University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Sociology

The purpose of this study is to examine how young people with experience of running away and/or getting thrown out look upon and understand the phenomenon. Another purpose of thestudy is to examine how the youth evaluate the help and support they did or did not receive at the time of their experience, as well as to examine what the ultimate help and support would be according to them. The study was done in a qualitative approach with the use of focus groups and individual interviews. The results were analyzed through the perspective of the ‘sociology of childhood’. Results show, in accordance with earlier studies on the subject, that the youth run away or are thrown out from homes where constant conflicts as well as psychological, physical and sexual abuse are recurring factors. The youth expressed that social services do not listen to them and that their reports of abuse and neglect are not taken seriously. Results further show that the youth consider help finding a new home as well as emotional and economical support to be appropriate kinds of help in this situation. They stress that help and support efforts have to be individually adjusted.

Univ., Diss.--Heidelberg, 2006. / Literaturverz. S. [161] - 169.

I denna uppsats undersöks om akutmottagningarnas långa väntetider kan bero på att olämpliga teorier appliceras på vårdmarknaden. Det undersöks med en fallstudie av hälso- och sjukvården i Västra Götaland där vi har genomfört semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem anställda i kanslierna som ansvarar för att ge politikerna information till sjukvårdsbeslut och för att stödja politikerna i styrandet av hälso- och sjukvården. Det är en kvalitativ studie med en abduktiv ansats.Vår empiri indikerar att en stor orsak till akutmottagningarnas långa väntetider är att de har ett inflöde av patienter med relativt milda symptom som kunde ha omhändertagits inom primärvården. Förklaringar till det är att klienterna ofta har bristfällig kunskap om lämpliga vårdenheter och ofta antar att de får bättre vård på akutmottagningar än inom primärvården. Många av de patienter på akutmottagningarna som kommit till olämplig vårdenhet är äldre och kroniskt sjuka.Den här studien indikerar att olämpliga teorier har applicerats på Västra Götalands vårdmarknad. Inspirationen till vårdmarknaden tycks till stor del härstamma från traditionella nationalekonomiska teorier. Vi anser dock att de är olämpliga på Västra Götalands vårdmarknad på grund av bristande utbud, bristande konkurrens, irrationella klienter och risker för missgynnanden. Vi föreslår istället ett större fokus på sociologiska marknadsteorier.Den här studien begränsas av det relativt låga antalet intervjusubjekt. Vi har dock hittat tecken i vår empiri på ett samband mellan missgynnade klienter inom primärvården och det ökade inflödet till akutmottagningarna. Vår förhoppning är att detta kan bidra med uppslag till framtida, mer omfattande undersökningar. / This paper addresses long waiting times in Swedish emergency units by examining if appropriate theories are applied to the healthcare sector. This is examined with a case study of the healthcare sector in Västra Götaland County where we have conducted semi-structured interviews with five members of the staff responsible for providing the county’s politicians with information for healthcare decisions as well as supporting the politicians in managing the healthcare sector. It is a qualitative study with an abductive approach.The findings from our empirical research indicate that one major reason for the emergency units’ long waiting times is that they have an influx of patients with relatively mild illnesses that could have been handled in the primary care. Explanations for that are that clients often are ill-informed and often expect to get better care at emergency units than in the primary care. Many of the emergency units’ misplaced patients are elderly and chronically ill.This study indicates that inappropriate theories have been applied to the healthcare sector in Västra Götaland County. The inspiration for the healthcare sector seems to be from traditional economics to a large extent. We conclude, however, that traditional economics is inappropriate on the healthcare sector in Västra Götaland County because of the lacking supply, lacking competition, irrational clients and risk for disadvantages. Instead, we suggest a higher focus on sociological market theories.This study is limited by the relatively low amount of interview subjects. We have, however, found indications in our empirical material for a connection between disadvantaged clients in the primary care and the increased influx to the emergency units. We hope that this could provide ideas for future and more elaborate studies.This paper is written in Swedish.

Der umfangreiche Forschungsstand zum Thema Parteien weist in verschiedenen Bereichen Unklarheiten auf. So wird beispielsweise ein Zusammenhang zwischen dem Mitgliederrückgang der deutschen Parteien, gesellschaftlichen Modernisierungsprozessen und einem Funktionserfüllungsdefizit, speziell im Bereich der Vermittlungsleistung der Parteien, angenommen. Unklar hierbei sind u.a. folgende Punkte: (1) was genau unter dem Prozess der Mediation zu verstehen ist, (2) welche Modernisierungsprozesse beteiligt sind und (3) ob und wenn ja, wie sich er Mitgliederrückgang auswirkt. In der Summe führen diese ungeklärten Fragen dazu, dass letztlich auch keine verbindlichen Aussagen zum antizipierten Mediationsdefizit getroffen werden können. Explizit aus einem soziologischen Fokus heraus gibt diese Arbeiten systematisch Antworten. Im ersten Kapitel wird geklärt, was unter einer Partei im soziologischen Sinne zu verstehen ist und was die Mediationsfunktion der Partei konkret ausmacht. Im zweiten Kapitel rücken die Parteien und deren Mitglieder in den Mittelpunkt. Es geht um die Frage, welche Aufgaben von dieser Seite erfüllt werden müssen, damit die Vermittlung reibungslos stattfinden kann, d.h. im Umkehrschluss wo sich gegebenenfalls Defizite verorten lassen. Neben allgemeinen Merkmalen von Mitgliederparteien, rücken hier auch sozialstrukturelle Merkmale der Parteimitglieder sowie erste Modernisierungsprozesse in den Vordergrund. Im dritten Kapitel wird die Problematik von der anderen Seite, der Gesellschaftsseite, angegangen. Auch hier wir danach gefragt, welche konkreten Schritte für die Umsetzung der Mediationsfunktion realisiert werden müssen. Zudem werden weitere Modernisierungsprozesse betrachtet. Es wird sich im Abschlusskapitel zeigen, dass die Vermittlungsfunktion der Parteien zu keinem Zeitpunkt fehlerfrei realisiert werden konnte, sich die Problematik seit den 1980er Jahren verstärkt hat was heute dazu führt, dass unkonventionelle Gruppen und Institutionen, z.B. neue soziale Bewegungen oder NGO´s, immer stärker in den politischen Vermittlungsprozess einbezogen werden (müssen). / The extensive research on the subject parties shows ambiguities in various areas. For example a correlation between the decline in membership of the German parties, social modernization processes and functional performance deficit, special in the mediation of political parties, is assumed. Unclear in this context are inter alia the following points: (1) what exactly is meant by the process of mediation, (2) which modernization processes are involved, and (3) whether, and if so, how it affects members of decline. In sum these unresolved issues cause ultimately no binding statements can be made to the anticipated deficit mediation. Explicitly from a sociological focus publishes this work systematically answers. In the first chapter will clarify what is meant by a party in a sociological sense and what constitutes the mediation function of the party concrete. In the second chapter the parties and their members in focus. It is about the question of which tasks must be performed by this page so that the mediation can take place smoothly, a contrario where optionally can locate deficits. In addition to general characteristics of member parties socially structural features of party members and first modernization processes move in the foreground. In the third chapter the problem from the other side, the company side, addressed. Again we asked what concrete steps for the implementation of the mediation function must be implemented. In addition, further modernization processes are considered. It will show in the final chapter that the mediation function of the parties could be realized without errors at any time, the problem has intensified since the 1980s, which leads today that unconventional groups and institutions, for example new social movements and NGOs, are becoming more involved in the political process of mediation (have to).

Although Talcott Parsons’s sick role theory, as described in 1951 in The Social System, has been severely criticized for its inapplicability to chronic illnesses, a portion of the theory is still a relevant and necessary factor in terms of understanding and treating chronic illness today. Using data from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey, this study looks at the individual effects of sex, age, race, cohabitation, education and region of residence on the likelihood of chronically ill patients considering themselves limited in their amount or kind of work as an indicator of sick role adaptation. Results show statistically significant relationships between work limitation and sex, age, cohabitation, education and region of residence, when controlling for the duration of the respondents’ condition. Further evaluation of these results is provided.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how pre-tenure female faculty members perceived their socialization experiences into the culture of higher education. This study viewed higher education as a distinct culture where members underwent socialization processes such as enculturation and acculturation throughout the pre-tenure years. Participants were eight pre-tenure female faculty members from Midwestern land grant institutions. Women were interviewed for 90-120 minutes on one occasion. Data was analyzed using the Constant Comparative Method (CCM).The women's perceptions resulted in four emergent themes: Balance, Place, Support, and Trust. Balance contained the themes of Workload, including promotion and tenure and time, and Roles, including sub-themes of personal and professional roles. Place described women's feelings of fit regarding age, sex, their student response and their personal response to their culture. Support highlighted people, groups and mentoring perceived as influential in their socialization. Lastly, the theme of Trust emerged as a key element of their cultural understanding regarding higher education. These pre-tenure female faculty members perceived socialization as filled with incongruency, uncertainty and rejection, and political astuteness. The women felt incongruence in terms of their personal values and those values rewarded professionally. The women's socialization was shaped by uncertainty in the promotion and tenure process and in where to put their time and energy. In addition, the women described the need for political astuteness in their professional communications and actions during their pre-tenure years. These perceptions werefurther examined through post-colonial feminist theory. The emphasis post-colonial feminist theory places on power and voice in the historically male-dominated system of higher education informed the analysis. This led to the argument for Boyer's (1990) reconstruction of scholarship as an opportunity for women to become co-creators of an environment which better promotes congruency between their personal values with elements evaluated for professional success.Embracing Boyer's (1990) concepts for re-conceptualizing scholarship may offer a potential solution which would allow the women to experience more integrated lives instead of disparate circles of personal and professional activity. Integrated lives would ease their adjustment in these pivotal pre-tenure years. / Department of Educational Studies

The objectives of this work are to: - Explore the concept of adolescent vulnerability; - Establish easily administered, reliable means of early identification of the most vulnerable; and - Suggest some school level interventions. This research focuses on adolescents in a socially deprived area. The thesis contains two parts: Part I explores the theoretical contexts, examining the social, educational and moral climate, and concludes that potential vulnerability is not being identified early enough in young people's lives for effective interventions to be implemented. The phenomenon and experience of adolescence is explored from a variety of perspectives, and various definitions of adolescence examined. The broad range of experience representing both typical and atypical adolescence is considered. A range of socio-economic factors and psychometric measures are reviewed for potential use as early indicators of vulnerability. The four screening measures chosen from the range reviewed are social deprivation, selfesteem, locus of control (LoC) and coping strategies. Social deprivation indicators establish background levels of life chances and prospects. Selfesteem is used to identify the most vulnerable; locus of control adds information about the nature of their vulnerability, and coping strategies informs potential practical interventions. Part 2 focuses on practical research. The prospects of the subject population are explored using a range of indicators, including the social and educational alienation and dysfunction of its young adolescents. Six hypotheses are defined and the selected psychometric tools piloted and administered on all of Year 7 of the subject school. Pupils are identified as either vulnerable or not identifiably vulnerable. Case studies using semi-structured interviews are conducted, adding a qualitative, experiential dimension to the statistical, psychometric findings. Based on this research conclusions are drawn which have academic application and directly inform practical interventions which, if implemented in early adolescence, would potentially alleviate the identified vulnerability.

Durkheim’s socioeconomic hypothesis of suicide has been a popular theory to test for sociologists. However the results have been mixed, offering very little cumulative sociological knowledge. Previous theory and research have found that there are contradictory results in the direction of the income regression coefficients used to study the relationship between income and suicide rates depending on if a time-series or a cross-sectional approach has been used. It has been hypothesised that the contradictory results are caused by a specification bias, namely failing to account for lagged income, which is influencing the direction of the regression coefficients. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of income on the Swedish municipalities’ suicide rates by replicating a study published in The American Journal of Sociology by Carl B. Barnes from 1975, in which he argued that the effect of income on the suicide rate is always negative. This cross-sectional analysis is based on municipality data on male, female and overall suicide in 2002 to 2004 from the Swedish Centre for National Prevention of Suicide and Mental Ill-Health at Karolinska Institutet among the working-age population (25-64 years). Control variables are the hypothesised lagged variable causing the specification bias, education, and three other possible contributing factors to suicide; unemployment, alcohol consumption and divorce. The results of the correlation and regression coefficients show that there is a negative effect of income on suicide for those aged 25 to 64 years when the other variables are held constant for both sexes; however the male results are not statistically significant. These results speak against the socioeconomic hypothesis of suicide, but generally confirm earlier findings of a negative relationship between median income and suicide. Low education is positively related to the suicide rate for males but there is no such relationship for female suicide. The findings also confirm alcohol consumption as an important factor in explaining the suicide rate. Unemployment and divorce show mixed results for the male and female suicide rates. The female unemployment rates are negatively related to suicide while male unemployment rates are not significant, on the other hand the divorce rates show a strong positive association with the female suicide rate and a negative association with the male suicide rate.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a popular curricular approach in medical education. This thesis asks the question: How does PBL teach medical students about what matters in medicine using qualitative methods. The research demonstrates that PBL contributes to the on-going marginalisation of social issues in medical education.