The neighbourhood is an essential arena for adolescents’ health development and research suggests that perceived neighbourhood insecurity (PNI) is associated with socio-economic status and self-rated health. The present study explored the distribution of adolescents’ PNI and its association with psychosomatic health complaints across districts. It also examined gender differences and whether family socio-economic position, foreign background and previous exposure to crime could explain part of the association. Data came from classroom-surveys within Stockholm municipality’s 14 districts in 2010, 2012 and 2014 (n=10,291). Linear and logistic multilevel regression models were applied. Results showed that the average level of PNI varied considerably between districts and were strongly connected to its socio-demographic composition. However, individual characteristics in terms of family background and previous exposure to crime only explained a minor part of the variation in PNI across districts. Girls reported more insecurity than boys in all districts. Gender differences in PNI decreased in absolute numbers, but increased in relative numbers, as the overall ‘neighbourhood safety’ increased. Between-district differences in health were minor, but PNI was still a strong predictor of individual-level health, especially for boys. Furthermore, the predictive power of PNI on health was stronger in districts perceived as safer.

Abstract Women in the olympics - A quantitative and qualitative analysis of the representation and portayal of female athletes in the olympics The purpose of the study was to examine how often female athletes occur in swedish sports media and how they are portrayed, in comparison to male athletes. The years studied was 1996 and 2016. Since the female participants increased over those twenty years it was interesting to see if the media followed that development. The study is based on earlier research such as Natalie Koivula and her concepts of the trivialization, infantilization and ambivalens of female athletes. Some theories used in the study is agenda setting, discourse analysis and different gender theories by, among others, Hirdman, Butler and Conell & Pearse. A quantitative and a qualitative analysis has been used in order to determine the representation and portrayal of female athletes. Over 400 articles about the olympics from the newspapers Aftonbladet and Expressen was coded using a content analysis to identify how often female athletes occur in comparison to men. For the discourse analysis 12 articles, three from every newspaper and year was coded using both theories and earlier research. The result shows that there was a difference in both representation and portrayal between men and women in 1996, with men overrepresented in both team sports and individual sports. In 2016 there the results show a complete reversal with women overrepresented in all sports. There was a clear difference in the portrayal of female and male athletes in 1996, where womens looks were described more often than their sporting efforts. In 2016 however the portrayal of women were more similar to men, with a few exceptions. The results of the study from 1996 can be explained by the patriarchal structures that our society is built on. Although the patriarchy still is present it is clear to see that feminism and gender issues have affected the society over the last twenty years, giving female athletes a better chance to be represented and portrayed equally to male athletes.

The purpose of this degree project is to examine to what extent certain groups in society are represented in the teaching material in upper secondary schools in Sweden. Through the scrutinizing of a selected number of English textbooks, the intention is to analyse texts and images to see whether representation of individuals on the basis of ethnicity, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation occur in the material. Another aspect of the essay is to identify possible stereotypes regarding the mentioned categories. The analyses draw on a number of theories: postcolonial, feminist and gender, as well as queer theories, in order to relate possible non-representation in the teaching material to the key concept of otherness. Furthermore, the concepts of hegemony and heteronormativity serve an important role in the analyses of the material as they expose dominant structures in society which tend to give certain groups authority over others.

This study aimed to examine how women’s autism (ASD) is experienced in relation to education through the perceptions of both women with ASD and teachers. Previous research shows that women with ASD are diagnosed later than would have been necessary. A reason for this is that they often mask their difficulties and are perceived as quiet and calm students in school. Using qualitative semi-structured interviews, six teachers and four women with ASD were interviewed. The interviews were analysed with interpretative phenomenological analysis to understand the participants’ individual experiences. To interpret and discuss the result, a theoretical framework was used consisting of gender theory and two different perspectives on understanding students with difficulties: the categorical and the relational perspectives. The phenomenological analysis of the collected data resulted in five themes: experiences of ASD, diagnosis, the silent student, masking and school and working methods. Based on the results, the conclusions emerged that teachers did not experience any differences between girls' and boys' ASD, even though the participating women with ASD told about gender differences. All teachers described how ASD can manifest in ways that are consistent with both descriptions in research on students with ASD and with how the women with ASD in this study described their own difficulties. The majority of the teachers worked on the basis that all students are entitled to the support they need, regardless of whether they have a diagnosis or not; which is in contrast to how the participants with ASD described their experience of school. Three of four women with ASD expressed that they wished their schools could have treated them in a better way during their school years. The women with ASD and the teachers had a similar view of the working methods that benefit women with ASD in school. The results also indicated that women with ASD assume the role of a quiet and calm student. Both the women and the teachers felt that the typical silent student did not receive support or resources, but that the attention instead went to outspoken or disorderly boys and students who do not reach the school's goals. Despite the fact that all participating women with ASD described how they have masked their difficulties during their school time, only one of six teachers experienced that masking is common among students in general. Other teachers said that students are not capable of masking their difficulties, or they had not reflected on the fact that something like this could occur. Overall, this study contributes with knowledge about ASD in relation to gender theory and school, which is a limited research area. / Den här studien har syftat till att undersöka hur skoltiden ser ut för kvinnor med autism (ASD), något som har undersökts ifrån både lärares och kvinnor med ASD’s perspektiv. Tidigare forskning visar att kvinnor med ASD blir diagnostiserade senare än vad de hade behövt. Detta på grund av att de ofta maskerar sina svårigheter för omgivningen och blir sedda som tysta och lugna elever i skolan. Med hjälp av kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer har sex lärare och fyra kvinnor med ASD intervjuats. Intervjuerna analyserades med hjälp av tolkande fenomenologi för att komma åt studiedeltagarnas individuella upplevelser. För att tolka och diskutera resultatet användes en teoretisk ram bestående av genusteori och två specialpedagogiska perspektiv: det kategoriska och det relationella perspektivet. Den fenomenologiska analysen av datainsamlingen resulterade i fem teman: upplevelser av ASD, diagnostisering, den tysta eleven, maskering samt skoltid och arbetssätt. Utifrån resultatet framkom slutsatserna att lärarna inte upplevde att det finns en skillnad mellan flickors och pojkars ASD, trots att kvinnorna med ASD upplevde det. Samtliga lärare i studien beskrev ASD och hur det kan yttra sig på ett sätt som till en största del stämde överens med tidigare forskning och hur studiens deltagande kvinnor med ASD beskrev sina egna svårigheter. Majoriteten av lärarna beskrev att de arbetar utifrån att alla elever har rätt till det stöd de behöver oavsett om de har en diagnos eller inte; något som står i kontrast till hur deltagarna med ASD beskrev sin upplevelse av skolan. Tre av fyra kvinnor uttryckte att de hade önskat att skolorna hade bemött dem på ett bättre sätt under sina skolår. Kvinnorna med ASD och lärarna hade en likasinnad bild av vilka arbetssätt som främjar kvinnor med ASD i skolan. Resultatet indikerade även på att kvinnor med ASD antar rollen som en tyst och lugn elev. Både kvinnorna och lärarna upplevde att den tysta eleven inte fick varken rätt stöd eller resurs, utan att uppmärksamheten istället riktades till utåtagerande pojkar, eller elever som inte når skolans mål. Trots att samtliga deltagande kvinnor med ASD beskrev hur de har maskerat sina svårigheter under sin skoltid, upplever endast en av sex lärare att maskering är förekommande bland elever rent generellt. Övriga lärare menade antingen att elever inte är kapabla till att maskera sina svårigheter, eller att lärarna själva inte hade reflekterat över att maskering kan uppkomma. Sammantaget bidrar denna studie med kunskap om ASD i relation till genus och skola, vilket sedan tidigare är ett begränsat forskningsområde.