This thesis aims to investigate to what extent the centrality of religion influences the existential aspects of an individual’s meaning-system. To do this I used a meaning-system framework and a qualitative approach in which I gathered information through a questionnaire based on the Centrality of the Religious Meaning System Scale and by conducting 8 semi-structured interviews with young adults in Uppsala, Sweden. The analysis of these interviews was implemented through an abductive method. The theoretical perspective is based on the concept Global meaning and the General attribution theory. My conclusion is that those participating in the study describe their meanings differently depending on their religious meaning-system. The thesis also shows that the religious interpretations to a large degree were actualized by situational and dispositional factors. This suggest that the religious attributions were made to meet the participants need for meaning, control, and self-esteem. Finally, the thesis indicates that the centrality of one’s religion appears to inform the religious meaning-system, as well as, functions as a dispositional factor. Thus, this thesis suggests that the centrality of one’s religion can be an influential factor in how religious meaning is constructed regarding existential questions.

Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är att problematisera livsfrågor utifrån ett ämnesdidaktiskt perspektiv med utgångspunkt i religionsämnet. Genom nationellt och internationellt genomförd forskning studeras livsfrågor i relation till grundskolan yngre åldrar och vilka betydelser forskare tillskriver undervisningen. Det vetenskapliga materialet har analyserats utifrån en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. De slutsatser som framträtt utifrån tidigare forskning är att eleverna uppvisar ett intresse och nyfikenhet för livsfrågor men ämnet undviks i skolan då lärare upplever en osäkerhet i förhållande till livsfrågor. Ytterligare slutsatser som framträtt genom forskningen i denna studie är att flera forskare beskriver diskussion och reflektion som lämpliga undervisningsmetoder. Även barnböcker beskrivs som ett konkret verktyg i undervisningen inom detta område. Avslutningsvis diskuteras en större helhet och problematik kring de slutsatser som framträtt samt behovet av vidare forskning inom området livsfrågor.

Bakgrund: Fler och fler människor i Sverige diagnostiseras med cancer. I cancervården blir den palliativa omvårdnaden viktig. Därför blir sjuksköterskan betydelsefull när patienten kämpar i slutet av livet. I den palliativa vården uppstår ofta existentiellt lidande så som hopplöshet, sorg och en önskan om att dö för att slippa lidandet. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att förstå patienters upplevelser av att leva med obotlig cancer. Metod: En kvalitativ metod har använts där fyra självbiografier och två bloggar analyserats med hjälp av innebördsanalys. Resultat: Studien kom fram till att människorna som drabbats av cancer fick en livsförändring efter att de fått diagnosen vilket innebar nya rutiner i vardagen och existentiella funderingar. Diskussion: För att vårdpersonalen skulle kunna stödja patientens existentiella behov var det viktigt att de var lyhörda för patientens funderingar. Familjens omsorg var viktig för att patienten skulle känna stöd och på detta sätt känna en mening av att leva vidare. För att patienten skulle få ett bra välbefinnande behövdes en god relation med vårdpersonalen som resulterade i en trygg och fridfull sista tid. Slutsats: Livet tog en ny vändning efter cancerbeskedet. Det var viktigt för de drabbade att de levde i nuet och accepterade sjukdomen för att få en bra sista tid i livet. / Background: More and more people in Sweden are diagnosed with cancer. In cancer care is palliative care is important. Therefore, the nurse is important when the patient struggling at the end of life. In palliative care often occur existential suffering as hopelessness, sadness and a desire to die to avoid suffering. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand the patient’s experiences from a life with incurable cancer. Method: A qualitative method was used, in which four autobiographies and two blogs were analysed using significance analysis. Results: After the person was diagnosed with cancer the life took a new turn, where the existential questions became a central part. Discussion: It was important that the health care stuff was responsive to the patient’s concerns to be able to support the patient’s existential needs. The family’s care played a big part for the patient to be motivated to carry on. A good relationship between the nurse and the patient were necessary to the patient to be wellbeing and to have a safe and peaceful last time in life. Conclusion: The life took a new turn when the patient got the diagnose incurable cancer. It is now important that the patient accepts the disease and lives in the present to get a good last experience of life.

Syftet med denna intervjustudie är att analysera och problematisera lärares uppfattningar om det didaktiskt orienterade arbetet och övriga inverkansfaktorer som enligt tidigare forskning kan ha betydelse för livsfrågeundervisningen. Insamlingen av det vetenskapliga materialet har utförts genom intervjuer med utbildade, verksamma lärare i årskurs f-3. Materialet har analyserats och senare problematiserats utifrån innehållsanalys och ämnesdidaktisk teori. De centrala fynd som framkommit är att livsfrågor uppkommer spontant i samtliga ämnen i skolan vilket leder till att spontanitet har framträtt som ett viktigt förhållande som ifrågasätter livsfrågors placering inom religionsämnet i den svenska läroplanen. Ytterligare ett fynd är att vissa inverkansfaktorer har stor betydelse för livsfrågeundervisningen medan andra faktorer har mindre betydelse än vad äldre forskningsresultat tidigare har visat. De faktorer som fokuseras i studiens slutdiskussion är världshändelser, exempelvis krig, lärarnas utbildningsbakgrund och lärares osäkerhet i förhållande till livsfrågor. Avslutningsvis belyser vi vad ett optimalt arbetssätt kan vara utifrån slutsatser av studiens resultat vilket även synliggör ett behov av vidare forskning.

<p>What do teenagers recount about themselves and their interpretation of life and values, and what characterises individual teenagers’ perceptions and statements? What is the relation between teenagers’ life interpretation and values and social circumstances? What challenges to school religious education do the teenagers’ perceptions and statements represent? These questions are central to the study Icelandic Teenagers’ Life Interpretation and Values.</p><p>The purpose of the study was to investigate some central elements in teenagers’ life interpretation so as to discuss the results in terms of social circumstances in Iceland and of school religious education. The background is that Icelandic society, having been relatively homogeneous, has changed during the past few years with increased plurality.</p><p>The material the study was based on consists of interviews with Icelandic teenagers. In four articles included in the thesis different parts of the material collected are interpreted using a hermeneutic approach. The main result showed that the teenagers were in a field of tension between homogeneity and plurality on the one hand and security and insecurity on the other. The main trends in the material indicate a common reference framework at the same time as plurality emerges in the teenager’s verbal expressions; and while most spoke of their happiness and security, there was also awareness of the risk and threat that can transform the situation.</p><p>The material exhibited greater variation within each school than between schools. This suggests the effect of plurality on the younger generation in Iceland. Given this variation among individuals it is urgent to find an approach to religious education that takes greater account of the different pupils’ backgrounds, personal experience and existential questions.</p>

What do teenagers recount about themselves and their interpretation of life and values, and what characterises individual teenagers’ perceptions and statements? What is the relation between teenagers’ life interpretation and values and social circumstances? What challenges to school religious education do the teenagers’ perceptions and statements represent? These questions are central to the study Icelandic Teenagers’ Life Interpretation and Values. The purpose of the study was to investigate some central elements in teenagers’ life interpretation so as to discuss the results in terms of social circumstances in Iceland and of school religious education. The background is that Icelandic society, having been relatively homogeneous, has changed during the past few years with increased plurality. The material the study was based on consists of interviews with Icelandic teenagers. In four articles included in the thesis different parts of the material collected are interpreted using a hermeneutic approach. The main result showed that the teenagers were in a field of tension between homogeneity and plurality on the one hand and security and insecurity on the other. The main trends in the material indicate a common reference framework at the same time as plurality emerges in the teenager’s verbal expressions; and while most spoke of their happiness and security, there was also awareness of the risk and threat that can transform the situation. The material exhibited greater variation within each school than between schools. This suggests the effect of plurality on the younger generation in Iceland. Given this variation among individuals it is urgent to find an approach to religious education that takes greater account of the different pupils’ backgrounds, personal experience and existential questions.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe what it is like to suffer from malignant lymphoma and to highlight the care given to these patients. A reflective lifeworld approach, founded in phenomenological philosophy, has been used. Data have been collected using interviews and have been analyzed using essence-seeking analysis. The results are founded upon three empirical studies and a philosophical excursus. The results are presented in four sections. The thesis describes how patients with malignant lymphoma live in limbo characterized by existential uncertainties, partly caused by the mortal threat of the disease and by failings in the actions of the healthcare staff. Patients fear dying when suffering from malignant lymphoma, regardless of whether the disease is a genuine medical threat to their life. Thus, there is a substantial need for existential support for these patients. However, the results show that deficiencies in existential support can lead to patients feeling objectified, which in turn increases their existential uncertainties. Care that is solely directed towards the physiological body and excludes the human as a subject can be experienced as a disparagement. Care that includes the patients’ lifeworld provides alleviated suffering and a possibility for the patients themselves to take an active part in the health process. Despite the healthcare staff’s genuine ambition to alleviate the suffering, patients’ existential questions are met with a degree of conflict; on the one hand they are a natural part of healthcare, and on the other the questions are of such character that they are not part of professional healthcare. A healthcare culture that does not fully acknowledge the importance of existential questions appears to be one of the greatest obstacles to a holistic healthcare approach. Furthermore, there appears to be a lack of shared strategies among the healthcare staff when meeting the patients’ existential questions. A conflict arises in an unnecessary battle between biology and existence, which in turn increases the patients’ existential insecurities. Medical knowledge is insufficient in caring for patients with malignant lymphoma. An understanding of caring science is needed in order for the care to become caring and able to meet the needs as described by patients with malignant lymphoma. Healthcare staff most be provided with sufficient support to meet the patients’ existential questions. The organization of healthcare is characterised by being a culture in which existential questions are not given sufficient attention. It seems that healthcare staff give priority to medical/technical tasks rather than conversations of existential character.

The aim of this s tudy is to investigate the three great existential questions—anxiety, love and death—in the works of Stig Dagerman. Emphasis is placed on the novels Ormen [The Snake] (1945), De dömdas ö [The Island of the Doomed ] (1946), Bränt barn [A Burnt Child] (1948), and Bröllopsbesvär [Wedding Worries] (1949), as well as the play Den dödsdömde [The Condemned] (1948). To this end, interpretation is used in the sense given to it by Paul Ricoeur—interpretation that leads to an understanding of a double meaning. In the present case, this means that the texts' symbolic level is revealed and accorded as great an importance as the story at the surface, manifest level . The theme of anxiety is most apparent in the first novel, while the question of eroticism is central to De dömdas ö and Bränt barn. Each novel expresses a pessimistic view of erotic love as a realizable possibility. Death, which has concrete, motivational and abstract aspects , occurs in every text. Murder and suicide interact with inner, spiritual deadness. This state means acquiring a lowered or threatened inner vitality in which the psyche becomes "icebound". Inner deadness is a form of anxiety. Analysis reveals that anxiety, the complications of love and the problem of death are related to a mother figure. The mother figures in the texts are alternately the objects of destructive hatred and excessive love. Behind these mother figures is concealed the experience of a mother who has betrayed, and who is there fore the object of both aggression and longing. This longing, according to Freudian-Lacanic theory, is expressed in a desire for the mother's body, i.e. a longing fo r the lost unity with the mother in original symbiosis. Thus, the mother figure in the texts also has mythical dimensions—Mother and death are in a sense equivalent. To die is to return to the mother, but death, or the proximity of death thus also provides the opportunity for a symbolic rebirth. Both the proximity of concrete death—as in thwarted suicide attempts—and a symbolic death — as in the form of extreme self-degradation—give rise to an increased feeling of life, if only for a moment. The psychologist Robert Jay Lifton has shown that murder can be a conscious step in a process of self- destruction. Murder is in this case a phase in a search for revitaliza-tion, which is thus the ultimate aim of suicide. This phenomenon appears on the symbolic level in Dagermans works, especially in the play Den dödsdömde. The interpretation reveals that the existential question that dominates Dagerman's texts is the struggle against the threat of inner deadness. The fixation with death in the texts is, in the final analysis , an expression of a desire to live. / digitalisering@umu

The aim of the study is to analyze the role of existential questions in two poetry anthologies for youth, Kärlek och uppror (published in 1989) and Berör och förstör (published in 2021). The study looks into which and in what way existential questions are described in the poetry, as well as if there are similarities or differences between the anthologies. By examining the role of existential questions in poetry for youth, the aim is furthermore to analyze how becoming an adult (vuxenblivande) is depicted in the selection of poetry that’s been chosen for the anthologies. To get an understanding for the process of becoming an adult, the study relates the depiction of emerging adulthood to research about youth and identity. The methodology used for analyzing the poetry is called a “livsåskådningsanalys”, which means that definitions of existential questions are at the center for how the analysis is constructed. The analysis of the anthologies shows that the existential questions that are described and discussed in the poetry for youth especially concern love and death. Existential questions about identity also play a big part in the poems, which is related to the themes of body as well as place and belonging. Poetry as an existential activity, both trough reading and writing, is also described in the poems. The depiction of becoming an adult in the anthologies can therefore be described as a process of constructing one’s identity where existential questions around love, death, body, place and belonging are central. Writing and reading poetry are described in the anthologies as ways of processing and handling the existential questions these themes evoke.

Bakgrund: Existentiella frågor söker svar på vad det innebär att existera och att vara människa, vad meningen med livet är och varför individer drabbas av sjukdom. Både vid svår sjukdom och när en människa står inför döden väcks existentiella frågor. Inom den palliativa vården ses döden som en normal och oundviklig process. Målet för palliativ vård är lindring av lidande och främjande av livskvalitet. Syfte: Litteraturstudiens syfte var att sammanställa sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av existentiella frågor inom palliativ vård. Metod: Uppsatsen baserades på en litteraturstudie med kvalitativa studier. Litteratursökningar utfördes i databaserna Cinahl, PsycInfo och PubMed. Studierna granskades enligt SBU:s kvalitetsgranskningsmall för kvalitativa studier. Tio studier låg till grund för resultatet och dessa analyserades enligt Fribergs (2017) innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet utgjordes av fem kategorier, Bevittnande av existentiellt lidande, Trons betydelse, Perspektiv på liv och död, Känslomässig erfarenhet och Identifiering med patienter. Konklusion: Sjuksköterskor upplevde det känslomässigt svårt att bemöta patienter med existentiella frågor inom palliativ vård, då arbetet bland annat innebar ett bevittnande av existentiellt lidande. Vidare erfors att sjuksköterskor fick nya perspektiv på liv och död, samt att deras trosuppfattning hade betydelse för omvårdnaden av palliativa patienter. / Background: Existential questions seek answers to what it means to exist and to be a human being, what the meaning of life is and why individuals suffer from disease. Both in severe disease and when a person stands before death existential questions arise. In palliative care death is seen as a normal and inevitable process. The goal in palliative care is alleviation of suffering and improvement of quality of life. Aim: The aim of the literature review was to compile studies about nurses’ experiences of existential questions in palliative care. Method: The paper is based on a literature review of studies with a qualitative approach. Literature searches were made in the databases Cinahl, PsycInfo and PubMed. The studies were examined regarding quality with SBU’s review template for qualitative studies. Finally, ten studies remained and were content analysed using Friberg’s (2017) method. Result: The result is based on five categories which are Witnessing existential suffering, Meaning of faith, Perspective on life and death, Emotional experience and Identification with patients. Conclusion: Nurses found it emotionally difficult to meet patients with existential questions, because the work included witnessing existential suffering. Further, nurses had new perspectives of life and death, and their beliefs were important in the care of palliative patients.