Past research has confirmed that structural attributes of nations, as well as individual characteristics of people contribute to levels of fear of crime, across both nations and individuals. Specifically, in regard to the effects structural characteristics have on fear, gender equality has been shown to affect rates of rape, which in turn, affect women's fear of crime. Regarding individual-level determinants, age, income, education, whether one dwells in an urban or rural area, and prior victimization have been shown to have effects on fear. This dissertation set out to answer several research questions related to prior findings: 1) How does gender equality affect women's fear of crime across nations?; 2) Does gender equality have a direct effect on women's fear, or is this effect mediated by national rape rates?; 3) How do structural characteristics other than gender equality affect women's fear of crime?; and last, 4) How do individual characteristics affect women's fear of crime? Using data from various sources, including the International Criminal Victimization Survey, the World Values Survey, the United Nations, and the World Bank (total N=20 nations and 17,384 individuals), I assessed the aforementioned research questions using multilevel modeling. Overall, findings indicate that individual-level characteristics did a better job than structural context in predicting women's fear of crime across various nations. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed in the final chapter.

Background: Children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities are at increased risk for peer victimization in schools. Due to the deficits in their social, cognitive, and adaptive skills, these children face greater challenges to stand up for themselves thus, facing continued victimization.   Aim: This systematic literature review sought to critically identify the existing literature on predictors and outcomes which are associated with peer victimization in children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities in a school environment using the Biopsychosocial model. Method: To conduct this study, a systematic search procedure was formulated to retrieve relevant scholarly articles from the chosen databases. Peer reviewed journals were searched to retrieve articles from education, psychology, and social sciences, published in English language between years 2000-2020. Only studies with children and adolescents ages 6 - 21 years were considered. A total of eight articles with five cross-sectional, two cohort, and one case-control studies qualified to answer the research questions. Results: Findings varied across the social and psychological aspects. Social predictors and outcomes were found to be dominant for peer victimization. Internalizing Behaviour Disorders as a whole was identified as a psychological predictor with low self-esteem and depressive feelings as individual predictors and outcomes of peer victimization. Conclusion: Children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities are vulnerable to peer victimization due to deficits in disability characteristics. Exposure to peer victimization can pose serious consequences on their social and psychological well-being. Implications for future research and methodological limitations of this study are also discussed.

Childhood and adolescent bullying victimization procures mental health issues and dysfunction. Using a longitudinal design from the McMaster Teen study dataset, a semi-parametric group- based trajectory analysis was used to identify distinct patterns of peer victimization across ages 10 to 18. A three-class solution of peer victimization was selected. Most individuals followed a low decreasing trajectory of peer victimization (71.3%). The next largest group followed a moderate decreasing peer victimization trajectory (25.2%), and the smallest group followed a high stable peer victimization trajectory (3.5%). These trajectory groups were used to predict Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) symptoms and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in emerging adulthood (ages 19 to 22). Results indicated that the high stable and moderate decreasing groups differed from the low decreasing group on BPD symptoms; individuals who were bullied by their peers in childhood and adolescence were more likely to have elevated symptoms of BPD in adulthood. However, when controlling for gender and childhood maltreatment, this differentiation only held true for the high stable group. Results also indicated that children and adolescents who followed a high stable trajectory of bullying victimization were more likely to meet PTSD diagnostic criteria in emerging adulthood than those who followed a low decreasing or moderate decreasing trajectory. The implications of the positive associations of childhood and adolescent bullying victimization on BPD symptoms and PTSD are considered via a group socialization theory lens. High levels of bullying victimization are explained as a form of relational trauma. Results suggest that peer relations are powerful enough to lead to subsequent personality pathology, and implications of these associations are examined through a developmental trauma framework. Understanding the developmental impact of childhood and adolescent bullying on BPD symptoms and PTSD provides insight and supports prevention and intervention initiatives at the school level and in clinical practice.

This thesis deals with the life story of Augustin Komanec, dean of Slaný, a man standing among many other anonymous priests who were persecuted for their firm human and Christian attitudes towards the Church and its bishops in the early 1950's. Augustin Komanec was one of those tried by the totalitarian communist regime in fabricated trials. He was not sentenced to death, nevertheless the stiffness of the punishment led to the ultimate sacrifice. He died soon after he had been sent to the communist prison in Mírov. Based on documents available, the work presents Komanec's both civil and clerical life from 1885 to 1948 and then from the communist coup to his death in 1953. The aim of the work is to present the destiny of this brave person, who refused to give in to the totalitarian power and who represented the real enemy of this power: the Church, courageous and free.

Bullying can have a negative impact on children’s development andmental health. Studentswith disabilities aremore likely to be targeted for bullying than studentswithout disabilities. In particu- lar, studies have shown that studentswith disabilities are at greater risk of bullying than students without disabilities. In addition, childrenwithdisabilities have higher riskof lowsubjective health. Results showed that therewere significant differences in the dependent variables among four dif- ferent groups of bullying participants (disabled victims, victimswithout disabilities, non victims with disabilitiesandnon-victimswithoutdisabilities).Non-disabledstudentswhowere not bullied had the highest level of subjective health,while the subjective health of disabled students who are not bullied is higher than that of disabled students who are bullied and non-disabled students who are bullied. Thismeans that as the risk of exposure to bullying increases, the subjective health of childrenwith disabilitieswillbefurther lower.Childrenwithdisabilities alone have higher life satisfaction than those with disabilities who and bullied and have higher life satisfaction than those bullied without disabilities. And childrenwithdisabilities aremore likely to report somatic and psychological symptoms than childrenwithout disabilities.Children who were bullied reportedmore somatic symptoms than childrenwho were not bullied. Therefore, schools should establish student violence prevention interventions to reduce peer victimization regardless of students’ disabilities.

In 2020, COVID-19 spread worldwide, and a state of pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization. Female sex workers are in many ways dependant on the social conditions of society and have, throughout time, been considered as a highly victimized group. This study aims to gain insight into the changes and consequences the COVID-19 pandemic has had on female sex workers in Sweden by conducting semi-structured interviews with individuals who, through their employment, have connections to female sex workers. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results revealed four themes that describe the changes and consequences witnessed by the participants. The first theme entails the vulnerabilities and circumstances that female sex workers are conditioned by in society. The second theme demonstrates the economic consequences which the pandemic outbreak caused. Not only in relation to expenses and difficulties traveling but also in terms of an increased market due to unemployment and lockdowns in Central Europe. This theme also includes a subgroup of physical consequences as a result of the competition created by the increased market of female sex workers in Sweden. This has caused the women to have to take additional risks and abuse. The third theme includes the bureaucratic and social complications caused by the social restrictions enforced to hinder the spread of the COVID-19. The fourth and last theme presents the participants' post-pandemic predictions.

Bullying and abusive discrimination in the workplace is a social global phenomenon that can lead to several consequences for those who are exposed. The purpose of this study is to investigate and increase our understanding of bullying in the workplace. We intend to fulfill the purpose by finding out how bullying in the workplace can be expressed, and how the exposed individuals through a group context experienced the bullying. Previous research shows that bullying in the workplace can include being socially excluded, having importan twork-related information withheld or rumor spreading. Mental illness such as anxiety or depression, or physical ailments such as muscle tension and migraine, are also some of the consequences of bullying. The theoretical framework for the study is Norbert Elias and JohnL. Scotson’s theory of established and outsiders, and Arlie Russel Hochschild’s concept of emotional labor and feeling as clue. This study is based on seven semi-structured interviews with people who, at some point in their professional lives, have been exposed to bullying att heir workplace. The result of this study show that bullying can manifest itself through abuse of power and social exclusion, which often affects the victim to a great extent. There spondents stated that their work motivation decreased, they felt anxiety, worry and a constant lack of energy, which also led to an impact on their private life. / Mobbning och kränkande särbehandling på arbetsplatsen är ett socialt globalt fenomen som kan leda till en rad konsekvenser för den som blir utsatt. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka samt öka förståelsen för mobbning på arbetsplatsen. Detta med hjälp av frågeställningarna om hur mobbning på arbetsplatsen kan ta sig uttryck samt hur den utsatte individen utifrån en gruppkontext har upplevt mobbningen. Tidigare forskning visar att mobbning på arbetsplatsen bland annat kan handla om att bli socialt utfryst, att bli undanhållen viktig arbetsrelaterad information eller råka ut för ryktesspridning. Psykiska problem i form av exempelvis ångest eller depression, eller fysiska besvär såsom muskelspänningar och migrän, är några av mobbningens konsekvenser. Det teoretiska ramverket för studien innehåller Norbert Elias och John L. Scotsons teori om etablerade och outsiders, samt Arlie Russel Hochschilds begrepp emotionellt arbete och känsla som ledtråd. Denna studie baseras på sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer som någon gång under sitt yrkesliv blivit utsatta för mobbning på sin arbetsplats. Resultatet visar att mobbning kan ta sig i uttryck i form av maktutövande och social exkludering, vilket ofta påverkar den utsatte i hög grad. Respondenterna uppgav att deras arbetsmotivation minskade och att de kände ångest, oro och en allmän orkeslöshet, vilket medförde att även deras privatliv påverkades.

The gay rights movement began in the summer of 1969 when gay men rioted against police for raiding a bar known as the Stonewall Inn. In the succeeding 35 years, very little research has explored the relationship between police organizations and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) communities. The purpose of this study is to describe the attitudes that GLBT persons currently hold toward police. Subjects were sampled from the 34th Annual Atlanta Pride Festival and asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire. Of the 179 GLBT participants, the vast majority reported high satisfaction with community policing practices at this event. Moreover, age, household income, victimization, security presence, and identification with gay-themed media significantly predicted attitudes toward police.

Bullying has been recognised as the most severe problem for children in school settings in the past few decades. It can have a tremendous psychological impact on the child, which can affect not only his or her learning but also everyday functioning and overall well-being. Understanding how students  handle ‘bullying incidents’ in different situations may help researchers set new foundations to develop more comprehensive and effective educational and intervention programs. The purpose of this systematic literature review was to investigate the use of different coping strategies for bullying in middle and high school children. A search for scholarly articles evaluating such measures has been carried out in ERIC, SCOPUS, and PSYCH INFO, which resulted in seven articles. 12 coping strategies emerged as a result which included self-control, compliance, relaxation, retaliation, seeking assistance, distancing, concealment, verbal aggression, self-blame, victimization, self-harm, and drug abuse. Coping strategies for bullying in these articles covered a wide range of essential aspects to counter bullying incidents and stress, bullying definitions, and bullying situations. Limitations and implications for future research and practice have been considered.

The present thesis examined emotion regulation differences among victims and non victims of bullying and its role as a mediator in the link between victimization and internalizing or externalizing outcomes. Participants from Grades 6 to 8 (n = 240) completed measures that assessed level of victimization, emotions felt relative to emotions expressed during bullying situations, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Weak victim-related differences revealed that boy victims reported feeling more shame and expressing more fear than nonvictims, whereas girl victims reported expressing more shame and feeling and expressing more anger and sadness. A new measure of emotional regulation did not reveal any victim -related differences , nor was emotional regulation found to play a mediating role. Discussion focuses on how antecedent- and response-focused regulation can account for victim-related differences found, and how victims' emotional regulation difficulties may be more attributable to antecedent-focused regulation and poor evaluation of consequences of expressing certain emotions than emotional inhibition during a bullying interaction.