Föreliggande arbete är en kvalitativ studie som behandlar valet att bli förälder. Det som undersöks är svenska unga vuxnas samtal kring när tiden är rätt för att bli förälder, livet som förälder kontra livet utan barn, det ideala livet, det goda föräldraskapet och en bra barndom. Studien är ett bidrag till den västerländska debatten om sjunkande födelsetal och uppskjutet barnafödande. De empiriska analyserna i arbetet är baserade på fokusgrupper med sammanlagt 35 individer mellan 24 och 39 år. Deltagarna har olika bakgrunder sett till utbildning, arbete och bostadsort. 15 var förstagångsföräldrar eller väntade sitt första barn. Resterande 20 hade inte barn. När är tiden rätt för barn? Varför har medelåldern för förstagångsföräldrar ökat? Vilka föreställningar finns kring livet som förälder jämfört med livet utan barn? Dessa var de övergripande frågorna som diskuterades i grupperna. Användandet av fokusgrupper och den diskursiva analysen visade sig vara fruktbara i studiet av ideal och föreställningar kring föräldraskap och övergången till föräldraskap. Resultatet av studien belyser komplexiteten kring valet att bli eller att vänta med att bli förälder; det visar på hur människors liv och förståelse av sig själva påverkas av många motstridiga föreställningar och ideal. Föräldraskap, familj, släktskap, vänskap, kärlek, ålder, biologi, och den oberoende individen är några av de fenomen som framstår som diskurser i fokusgruppsdeltagarnas diskussioner kring tiden för föräldraskap. Denna studie visar hur olika individer förhåller sig till olika diskurser och subjektspositioner, och hur olika individer på olika sätt löser dilemman som motstridiga ideal resulterar i. I avhandlingen undersöks och belyses diskursiva, kulturella strukturer och individers aktiva positionerande gentemot dessa. / The present thesis is a qualitative study of reproductive decision-making. It explores ways in which Swedish young adults talk about the timing of parenthood, the ideal life, good parenthood and the auspicious childhood. The work contributes to the debate on why fertility rates are declining and why the transition to parenthood is being postponed in the contemporary Western world. The empirical analysis is based on focus group data including in total 35 participants, between 24 and 39 years of age, with varying educational, occupational, and geographical backgrounds. The participants were new first-time parents, a few who were expecting their first child and some who were childless. The broad guiding questions of the focus group discussions were the timing of parenthood, the general postponement of parenthood, and the childless life contra life as a parent. The focus group method proved to be very useful in exploring ideas and ideals related to the timing of parenthood, as did the discourse analytical approach that was applied. The study illuminates the complexity of reproductive decision-making; it is an exploration of a range of notions and discourses that impact on people’s lives and ways of understanding the world, such as discourses on kin, family, friendship, the romantic relationship, parenthood, age, biology, and the independent, individualized individual. It is also a study of individual positioning towards different, often contradictory ideals, and individual strategies when trying to solve the pertinent dilemmas caused by contrasting notions. Thus, the study is an exploration of general, cultural discursive structures as well as of the different ways in which the subject actively draws upon them.

The master thesis focuses on citizen participation and how to support it with the application of ICT. Due to its recent publicity, blockchain and its features have been investigated and were related to the citizen participation domain. A qualitative research study has been conducted to explore the perceptions of citizens relating to blockchain. Based on those findings suggestions for improvement of citizen participation were provided. More specifically, a focus group interview has been conducted in the Swedish municipality of Växjö. Probes have been used to encourage the participants to follow unexpected thoughts to provide creative answers and to start a dialogue between the group and the researcher. The gathered data from the focus group interview was then analyzed with an iterative coding process. This process yielded a list of seven concepts which bundle the following aspects mentioned by the participants in the group interview: Accessibility, Flexibility and Responsiveness, Trust, Accountability vs Privacy, Adaption, Representation, and Collaboration. The concepts are referring to the use of blockchain in the context of citizen participation. They have been discussed later on, based on the contextual framework built on the topics ICT, blockchain, citizen participation, and soft systems methodology. A literature review was conducted to build this framework. The discussion summarizes how the citizens perceive blockchain and how it can support their participation within a municipality context. The perceptions include concerns relating to privacy, hopes of improved information infrastructures with open data formats, as well as that blockchain could modernize democracy. The forms of blockchain systems which could support citizen participation comprise aspects such as that it could lead to transparent and traceable investment flows for participative planning and controlling, as well as that it could help to identify bad players when collaborating with each other. In the last parts, issues of citizen empowerment are discussed as a result of the previous parts of the discussion about citizens' perceptions and the forms blockchain could have for them. This research aims to contribute to current research on citizen participation supported by ICT. It means to promote developments towards higher degrees of citizen power, by providing citizens' views on blockchain and the forms of participation it could support.

The purpose of the study was to examine the perception of female and male high school students regarding perpetrators and victims of teen dating violence. The purpose was furthermore to examine how the interviewees biological sex effects their description of the perpetrator and victim. The empirical material has been gathered through three groupintervies with a total of twelve interviewees. The main result shows that both girls and boys had easier to see boys as perpetrators and that high school students condemn teen dating violence. The high school students discussed the victims responsibility to handle the situation and that they diminishes the actions of the female perpetrator. The high school students also expressed that the victim may suffer negative consequences if he or she decides to leave the abusive relationship. / Studiens syfte var att undersöka kvinnliga och manliga högstadieungdomars föreställningar om gärningsperson och offer gällande ungas våld i nära relation. Syftet var dessutom att undersöka hur respondentens kön påverkar beskrivningen av gärningsperson och offer. Insamling av empiri har skett genom tre fokusgruppsintervjuer med totalt tolv respondenter. Huvudresultatet visar att både tjejer och killar hade lättare att se killar som förövare och att högstadieungdomarna fördömde våld i nära relation. Högstadieungdomarna beskrev också att offer har ett ansvar för att hantera situationen och att dom förminskar den kvinnliga gärningspersonens agerande. Högstadieungdomarna uttryckte också att den våldsutsatta kan drabbas av negativa konsekvenser vid separation.

Bakgrund: I Sverige är det vanligt att drabbas av förlossningsskada framförallt för förstföderskor. Allvarliga bristningar kan leda till lidande på lång och kort sikt som smärta, sexuell dysfunktion, sänkt livskvalitet, inkontinens och psykiskt lidande. Syf- tet med magisteruppsatsen var att undersöka och beskriva förstföderskors perspektiv på förlossningsskador och deras tankar om fysioterapins plats i förlossningsvården vad gäller förebyggande av förlossningsskador och deras egna önskemål om yrkets behjälplighet i ämnet. Metod: En deskriptiv kvalitativ fokusgruppsintervju genomför- des med semi-strukturerade frågor. Förstagångsgravida kvinnor 18-46 år gamla, bo- satta i Sverige, svensktalande, ej uttalad förlossningsrädsla, ej förlöst dödfött barn, i trimeter två eller tre inkluderades från en Facebook-annons med bekvämlighetsurval. Fyra förstagångsgravida inkluderades i fokusgruppen. Intervjun hölls med Skype som videokonferens och transkriberades sedan. Grundad teori användes för att analysera datan. Resultat: Huvudtemat som uppstod var; Tilltro till svensk förlossningsvård trots nya erfarenheter och bristande information. Ur data-analysen framkom även fem underkategorier; Från oro/rädsla till pepp och informationssökande, Källan och typ av information påverkar sannolikheten att till sin den, Egen hälsa riskeras nedprioriteras, Kommunikation ger tillit och minskad oro/rädsla, Fysioterapeuter besitter viktig kun- skap som bör ges till samtliga gravida. Konklusion: slutsatsen kan dras att hos delta- garna i fokusgruppen finns en tilltro till förlossningsvården men även utrymme till förbättrad information vad gäller förebyggande och behandling av förlossningsskador samt att de önskar fysioterapi som en del i förlossningsvården. / Background: In Sweden it is common with delivery damage to the pelvic floor especially for primiparous women. It variates throughout the country when it comes to risk in percentage of severe damage, grade 3-4. Such impairments can lead to suffering in both short term but also long term perspective as pain, sexual dysfunction, decreased quality of life, mental disorder and incontinence. The aim with this master first year thesis was to explore and describe primapara ́s perspective on delivery impairments on the pelvic floor during vaginal child birth. Also to seek understanding of their thoughts regarding physiotherapy in obstetric healthcare and how a physiotherapists knowledge and skills could be helpful in preventing delivery damage and further how the occupation could fit their ideas and wishes in the field. Method: With a qualitative approach data were collected through a focus group interview via Skype video-conference. Result: Four primaparas were conducted through Facebook recruitment and included in the focus group interview. The main theme that appeared through data analyses were; Credence in Swedish obstetric health care despite new experiences and lack of information. Through analysis five subcategories came through; From anxiety/fear to pep and seeking information, The Source and type of information affects likelihood of receiving it, One ́s own health risks getting a reduced priority, Communication provides confidence and reduces anxiety/fear, Physiotherapists posses important knowledge that should be given to all pregnant women. Conclusion can be drawn that in the participants of the focus group there is confidence in childbirth care but also space to experience better information and that they wish for physio- therapy as being part of obstetric health care.

In 1997 a policy of rationalization and educator redeployment was adopted in South Africa to ensure funding equity among the provinces. This research investigates policy implementation with particular reference to the Limpopo Province. A literature review provided an overview of the policy including the determination of excess educators and the establishment of bodies to facilitate redeployment. Problems of implementation and the role of the school principal in this process are discussed. An empirical investigation using a qualitative approach explored the experiences of key stakeholders affected by educator redeployment: a government official, principals, educators who were transferred and educators awaiting redeployment. Participants were selected by judgement sampling and data gathered interviews. Findings illustrated the key role of the Department of Education, the educators' unions and principals; the effect on teachers' motivation; educator stress and the impact on receiving and sending schools. Based on the findings recommendations for practice are made. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The aim of this study was to investigate the criteria for effective continuous professional development of educators and to determine ways of improvement of the programmes as implemented in secondary schools in the Thohoyandou district of Limpopo Province. The study was conducted through a literature review and qualitative investigation. The literature review explored the nature of effective professional development of educators and the criteria for design, planning and implementation of such programmes. The qualitative study investigated the management of professional development programmes for secondary schools educators in the Thohoyandou district using interviews with district coordinators or Educator Multi Purpose Centers (EMPC) facilitators, secondary school principals and educators. The findings revealed the strengths and weaknesses of professional development programmes. Based on the literature review and qualitative investigation, recommendations were made with regard to the provision of effective professional development programmes for educators, particularly secondary school educators. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Education Managament)

This study examined the prevalence and the nature of truancy among early adolescent learners attending secondary schools in the Education Management and Development Centre (EMDC) in the eastern metropole of the Western Cape. The main purpose of the study was to answer the following question: How can secondary school educators, in loco parentis, be equipped with the required skills and resources in order to deal with the issue of truant behaviour among early adolescent learners? A comprehensive literature review was conducted to explore the character and extent of truancy. Thereafter, various theories of child development were highlighted, followed by a synopsis comprising different dimensions of the development of the early adolescent learner. The empirical investigation was carried out through quantitative as well as qualitative research methodology. A focus group interview was conducted with six learners, offering them an opportunity to express their perceptions and experiences as truants. Interviews were conducted with principals to obtain their impressions regarding truant behaviour. Thereafter, a questionnaire, which investigated truancy related aspects such as interaction with peers, parents and caregivers' involvement in learners' school activities, educators' influence on learners' school work and learners' self-esteem regarding their schooling, was administered to three hundred learners. The quantitative investigation revealed significant aspects about truant behaviour, indicating that predominantly more male than female learners (173 male and 26 as in the case of the present study) display this type of behaviour, truants generally originate from single parent families, and that they experience their educators and learning environments as extremely negative. Finally, two in-depth case studies were conducted on two learners, one identified as a truant and the other as a non-truant respectively. The purpose of the in-depth studies was to explore possible differences in their experiential worlds. Although the qualitative data is not generalisable, the findings of the case studies have revealed significant differences in the life worlds of the two learners. Comparatively speaking, it appears that non-truant learners are significantly better adjusted on all their functioning levels than truant learners. The results of the empirical investigation were compared with relevant findings which emerged from the literature study. Based on the present investigation, the study was concluded by offering a range of recommendations to secondary school educators, in loco parentis, empowering them in addressing the phenomenon of truancy among early adolescent learners in the Western Cape with its distinctive problems. / Educational Studies / D. Ed.(Psychology of Education)

1 online resource (122 leaves : ill.) / Educator stress is a grave problem. The aim of this research is to understand female secondary school educators' personality awareness in relation to work related stress, with particular reference to an independent school in Witbank, Mpumalanga, South Africa. In the literature study I determined the nature of work related stress in educators' lives and investigated personality awareness. My empirical research established the level of work related stress experienced by female educators and how an awareness of different personalities may influence the person's experience of work related stress. The research methods were qualitative in nature and included an interview as well as focus group observations. Findings suggested that all the educators were stressed to a lesser or greater degree, but the critical fact was that what is stressful to one person may not be stressful to another. Based on the findings, recommendations were made for improvements to help alleviate educator stress. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (specialisation in Guidance and Councelling)

The world is dominated by digital media that have become central to many children’s lives. Children born in the last 30 years have become known as ‘digital natives’, as digital technology has always been part of their experiential field. The use of such media in play therapy could offer innovative ways of enhancing dialogue with those children in whose field they are included, as they have been to date unexplored in play therapy interventions, possibly resulting in missed therapeutic opportunities. This mixed methods research took the form of an email questionnaire sent out to play therapists in South Africa to ascertain whether digital technology is being used in therapy and, if so, which digital media are being used and how. Additionally, a focus group interview was conducted using the same questionnaire to ensure data triangulation. The data gathered were analysed qualitatively, and an understanding was gained regarding the current use of digital media in play therapy. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

Background: Psychosomatic problems are increasing among adolescent girls and levels of life satisfaction, well-being and self-esteem are lower among adolescent girls compared to boys at the same age. Aim: The aim of this thesis was to explore adolescent girls’ perceptions of the concept of PMH and to identify influential factors for PMH from their own perspectives. Methods: A qualitative explorative study was designed. The data collection was through four semi-structured focus group interviews. Participation in the study was completely voluntary and 14 high school girls aged 16-17 participated in the study. An inductive content analysis was conducted to analyze the collected data. Results: Six categories and sixteen subcategories emerged from the data analysis, answered the two objectives of the study and met the purpose of this thesis. The six categories were: 1) when you feel well and things go well; 2) school-related factors, 3) factors at home and at leisure time, 4) key personal characteristics, 5) coping skills and balanced healthy lifestyle, 6) more attention to PMH. The findings showed that PMH was perceived as a two-dimension concept of feeling well and functioning well in life. The main influential factors for PMH was healthy social relations within and outside the family, key characteristics such as optimism, high self-esteem, sense of control, purpose and progress as well as coping skills and paying more attention to PMH.     Conclusion: A combination of positive factors promoting feeling well and functioning well in life should be taken into account in the development of mental health promotion approaches and programs to improve PMH among adolescent girls. / Bakgrund: Psykosomatiska besvär ökar bland flickor och livstillfredsställelse, välbefinnande och självkänsla bland flickor är lägre än pojkar.    Syfte: Syftet med studien var att studera uppfattningar av flickor på gymnasiet om begreppet positiv psykisk hälsa (PMH) och identifiera faktorer som påverkar PMH utifrån målgruppens egna perspektiv. Metod: En kvalitativ explorativ studie utformades. Datainsamlingen skedde genom fyra fokusgruppsintervjuer och 14 gymnasieflickor i åldern 16-17 deltog i studien. Deltagande i studien var helt frivilligt. En kvalitativ induktiv innehållsanalys utfördes för att analysera insamlade data. Resultat: Sex huvudkategorier och sexton subkategorier återfanns i dataanalysen som svarade på syftet och två frågeställningarna i studien. De sex huvudkategorierna var: 1) när man mår bra och allt går bra 2) skolrelaterade faktorer 3) faktorer hemma och på fritiden, 4) viktiga personliga egenskaper, 5) coping färdigheter och balanserad hälsosam livsstil, 6) mer uppmärksamhet till PMH. Resultatet visade att PMH uppfattades som ett tvådimensionskoncept, att må bra och att fungera bra i livet. De centrala faktorerna för PMH identifierades som hälsosamma relationer inom och utanför familjen, viktiga egenskaper som optimism och bra självkänsla, känsla av utveckling, kontroll och meningsfullhet, stresshanteringsförmåga, samt att uppmärksamma PMH. Slutsats: En kombination av positiva faktorer för att må bra och fungera bra i livet, bör beaktas inom utveckling av strategier för att förbättra PMH bland flickor på gymnasiet. Nyckelord: Positiv Psykisk Hälsa, Flickor På Gymnasiet, Kvalitativ Explorativ Studie, Fokusgrupp Intervjuer.