The present study was aimed at experimentally investigating effects of causal explanations for depression on treatment-seeking behavior and beliefs. Participants at a large Southern university (N = 139; 78% female; average age 19.77) received bogus screening results indicating high depression risk, then viewed an explanation of depression etiology (fixed biological vs. malleable) before receiving a treatment referral (antidepressant vs. psychotherapy). Participants accepted the cover story at face value, but some expressed doubts about the screening task’s ability to properly assess their individual depression. Within the skeptics, those given a fixed biological explanation for depression were relatively unwilling to accept either treatment, but those given a malleable explanation were much more willing to accept psychotherapy. Importantly, differences in skepticism were not due to levels of actual depressive symptoms. The present findings indicate that information about the malleability of depression may have a protective effect for persons who otherwise would not accept treatment.

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A travers la présente thèse, nous nous intéressons à la prévention des accidents d’avalanche survenant à l’occasion de la pratique du hors-piste. Les jeunes pratiquants du hors-piste (15-30 ans) sont repérés comme les principales victimes des avalanches par les données statistiques de l’Association Nationale pour l’Etude de la Neige et des Avalanches. L’objectif principal de la présente thèse est de parvenir à une meilleure connaissance de ce public adepte de sports de glisse. Pour cela, nous proposons d’investiguer leurs habitudes et motivations de pratique du hors-piste, leurs perceptions des risques liés à cette pratique, les explications qu’ils donnent spontanément pour les accidents d’avalanche en hors-piste, ainsi que les comportements qu’ils adoptent en hors-piste et les critères qu’ils utilisent pour prendre la décision de sortir des pistes. Les données recueillies devraient contribuer à l’enrichissement des stratégies de prévention des accidents d’avalanche en hors-piste. Elles permettent de concevoir des stratégies et des messages ciblés et adaptés à cette population de jeunes pratiquants. En effet, les travaux sur la perception des risques (Kouabenan, 2006) et sur l’explication naïve des accidents (Kouabenan, 1999) suggèrent que si l’on souhaite que les individus adhèrent aux messages de prévention, il est nécessaire de connaître la façon dont ils appréhendent les risques, et pour ce qui nous concerne les risques en hors-piste, notamment le risque d’avalanche. Il importe aussi de connaître les causes qu’ils invoquent pour expliquer la production des accidents d’avalanche. Ce travail de thèse comprend quatre études dont la méthodologie repose sur deux questionnaires. L’élaboration des questionnaires s’appuie sur des entretiens préalables menés avec des pratiquants aux profils divers, et sur l’exploitation de la littérature sur les travaux empiriques empruntant le même cadre théorique ainsi que sur les rapports sur les accidents d’avalanche. Concernant les études 1, 2 et 4, nous avons interrogé 304 jeunes pratiquants de sports de glisse. Pour l’étude 4, nous avons questionné 238 pratiquants. Pour le recueil des données concernant les quatre études, nous avons rencontré les participants sur le terrain, dans des stations de sports d’hiver en Isère, en Savoie et en Haute-Savoie, ainsi que sur le campus universitaire et lors de manifestations sportives. Le recueil des données s’est fait par entretien en face à face avec le participant. / Through this thesis, we examine the avalanche accident prevention occurring in out-of-bounds (OB) practice. Young out-of-bounds practitioners (15-30 years-old) are identified as the core of avalanche victims. The main aim of this thesis is to get better knowledge about these boardsports enthusiasts. To do this, we suggest to investigate their habits and motivations relative to OB practice, their perception of the risks associated to this practice, the spontaneous explanations they give for avalanche accidents in OB, as well as the behaviours they adopt in OB, and the criteria they use to decide to go or not to go OB. The data collected would contribute to improve prevention strategies for avalanche accidents in OB, by targeting and adapting these strategies to young practitioners. Indeed, research on risk perception (Kouabenan, 2006) and naive causal explanations of accidents (Kouabenan, 1999) propose that if we want people to adhere to prevention messages, it is necessary to know the way they understand risks, for our case OB risks, particularly avalanche hazard. It is also essential to know the causes they invoke to explain avalanche accidents. This thesis work consists of four studies for which the methodology relies on two questionnaires. The questionnaires were carried out from preliminary interviews conducted with practitioners of varied profiles, and from literature and empirical works of the same theoretical framework, as well as accidents reports. Concerning the studies 1, 2 and 4, we interviewed 304 young boardsports practitioners. For study 3, we questioned 238 practitioners. For the data collect of the four studies, we met participants in the field, in winter sport resorts in Isère, Savoie and Haute-Savoie (France), as well as at the university campus and during sport events. Data collection was done with face-to-face interview with the participant.

Empirical educational research enjoys a methodological and theoretical debate that is characterized by a number of unresolved and lively debated controversies. This compilation thesis is an attempt to contribute to this debate using the toolbox of philosophy of science. The thesis consists of an introductory chapter and four essays. In the introductory chapter I identify three methodological and theoretical controversies that are discussed within the field of educational research. These are: 1) the controversy concerning the scientific status of educational research; 2) the controversy between cognitive and sociocultural theories of learning; and, 3) the controversy between realist and constructionist interpretations of theories of learning. I provide in the essays a critical assessment of the claims behind each of these controversies, and argue for an alternative reconstruction of these issues. In Essay I, I criticize a view about the interpretation of human action, labeled in the text as interpretivism. This view posits a sharp separation between the natural and social sciences, to the effect that the methods of the latter cannot be applied to the former. The first controversy seems to rest on this position. As I argue, the arguments in support of interpretivism are contradicted by actual research practice. I conclude that the interpretivistic claims lack support and that the general separation claim appears as problematic. A further debate has fueled the first controversy, that is, the supposed distinction between qualitative and quantitative methods. In Essay II, I argue against this distinction. More specifically, I discuss the concept of empirical support in the context of qualitative methods (for short, qualitative support). I provide arguments that although there are two specific and non-trivial properties of qualitative support, there is no methodological separation between quantitative and qualitative methods concerning empirical support. Considered together, the first two essays indicate two points of methodological continuity between educational research and other scientific practices (such as the natural sciences). I therefore conclude that the controversy concerning the scientific status of educational research rests in large part on unjustified claims. Essay III focuses on the second controversy. In this article I argue that Suárez’ inferential approach to the concept of scientific representation can be used as an account of scientific representation in learning, regardless of whether learning is understood as a cognitive or social phenomenon. The third controversy is discussed in Essay IV. Here, I discuss some ontological aspects of the framework of the actor-network theory. Reflecting on the use of this framework in the research field of Networked Learning, I argue that the assumption of an ontology of relations provides the solution for two puzzles about the ontology of networks. The relevance of my argument for the third controversy is that it suggests a point of connection between constructionist and realist interpretations of the ontology of learning. The last two essays suggest two points of continuities between theoretical frameworks that have been and still are argued to be incompatible. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript.</p>

När det på 1990-talet uppmärksammades att barn kunde utsätta andra barn för sexuella övergrepp stod behandlingspersonal handfallna. Detta var något som det aldrig tidigare pratats om och ingen visste hur man egentligen skulle tackla problemet. Tack vare Rädda Barnen, Börje Svensson och Anders Nyman kunde ett behandlingsarbete utvecklas. Svensson och Nyman startade upp Rädda Barnens Pojkmottagning och tog emot både flickor och pojkar med sexuella problembeteenden. Efter att denna målgrupp uppmärksammades började så sakterliga utvecklingen av behandlingsmodeller. Utvecklingen är en process som fortgår idag.                       Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att studera forskningsanvändningen för det praktiska arbetet med barn och unga med ett sexuellt problembeteende. Utifrån detta har intervjuer skett med profesionella praktiker som möter dessa barn och ungdomar för  att höra deras reflektioner om vad som gör att ett barn eller en ung människa utvecklar den här typen av beteende samt vad som är en effektiv behandlingsmetod för målgruppen. Vi har sedan ställt detta mot den redan existerande forskningen, för att se på praktikernas kunskapsanvändning och hur den förklaras med hjälp av den nyinstitutionella organisationsteorin, som belyser olika aktörers sätt att se på ett fenomen. Den första delen utgör det existerande kunskapsläget kring behandlingar samt hur forskare har kunnat identifiera orsaksförklaringar bakom ett sexuellt problembeteende. Det finns meningsskiljaktigheter i orsaksförklairngar. Andra delen består av intervjuer med sju stycken praktiker som har arbetat eller arbetar inom dett område. Det finns skiljaktigheter kring svaren och hur man arbetar med dessa barn och ungdomar. Under analysen ställs praktikernas erfarenheter och kunskap i relation till det kunskapsläge som existerar, detta göra genom den nyinstitutionella organisationsteorin.Studien avslutas med våra egna reflektioner kring studien. / During the 1990’s it was first discovered that children could sexually abuse other children. This made the care staff stand lost towards the task to help these children. This was something that had not previously been talked about and there were not much knowledge in the area. When Börje Svensson and Anders Nyman started a project with Rädda Barnen, a treatment program started to develop. Svensson and Nyman started to treat young girls and boys who had problematic sexual behaviors. After this treatment program started to slowly develop and is a process that continues today.      The purpose of this thesis is to look at the implications of scientific studies in the practical work when it comes to children and adolescents with problematic sexual behaviors. We have chosen to talk to professionals who meet these children and young people, to hear their thoughts on what it is that makes a child or a young person develop this type of behavior and how you best treat it. We then compared the results from the interviews against the already existing researches. The first part of the thesis consists the existing state of knowledge on treatment and causal explanations in children and adolescents with problematic sexual behaviors. The second part consists the results of the interviews with seven professional’s working in this field and their opinions as well as their views on treatment and causal explanations. The last part contains a comparative analysis between the scientific researches and the working professional’s knowledge. The analysis conducts the institutional theories of organizations.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur artiklar från två välkända svenskakvällstidningar beskriver det våld som män brukar mot kvinnor i nära relationer. Vidare har det undersökts vilka orsaksförklaringar tidningsartiklar använder för att beskriva mäns våld mot kvinnor. En kvalitativ textanalys har genomförts där resultatet har tematiserats med teoretisk ansats genom socioekologiska modellen och Socialstyrelsens definition av våld i nära relationer. Media har visat sig ha en betydande roll för människors förståelse av sociala problem. Det som beskrivs i media blir ofta människors verklighet, därför är det av betydelse att media ger en rättvis och korrekt bild av det stora och utbredda fenomen som våld i nära relationer utgör. Resultatet indikerar att fysiskt våld är den vanligast förekommande typ av våld som beskrivs av tidningsartiklar. Vidare skildrar studien att flest tidningsartiklar beskriver orsaker till mäns våld mot kvinnor med ett strukturellt perspektiv. Endast en av alla inkluderade tidningsartiklar beskriver mäns våld mot kvinnor i nära relationer genom den socioekologiska modellens alla fyra perspektiv. Modellen som i enlighet med Socialstyrelsen är av stor vikt för att få en helhetsbeskrivning av mäns våld mot kvinnor i nära relationer. / The aim of this study was to investigate how articles from two well-known Swedish evening newspapers describe the violence that men use against women in close relationships. Furthermore, the study examined which causal explanations the newspaper articles use in the descriptions of the violence. This is done through a qualitative text analysis of newspaper articles' descriptions of violence. The results of the study have been thematized with a theoretical approach through the socio-ecological model and the National Board of Health and Welfare's definition of violence in close relationships. The media has proven to play a significant role in helping people understand social issues as what is described in the media often becomes people's reality. Therefore, it is important that the media provide a fair and correct picture of the large and widespread phenomenon that violence in close relationships constitutes. The results show that physical violence is the most described violence of newspaper articles. Furthermore, most causes of men's violence against women are described by newspaper articles with a structural perspective. Only one of all included newspaper articles describes men's violence against women in close relationships through all four perspectives of the socioecological model. The model which, in accordance with the National Board of Health and Welfare, is of great importance for obtaining a comprehensive description of men's violence against women in close relationships.