The results show that guilds may form the cohesive backbone of MMO communities and proposes that future research be conducted on the brokerage between guilds in MMO communities in order to produce a comprehensive view of the social structure of MMO communities.

Bakgrund och problematisering: Det har i dagens samhälle blivit allt vanligare att företaghyr in personal via bemanningsföretag. Detta medför positiva aspekter såsom exempelvis ökad flexibilitet men flexibilitetsstrategin kan även medföra negativa konsekvenser. Företagetkan bli svårhanterligt i och med den heterogenitet som skapas i arbetsstyrkan och det har ävenframkommit att denna heterogenitet kan påverka de sociala relationerna på arbetsplatsen. Dock är tidigare litteratur bristfällig gällande detta. Då sociala relationer är en avgörandefaktor till trivsel på arbetsplatsen och då det i sin tur gynnar företagets framgång, är dettarelevant att studera närmre. Samtidigt kan arbetsvillkoren tänkas ligga till grund för hur sociala relationer mellan inhyrda konsulter och ordinarie personal fungerar. För att få enr ättvis bild av detta bör både inhyrda och ordinaries perspektiv studeras. Eftersom ledarna kanha en inverkan på arbetsvillkoren och den sociala gemenskapen bör även deras perspektiv tas i beaktning. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka vilka konsekvenser en flexibilitetsstrategi får för arbetsvillkoren och de sociala relationerna mellan inhyrda konsulter och ordinarie arbetskraft. Metod: Uppsatsen bygger på en kvalitativ fallstudie med ett hermeneutistiskt förhållningssätt. 11 intervjuer har genomförts utifrån tre olika perspektiv: ledare, inhyrda och ordinarie. Tidigare litteratur och teori: Vi har valt att presentera vad som tidigare har studerats inomområdet med avseende på relevanta aspekter som rör studiens syfte. Fokus ligger därmed påstudier som berör arbetsvillkor och sociala relationer i organisationer som genom sin flexibilitetsstrategi använder sig av inhyrd arbetskraft. Teoriavsnittet bygger istället på tredelar: flexibilitetsstrategi, sociala relationer samt vad som kan tänkas påverka de sociala relationerna. Slutsats: Genom studien kan vi konstatera att en flexibilitetsstrategi får konsekvenser förbåde arbetsvillkor och sociala relationer mellan inhyrd och ordinarie arbetskraft. Strategin har resulterat i olika arbetsvillkor för anställningsgrupperna och dessa arbetsvillkor påverkar även i sin tur de sociala relationerna mellan dessa. Exempelvis skapar fallföretagets fysiskauppdelning mellan inhyrda och ordinarie bristfälliga relationer, ett “vi och dom” tänk, vissa fördomar och “småkonflikter” dem emellan. Dock verkade inte detta påverka anställningsgruppernas trivsel märkbart vilket vi anser beror på att de sociala behoven tillfredsställs på respektive våning. För att dock försöka undvika negativa följder som enfysisk uppdelning exempelvis för med sig har vi kommit fram till vissa åtgärder ledarna på fallföretaget bör arbeta ytterligare med, såsom information, introducering och me rgemensamma aktiviteter. / Background and problem: Today, it has become more common for the companies to hire staff from employment agencies. This brings positive aspects along, such as increasedflexibility, but can also cause negative consequences. The company can through the heterogeneity in the working force get difficult to manage and it has also been found that thesocial relationships can be affected of this. However, previous literatures are deficient inrelation to this. As social relations are an essential factor to work satisfaction, and that in turn affect the future of the company. This is relevant to study more closely. At the same time, theworking conditions can be the basis for how the social relations between temporary andregular workers get along. To get an accurate picture of this, both temporary and ordinary workers perspectives has been studied. Since even the leaders can have an impact on both the working conditions and the social relations, their perspective should also be taken into consideration. Aim: The purpose of this study is to explore what consequences a flexibility strategy will have on the working conditions and the social relations between temporary and regularworkers. Method: The thesis is based on a case study of quality type with a hermeneutic view. 11interviews have been conducted from three different perspectives, with leaders, temporary and regular workers. Previous research and theory: We have chosen to present previous research within thecurrent research field, which is considered to be relevant to the purpose of this study. Thestudy´s main focus is therefore related to conditions in the workplace and social relationshipswithin organizations, which use hired employees as a part of their flexibility strategy. The theoretical framework chapter is founded on three parts: flexibility strategy, social relationships, and what factors that could affect the social relationships. Results: We can through the study conclude that a flexible approach has implications for bothworking conditions and social relations between temporary and regular workers. The strategy has resulted in various working conditions for the employment groups, and those working conditions in turn, also affect the social relations between the employees. The physicalseparation the case company use, create for example, flawed relationships, an “us and them ”thinking, as well as certain prejudices and “small disputes” between them. However, this didnot appear to affect the employment groups significantly, which we believe, is because of thesocial relations are met on each floor. However, to try to avoid the negative a physical separation brings, we have come up with some ideas, which the leaders in the case companyfurther should work with, such as information, introduction and more activities for both employment groups.

Kritik är ett begrepp som inte har fått lika stort utrymme som feedback i forskning om sociala relationer. Den här studien visar på dess betydelse för relationer mellan lärare på en gymnasieskola. Utifrån teorier som Scheffs sociala band, Asplunds problemlösning, Meads ”I” och ”Me” med flera, belyser vi kritikens olika aspekter och vad som krävs för att den skall tolkas som positiv kontra negativ. Vi har under den här studien hittat en del saker som är relevanta när det gäller hur personer förhåller sig till kritik, exempelvis på vilket sätt den bör framföras och tas emot. När kritiken tolkas som någonting positivt leder det till känslor av engagemang och en vilja att göra bra ifrån sig bland annat, men när den istället tolkas som någonting negativt kan den ha motsatt effekt som visar sig genom att individen kan avskärma sig från andra personer eller situationer. Kritiken kan även ge effekt, både till det bättre eller det sämre på arbetsmiljön och påverka samarbetet mellan lärarna på arbetsplatsen. / Critique is a term that has not been given as much focus as the term feedback regarding research and studies of social relations. This study shows the importance of critique in the relations between teachers at an upper-secondary school.  Using theories such as Scheff´s social bonds, Asplund´s problem solving, Mead´s “I” and “Me” amongst others we show the different aspects of critique, and what decides if it is interpreted as positive or negative. We have while doing this study discovered some things that are relevant when it comes to how individuals behave in regards to critique, for instance in what way it should be told and received. If the critique is interpreted as something positive it can lead to feelings of commitment and it can create a will to improve oneself. If it is interpreted as something negative it might have the opposite effect, that the individual isolates him or herself from other people or situations. Critique can also have an impact, for better or worse for the work environment and affect the teamwork between the teachers who work together.

This work introduces the idea of mysterious criticism as a viable means by which to critique, explain, and understand the role that hierarchy plays in human social relations. It scrutinizes the works of Kenneth Burke and others to explain the role that mystery plays in human hierarchical circumstances, and becomes a foray into popular culture as a suitable object by which to explicate the form of critique offered in its pages as well as providing fruitful sources for the study of hierarchy in the beginning of the 21st century. / text

The thesis includes three empirical studies on Swedish children’s well-being. Central themes in these studies are how children’s social relations are influenced by and influence other dimensions of their well-being. The studies are framed in the introductory chapter, which includes an international comparison of children’s social relations. Study I analyses whether relations with parents and teachers are associated with the adolescent’s social background and whether the positive consequences of having strong relations are more important for disadvantaged adolescents. The results, based on nationally representa­tive survey data, confirm that strong social relations are conducive to adolescents’ school and psychological outcomes, and show that dis­advan­taged adolescents have weaker relations with parents and teachers. Furthermore, these results imply that relations with teachers are of particular importance for disadvantaged adolescents’ outcomes, while parental relations are equally important for both advantaged and dis­advantaged adolescents. Study II investigates the social side of consumption by studying the association between adolescents’ economic resources and their relations with peers. Analyses on nationally representative survey data; which include children’s own responses, as well as information from parents and register data, show that economic resources, in terms of both house­hold economy and adolescents’ own resources, are positively associated with peer relations. Study III analyses whether final grades in compulsory school are influenced by the sex composition in school classes. Analyses using register data show that boys’ grades are negatively affected by the share of girls in school classes in typical female school subjects. Girls’ grades are negatively affected by the share of boys with highly educated parents. The proposed explanation behind the results is that sex composition effects are due to negative social comparisons with the other sex. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Submitted.

The purpose with our research in Varbergs Kurort is to study how persons that have been a part of the individual adjusted rehabilitation program First Step have found their stay during their program. The program holds a team of professionals that together work with the individual’s physical and mental health. In our study we have included eight women and to men in the age between 35-65 years who all suffered from a slight mentally illness. Out of a social psychological perspective we have based our study from the social and room environment and how their self-recovery has affected their wellbeing during their rehabilitation. In our study we have out of qualitative interviews put together our results. The interviews were out of a narrative character where the persons told us about parts out of their lives. Our results shows that there is a huge individual development depending on what faze they are in their depression ore on their way recovering from depression. Most of them felt an enormous support from the staff and by meeting people in similar situations as their own. Also the beautiful surroundings had a positive effect of their recovering. The results have been analysed from Johan Asplunds theory about social responses and unsocial responses, how the social environment affects the individual. We also made an environmental psychological analysis with the theory about restorative surroundings and the term cognitive maps that makes the spatial environmental affects of the individual rehabilitation.

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