<p><strong>Title: </strong>The life is too soft to accord in to tariffs: an essay about youth and families with children who are recipients of economic support<strong>,</strong> their experience of their financial situation and the reception towards the social welfare.</p><p><strong>Author: </strong>Ana Becovic & Kerstin Olsson         <strong>Supervisor: </strong>Erik Wesser</p><p><strong>Institution: </strong>Humanvetenskapliga institutionen, Högskolan i Kalmar</p><p><strong>Type of Essay: </strong>Degree project, 15 ECTS                     <strong>Date</strong><strong>: </strong>December 2008</p><p>The aim for our study has been to examine how youth and families who are recipients of economic support<strong> </strong>on long term basis experience their contact with social welfare. The starting point for the question at issue has been the client's experience of their financial situation the reception and expectations towards the social welfare.</p><p>In our B-level study we carried out qualitative interviews with social welfare officers to find out how they applied the "child perspective" in granting financial support and to what extent they felt that they succeeded in meeting the need of the client. The conclusion was<strong> </strong>that there is still room for improvement in this field and particularly a wish to focus more on the child's situation and development. The officers told us that they tried to pay closer attention to the child's situation through asking about the children and by visiting the families at home.</p><p>They expressed awareness of the importance to a child's well being the financial situation of their family. They also expressed the need for the child to be able to take part in leisure time activities and having an active social life.</p><p>In this study<strong> </strong>our research method is based on qualitative interviews. Our questionnaires where handed out to social welfare officers and workers in an organization aiming their work at vulnerable youth.  The target group is the parents of younger/older children and young adults between 18 - 25 years. The result of our interviews has been analyzed in relation to earlier research and relevant theories. Final conclusion; the target group expresses a positive experience of their contact with social services. It became clear that the experience varied depending on which handling officer one met. An interesting point is how different the youngsters and their parents reason around needs and expectations.</p>

The purpose of this essay has been to answer the question of whether or not administrators of economic support perceive that their professional status is ranked lower than that of their coworkers in other fields of the social services. We set out to study whether or not their comparative status differed depending on their use of standardized assessment instruments and if their experience with regards to professional status differed depending on the size of the municipality they worked in. We also wanted to determine in what way (if any) the comparative status manifests itself and what factors influences it. We’ve utilized method triangulation in order to answer the questions posed in our purpose. The quantitative study was conducted using a questionnaire and the qualitative with three interviews. Both studies were conducted in the county of Värmland, Sweden. The three municipalities, in which the interviews was conducted, varied in size which was a part of our selection process due to the fact that we believed that the size would affect the views regarding professional status. The result of our study shows that how administrators view their comparative ranking differs depending on the size of their respective municipalities. Administrators in the larger municipalities perceive their status to be low in comparison to other fields while administrators in smaller municipalities doesn’t perceive any noticeable difference. The administrators don’t feel that their status is dependent on the lack of standardized assessment instruments within their field but rather the way economic support is taught at the Swedish universities. Within this study we conclude that administrators working in the field of economic support in municipalities with more than 10 000 inhabitants perceive that their field is ranked lower when compared to other fields within the social services.

Title: The life is too soft to accord in to tariffs: an essay about youth and families with children who are recipients of economic support, their experience of their financial situation and the reception towards the social welfare. Author: Ana Becovic &amp; Kerstin Olsson         Supervisor: Erik Wesser Institution: Humanvetenskapliga institutionen, Högskolan i Kalmar Type of Essay: Degree project, 15 ECTS                     Date: December 2008 The aim for our study has been to examine how youth and families who are recipients of economic support on long term basis experience their contact with social welfare. The starting point for the question at issue has been the client's experience of their financial situation the reception and expectations towards the social welfare. In our B-level study we carried out qualitative interviews with social welfare officers to find out how they applied the "child perspective" in granting financial support and to what extent they felt that they succeeded in meeting the need of the client. The conclusion was that there is still room for improvement in this field and particularly a wish to focus more on the child's situation and development. The officers told us that they tried to pay closer attention to the child's situation through asking about the children and by visiting the families at home. They expressed awareness of the importance to a child's well being the financial situation of their family. They also expressed the need for the child to be able to take part in leisure time activities and having an active social life. In this study our research method is based on qualitative interviews. Our questionnaires where handed out to social welfare officers and workers in an organization aiming their work at vulnerable youth.  The target group is the parents of younger/older children and young adults between 18 - 25 years. The result of our interviews has been analyzed in relation to earlier research and relevant theories. Final conclusion; the target group expresses a positive experience of their contact with social services. It became clear that the experience varied depending on which handling officer one met. An interesting point is how different the youngsters and their parents reason around needs and expectations.

The purpose of the current study is to investigate New Zealanders’ social attitudes towards the economic support for the aged provided by the New Zealand Superannuation Scheme. The structure and nature of those social attitudes is revealed. The study examines social attitude responses to determine if intergenerational justice plays any role in the nature of support for the aged. One thousand and eighty-three participants were selected from the electoral roll and all were sent a survey pack followed by two subsequent reminders. Five hundred and nineteen people agreed to participate. The hypothesis is that New Zealanders agree that economic support for the aged should be provided through the Superannuation Scheme, but that the nature of this support varies according to demographic characteristics and individual perceptions of intergenerational justice. The survey results found that respondents support the economic provision for the aged in the current Superannuation Scheme. However, they are less prepared to support those mechanisms that maintain the Superannuation Scheme and they consider intergenerational transferability of the Superannuation Scheme as important. A generational difference was found in the survey among younger respondents, those forty-one and below, with regard to need taking precedence for supporting the aged, concerning ideas about assessing the economic circumstances of the aged and ideas about the balance of ‘advantages and disadvantages’ distributed to different generations. Older generations, those respondents aged forty-two and above, supported the social democratic form of the Superannuation Scheme. They believed that entitlement to returns was more important than need and they opposed economic assessments for the receipt of the Superannuation Benefit. However, older generations did not believe that differences in the balance of ‘advantages and disadvantages’ between generations have occurred in New Zealand. The survey results indicate that New Zealand is unique compared with other developed countries in that there is little predictor value or correlation value for most of the demographic characteristics pertaining to welfare attitudes towards the economic support of the aged. Meanwhile, generation and household income have some predictor and correlation value in relation to welfare attitudes towards the New Zealand Superannuation Scheme. Finally, the Superannuation Scheme exists in a momentary formal state. It may be the non-transferability of this Scheme between generations that poses a threat to the economic support of the aged, given that the number of people in New Zealand reaching sixty-five is set to increase dramatically.

This study has explored the experiences of lone mothers and their labours as lone- mother students in Higher Education and en route to accessing Higher Education. The main aim of the study was to investigate barriers and constraints in provision of support for lone mothers wishing to study in Higher Education. The importance of education for lone parents has been well documented (Fryer, 1997; Scottish Office,1998; Powney et al., 2000), and there has been a plethora of research undertaken on Higher Education. However, the connection between the lone mother and education has not received much attention; little is known about the support that is offered to lone mothers whilst accessing Higher Education. Research by the National Union of Students (NUS) (2009) has shown that in many ways the responsibilities of mothering and mothers have not been considered by educational institutions as many courses operate in a climate of assumption that most students are free from family obligations of providing care. Due to lack of empirical research undertaken in this area, this study adopted a qualitative ethnographic approach to investigate the lives of lone-mother students. Furthermore, the study was conducted by an international student from Pakistan who is a lone mother herself and whose experiences also form a part of this research. An ethnographic approach was adopted and developed, to enable a holistic understanding of the lone mothers’ experience in Higher Education and specifically in relation to their cultural background. Hence, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were opted for to collect data. The research revealed in-depth knowledge about the relationships that the lone mothers share with their children, extended family, friends and with studies. The data suggested the need for socio - economic support for lone mothers in Higher Education. The qualitative inquiry method used in this study allowed for an examination of the phenomenon of ‘lone motherhood’. The depth, range and longitudinal nature of the data allowed to see contradictions or contrasts in the data (e.g. extrinsic/intrinsic motivations), as well as changes and developments over time (anxiety/self-esteem). The iterative approach also enabled emerging theories and concepts to develop and to be tested over time (e.g. ‘modelling’, ‘utopian’ narratives). Thus, the ethnographic approach enriched the possibilities of ‘grounded’ theorising, and also improved the possibilities of extending previous studies. Thus it indicates that lone-mother students’experiences of education are complex and therefore it is argued that the study of lone- mother students should be extended to conduct further research into different aspects of lone mother students in Higher Education.

Submitted by Marcia Silva (marcia@latec.uff.br) on 2016-06-13T20:07:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Marcelo Neves Torreão.pdf: 2868734 bytes, checksum: 1defccd8f539b6bfc88dd463c25be179 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-13T20:07:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Marcelo Neves Torreão.pdf: 2868734 bytes, checksum: 1defccd8f539b6bfc88dd463c25be179 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-15 / A inovação tem se mostrado como um processo extremamente importante à sobrevivência e desenvolvimento de empresas e regiões, entretanto, diversas pesquisas apontam para dificuldades encontradas pelas empresas, independente de seu porte, em manter seu mercado ou desenvolver atividades de inovação. Estas dificuldades podem ser de ordem financeira, técnica, aversão ao risco ou falta de pessoal qualificado. Outros elementos como a rede de relacionamentos do empreendedor, os códigos e narrativas compartilhadas, bem como os níveis de confiança presentes entre os diversos atores que interagem em um ecossistema interferem na dinâmica do processo de inovação das empresas. O Programa Tecnova, a partir da transferência de recursos de subvenção econômica, busca suprir uma lacuna relacionada ao risco de investimento no processo de inovação. Durante as fases de seleção, avaliação, contratação e acompanhamento dos projetos submetidos ao Programa Tecnova são solicitadas informações pelos parceiros estaduais da FINEP tanto dos projetos quanto das empresas beneficiadas pela subvenção econômica. Esse conjunto de informações é a base, em primeiro momento, do processo decisório que define se a empresa terá ou não o seu projeto apoiado e em seguida integram o acompanhamento da evolução do projeto, da empresa e do próprio programa. Este trabalho parte da identificação dos atores de primeiro grau que operam o Programa Tecnova no nível nacional, avalia com maior profundidade os resultados obtidos pelo primeiro parceiro a efetuar as contratações com as empresas selecionadas e busca entender de que forma o capital social interfere na dinâmica do processo de inovação do empreendedor que recebeu tais recursos, agregando, dessa forma, maior conhecimento acerca da dinâmica do processo de inovação no nível local. Tem por base revisão bibliográfica, documental e de campo, bem como a realização de estudo de caso múltiplo com foco na avaliação do capital social de micro e pequenas empresas, tomadoras de recursos de subvenção econômica operada de forma descentralizada. Como resultado da pesquisa foi possível observar que: • Capital social, Aprendizagem Organizacional e Capacitação Tecnológica influenciam positivamente o desenvolvimento do Programa Tecnova; • O capital social é relevante para o parceiro que opera o programa, uma vez que a performance de suas ações são influenciadas pela interação com diversos atores do Sistema Regional de Inovação, como SEBRAE Estadual, Incubadoras, Associações, dentre outras entidades ou representações de classe, bem como para as empresas que se beneficiaram do programa, visto que contam com acesso a recursos e informações, além de resultados internos que são influenciados também pelo capital social em suas perspectivas estrutural, relacional e cognitiva; • O processo de seleção conduzido pela FAPEG teve com resultado a contratação de empresas que apresentavam nível de maturidade em aprendizagem organizacional/capital social e capacidades tecnológicas satisfatório; • A empresa com nível de maturidade em aprendizagem organizacional/capital social e capacidades foi a que necessitou de menos recursos para o desenvolvimento do projeto. / Innovation has been shown to be extremely important to the survival and development of enterprises and regions process, however, several studies point to difficulties encountered by enterprises, regardless of size, to maintain its market or develop innovation activities. These difficulties may be financial, technical, risk aversion and lack of qualified personnel. Other elements such as network entrepreneur relationships, shared codes and narratives, as well as the confidence levels present among the different actors that interact in an ecosystem interfere with the dynamics of the corporate innovation process. The Tecnova program from the transfer of economic support funds, seeks to fill a gap related to the risk of investment in the innovation process. During the phases of selection, evaluation, contracting and monitoring of projects submitted to Tecnova Program information is requested by state partners FINEP both projects as companies benefited from a subsidy. This set of information is the basis, in the first instance, the decision-making process that determines whether or not the company will have supported your project, and then integrate the monitoring of the evolution of the project, the company and the program itself. This work of the identification of the first degree of actors who operate the Tecnova program at the national level, assesses in greater detail the results of the first partner to perform the contracts with the selected companies and seeks to understand how the social capital affects the dynamics of Entrepreneur of the innovation process that received such funds, adding thus more knowledge about the dynamics of the innovation process at the local level. It is based on literature review, document and field as well as conducting multiple case study focused on the evaluation of the capital to micro and small companies, makers of economic support funds operated in a decentralized manner. As a result of research it was observed that: • Social Capital, Organizational Learning and Technology Skills positively influence the development of Tecnova Program; • Social Capital is relevant to the partner who operates the program, since the performance of his actions are influenced by the interaction with different actors of the Regional Innovation System as State SEBRAE, Incubators, Associations, among other entities or class of representations as well as for companies that have benefited from the program, as they have access to resources and information, as well as internal results are also influenced by social capital in their structural, relational and cognitive perspectives; • The selection process conducted by FAPEG result had with hiring companies that presented level of maturity in organizational learning / social capital and satisfying technological capabilities; • The company with Maturity on organizational learning / social capital and skills was needed fewer resources for project development.

This thesis aims to explain how the involvement of secondary parties affect the duration of intrastate armedconflicts. It argues that the acquisition of secondary support in favor of rebel groups is likely to lead to an extended duration of intrastate armed conflict. By granting a relatively weaker rebel group secondary support, a secondary party ought to directly alter the balance of power and capabilities in benefit for the rebels. The secondary party could thereby be able to level the balance of capabilities between a government and a rebel group, creating a situation in which the, at first, stronger government now have to face a rebel group capable of surviving longer. Using a structured focused comparison on two cases, the results find secondary support in the form of funding or economic support given to relatively weak rebels to be an important influence on extending the duration of intrastate armed conflicts. Nonetheless, further research might have to be made in order to fully understand the even more detailed mechanisms behind the strong influences of economic secondary support on conflict duration.

Many studies show that children are negatively affected by the consequences of growing up in a family relying on long-term economic support. Despite this, the children’s perspective is flawed in the process of administrating financial aid. The outset during our study has been, from our own experience, that the application of the children’s perspective differs depending on which clientele the parents belong to. This potential difference could mean a legal uncertainty, which we consider to be highly relevant to investigate. The purpose of this paper is to enlighten the children’s perspective during the administration of financial aid to families relying on long-term economic support, to analyse how social workers state that they use the children’s perspective in these cases. Based on the purpose, we examined how social workers use their scope of action to include the children’s perspective when administrating financial aid, also if they included the children’s perspective differently depending on which clientele the parents belonged to. The study was performed with the help of a qualitative method in the form of semi-structured interviews with six social workers from the section of financial aid in an urban area of Malmö. The empirical data collected from the interviews were analysed from different perspectives, which then reconnected to the current state of knowledge and the theories Organisations-theory for public sectors and Street-Level Bureaucracy. From our findings we concluded that the difference in how the children’s perspective was included depending on which clientele the parents belonged to was non-existent. Instead, the findings showed that the children’s perspective was entirely missing. The respondents claimed, in different ways, that they tried to meet the children’s needs, but in the end, the needs of the children did not affect the outcome of the decisions. Therefore, one can argue that there is a legal certainty in the process, since the children’s perspective is not included in the administration of financial aid at all. Concurrently, the legal certainty means that the children’s perspective is not included at all. Furthermore, the respondents imply that there is room to include the children’s perspective in their scope of action. However, in doing so it creates a paradox since their guidelines, norms and laws constrain them to a point to which the scope of action no longer exists.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka utlandsföddas erfarenheter av arbetslöshet och hur de upplever att deras fysiska samt psykiska hälsa påverkas. Forskning indikerar att arbetslöshet kan leda till ohälsa och att utlandsfödda löper en större risk för ohälsa i jämförelse med inrikes födda individer. En kvalitativ metod användes i denna empiriska studie och intervjuer genomfördes för att samla in data. Urvalet var tre kvinnor och tre män som bott i Sverige mellan fyra och åtta år. Av dessa informanter hade fem uppehållstillstånd och en hade haft ett arbetstillstånd. De hade inte arbetat på minst sex månader vilket gjorde dem till långtidsarbetslösa. Resultatet visade att utlandsföddas psykiska hälsa hade påverkats och de upplevde stress, oro och trötthet. De oroade sig över att arbetslöshet under en längre tid skulle leda till psykisk och fysisk ohälsa. De upplevde att stöd var en viktig faktor i hanteringen av arbetslösheten och deras familj och vänner var ett stort stöd för dem. Myndigheter upplevdes ej som ett socialt eller psykologiskt stöd. Däremot hade informanterna stort förtroende för att få ekonomiskt stöd om de behövde det. De hinder utlandsfödda upplevde i sitt arbetssökande var språket och kompetens. De upplevde att dessa brister hade stor inverkan på deras chanser till att få ett arbete. Slutsatsen av denna studie var att utlandsföddas psykiska hälsa har påverkats negativt av arbetslösheten men inte deras fysiska hälsa. De var dock oroliga för att få både psykisk och fysisk ohälsa om de inte får ett jobb inom en snar framtid. Mer kvalitativa studier behövs för att få ökad förståelse för utlandsföddas situation under arbetslöshet. / The purpose of this study was to explore foreigners’ experiences of unemployment and health. Research indicates that unemployment can lead to reduced health and it also shows that people born abroad have a greater risk of health problems compared with those born in Sweden. A qualitative method was employed in this empirical study. Interviews were conducted to collect data. The selection was three women and three men who had lived in Sweden for less than ten years. They had not worked for at least six months, which made them long-term unemployed. The results illustrated that they experienced that their mental health had been affected and they experienced stress, anxiety and fatigue. They worried that unemployment could lead to mental and physical ill health. They perceived that support was an important factor in dealing with unemployment and informants' family and friends were a great support for them. Authorities were not supportive socially or psychologically, but they were a financial support that foreigners could turn to when they needed help. The obstacles that foreigners face in their job search are language and lack of skills and they feel that these obstacles highly affect their chances of getting a job. The conclusion of this study was that foreigners’ mental health has been affected negatively by the unemployment but not their physical health. But they were worried that both their mental and physical health would worsen if they don’t get a job in the near future. More qualitative research is required to understand the experiences of foreigners’ situations while unemployed.

Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie var att undersöka hur socialsekreterare på försörjningsstödsenheter arbetar med klienter som har missbruksproblematik, vilka dilemman som kan uppstå i det arbetet och hur socialsekreterarna hanterar dessa dilemman. I studien genomfördes sex halvstrukturerade intervjuer med informanter från två kommuner. Empirin analyserades utifrån systemteori, professionsetik och självbestämmandeteorin (SDT). Resultatet visade att socialsekreterarna upplevde denna klientgrupp som svårplanerad och svårbedömd då de flesta dörrar i samhället är stängda vid missbruksproblematik. Drogfrihet blir en förutsättning för att komma framåt, vilket blir etiskt och juridiskt problematiskt då behandling bygger på frivillighet. Krav på aktivering från klienten gör att socialsekreterarna slits mellan utredningens kontrollfunktion och det sociala arbetets stödfunktion. Motivation och samverkan med andra aktörer är vägledande för att komma framåt. Vår studie ämnar bidra med teoretisk och praktisk kunskap på fältet avseende arbetet med klienter som erhåller ekonomiskt bistånd och samtidigt har missbruksproblem. / This study aims to investigate economic support carried out by social workers within municipal social services and how they deal with clients who need both economic support and are substance abusers. We made six semi-structured interviews in two municipalities. They were analysed by means of content analysis, system theory and self-determination theory (SDT) and in accordance with professional ethics. Our results show that the social workers face problems in planning and assessment concerning these clients, especially beacuse of social exclusion at the labour market. Leave only one way to re-entrance in society, voluntarily addiction treatment. The social workers are torn between the purpose of control in their investigation and how to support their clients, causing troublesome dilemmas in their profession. These clients are made visible as a vulnerable sub-group of clients in a welfare system built on activity. Motivation and cooperation with other organisations is the key to make change. Our study intends to promote development of both theroretical and practical knowledge in the field.