Grounded in the qualitative tradition, the aim of this study was to explore how principals perceive the processes governing, tensions inherent in and consequences, of the secularisation of public schools in South Africa, against the backdrop of the old apartheid system. Principals are key informants who bridge the gap between the political arena and the individuals who are affected at the implementation level and therefore provide a valuable lens through which the process of secularisation can be explored. Eight principals, who had been in this position of leadership for at least eight years, participated in semi-structured interviews, which were then subjected to a thematic content analysis. Principals perceived the process as characterised by a lack of consultation and transparency, with no clear guidelines provided to them and no follow-through from the education ministry. They also perceived tensions in the manner in which principals continued to embrace Christian principles in the management of their schools. Tolerance and respect of different religions were identified as positive outcomes of secularisation but these were perceived to have been offset by the negative consequences of a moral collapse, an ungovernable school and a loss of identity among the students. Through exploring the nature of key socialising agents, in the educational arena, it became evident that the participants often conceptualised themselves as martyrs and perceived parents as morally neglectful. The changing role of the school, as an agent of religious education, was also explored. Overall, all the principals strongly agreed that despite the good intentions of the government in fostering a democratic society, the impact of secularisation had resulted in some unintended effects, including a negative impact on the moral development of the students. In sum they perceived that the negative consequences of secularisation outweighed the promises of the government’s overall secularisation vision.

Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to illuminate, describe, and promote understanding of women’s experiences of prolonged labour. The thesis compromises four studies. Methods: Paper I describes a case-referent study that recruited women (n = 255) giving singleton live birth to their first child by spontaneous labour after more than 37 completed weeks’ pregnancy. Participants completed a questionnaire that investigated childbirth experiences, previous family relationships, and childhood experiences. Paper II presented a cross-sectional study of 644 women who had been expecting their first child. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire measuring psychosocial resources (social network and support), work-related psychosocial factors, control of daily life, and health characteristics. Papers III and IV presented interviews performed with 10 women, who, following prolonged labour, had given singleton live birth to their first children. Results: The risk of a negative birth experience was increased for women following prolonged labour. Both women experiencing prolonged and normal labours perceived the support given by their partners and midwives during labour to be very important, and felt pain relief to be a key issue. The suffering experienced during labour was more likely to mark the women for life if the labour was prolonged than if the experience of giving birth was positive and labour was normal. Both women, including those who had and those who had not experienced prolonged labour reported a high level of psychosocial resources, support, and sense of wellbeing in early pregnancy. The difficulties of prolonged labour were interpreted as an experience of being caught up in pain and fear: the women described how they had felt exhausted, powerless, and out of control. They described their dependency on others, and said that the caregiver’s decision to assist with the delivery was experienced as being relieved from pain. Prolonged labour could be understood as an experience of suddenly falling ill or of finding oneself in a life-threatening condition associated with an overwhelming fear of losing oneself and the child. The difficulties and suffering involved in becoming a mother after a prolonged labour were interpreted to be like “fumbling in the dark”. Women had experienced bodily fatigue accompanied by feelings of illness and detachment from the child. Meeting the child when in this condition entailed a struggle to become a mother. The negativity connected with prolonged labour and a struggle for motherhood may be comparable to the experience of illness and recovery. In spite of these experiences, reassurance of these women regarding their capacity for motherhood was crucial: it was central to their happiness as mothers, encouraged their interaction and relationship with the child, and contributed to their adaptation to motherhood. Conclusion: Women experiencing prolonged labour require advanced medical and obstetric care, which may limit their ability to participate in making decisions about their care. They have a special need for extra support and encouragement, as well as increased nursing and midwifery care during delivery.

The purpose of this study is to explore the national policies, strategies, and programmatic responses on HIV/AIDS in eight Southeast Asia Countries by analyzing the contents of the National Strategic Plans on HIV/AIDS (NSPs) and biennial country progress report to UNAIDS from these countries. METHODS: Thematic content analysis method was used to analyze a total of 24 documents of the National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS and Global AIDS Response Progress Report submitted to UNAIDS from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. NVivo10 qualitative analysis software was used for coding and organizing documents. RESULTS: 28 main categories with sub-categories emerged from coding and analysis of NSPs and country progress report documents from eight SEA countries. NSPs from all countries significantly failed to tackle key topics in policy, social and economic environment around HIV control such as women empowerment, illiteracy, armed conflicts, natural disaster and humanitarian emergencies. CONCLUSION: In order to align with the global HIV strategy to reach Millennium Development Goals to stop the spread of HIV by 2015, SEA countries should improve their NSPs and progress reports by addressing the political, social, cultural, and economic factors which urgently need to be addressed. New technologies and approaches are important for developing HIV interventions to stop the HIV epidemic, but addressing policy, economic and social environment around HIV epidemic and control in SEA regions is a key for those HIV intervention strategies and programs to be effective in controlling for HIV.

Forskningen pekar på en konflikt mellan de krav vissa arbetsgivare har på att alkohol- och drogtesta sina anställda, respektive den eventuella ovilja arbetstagare av integritetsskäl kan ha att bli testade. I detta sammanhang råder det en oklarhet om vilka attityder svenska sjömän har till att bli alkohol- och drogtestade ombord på arbetsplatsen. Syftet med denna uppsats blev därför att undersöka svenska sjömäns attityder till att genomgå slumpmässiga alkohol- och drogtester ombord. Genom intervjuer av fjorton testerfarna och testoerfarna sjömän genomfördes en kvalitativ tematisk innehållsanalys av sjömännens attityder till testerna. Resultatet visade att sjömännen till skillnad från tidigare forskning hade positiva eller neutrala attityder till testerna. De upplevde inte obehag eller en känsla av att vara övervakade eller kränkta. Stämningen på arbetsplatsen blev inte märkbart sämre och tilltron till arbetsgivaren var oförändrad. Sjömännen var väl medvetna om reglerna och rutinerna för alkohol- och drogtesterna och deltog samarbetsvilligt i testerna utan protester. Attityderna mellan de testerfarna och testoerfarna sjömännen var mycket snarlika, med den mindre skillnaden att de testoerfarna sjömännen hade mindre kunskaper om reglerna kring testerna samt antog felaktigt att stämningen på arbetsplatsen skulle bli sämre om tester skulle införas. / This thesis focuses on the relationship between the requirements that some employers have involving alcohol and drug testing of employees, and the potential resistance that employees may have to such tests as regards integrity issues. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate Swedish seafarers’ attitudes to undergoing random alcohol and drug testing on board. Through interviews with fourteen both test-experienced and non-test-experienced seafarers a qualitative thematic content analysis of seafarers’ attitudes to the tests was conducted. The results show that contrary to previous research, the seafarers had positive or neutral attitudes to the tests. The seafarers did not experience any feeling of discomfort or of being monitored and the atmosphere of the workplace and trust for the employer remained unchanged. The seafarers cooperated in the tests without protests. The attitudes of the test-experienced and the non-test-experienced seafarers were similar. One difference however was found in that the non-test-experienced seafarers had less knowledge of rules and procedures regarding the tests and believed that the atmosphere of the workplace would be negatively affected if the tests were to be introduced.

Studiens syfte var att få en fördjupad förståelse för hur högkänsliga personer upplever att personlighetsdraget påverkar olika relationer och sociala situationer i dagens sociala samhälle. Data samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med nio personer som definierar sig som högkänsliga. Informanternas svar analyserades sedan i en tematisk analys för att få fram en överblick över deras upplevelser. Resultatet indikerar att personlighetsdraget påverkar relationerna med andra på många olika sätt, bland annat genom högkänsligas förmåga att läsa av andra, deras djupa bearbetning och deras behov av att undvika överstimulering. Det framkom även att högkänsligas egenskaper inte alltid accepteras eller förstås av omgivningen. / The aim of this study was to get an immersed understanding of how highly sensitive people experience that the personality trait affects various relationships and social situations in today’s social society. Data were collected through semi structured interviews with nine people defining themselves as HSP. The answers from the informants were thereafter analyzed using thematic content analysis to get an overview of their experiences. The result indicates that the personality trait affects the relationships with others in various ways, for example by the ability of the highly sensitive to understand others, their deep processing and their need to avoid overstimulation. It also emerged that the characteristics of the highly sensitive people were not always accepted or understood by the surroundings.

Distriktssköterskors tillförlitlighet är stort i samhället och därför är distriktssköterskor i en ställning till att verka som ledare i det hälsofrämjande arbetet. Det har visats att det föreligger hinder för att kunna främja fysisk aktivitet och det existerar få studier som handlar om erfarenheter hos distriktssköterskor kring främjandet av fysisk aktivitet Syftet med denna studie var belysa distriktssköterskors erfarenheter av att främja fysisk aktivitet hos fysiskt inaktiva personer Metod Datainsamling ufördes med semistrukturerade intervjuer där åtta distriktssköterskor intervjuades. Data analyserades med tematisk innehållsanalys. Resultat Vid analysen framkom ett tema; att ställas inför utmaningar och fyra kategorier: Att individanpassa samtalet och aktivitet; Att arbeta med evidensbaserade verktyg; Att möta hinder i det hälsofrämjande arbetet samt Att god kunskap förenklar det hälsofrämjande arbetet Konklusion Ökad mängd tid behövs för att kunna främja fysisk aktivitet i större utsträckning. Hälsofrämjande arbete bortprioriteras av verksamheter då adekvat mängd tid inte avsattes för detta. Arbetet kunde ses som utmanande men ansågs ändå som viktigt. Utbildning inom MI behövs för att stärka det främjande arbetet. / District nurses’ reliability is high in society and therefore they are in an position to act as a leader in the health promotion work. It’s been shown that there’s obstacles to promoting physical activity and there are few studies of experiences of district nurses’ regarding the promotion of physical activity Aim The purpose of this study was to illustrate distict nurses’ experiences of promoting physical activity in physically inactive persons Method Data collection was carried out through semistructured interviews in which eight district nurses’ were interviewed. Data was analysed with thematic content analysis. Results One theme: to face challenges and four categories emerged; To personalize the conversation and activity; To work with evidence-based tools; To meet obstacles in the health promotion work and That good knowledge simplifies the health promotion work Conclusion An increased amout of time is needed to promote physical activity in a greater extent. Health promotion work is not prioritized by organizations because of not enough time is not set aside for this. The work could be seen as challenging but was considered important. Education within MI is needed to strengthen the promotion work

Mechatronics is an interdisciplinary field of engineering involving components from software engineering, as well as physical components from mechanics and electronics. Development of a mechatronic system requires special interdisciplinary knowledge from multiple fields of engineering. This becomes especially relevant when a mechatronic system is integrated for full system testing, where all the components are combined, and the client-specified use-case requirements are tested. Agile project methods, originally only intended for software engineering, are spreading in the field of mechatronics with positive effect, though there are concerns that such methods cannot be broadly applied to all sub-disciplines of the field or stages of development. A major Swedish mechatronic development firm has begun experimenting with Scrum elements for the system testing department of their products. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the viability of Scrum elements for system testing of mechatronic products, through an exploratory, qualitative case study. Specifically, we wanted to understand how the use of Scrum elements can benefit mechatronic system testing, and what challenges can emerge. Data collection for our study consisted of semi-structured interviews with members of the chosen system test department, as well as with system test representatives from other mechatronic development firms. The data was transcribed and then analysed using inductive thematic content analysis. The results consisted of four distinct themes, describing the benefits and challenges of using Scrum elements in mechatronic system testing: 1: The Importance and Challenges of Planning, 2: How to Handle Task Prioritisation and Estimation, 3: The Benefits and Challenges of Inter-Departmental Collaboration, and 4: Adjustment of the Scrum Framework. The most significant benefits were found with adopting the incremental Sprint cycle structure, with corresponding Sprint Planning meetings, as well as Sprint Retrospectives. The Daily Scrum meeting was also identified as a useful impediment bulldozer, letting the team refocus efforts on the tasks requiring the most attention. An important challenge identified was learning how to effectively collaborate with other departments in the company who may not be using an Agile framework. A comparison was made between different approaches to adapting the Scrum framework to best fit the needs of your team, concluding that simply picking individual Scrum elements to include in your work structure may yield underwhelming results compared to the combined effect of a complete Scrum framework.

Theories in International Relations, often refered to as traditional, has an increasing difficulty in understanding conflict developments that – from their perspective – are considered irrational. The following study problematizes this issue by applying an ontological security perspective on the russian legitimatization of the full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which arguable constitutes such an empirical example. This is done concretely by providing two guiding research questions. These are: What main narratives, that legitimazes Russias warfare in Ukraine, could be identified in the 2022 mobilization- and annexation speeches by Putin? As well as: How can this narrative legitimization be understood based on ontological security theory? The process of answering these questions is designed through Brymans thematic content analysis, which is being applied on the speeches concerned. Three russian narratives could, as a conclusion, be identified and considered as main themes. These are the narrative of Russia as a rightous actor, the narrative about a Russia influenced Ukraine and the narrative about a hostile West, respectively. Further, conceptual definitions of ontological security are turned into more explicit sub questions in order to stimulate a wider discussion in the analytical chapter. The conclusion thereafter shows that the mentioned narrative legitimization can be understood as an expression of russian identity security seeking, and thus a view of security as ”being” rather than ”survival”.

This qualitative study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of women living with HIV and Aids in Centurion, Gauteng Province. The study was conducted at Lyttleton clinic and 12 women living with HIV and Aids were selected for the study using a non-probability, purposive sampling technique. In-depth, individual semi-structured interviews were used during data collection. A thematic content approach in data analysis yielded the following main themes: experience of being diagnosed HIV positive, disclosure of an HIV positive status, physical signs and symptoms of HIV and Aids, stigma/ emotional stress well experiences in services rendered. The study highlighted the need for a well-established health system, assisting women living with HIV and Aids on how to cope and to raise awareness on HIV and Aids. / Health Studies / M. A. (Public Health)

From the literature we learn that existing educational frameworks that inform law and policy- making on the education of disabled children deal extensively with the curricular and educational concerns of disabled children. Yet, these frameworks leave out the pivotal issue of children‟s human right to education. The rights-based frameworks address human rights issues in a grand fashion, but give scanty educational guidelines on the actual education of disabled children, rendering hollow the human rights credo they espouse. South Africa has been one of a few countries which made attempts at addressing both the human rights concerns facing learners with disabilities and their curricular and pedagogic needs. The country embarked upon extensive efforts of legislative and policy formulation that are, in some respects, unparalleled in the world. Hence, this country is a potential storehouse of good practices on the education of children with disabilities with the potential to inform the re-formulation of existing African and global frameworks on the right to education of disabled children. Furthermore, the impressive novelty contained in South African education laws and policies notwithstanding, there are a number of issues which should be addressed in the country‟s education environment, including how the laws and policies are implemented. It is to be acknowledged that laws and policies are only as good as their implementation. Mindful of the above situation prevailing at the global level and the national (South African) level, this study offers a framework that marries the right to education of children with disabilities with educational theory on and practice in regard to the education of disabled children. The framework is constructed on the basis of current international literature on both disability and education and related South African law and policy instruments. In terms of its methodology, the study employed a generic or non-categorical qualitative design, also called methodological bricolage. Under this overall design, two principal modes of inquiry were applied, namely the enlightenment mode to policy analysis and critical law and policy discourse analysis. Theoretically, the study is anchored in the human rights variant of the Social Model of Disability, Critical Theory and Post-structural paradigms. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)