Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Gerad Middendorf / The stigma of prison extends beyond the male prisoner to those who care about him, often his wife. Almost all prisoners will be released back into their communities (Hughes, 2003) and having a solid support network improves successful re-entry experiences and lowers recidivism rates for men who are released from prison (Duwe & Clark, 2013). The stigmatization that prison wives feel because they are married to an inmate, can affect how attached they feel to their community, how comfortable they feel in their workplace, and how accepted they feel by their family and friends. Financial exploitation, challenging prison policies, and visitation procedures oftentimes can make an already difficult situation even more difficult. While the number of men in prison in the United States is slowly declining, the United States remains the world leader in the number of people incarcerated (Travis, et. al., 2014). As this level of incarceration continues to affect such a large number of people (specifically women for this research) in our society, there is reason to consider a more intentional approach to focusing on recognizing the feelings and experiences of prison wives. This research includes narrative interviews of 35 women who identified as prison wives. The goal of the research was to specifically gather details on their experiences of being a prison wife and how they feel that society judged them based on the stereotype they perceived society to have. My research shows that the interviewees feel stigmatized; however, the awareness of, feelings about, and the reaction toward the stigmatization manifests differently among the two groups of prison wives that I identified: Riders and Stoppers. I have gathered details about how their experiences were often made more challenging as they tried to maintain their relationships in the midst of financial exploitation and challenging prison policies and procedures. I conclude my thesis on the relevancy of their experiences as they relate to the prison-industrial complex in our society and how this affects their interactions within the communities in which a prisoner’s wife, family members, and formerly incarcerated individuals live and work.

Att vara invandrare beskrivs ofta felaktigt som en egenskap eller ett tillstånd hos individer. Istället för att beskriva det som den händelse det faktiskt är, en händelse föranledd utav en flytt från en plats till en annan. I den här uppsatsen undersöker vi kvinnors upplevelse av hur integrationsarbetet fungerar i det ideella projektet Women on Wednesdays och som vi i vår uppsats förkortar Wow med syfte att spåra hur deltagarna i projektet upplever att sin integration görs möjlig. Wow är ett projekt som enbart riktar sig mot kvinnor och där tanken är att hälften av deltagarna ska vara invandrarkvinnor och hälften svenska. Våra frågeställningar präglas av vilken betydelse projektet har för deltagarna, såväl de invandrade kvinnorna som de svenska, och även initiativtagaren till projektet berörs i vår undersökning då vi är intresserade av att höra hennes upplevelse och tankar om behovet av integrationsarbete i samhället. Vår metod är kvalitativ med en fenomenologisk hermeneutisk ansats och vi utför semistrukturerade intervjuer med både invandrarkvinnor och svenska kvinnor. I vårt resultat framkom att Wow, med sin arbetsmetod utav en jämn fördelning på svenska respektive utländska kvinnor är oerhört nödvändig och banbrytande. Att särskilt inrikta sig mot kvinnor har visat sig vara ett gott koncept för att nå ett tryggt och positivt klimat där invandrarkvinnan kan anamma det svenska samhällets spelregler och nå gemenskap med andra kvinnor med liknande bakgrund samt få inblick och tillträde till i hur den svenska kvinnan lever och tänker.

This essay is based on an interest in how certain residential areas are portrayed in the public debate as "problem areas" which allows other to stigmatization these neighborhoods with negative prejudices. The residential area Ersboda is one of the major residential area in the Swedish town Umeå, that can stand as an example of this phenomenon.  The unique with the residential area Ersboda is that the area don’t have much problem compare to other areas and it therefore interesting to ask why the residential area Ersboda are stamped with negative prejudices? The purpose of this essay is therefore to create an understanding why and how the residential area Ersboda in Umeå are stigmatised by the surroundings. The essay aims to answer the following questions: • When did the stigmatization of the residential area Ersboda begin? • How does the stigmatization of the residential area Ersboda manifest itself? • What could be the underlying factors for the stigmatization of Ersboda? In this study, qualitative interviews have been conducted with residents and working people in the residential area Ersboda. The result showed that one contributing reasons why Ersboda and its inhabitants become stigmatized is that there is a relatively large influx of immigrants in the 1990s. The second factor is based on the violent disturbances among a small part of the area's young residents during the same time period. The reason why Ersboda still are stigmatized depends possibly not only on the surrounding prejudices about the area's ethnic inhabitans and the media's negative reports. The underlying factor can be due to a power difference between established (the surrounding) and outsiders (those living and working on Ersboda). The conclusion is therefore that the stigma of Ersboda not depend on the number of problems, but rather on the basis that it has established a power relationship between "us" and "them" and where residents lack the means of power to break the stigmatization.

Magister Curationis - MCur / The South African health care system shifted the focus of treating psychiatric disorders from institutional care level mental health services to facilitate this process of integration into the Primary Health Care (PHC) settings. All the provinces were thus engaged in improving mental health care services at community level by providing training for professional nurses in mental health at PHC settings. Consequently, mental health nursing has also changed considerably by shifting the focus of mental health care to the primary care level. It is however, suggested that the current revolving door syndrome experienced at psychiatric institutions was partly due to inadequate community-based psychiatric services. It was also suggested that the attitudes and knowledge of health professionals towards mental illness has a major impact on service delivery, treatment and outcome of mental illness. The aim of this research study was to assess the attitude of nursing staff working at a Community Health Centre (CHC) towards the mental health care user. A CHC was chosen that renders 24 hour services. The inclusive sample included all the different categories of nurses permanently employed at this CHC. The Attitude Scale for Mental Illness questionnaire was used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics: means, median and standard deviations were calculated for the following variables: separatism; stereotyping; restrictiveness; benevolence; pessimistic prediction and stigmatization. In conclusion it can be said that the nursing staff with more experience irrespective of category of nurse has less of a stereotyping attitude towards mental illness. The longer the nurse worked at the setting and irrespective of their nursing qualification the more positive their attitude towards the MHCU became.

[pt] O estudo focaliza os processos de silenciamento, exclusão e resistência em construções identitárias sócio-culturais da goianidade junto a alunos goianos da Cidade Ocidental e de Valparaíso, cidades goianas do entorno de Brasília - DF. Os objetivos são: (1) mostrar, do ponto de vista sócio-histórico, como ocorreu a formação populacional e lingüística do estado de Goiás e do Distrito Federal, apontando para relações existentes entre a goianidade e a cultura caipira; (2) analisar, na fala-em-interação, como emerge o estigma à goianidade nas coconstruções identitárias sócio-culturais, na relação entre os alunos goianos e a entrevistadora/ professora, a qual é também goiana. A metodologia é qualitativa, no contexto de entrevista de pesquisa. Os dados de análise consistem em um corpus de gravações em áudio, obtidas através de entrevistas individuais. O arcabouço teórico insere-se no âmbito da Sociolingüística Interacional e da Análise da Conversa, junto a concepções de identidade(s) de ordem sócio-cultural e interacional, informadas pela ordem micro e macro do discurso. Os resultados apontam que, durante o processo interacional, os participantes constroem e reconstroem suas identidades. Há resistência em mudar as construções identitárias estigmatizadas, uma vez que preferem omitir e/ou silenciar essas construções, a afirmar suas origens de pertencimento à comunidade goiana. O olhar de outro(s), construído no discurso, interfere para que eles assumam posições de silenciamento, de exclusão e de resistência. Este trabalho é importante para pesquisas vindouras e para formar um pensamento reflexivo acerca das identidades que cotidianamente são estigmatizadas. / [en] The study focalizes the silence processes, exclusion and resistance in constructions that identify the social cultures of goianity close to students native of Goiás of the Cidade Ocidental and of Valparaíso, cities of that State of the spill of Brasília - DF. The goals are: (1) show, of the point of view partner-historical, as it occurred the population formation and Estate of Goiás` Linguistics and of District Federal, pointing to relations between goianity and the culture yokel; (2) analyze, in the speech, as it emerges the stigma to goainity in co-constructions of cultural and social identifications, in the relation among students native of Goiás and the interviewer (teacher), which also is native of Goiás. The methodology is qualitative, in the research interview context. The analysis data consist in a corpus of recordings in audio, obtained by means of individual interviews. The theoretical framework it inserts in the scope of sociolinguistic interacional and of the talk analysis, close to order partner-cultural and interacional identities conceptions, informed by to speech order personal computer and macro. The results point that, during the process interacional, the participants build and reconstruct her identities. There is resistance in change the constructions of identifications stigmatized, once they prefer to omit and or to silence these constructions, to affirm their belong origins to the community native of Goiás. The look of another, built in the speech, interferes so that they take over silence positions, of exclusion and of resistance. This work is important for futures researches and to form a reflexive thought concerning the identities that are daily stigmatized.

Palliativa vårdens ändamål är att öka livskvalitén och stödja både patienten och dennes familj genom ett obotligt sjukdomsförlopp. Palliativa vårdens målgrupp är inte enbart de med en cancerdiagnos utan alla med en obotlig sjukdom. Förförståelsen kring begreppet palliativ är stor och kan innebära en risk för sämre vård för patienten. Studiens syfte har varit att beskriva förförståelsen i palliativ vård utifrån sjuksköterskans perspektiv. Metoden i studien är en litteraturöversikt som utgår från Fribergs litteraturöversiktsmetod (2017, ss. 141–148). En kvantitativ och nio kvalitativa artiklar analyserades. Resultatet av litteraturöversikten lyfter fram tre huvudteman följt av tre underteman. Huvudtemat kunskapsproblem tar upp riskerna när sjuksköterskans påverkas av sin förförståelse i kommunikation, utbildning och strategier. Huvudtemat vårdkonsekvenser belyser hur fördomar och förförståelse utifrån definitioner, möten och hinder i vården kan skapas. Huvudtemat lidande tar upp det lidande som förförståelsen kan leda till utifrån sjuksköterskans självbild, sjuksköterskans/patientens delaktighet och skapandet av patientrelationer. Förförståelse leder till att patientrelationen påverkas och innebär ett ökat lidande för patienten. Sjuksköterskans förförståelse kan skapa vård som inte tillför något till patientens egentliga behov. Den palliativa vården innebär utmaningar för sjuksköterskan. I den palliativa vården har författarna identifierat brister i förförståelsen hos sjuksköterskor i framför allt hur kommunikation och information framförs till patienten. En kontinuerlig vård med självreflektioner utifrån evidensbaserade utbildningar är en grundförutsättning för en mer fördomsfri palliativ vård.

Orientador: Vitor Machado / Resumo: Essa dissertação tem como objetivo propor um método de ensino, na forma de uma sequência didática, tendo como referência metodológica a Pedagogia Histórico-Crítica, para auxiliar os professores da educação básica, particularmente da disciplina de Sociologia, a evitarem relações discriminatórias, transferidas do meio social para o ambiente escolar, as quais foram aqui chamadas de "fenômenos caóticos ressonantes". O método foi aplicado em alunos do ensino médio, de uma escola pública, no interior de São Paulo, procurando problematizar o processo de estigmatização exercido pelos alunos nativos da cidade e sofrido por estudantes de origem nordestina, resultando na melhoria da convivência entre ambos. / Abstract: This dissertation aims to propose a method of teaching in the form of a didactic sequence, having as methodological reference the Historical-Critical Pedagogy, to help teachers of basic education, particularly the discipline of Sociology, to avoid discriminatory relations, transferred from the social environment to the school environment, which are here called "resonant chaotic phenomena." The method was applied to high school students in a public school in São Paulo, seeking to problematize the stigmatization process exercised by the native students from the city and undergone by students from the Northeast, resulting in improved coexistence between them. / Mestre

Thesis advisor: Judith Shindul-Rothschild PhD, MSN, RN / The issue of mental health awareness has been a familiar topic of concern in recent years, due to increasing incidence of suicide, PTSD, anxiety disorders, and other behavioral illnesses. Patient populations impacted by mental illness are diverse and research has focused on the recognition of symptoms and the treatment. Less research has investigated the barriers that hinder access to mental health services and the early identification of individuals who need mental health assistance. The specific aim of this study is to evaluate how the stigma of mental illness, both perceived and personal, may affect the willingness of college students to obtain behavioral health care. Based upon the findings, recommendations for improving access to mental health services on a college campus will be proposed. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2017. / Discipline: Nursing.

This study aims to understand how young-adults, residents Hallunda-Norsborg, relate to the police’s definition of their residential area as “particularly vulnerable”. Do the young adultsagree with the term or is there any tension between their descriptionand the police’s definition? In previous research, it appears that residents of an area referred to as “particularly vulnerable” are described as cut off and isolated from the remaining majority society. We consider it relevant to gain an understanding ofthe residents' view of their residential area in comparison with the police authority's term. The study is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with three young men and women aged 20-25. The study uses stigmatization and critical-urban theory, as well as social exclusion as theoretical starting points. The result shows that the residents experience a stigma towards Hallunda-Norsborg through the media's presentation, the treatment from others and within the labor market. They are partly in line with the police's definition of a "particularly vulnerable area" and that it corresponds to Hallunda-Norsborg. However, the definition is considered to be negatively emphasized as it creates a stamp of “vulnerability”that affects the majority society’s view of Hallunda-Norsborg. The conclusion is that young-adults in Hallunda-Norsborg relate in part to the police’s term but that they can also relate their experiences to it. The experiences that are highlighted is that the term isnegative creates a feeling of “exclusion” that affects the young-adultsrelationship with majority society.

Personer som diagnostiserats med schizofreni upplever fördomar och diskriminering både i samhället och i sin egen värld som en form av internalisering som också kallas självstigma. Även om allmän stigma inträffar av en större befolkning spelar själv-stigma också en viktig roll genom att patienterna drabbas av många negativa konsekvenser. I denna artikel fokuserar jag på de negativa följderna av självstigma för personer med schizofreni. Dessutom undersökte jag hur stigmas negativa effekter spelar en viktig roll under behandlingsprocessen. Som en metod intervjuade jag 10 patienter som diagnostiserats med schizofreni baserat på 10 öppna frågor och analyserade data efteråt vilket hjälpte mig att förstå de negativa effekterna av internaliserad självstigma på dem. Majoriteten av svaren visade att de var oroliga för att ses oskäligt vilket ledde till att de undvek att berätta för sin psykiska sjukdom för andra. Resultaten visade också att de har en dålig livskvalitet, dåliga sociala interaktioner och problem att fortsätta sina medicinska och terapeutiska behandlingar på grund av deras internaliserade negativa tankar. / People who are diagnosed with schizophrenia experience prejudice and discrimination both in the society and in their own world as a form of internalization which is also called as self-stigma. Although public stigma is occurred by a larger population, self-stigma also plays an important role by having patients suffer numerous negative consequences. In this article, I focused on those negative consequences of self-stigma for people with schizophrenia. Furthermore, I examined how the negative effects of the stigma plays an important role during the treatment process. As a method, I interviewed 10 patients who were diagnosed with schizophrenia based on 10 open-ended questions and analyzed the data afterwards which helped me understand the negative effects of internalized self-stigma on them. The majority of the responses indicated that they were worried to be viewed unfavorably which led them avoid telling their mental illness to others. The results also showed that they have poor quality of life, little to none social interactions and troubles continuing their medical and therapeutic treatments because of their internalized negative thoughts.