Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / This study is about intimate femicide: The murder of a woman by a male intimate partner, namely her husband, boyfriend (dating or cohabiting), ex-husband (divorced or separated), ex-boyfriend or a rejected would-be lover. Intimate femicide has been identified as a dire social problem in South Africa. Although intimate femicide has been researched from a range of perspectives, there is a paucity of research on the discourses that women draw on to understand this crime in the context of South Africa. The primary aim of this study was to explore how women survivors of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) understand intimate femicide. This aim crystallised into the following objectives: 1) to explore how women survivors of IPV construct and understand the term intimate femicide, 2) to ascertain how women survivors of IPV understand the issue of risk of intimate femicide within an abusive relationship and 3) to investigate the discourses that women survivors of IPV draw on to understand intimate femicide. This thesis is couched in a feminist poststructuralist epistemology. Data was gathered through a qualitative approach, using in-depth semi-structured interviews. A Foucauldian discourse analysis was conducted on seven interviews with heterosexual women who had been in violent romantic relationships. In addition, ethical principles of anonymity and confidentiality were strictly adhered to. The findings of this study illuminate the immense difficulties that women experience in attempting to understand their level of risk while in an abusive relationship and the complexities experienced in attempting to understand intimate femicide. The discourse analysis revealed that fairy tale romance narratives present women with the idea that there is always hope for their relationships regardless of abusive circumstances, while dark romance discourses position romantic relationships as naturally abusive and present abuse as an invalid reason to leave a relationship. These justifications, beliefs, and understandings of the abuse hamper women’s ability to understand intimate femicide. This has significant implications for scholarship in general and feminist scholarship in particular. These findings emphasise the need for additional engagement in women’s understandings of intimate femicide - a group that has largely been consigned to the periphery. Moreover, given the excessive rates of intimate femicide in South Africa, it is critical that more research is conducted in order to increase awareness of intimate femicide amongst women in violent relationships.

Jordan has strived to manage a large-scale anti-corruption initiative for the public sector since 2006. Despite the implementation of laws and bodies mandated to address corruption, public trust of government remains low and the country’s position on international corruption rankings has not improved. This study seeks to investigate how the implementation of a large-scale anti-corruption initiative impacts the organizational culture of the country’s public sector. It proposes that wasta, a unique Arab phenomenon that promotes the values of loyalty, represents the most significant barrier to penetrating what is essentially a normalized culture of corruption in the Government of Jordan. The organizational culture theory model was adopted as the theoretical framework because of its ability to account for differences in culture where promoted values do not necessarily correspond with employee actions. Because literature in this area is rare, a qualitative exploratory methodology was chosen. Based on data saturation, a total of 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted on-site in Jordan with mid-level managers identified using snowball sampling. The results prove the theoretical proposal to be accurate and show that wasta has evolved to the deepest level of organizational culture. The results are sub-divided into two major themes: culture and leadership. The results show that wasta is a deeply held and engrained part of organizational culture and that it is difficult for anti-corruption efforts to change this culture in the Jordanian public sector. The thesis also demonstrate how leadership can be both something negative or something positive in the fight against wasta depending on how it is used.. The findings carry implications for public administration, foreign policy, and society as a whole especially with regard to the development of more effective anti-corruption strategies in Jordan and abroad. The specific contribution to knowledge of this thesis is the examination of how organizational cultural reforms impact public-sector organizations in the Middle Eastern context given the influence of wasta, which is not discussed in the literature but remains important for the field. Future research should consider the views of a wider variety of stakeholders, as well as the impact of wasta on organizational characteristics including performance and delivery of public services.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur gymnasieelevers individuella sånglektioner skiljer sig åt beroende på i hur stor utsträckning sångpedagogernas eget genreintresse styr. Studien är baserad på fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer där två sångpedagoger har sin hemvist inom den klassiska sångtraditionen och två sångpedagoger har sin hemvist inom den afroamerikanska sångtraditionen. Studien är av jämförande karaktär där fokus ligger på eventuella likheter och skillnader mellan sångpedagogers synsätt inom de två olika genrerna. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten för studien utgår från ett sociokulturellt perspektiv och hur kulturella redskap och omgivningar påverkar undervisningen och lärandet. Studiens resultat visar att sångpedagogerna har fler åsikter som förbinder dem samman än vad de har som skiljer sig åt gällande medvetna genreval, hur deras eget genreintresse påverkar sångundervisningen och synen på läroplanen i förhållande till lektionen och dess innehåll. Intervjupersonerna skiljer sig åt gällande lektionsupplägget för nybörjarelever samt sitt personliga musiklyssnande. I diskussionen lyfts sedan de teman som uppkommit i resultatet utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Dessa teman är: medvetna och omedvetna val gällande genre, läroplanen som redskap i sångundervisningen samt det egna genreintresset som redskap i sångundervisningen. Det som framkommer är att sångpedagogernas olika redskap påverkar hur de arbetar i och kring sin sångundervisning på gymnasiet. / The purpose of this study is to examine how individual singing lessons for high school students differ depending on to which extent the vocal coach is driven by their own interests concerning genre. The study is based on four semi-structured interviews where two vocal coaches have their home turf in classical music, and two vocal coaches have their home turf within the african american genres. The study is of comparative nature where the focus is on eventual similarities and differences between vocal coaches’ viewpoints within the two genres. The theoretical perspective of the study takes its stand in the socio cultural perspective and how cultural tools and surroundings affect teaching and learning.The result of the study shows that the vocal coaches have more conformed opinions than they have conflicting ones when it concerns informed choices in genre, how their own interests affect their teaching and the views on the curriculum in relation to the lesson and its content. The interviewees differ when it comes to how they plan lessons for beginners and how they themselves listen to music. In the discussion the themes that surface in the result are discussed from a socio cultural perspective. These themes are: informed and uninformed choices concerning genre, the curriculum as a tool in teaching and the teachers’ own personal interests concerning genre. The conclusion is that the different tools the vocal coaches use affect how they work in and surrounding their teaching of high school students.

The aim of this study is to examine how different actors of the society speak about and portrays the Råslätt neighborhood.Further we study how using different terms to describe the area can come to affect the area and its residents. This study is done by using a qualitative method in the form of document analysis based on official documents from three different actors of the society and we also conducted three interviews with representatives from each actor. Different themes are examined that have been identified using a discourse analysis. Through the themes three different discourses were created and identified which are being used by the actors in describing Råslätt. The discourses are then compared with each other. The result shows that there are similarities and differences between the discourses in how Råslätt is described. The result shows that the terms used in the different discourses create different versions of the Råslätt neighborhood. The result also shows that, within the discourses the actors of society consciously relate to their use of languageand that the decision of using or not using a particular term has been made with insight to the risk of stigmatization that might emerge. In conclusion the result shows that the language used by the actors of society affect how they justify their own work.

Due to the prevailing pandemic in connection with Covid-19, irrational decisions occur, and people start panicking. As a result, there is a very high demand from grocery stores due to customers hoarding ICA:s goods, which results in an even greater panic in people who do not perceive the problems that arise at the stores. For the stores, this means that the flow of goods from suppliers to the stores has been subjected to incredible pressure. The purpose of this study is divided into two different questions, which aims to describe how the working methods of the staff have changed as a result of Covid-19, in addition the study also wants to explain how communication between the stores and suppliers work. To answer these questions, interviews are conducted with staff at five different stores of three sizes.  Furthermore, the results are then analyzed using thematic analysis and modeling. It can be stated that the working methods of the various stores have been involving social distancing to the customers and the tasks for the staff have been shifted. The biggest difference for the ICA organization as a result of Covid-19 has been the communication with suppliers which usually happens through an automatic purchasing system, which has not worked sufficiently and as a result, the entire customer demand has not been satisfied. / På grund av den rådande pandemin i samband med Covid-19 så förekommer orationella beslut och människor får panik. Som resultat av detta så byggs det upp en mycket stor efterfrågan hos matvarubutiker på grund av att kunderna hamstrar ICA:s varor vilket resulterar i att en ännu större panik uppstår hos människor som inte uppfattar dom problem som då uppkommer hos butikerna. Från butikernas sida så medför detta att varuflöden från leverantörer till butikerna utsatts för otroligt stor press. Syftet med denna studie är uppdelad i två olika frågor vilket har som mål att beskriva hur arbetssättet för personalen har förändrats som följd av Covid-19, dessutom vill studien också förklara hur kommunikationen mellan butikerna och leverantörerna fungerar. För att besvara dessa frågor så genomförs intervjuer med personal på fem olika butiker av tre storlekar. Vidare så analyseras resultaten med hjälp utav en tematisk analys och modellering. Det kan fastslås att arbetssätten hos dom olika butikerna har varit stor med social distansering till kunder och arbetsuppgifterna har fått skifta inriktning. Den största skillnaden för ICA organisationen som följd av Covid-19 har varit kommunikationen med leverantörer som i vanliga fall sker genom ett automatiskt inköpssystem inte har fungerat tillräckligt och som resultat har det medfört att efterfrågan från kunderna inte har kunnat tillfredsställas.

Syftet med denna studie var att i en svensk kontext belysa handledarens roll vid grupphandledning av yrkesverksamma inom människohjälpande yrken, då detta är ett område som endast är sparsamt utforskat. Materialet inhämtades genom semi-­strukturerade intervjuer med nio verksamma handledare med socionom­ eller psykologutbildning. De transkriberade  intervjuerna bearbetades med tematisk analys. Resultatet kan övergripande beskrivas i form av  en modell med fem huvudteman: handledarrollen i modellens centrum, som påverkar och påverkas av förutsättningar, förväntningar, arbetssätt och utvärderingar. Modellen illustrerar hur handledarrollen i all dess komplexitet är produkten av en hel samling olika påverkansfaktorer och beslut, där vissa har sitt ursprung i handledarens egen bakgrund, men många är beroende av det sammanhang i vilket handledaren verkar. Resultatet visar även att handledarna skiljer sig gällande fokus samt prioritering av olika funktioner i handledningen. Det formuleras sällan konkreta mål i handledningen utan innehållet styrs utifrån syfte och förväntningar, och det varierar hur och i vilken grad utvärderingar genomförs.

The adoption of Integrated Library Systems (ILS) helps library staff to automate libraries’ routine operations. While some libraries are coping well with automation, others most especially in Sub Saharan Africa face challenges and setbacks. The purpose of the study is to explore the adoption of an open source ILS, Koha, at Kyambogo University Library Service (KyULS). The study employs a qualitative approach where data is gathered using semi-structured interviews. Collected data was analysed using content analysis. The results of the study indicate that the drivers for adopting an ILS in KyULS are: qualified staff members, Koha being an open source software, training, and library automation trends in sister university libraries. The barriers to ILS adoption on the other hand included: lack of infrastructure, internet instability, insufficient funding, bureaucracy and the ILS’s unsuitability to persons with visual impairment. This report further provides recommendations to alleviate or resolve the difficulties that are hampering KyULS specifically and potentially other libraries when adopting ILSs. They include having a well-planned process of adopting the ILS, provision of a centralised and stable campus-wide inter/intranet network, establishment of required ILS infrastructure, sourcing of external funding, carrying out wide spread sensitisation of the ILS, continuously training the library staff members in the use of the ILS and collaboration with ILS adoption champions in other academic libraries. This study may be of value to academic librarians, LIS schools and ILS vendors globally as it helps them better understand the unique challenges faced by libraries in Sub-Saharan Africa. / Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Information Science / MIT / Unrestricted

The master thesis "The creation and reproduction of historical consciousness on the example of the association Radecký Praha" deals with the historical consciousness, its creation and reproduction. The theoretical part defines not only historical consciousness but also pays attention to the related issues, such as collective memory, historical memory, sites of memory, or national identity, due to the fact that the boundaries between collective memory and historical consciousness are often at least unclear. Theoretical part is primarily based on the works of Maurice Halbwachs, Jan Assmann, Miroslav Hroch and Pierre Nora. The empirical part of this study concludes the research of the association Radetzky Prague, which seeks to return the monument of Marshal Radetzky on the Malostranské náměstí. The research tries to describe and understand the ways of creation and reproduction of historical consciousness of its members throughout the analysis of qualitative interviews. Mentioned authors already provide a certain methodological background research. Conclusion contains a summary and a comparison of research results with theses of authors that are dealing with similar themes. This work is not a purely historical or sociological one; it is trying to stay somewhere between historical and sociological...

in English Introduction. This thesis aims to qualitatively map the current situation of the information behavior and fulfilment information-seeking needs of students of the 3rd Medical Faculty of Charles University, which can be reflected in subsequent professional practice of graduates. Methods. Analysis of selected Czech information behavior studies defined the research questions used in semi-structured interviews with the respondents from the 3rd Medical Faculty of Charles University. Conclusions were deducted through the complex analysis of the interview records and then compared with selected foreign researches. Result. The interviews were conducted with 20 respondents from General Medicine, General Nurse and Physiotherapy across different years of study. The result is very complex and detailed probe into their information behavior. Conclusion. Research has provided a great deal of knowledge about respondents' information behavior from their own perspective and a deeper insight into the issue. This knowledge can serve as a valuable basis for further research.

This thesis focuses on the topic of single-parent family, because this type of family, which are led only by one parent, is very relevant to our present social situation. In the context of current demographic trends related to the transformation of society in the perception of family and partner relationships, it can be assumed that their number will be continue to grow. Specifically this thesis is focused on single fathers, although many studies speaks of a certain percentage of single fathers in the Czech Republic, research on this topic has been carried out only a few times so far. For the most part, a woman is at the forefront of "incomplete" families. Single-parent family is perceived as a highly gendered experience, which is primarily related to women. The aim of this work was to find out what the experience of single parent looks like in the case of single fathers. This premise of this thesis is to explore what reasons have the fathers to choose to be single parents, what this type of commitment means for men, how they sign on their everyday life and especially how this type of primary care relates to the concept of hegemonic masculinity. Gender perspective thus provides a comprehensive insight into single-parent family and presents the perspective of the fathers themselves. For this purpose...