Under det senaste decenniet har det dödliga skjutvapenvåldet ökat i Sverige, där det skett med en koncentration till socioekonomiskt utsatta bostadsområden. Parallellt med våldets utveckling har individer från bostadsområdena organiserat sig, med bland annat ett uttalat syfte om att uppmärksamma våldet, men också för att arbeta brottsförebyggande i relation till barn och unga.   Förevarande studie syftar till att, utifrån en kritisk viktimologisk ansats, undersöka viktimiseringsprocesser och dess konsekvenser för individer i bostadsområden särskilt drabbade av det dödliga skjutvapenvåldet. Medan smala förståelser av viktimisering tenderar att fokusera på de direkta uttrycken för, samt konsekvenserna av det interpersonella våldet, anammas här en bredare ansats. Utgångspunkten är att våld kommer i flera olika former, såsom symboliskt och strukturellt våld, och att det interpersonella våldet inte bör förstås oberoende dessa. Studiens metod är av kvalitativ karaktär: det empiriska materialet består främst av tematiskt öppna intervjuer, vilka även kompletteras med en observation. Analysen skildrar en komplex viktimiseringsprocess, där olika våldsformer präglar intervjudeltagarnas vardag och ger upphov till direkta och indirekta konsekvenser. Utsattheten för symboliskt och strukturellt våld i form av diskriminering, exploatering och ojämlikhet påverkar intervjudeltagarnas beskrivning och förståelse av det interpersonella våldet, där det förstnämnda förstås sammanlänkat med det interpersonella våldet och dess utveckling. Analysen skildrar vidare hur konsekvenserna av det interpersonella våldet intensifieras genom det symboliska och strukturella våldet, där bland annat en internaliserande effekt diskuteras. Därigenom betonas behovet av en utvidgad förståelse av våld och utsatthet i bostadsområden särskilt drabbade av skjutvapenvåldet.

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Att memorera abstrakta koncept och begrepp är en nödvändig del av lärandeprocessen för dagens studenter. Genom att underlätta denna process, till exempel tidsmässigt, skulle studenter kunna bli duktigare i deras studier som kräver en del memorering och således ägna mer tid åt kritiskt och abstrakt tänkande. Forskning har under flera decennier gjorts på auditiva och visuella minneshjälpmedel men det saknas forskning om hur slumpmässigt datorgenererade bilder påverkar memoreringsprocessen. Genom att involvera flera sinnen undersöktes huruvida ett verktyg som baseras på datorgenererade abstrakta former kunde vara användbart och effektivt som ett minneshjälpmedel bland studenter. Totalt deltog nio studenter i studien varav en deltog i en pilotstudie. Den insamlade data från experimenten analyserades genom att räkna fram spridningsmått såsom varians och standardavvikelse samt genom att genomföra ett Chi-två-test och en medelvärdesanalys. Resultat av den statistiska analysen visade att vårt verktyg sannolikt inte förbättrade deltagarnas förmåga att memorera abstrakta ord. Dock så hävdade 25% av experimentgruppen att verktyget var användbart som ett hjälpmedel i memoreringsprocessen. Kombinerat med konstruktiv kritik från deltagarna om hur verktyget kunde öka sin verkningsgrad drog vi slutsatsen att ett genomarbetat verktyg eller applikation fortfarande har potentialen att effektivisera memorering. Vidare forskning skulle kunna öka förståelsen för de underliggande processerna och hur dessa skulle kunna utnyttjas för att hjälpa memorering. / Memorizing abstract concepts and terms is an important part of the learning process for the students of today. By enhancing this process students could be more proficient in those studies that require memorization and focus more on other parts of their education such as critical thinking and abstract reasoning. Research on auditory and visual memory aids has been conducted for several decades. However, there is a lack of research that focuses on how memory is affected by randomly generated imagery. This study aimed to explore this area by taking a multi-sensory approach to memorization. It examined whether a developed tool based on computer generated imagery could be useful and effective as a memorization aid among students. By conducting an experiment we examined the usefulness and the effectiveness of the developed tool. A total of nine students participated in the study of which one participated in a pilot study. The data gathered from the experiments was analyzed using statistical measures such as variance and standard deviation and also by conducting a chi-squared test and a mean value analysis. To gain a deeper understanding of how the experimental group used the tool, we complemented our data with the survey data from the study’s participants. The results of the statistical analysis showed that our tool did not improve the participants’ ability to memorize abstract words in the chosen sample. However, 25% of the experimental group claimed that the tool was useful as an aid in their memorization process since they experienced that there was a clear connection between the words and the images. Combined with constructive feedback about how the tool could increase its effectiveness it can be concluded that a well-constructed tool still has the potential to aid memorization. The area should be further researched to gain any significant understanding of the underlying processes and how it could be useful to aid memorization.

This thesis explores the reasons behind the stagnation in the transition to democracy in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. According to their constitutions, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are democracies. In actuality, however, there is little evidence to support that these are democratic systems. These states' post-Soviet constitutions outline them as democracies - yet they lack a free press; freedom of association is suppressed; religious freedom is limited; and free speech is constrained as well. While these two countries hold popular elections, much of their electoral processes are under the control of the executive branch of government - calling into question whether or not Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan really hold fair and competitive elections. In sum, in both of these states, democracy is de jure rather than de facto. Why is this so? Why are Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan not the democracies in practice that they are on paper? Many scholars and policy-makers blame the stagnation in these states' democratic transitions on the firm hands used by the countries' presidents to maintain their current power and even to increase it. Other scholars point out that Central Asia has never been democratic and thus does not know how to be so. These scholars refer, in particular, to the region's history as part of the Russian Empire and later, as part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Using frameworks drawn from Dahl's Polyarchy (1971) and Huntington's The Third Wave (1991), this thesis finds that not only are Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan straying from their constitutional democratic starting points, no single factor is to blame for the stagnation in the transitions to democracy in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Rather, it is the combination of multiple factors - both internal and external - that provides the most comprehensive explanation of these states' failure to become full-fledged democracies. Combining the elements of strong dictator-like presidents with a lack of democratic history is but the tip of the iceberg. Internal factors such as political culture and external factors such as the influence of the international community also play major roles in the current state of affairs in these Central Asian states.

The disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of former combatants constitutes one of the most crucial activities in a post-conflict peacebuilding context with important effects upon the wider transitional process from war to peace. The efficient implementation of DDR programmes can reassure belligerent parties of the possibility of a permanent cessation of hostilities, as they are often the most visible element of the peace agreement. Moreover, a well-planned and flexible reintegration process can also promote the viability of long-term peace locally, nationally and internationally.1 Since the end of the Cold War, DDR initiatives have been undertaken in more than 25 war-to-peace transition contexts: Afghanistan, Aceh, Angola, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), El Salvador, Eritrea, East Timor, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Kosovo, Liberia, Mindanao, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tajikistan and Uganda. In 2007, over 1,129,000 combatants were taking part in DDR programmes in 20 countries at an estimated cost of US$ 2 billion; one estimate suggests that it worked out to be around US$1,686 per ex-combatant. Some 2/3 of former combatants were from African countries; 42% were members of the armed forces and 58% belonged to armed militias, guerrilla groups and paramilitary groups. Of this statistic, nearly 10% were child soldiers.

This working paper explores reinsertion and reintegration processes and how these connect (or are expected to connect) with donor-led strategies for post-conflict reconstruction and long-term development. DDR has long been recognised as essential for post-conflict stability, but in the 2000s, there has been emphasis on enhancing the linkages between short-term, time-bound DDR process and long-term reconstruction and development programmes and processes in post-conflict states. The importance of situating reintegration into the wider context of long-term development has been stressed by the UN, whose best practice guidelines emphasise that reintegration should: 'support a broader national strategic plan for reconciliation, reconstruction and development.' This does not suggest a restructuring of DDR activities, which aim to establish an environment conducive to long-term economic development rather than fostering long-term development, but a bridging of short- and long-term agendas.

Firms use former government officials (FGOs) on the board of directors to create external linkage with the government. I examine investors’ perception of FGOs on the board of directors and how institutional environments affect it. Using a large sample of 23,444 hand-collected observations from 31 non-U.S. countries, I show that political directors (PDs) are associated with improved investors’ perception. Drawing from political science literature, I theorize and show that former senior bureaucrats (SBDs), but not former ministers (MDs) or government advisors (ADs), drive the improved investors’ perception. Furthermore, I show that stronger institutional environments, measured by economic freedom, lead to less improved investors’ perception of PDs. Here too SBDs drives my results associated with and economic freedom, but not MDs or ADs, lending support to my initial findings.

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