Är volontärt psykoterapeutarbete en win-win situation eller en fattigdomsfälla? Finns detblinda fläckar i den goda intentionen eller är en volontärresurs enbart av godo? Syftet med undersökningen var att beskriva hur några psykoterapeuter ser på sin arbetsinsats och arbets-situation som volontärer och samtidigt väcka frågor kring det ideella arbetets drivkrafter, eventuell påverkan på psykoterapirelationen och arbetstillfredsställelsens betydelse.  Verksamheten som studerades finns inom Stadsmissionens regi i Stockholm på Terapicentretför unga, där merparten av psykoterapeuterna är volontärer. Den undersökningsmetod som användes var semi-strukturerad intervju och fem volontärer deltog i undersökningen. Den teoretiska anknytningen har huvudsakligen utgjorts av litteratur inom den psykodynamiska teoribildningen och då särskilt forskning inom psykoterapins område avseende terapeutisk effektivitet. Även forskning inriktad på relationell psykoterapi och forskning inom ideellt och volontärt arbete har bidragit till den teoretiska referensramen. Resultaten visade att volontärerna upplever drivkrafter som egennytta,  att få vara del i ett meningsfullt sammanhang och att få göra nytta för andra som centrala drivkrafter för sin volontärinsats som också beskrivs som mycket engagerande, meningsfull, stimulerande, givande och som starkt hoppingivande. Viktigt var också upplevelsen av positivt bekräftande från omgivningen. Arbetssituationen upplevdes som mycket tillfredsställande och parametrar som gott ledarskap, frihet, flexbilitet och den sociala kontexten lyftes fram. I undersökningen kunde inte konstateras någon uppenbar koppling mellan det volontära engagemanget och innehållet i psykoterapi-relationen. Undersökningsresultaten kan tolkas som att volontärarbetet sammantaget upplevs som identitetsstärkande för volontären.

Older adults are at an increased risk for motor-vehicle collisions (MVCs) once distance driven is considered, a finding that is partly attributed to a decline in attention related processes associated with age. MVCs typically occur in highly specific areas, suggesting a role of the complexity of the driving environment contributing to the occurrence of MVCs. The goal of this thesis was to explore the attentional demands of simulated driving events of varying complexity among young, mature and older drivers. In the present studies, attentional demand associated with driving was assessed through the peripheral detection task (PDT), a method in which a stimulus unrelated to the driving task is presented and drivers manually respond immediately upon its detection; latency to respond is recorded. The complexity of the driving environment was operationalized in terms of vehicle handling and of information processing elements. In the first study, inexperienced drivers completed a series simulated driving scenarios that varied according to their information processing and vehicle handling demands. The results showed a reduction in PDT performance at intersections where information processing is increased as well as when handling maneuvers behind a lead vehicle were required. Building on these findings, the second study employed the identical protocol as the first but examined differences in attentional demand between mid-aged and older drivers. The results indicated that when information processing demands were increased through the addition of traffic, and buildings, all participants exhibited greater workload regardless of age. The third study presented young, mid-aged, and older drivers with a simulated driving assessment course and administered several cognitive tasks. The results of the third study supported the hypothesis in that complex driving situations elicited greater attentional demand among drivers of all ages. Older adults showed greater attentional demand in comparison to young and mid-aged adults even after controlling for baseline response time. Older drivers also scored poorer on a global measure of driving safety. The results of this thesis highlight the roles of intrinsic and extrinsic factors involved in safe driving and are discussed in terms of appropriate interventions to improve road safety.

This dissertation addresses two important issues in the literature estimating the Value of a Statistical Life. The first issue is the potential endogeneity bias in cross-section hedonic wage models. The second issue is the transferability of the VSL between different policy contexts. To address the first issue, we estimate cross-section and panel hedonic wage models to identify the bias due to the time-invariant worker heterogeneity. We also consider potential endogeneity bias due to measurement error associated with risk variable, time-variant worker heterogeneity and simultaneity between wage and risk in panel models. We obtain labor market data from the 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation panel, and occupational fatal risk data from Scotton (2000). We find that the cross-section hedonic wage model is significantly biased upward due to unobserved time-invariant worker heterogeneity, but not from time-variant worker heterogeneity or simultaneity between wage and risk. Our results are sensitive to the inclusion of industry variables, but not sensitive to the sample of workers used in estimation. To address the second issue, we examine whether or not workers and firms differentiate heterogeneous risks to determine the risk-wage compensation levels. We focus on two very different fatal risks in terms of the degree of workers’ control over the risk and the degree of dread associated with risk: violent assaults and risks related to non-violent events. We use occupational drivers to mitigate potential unobserved heterogeneity of job characteristics and measurement error associated with risk variables. The labor market data comes from the basic CPS, and the occupation-geographic specific risk rates for each cause of death are created from the non-public Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries. We find that occupational drivers require larger compensation to accept a marginal increase of violent risk as compared to non-violent risk. This is true for both fatal and non-fatal risks. Our results are quite robust. This study suggests that current direct use of VSL obtained from hedonic wage studies in benefit estimation of various governmental programs should be reconsidered.

Older adults are at an increased risk for motor-vehicle collisions (MVCs) once distance driven is considered, a finding that is partly attributed to a decline in attention related processes associated with age. MVCs typically occur in highly specific areas, suggesting a role of the complexity of the driving environment contributing to the occurrence of MVCs. The goal of this thesis was to explore the attentional demands of simulated driving events of varying complexity among young, mature and older drivers. In the present studies, attentional demand associated with driving was assessed through the peripheral detection task (PDT), a method in which a stimulus unrelated to the driving task is presented and drivers manually respond immediately upon its detection; latency to respond is recorded. The complexity of the driving environment was operationalized in terms of vehicle handling and of information processing elements. In the first study, inexperienced drivers completed a series simulated driving scenarios that varied according to their information processing and vehicle handling demands. The results showed a reduction in PDT performance at intersections where information processing is increased as well as when handling maneuvers behind a lead vehicle were required. Building on these findings, the second study employed the identical protocol as the first but examined differences in attentional demand between mid-aged and older drivers. The results indicated that when information processing demands were increased through the addition of traffic, and buildings, all participants exhibited greater workload regardless of age. The third study presented young, mid-aged, and older drivers with a simulated driving assessment course and administered several cognitive tasks. The results of the third study supported the hypothesis in that complex driving situations elicited greater attentional demand among drivers of all ages. Older adults showed greater attentional demand in comparison to young and mid-aged adults even after controlling for baseline response time. Older drivers also scored poorer on a global measure of driving safety. The results of this thesis highlight the roles of intrinsic and extrinsic factors involved in safe driving and are discussed in terms of appropriate interventions to improve road safety.

Understanding the interaction of multiple drivers and their compounded effects on ecosystem dynamics is a key challenge for marine resource management. The Baltic Sea is one of the world’s seas most strongly impacted by effects from both human activities and climate. In the late 1980’s changes in climate in combination with intensive fishing initiated a reorganization of the Central Baltic Sea (CBS) food web resulting in the current sprat-dominated state. In the future, climate change is projected to cause drastic changes in hydrodynamic conditions of the world oceans in general, and the Baltic Sea in particular.   In this thesis, CBS food web responses to the combined effects of fishing, nutrient loads and climate were tested for the past (1974-2006) and projected into the future (2010-2098). A new food web model for the CBS (BaltProWeb) was developed using extensive monitoring data across trophic levels. This model described the past food web dynamics well, and was hence also used for future (2010-2098) projections. Different ensemble modeling approaches were employed when testing the food web response to future scenarios. The results show that regardless the climate change, the management of nutrient loads and cod fishing are likely to determine the food web dynamics and trophic control mechanisms in the future Baltic Sea. Consequently, the variation in the food web projections was large, ranging from a strongly eutrophied and sprat-dominated to a cod-dominated CBS with eutrophication levels close to today’s values. The results also suggest a potential risk of abrupt ecosystem changes in the future CBS, particularly if the nutrient loads are not reduced. Finally, the studies illustrate the usefulness of the ensemble modeling approach, both from the perspective of ecosystem-based management as well as for studying the importance of different mechanisms in the ecosystem response. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: In press. Paper 5: Submitted.</p>

No description available.

Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och analysera busschaufförers upplevelser av delaktighet i arbetet. Följande frågor har ställts: Hur kommunicerar arbetsgivare och anställda med varandra? Hur upplever busschaufförer sitt arbetsschema och sina arbetstider? Kan busschaufförer vara delaktiga i utformningen av sitt arbetsschema och sina arbetstider? För att besvara dessa frågor har vi genomfört åtta individuella intervjuer med busschaufförer i ett internationellt bussföretag. Resultatet visar att busschaufförernas delaktighet i arbetet är bristfällig. Anledningen till detta tror vi kan förklaras utifrån tre huvudsakliga faktorer. Den första faktorn är att arbetsgivaren måste anpassa sin verksamhet efter en trafikhuvudman. Den andra faktorn är att busschaufförerna inte har startat en fackklubb på arbetsplatsen. Den tredje faktorn är att det inte finns en tydlig formell kontext som ger anställda möjlighet att komma till tals. / The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze bus drivers’ experiences of participation at work. The following questions arose: How to communicate employers and employees with each other? How do bus drivers perceive their work schedule and their hours of work? Can bus drivers be involved in shaping their work schedule and their hours of work? To answer these questions, we conducted eight individual interviews with bus drivers in an international bus company. The results show that bus drivers’ participation in the work is flawed. The reason that we believe might be explained by three main factors. The first factor is that the employer has to adapt its activities after a transport authority. The second factor is that bus drivers have not started a local compartment club at the workplace. The third factor is that there is not a clear formal context in which employees have the opportunity to express themselves.

As water infrastructure in urban Ontario strains to meet the demands of a growing population, alternatives to the conventional water supply approach that complement demand management strategies are important to enable more sustainable water use at the household level. The adoption of rainwater harvesting (RWH), for indoor and outdoor uses by single-family households can reduce a households withdrawals on municipal water by 30% if rainwater is used for toilet flushing, laundry and outdoor uses (Despins 2009). The amount of potable water savings because of RWH is influenced by the rate of adoption and the allowed uses of rainwater at the individual household scale. The adoption of RWH systems would lead to reductions in potable water demand, which, in turn would lead to reduced demands on municipal water sources (e.g., groundwater or surface water), and storm water infrastructure resulting in overall reduced ecosystem stress and increased resiliency for climate change adaptation. Greater onsite storm water retention would mimic natural processes and would help reduce excess overland runoff that can result in water contamination. Presently, RWH systems tend to be more accepted and utilized in rural areas. However, there is a history of cistern use in rural and non-rural Waterloo. This history and capacity seems to be largely forgotten or unknown by urban citizens and local government officials. Century houses’ cisterns are often removed or filled in due to: a perceived lack of need, safety concerns and disrepair because of disuse. The increasing popularity of “green” building features and certifications have added some RWH systems for indoor and outdoor use to the urban environment, however, these remain limited instances. Moving RWH forward requires commitment from the Provincial and municipal government. Municipalities’ actions must support the sustainability objectives often referenced in their legislation and policy. This study establishes the drivers of RWH and examines the barriers to practice in the urban environment by examining existing examples and academic literature RWH systems within Canada and internationally. Results from a survey conducted in the City of Waterloo are used to reflect the systems user’s perspective. Interviews with municipal officials and RWH experts further highlight the drivers and barriers to RWH in urban Ontario. Based on the surveys, participants were generally willing to consider adopting RWH systems and a greater use of rainwater in the house, although a lack of information acts as significant barrier. However, Waterloo municipal officials who participated in the interviews described a much less enthusiastic attitude towards RWH. Although barriers identified in this research, including: legislative barriers, risk tolerance, perceptions of water abundance and economic realities shape the willingness to adopt RWH, this study indicates the barriers are surmountable through education and economic signaling.

In today’s global market, China attracts great attention due to its rapid growing economy. Organizations from different countries take advantage of this, and move production to China. The noteworthy aspect of this situation is that most of these companies are Multi National Enterprises. These MNEs are aggressive in their expansion due to possession of major capabilities and possibilities to confront barriers and take economic risks. However, there are smaller companies with fewer resources that are more limited and choose not to move production to China. What drives these companies to bypass the well documented advantages with a production process in there? This research aims to fill that gap. This deductive research is based on Swedish SMEs that have been inquired to rank the most influential drivers behind their decision to move or not to move production to China. The investigation is conducted quantitatively by a survey. Another aspect of the survey which strengthens the result is the core strategies of the SMEs, which are asked to be ranked in order to reveal the most dominant one. The results analysis signifies that the key-drivers and the core strategy together influence the decision, to either move or not to move. However, the generalizability is negatively affected by the low level of participants. Therefore, in-depth analysis has been conducted, which highlights that the results do reveal a connection between the drivers and the core strategy and how they influence the decision. This research reveals the most influential processes for Swedish SMEs, which can further be considered by other SMEs that are in the process of making a decision to move or not to move production to China.

Previous research regarding the relationship between speeding behavior and crashes suggests that drivers who engage in frequent and extreme speeding behavior are over-involved in crashes. However, many of these earlier studies relied on estimates of prevailing and pre-crash speeds, and as a result, their conclusions have been questioned. Over the last several years automotive manufacturers have begun installing airbag systems that collect and maintain accurate pre-crash speeds. Though, patterns of driver speeding behavior are also necessary to discern whether drivers who regularly participate in speeding have increased risk of crash involvement. This dissertation presents a framework and methods for quantifying and analyzing individual driver behavior using instrumented vehicles. The goals of the research were threefold: 1) Develop processing methods and observational coding systems for quantifying driver speeding using instrumented vehicle data; 2) Develop a framework for analyzing aggregate and individual driver speeding behavior; and 3) Explore the potential application of behavioral safety concepts to transportation safety problems. Quantitative assessments of driver speeding behavior could be used in combination with event data recorder data to analyze crash risk. Additionally, speed behavior models could aid in the early identification of problem behavior as well as in the development of targeted countermeasure programs. For this research, 172 instrumented vehicles from the Commute Atlanta program were utilized to collect individual driver speeding behavior. Continuous monitoring capabilities allowed the capture of speed and location for every second of vehicle operation. Driver speeds were then matched to road networks and subsequently to posted speed limits using a geographic information system. This allowed differences between the drivers speed and the posted speed. Several processes were developed to assess the accuracy and the completeness of the data prior to analysis. Finally, metrics and analysis frameworks were tested for their potential usefulness in future behavioral risk analysis. The results of the research were both positive and staggering. On average, nearly 40% of all driving activity by the sample population was above the posted speed limit. The amount and extent of speeding was highest for young drivers. Trends indicate that speeding behavior decreases in amount and extent as age increases.