Producing information today is unprecedented in both speed and accessibility. This is a benefit of living in these IT times. There is more knowledge available than ever before, which is as fantastic as it is problematic. It leaves both the producer and the user of this information responsible for assessing and interpreting it. This thesis has investigated what information has been produced on conflict related SGBV by the World Bank and the ICRC to see what representations have been established. Several documents from each organization have been collected, coded and thematically analyzed by using intersectionality and structural violence as theoretical lenses. These theoretical frameworks complemented each other in their use in this study as intersectionality was employed to look at what certain portrayals might mean for individuals, and structural violence was used to look at what the result meant on a larger scale. Ultimately, this thesis arrived at the conclusion that the portrayal of conflict related SGBV by the World Bank and ICRC is problematic. No organization is misrepresenting more than the other, but they do struggle on different themes. Overall, the main risk an organization runs when writing about this topic is to portray women as the only demographic group affected and the image that all women survivors are the same in that they are female. This leaves the consumer of this information with the assumption that conflict related SGBV only affects women, because they are women. This is wrong and it is problematic, as this thesis will explain in detail, along with other representations and analytical conclusions.

[pt] Esta pesquisa, situada no ponto de convergência entre os estudos de identidade organizacional e os estudos sociais de memória, tem por objetivo investigar a recorrente (re)construção identitária de uma escola privada (fundada em 1969 e situada na cidade do Rio de Janeiro), a partir de suas práticas e ações mnemônicas coletivas. Com o objetivo de aprofundar o entendimento das relações entre identidade e memória no âmbito coletivo, este trabalho propôs-se a investigar os dois conceitos a partir da perspectiva social construcionista, fruto de um processo de negociação cotidiana entre os membros da organização, influenciado por diferentes indivíduos, grupos, equipes de gestão e outros coletivos. No que diz respeito aos procedimentos metodológicos, a coleta de dados utilizou fontes provenientes de (a) entrevistas com membros da organização de diferentes funções e níveis hierárquicos; (b) entrevistas com membros externos relacionados à organização de forma indireta; (c) coleta documental; e (d) observação não participante. Em relação à análise dos dados, assumiu-se a flexibilidade da análise temática, para compreender o fenômeno proposto levando em consideração as influências de diferentes atores e contextos sociais. Foram identificados cinco períodos-chave, nos quais a reconstrução identitária se mostrava, de forma mais explícita, necessária à continuidade da essência da organização, e as práticas e ações mnemônicas foram então analisadas ao longo desses períodos. Desta forma, foi possível identificar como a relação dinâmica (processo social contínuo de construção e reconstrução) entre identidade e memória contribuiu para manter a continuidade, ao longo de cinquenta anos, da identidade da escola Edem. / [en] This research, located at the point of convergence between the organizational identity studies and the social memory studies, aims to investigate the recurrent identity (re)construction of a private school (founded in 1969 and located in the city of Rio de Janeiro), through its collective mnemonic practices and actions. In order to deepen the understanding of the relations between identity and memory in the collective sphere, this work has proposed to investigate the two concepts from the social constructionist perspective, the result of a negotiation process among the members of the organization, influenced by different individuals, groups, management teams and other collectives. With regard to methodological procedures, the data collection used the sources from (a) interviews with members of the organization of different functions and hierarchical levels; (b) interviews with external members related to the organization in an indirect way; (c) collection of documents; and (d) nonparticipant observation. In relation to the data analysis, the flexibility of the thematic analysis was assumed in order to understand the proposed phenomenon, taking into account the influences of different actors and social contexts. Five key periods were identified, in which identity reconstruction was more explicitly required for the continuity of the organization s essence, and mnemonic practices and actions were then analyzed over these periods. In this way, it was possible to identify how the dynamic relationship (continuous social process of construction and reconstruction) between identity and memory contributed to maintaining the continuity, over fifty years, of the essence of the identity of Edem school.

Postpartum Depression (PPD) affects 8-15 percent of new mothers in Sweden every year. The majority of PPD cases go undetected, and only a few percent receive adequate care. New ways to detect and diagnose PPD are required. In my previous work, PPD experts expressed willingness to integrate social assistive robots (SARs) into their medical team. Moreover, we disclosed that future work was needed to include patients' perspectives on the subject. This thesis aims to provide insights from mothers with experience of mental health issues in relation to their pregnancy to elicit perceptions, attitudes and opinions towards SARs in PPD healthcare. Semi-structured interviews with participants (n=10) and a generative design activity were conducted and analyzed using thematic analysis. The results suggest split opinions towards SARs in PPD healthcare. Participants expressed healthcare needs, and how SARs could be used to address these issues. Opinions towards the robot's appearance, including characteristics, gender and ethnicity were also discussed. Future work including midwives, child health nurses' and perspectives is needed, as well as a larger sample of women to validate the robot’s appearance, gender and characteristics.

This thesis engages with perception, interpretation, consequences, and management of critique as experienced by members of the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (SFSF), in the context following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Sweden’s choice to accede to NATO. The aim is to get an inside perspective in to how the members experience this phenomenon. It does so by employing qualitative interviews, participant observations, and analysis of relevant literature. The grounds for criticism against peace organisations are believed to stem from differing understandings on what peace is, and how it could be achieved, the critique is then made salient through different processes, congruent with securitization of issues. The study contributes to the field of peace and conflict studies as it highlights discrepancies in the understandings of peace and the friction that it creates. The study finds that the members of SFSF finds their opinions and non-violent values are being marginalized as they attempt to problematise the causes and potential solutions to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and their resistance to NATO-membership. They interpret the criticism as stemming from lacking opportunities for public engagement, suspicion and fear, and non-critical and biased media representations. This leads to the risk of self-censorship, difficulties in transmitting their messages, but also an increase in organisational memberships. The members realise the particularity of the situation and how it affects their opportunities, yet they find solace in beliefs of their current and future importance concerning the ambitions for international peace.

Russia has energetically expanded its involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa in the last decade. Through a qualitative thematic analysis on a dataset of 191 English language posts from the websites of the Kremlin and the Russian MFA published between 2001 and 2023, this project seeks to describe how Russian state public diplomacy presents Russia’s relations with Sub-Saharan African nations and Africa as a whole. A typology by Bobba and Hubé (2021) was adapted, which focuses on how issues are problematised and politicised in political communication, and revolves around the categories of naming, blaming and claiming. The findings reveal that while anti-colonial and anti-Western rhetoric is prevalent in Russian state public diplomacy, themes emphasising cooperation, shared values, identity, and positive representations are even more widespread, a departure from previous research. This justified the creation of a fourth category in the typology: invoking. Combative portrayals of the West, and naming of colonialism as a problem, entered the dataset starting around 2018 for MFA posts and 2022 for Kremlin posts. From 2022, some posts also portrayed Russia as a country and Russians as a people as fellow victims of colonialism together with Africa, which was not mentioned in prior research. Further studies could apply the typology used in this thesis to include statements by Sub-Saharan African state officials, or study Russian state portrayals of relations with Russia’s Near Abroad.

People around the globe rely on their mobile devices for instant access to entertainment and social media. Children comprise a large majority of individuals who use smartphone applications, particularly for gaming and learning opportunities. Understandably, these apps become part of the identity development process, including the formation of one's gender identity. App developers include gendered content to capture and maintain children's attention, but much of the existing research examines children in late childhood and early adolescence, leaving the ages of six to eight relatively undiscussed. The researcher utilized a thematic analysis to review 20 children's mobile applications for instances of gender stereotypes. Social cognitive theory offers a guiding principle for understanding the process of developing one's gender identity, as well as the role that external stimuli, such as digital media examples and parent models, play. This study aimed to determine whether mobile applications targeting the identified age group use gender stereotypes, as well as how they employ these stereotypes within the application. The researcher randomly selected 20 top children's applications on the Apple App Store and examined them for gendered instances, such as occupations and interests as well as character depictions. The results reflect that instances of gender stereotypes do occur in the children's mobile applications. Many of the applications portrayed feminine stereotypes surrounding nurturing and caregiving tasks ("Mommy in Training"), making it one of the most frequently exploited feminine stereotypes in the sample. The "Boys will be Boys" stereotype comprised the most frequently displayed masculine stereotypes across the studied applications. These findings represent the idea that society places higher value on these stereotypes than others, such as social relationships ("The Power of Motivational Friendship") or recklessness ("The Risk Taker"). Implications include modeling of traditionally masculine and feminine stereotypes for young users by utilizing popular characters recognizable by most children in the target age range. / Master of Arts / Handheld electronic devices, such as smartphones and tablets, encompass some of the most widely used electronic devices in today's society. Most families in America have at least one mobile device with internet capability. Apple, the manufacturer of perhaps the most popular brand of electronic devices, pre-install their App Store on all devices they sell, giving users instant access to hundreds of thousands of different mobile applications that offer functions to make every aspect of life simpler. Young children spend a significant amount of their time playing games on these devices, although the American Academy of Pediatrics (2017) recommends that parents limit their children's daily screen time to no more than 2 hours, depending on the age of the child. The games that children download and play impose a number of different messages and stereotypes on their users, including gender stereotypes. Due to the substantial time children dedicate to these apps, the messages communicated regarding gender play crucial roles in the development of their gender identity. Social cognitive theory offers valuable insight and guidance into the gender identity development process. Therefore, the present study examines the gender stereotypes conveyed within 20 of the top children's mobile applications available on the Apple App Store in April 2018. The researcher randomly selected 20 children's applications, 10 each from the Top Free and Top Paid categories and examined them for gendered instances, such as occupations and interests as well as character depictions. The results reflect that instances of gender stereotypes do occur in the children's mobile applications. These represent the idea that society places higher value on certain stereotypes, like being caring and nurturing ("Mommy in Training") or engaging in messy, adventurous play ("Boys will be Boys"), than others, such as social relationships ("The Power of Motivational Friendship") or recklessness ("The Risk Taker"). Implications include modeling of traditionally masculine and feminine stereotypes for young users by utilizing popular characters recognizable by most children in the target age range.

No / The European RHAPSODY project sought to develop and test an online information and support programme for caregivers of individuals diagnosed with young onset dementia. The objectives were to assess user acceptability and satisfaction with the programme and to test outcome measures for a larger effectiveness study. DESIGN: A pilot randomised controlled trial in England, France, and Germany was conducted with 61 caregivers for adults with young onset Alzheimer's disease or frontotemporal degeneration. Evaluations at baseline, week 6, and week 12 assessed user acceptability and satisfaction. Use of the programme was measured from online back-end data. Qualitative feedback on user experiences was collected via semi-structured interviews. Measures of caregiver well-being (self-efficacy, stress, burden, frequency of patient symptoms, and caregiver reactions) were explored for use in a subsequent trial. RESULTS: Participants logged in online on average once a week over a 6-week period, consulting approximately 31% of programme content. Seventy percent of participants described the programme as useful and easy to use. Eighty-five percent expressed intent to use the resource in the future. Reductions in reported levels of stress and caregivers' negative reactions to memory symptoms were observed following use of the programme. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated that the RHAPSODY programme was acceptable and useful to caregivers. The programme may be complementary to existing services in responding to the specific needs of families affected by young onset dementia. Distribution of the programme is underway in England, France, Germany, and Portugal.

Syftet med studien är att lyfta fram åsikter och uppfattningar hos ungdomar som tvångsvårdas på SiS särskilda ungdomshem. Fokus ligger på att undersöka vilken bakgrund dessa ungdomar har, deras uppfattningar kring tvångsvården samt identifiera och tolka inre och yttre motivationskrafter till livsförändring hos ungdomarna. För att fånga ungdomars egna erfarenheter och åsikter om tvångsvården valdes en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med en deduktiv ansats utifrån motivationsteorierna Self-Determination Theory och Hope Theory. Det empiriska materialet består av ungdomars egenskrivna texter från två böcker, där ungdomarna beskriver deras liv innan och under placeringen på SiS samt deras tankar inför framtiden. Materialet analyseras genom en tematisk textanalys.  Den tematiska analysen resulterade i fem huvudteman; fragmenterade barndomar, från motstånd till insikt, frihet och återuppbyggnad, en osjälvisk förändring samt navigering genom okänd terräng. Resultatet visade att ungdomarna har upplevt trasiga uppväxtförhållanden och att stöttande personer i deras närhet är av stor vikt, speciellt deras mödrar. Vidare visade resultatet en splittrad uppfattning om tvångvården där de flesta beskriver en initial skepsis gentemot vården men att de med tiden kommer till insikt om deras problematik och behov till behandling. Gällande ungdomarnas motivation till förändring kunde flertalet inre och yttre motivationsfaktorer identifieras, där autonomi och frihet samt undvikande av straff var de mest framträdande. Återkommande i resultatet gällande ungdomarnas framtid var att ungdomarna uppgav hopp inför framtiden men beskrev samtidigt en rädsla för att falla tillbaka i destruktiva mönster och därmed en bristande tro till deras egen förmåga att förändra sina liv. Resultatet analyseras utifrån tidigare forskning och det teoretiska underlaget. / The purpose of the study is to highlight the opinions and perceptions of young people who are receiving care provided by the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care. The focus is on examining the backgrounds of these young people, their perceptions of compulsory care, and identifying and interpreting internal and external motivational forces for life change among the youth. To capture the youths' own experiences and opinions about compulsory care, a qualitative research method with a deductive approach based on the motivational theories of Self-Determination Theory and Hope Theory was chosen. The empirical material consists of youths' self-written texts from two books, where the youths describe their lives before and during the compulsory care as well as their thoughts about the future. The material is analyzed through a thematic text analysis. The thematic analysis resulted in five main themes: fragmented childhoods, from resistance to insight, freedom and rebuilding, selfless change, and navigating through unknown terrain. The results showed that the youths have experienced broken upbringing conditions and that supportive individuals in their surroundings are of great importance, especially their mothers. Furthermore, the results revealed a mixed perception of compulsory care where most describe initial skepticism towards the care but eventually come to realize their issues and need for treatment. Regarding the youths' motivation for change, several internal and external motivational factors were identified, with autonomy and freedom, as well as avoidance of punishment, being the most prominent. Recurrent in the results regarding the youths' future was that they expressed hope for the future but also described a fear of reverting to destructive patterns and thus a lack of belief in their ability to change their lives. The results are analyzed based on previous research and the theoretical framework.

Denna studie bygger på åtta enskilda intervjuer med undersköterskor, servicepersonal, enhetschef och socialchef inom en organisation. Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för hur ledning och personal upplever den nyligen implementerade differentieringen av arbetsuppgifter på ett särskilt boende för äldre. I resultatet presenteras en tematisk analys bestående av följande teman: differentierat arbetssätt – från motiv till ökad status, frigjord tid på gott och ont samt ökade sociala kontakter. I temat differentierat arbetssätt – från motiv till ökad status presenteras motiven till arbetssättet och en beskrivning av vad differentieringen innebär i praktiken. I temat frigjord tid på gott och ont presenteras vad den frigjorda tiden används till och dess konsekvenser. I temat ökade sociala kontakter beskrivs det hur de sociala relationerna mellan de äldre och personalen har ökat och vad det får för konsekvenser för de äldre. Resultatet analyseras sedan med hjälp av organisationsteoretiska begrepp tillhörande det instrumentella perspektivet på organisationer. Slutsatsen är att ledningen och personalen handlat målrationellt i förhållande till förändringen i verksamheten. Differentieringen av arbetsuppgifter beskrivs på olika sätt av intervjupersonerna beroende av deras positioner och roller i organisationen. Utifrån arbetsdelning och förändrade rutiner i verksamheten beskriver undersköterskorna frigjord tid, minskad stress och tillsammans med servicepersonalen beskrivs också ökade sociala kontakter med de äldre. / This study is based on a total of eight individual interviews with nursing assistants, service personnel, unit manager and head of social services in the organization. The purpose is to increase understanding of how management and staff perceive the recently implemented task differentiation at a selected retirement home for elderly. The results present a thematic analysis on the following themes: task differentiation – from motive to increased status, liberated time for better or worse, and increased social contacts. Under the theme of task differentiation – from motive to increased status, the motives for the approach are presented along with a description of what it entails in practice. Under the theme of liberated time for better or worse, what the liberated time has been used for and its consequences are presented. Under the theme of increased social contacts, developed social relationships between the elderly and the staff at the retirement home and its consequences for the elderly are presented. The results are then analysed using organizational theoretical concepts belonging to the instrumental perspective on organizations. The conclusion is that the management and staff have acted in a rationally way in relation to the goals of the organization. Task differentiation is described in various ways by the interviewees depending on their positions and roles in the organization. Based on the division of labour and the changed routines in the organization the nursing assistants describe freed-up time, reduced stress, and, together with the service staff, also increased social contacts with the elderly.

Internationally, China’s promotion of its cultural heritage has gained much attention as a means to gain soft power and exert influence. In 2021, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), released the 14th Five-Year Plan stating the country’s overarching ambitions in the coming years. In contrast to previous plans, this year’s policy document contains strong wordings concerning enhancing soft power, socialist culture and for the Chinese people to ‘inherit and carry forward’ Excellent Traditional Culture, signifying that China’s approach to soft power and cultural promotion may be of increased importance also in the domestic context. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to explore the discourse used to promote ‘Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture’ within China.   By applying thematic analysis to articles from The People’s Daily seven dominant themes emerged regarding promotional efforts. Between the time interval of 2021-2022, the promotion of ‘Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture’ emphasized the following themes: Leadership of Xi Jinping, Integration of Marxism and Chinese Characteristics, Combining Tradition and Modernity, Cultural Self-Confidence and Nationalism, Creativity and Innovative Transformation, National Rejuvenation and Inheritance, and China’s International Cultural Soft Power. As previous research on soft power in the Chinese context suggests, discourse and narratives seem to build on the notion of building a united and cohesive nation. Instilling a cultural and ideological basis that should permeate all of Chinese society.