The coexistence of Czech and Roma communities is beset with numerous issues. Despite the Roma population being a part of the country?s population for centuries, the Roma still find themselves foreigners within the society, perceive the Czech population as hostile and reject even its positive values. The Roma minority blames the Czech society for coldness, hostility and above all discrimination, xenophobia and racism. The Czech population on the other hand upbraids the Roma for noisiness, lack of education, poor work ethics, high unemployment and crime rates, among other things. The theoretical part of the paper is divided according to separate issues relevant for the Roma population in the Czech Republic. The history of the Roma population is presented, since it is considered a notable part of history as well as a significant factor in the current situation. The theoretical part also presents the issues of myth and stereotype, forming a part of any society and affecting its actions from its historical beginnings to the present time. This part of the paper also introduces other key topics relevant for the Roma minority, such as coexistence with the majority society, levels of education, unemployment, crime rates, and socially excluded neighbourhoods. For the practical part of the work, plausible hypotheses were developed for the two objectives described above, to be verified or disproved by practical experiment. H 1: More than half of the representatives of the investigated majority holds the opinion that Roma employment is less than one-third. H 2: The representatives of the investigated majority in more than half amount have personally or vicariously encountered crime perpetrated by Roma. H 3: Representatives of the majority society believes that the most common source of finance for Roma in the investigated localities are social benefits. H 4: Most of the representatives of the investigated majority hold the opinion that Roma are poorly mindful of their children's education. H 5: Most of the majority society in the village of Větřní is of the opinion that better education of Roma has no effect on better employment of Roma. For the practical part of the work, quantitative research employing controlled interview was used to obtain necessary data about the selected locations. The particular sites chosen were: in České Budějovice, the housing estate ?Máj? at the V. Volf Street and its surroundings; in Český Krumlov, the housing estate ?Mír? and the surroundings of the Lipová Street. In the village of Větřní, the research focused on the geographically lower part of the settlement. All three locations are considered socially excluded according to an analysis of socially excluded neighbourhoods. 50 respondents were interviewed in each of České Budějovice and Český Krumlov, and 30 respondents were interviewed in Větřní. The thesis set out to achieve two tasks. The first was to identify the perceptions held by the majority society about the Roma minority in the selected neighbourhoods and about its some of the issues. This objective was achieved, and the practical part of the paper describes in detail the perceptions of the majority society about the minority and its issues. The second task was to describe the differences in these perceptions between the investigated neighbourhoods. This second objective was also achieved. In the practical part of my thesis I have confirmed that the perceptions between the investigated neighbourhoods about the minority is not very different.

O presente trabalho visa estabelecer quais são as condições responsáveis por permitir à oposição o poder de influenciar o processo decisório em Legislativos. Para tanto, a pesquisa se divide em duas frentes, a primeira teórica e a segunda empírica. Em campo teórico o trabalho chama a atenção para a inviolabilidade do princípio majoritário no que diz respeito à produção legislativa e às suas regras regimentais e, por fim, demonstra como a sua desconsideração pode levar a equívocos no tocante à expectativa sobre o comportamento dos diversos atores envolvidos. Em solo empírico, demonstrarse- á que a incorporação deste princípio é essencial para compreendermos de que maneira a oposição pode intervir no processo decisório, assim como quando e porquê acontecerão mudanças regimentais que aumentem ou restrinjam os direitos da minoria. / The present thesis aims to establish the conditions that give oppositions the power to influence the decision-making process in Legislatives. Our research will be presented in two views, the first theoretical and the second, empirical. On the theoretical view, the study draws attention to inviolability of the majority principle in conducing the legislative process and its regimental rules and ultimately, how disregarding it can lead to mistakes in expectations of involved actors\' behavior. On the empirical view it will be shown that embedding that principle is essential to understand in which way the opposition can intervene in the decision-making process, as well as how and why regimental changes will happen either to restrict or to widen the minority rights.

The legitimisation of discriminatory policies is the phenomenon under scrutiny in the present study. The thesis is an extreme case study, that inductively analyses The Law on Compulsory Daycare through the ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be’ approach. Deductively, the policy is examined for the presence of othering, orientalism, and cultural racism. The problem representation assumes a binary hierarchy which results in a simplified understanding of ‘non-western’ culture attributed a few negative characteristics. The discriminatory policy is legitimised through the assumption that a lack of ‘Danish culture’ causes social problems of crime, non-participation, isolation, and under-performance in school in so called ‘ghettos’ and ‘deprived neighbourhoods’, which characterises as cultural racism, because it assumes the inferiority of ‘non-western’ culture. The thesis concludes that the ‘non-western’ is created as the ‘other’ in a way that is related to the merits of orientalism, but there is not found clear evidence of orientalism.

All countries distinguish between minors and adults for various legal purposes. Recent U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning the legal status of juveniles have consulted psychological science to decide where to draw these boundaries. However, little is known about the robustness of the relevant research, because it has been conducted largely in the U.S. and other Western countries. To the extent that lawmakers look to research to guide their decisions, it is important to know how generalizable the scientific conclusions are. This dissertation examines two psychological phenomena relevant to legal questions about adolescent maturity: cognitive capacity, which undergirds logical thinking, and self-regulatory capacity, which comprises individuals’ ability to restrain themselves in the face of emotional, exciting, or risky stimuli. Age patterns of these constructs were assessed in 5,227 individuals (50.7% female), ages 10-30 (M = 17.05, SD = 5.91) from eleven countries. There were three primary aims of this work. First was to replicate previous research on age patterns in cognitive capacity within the U.S.-only sample. Second was to replicate previous research on age patterns in self-regulatory capacity within the U.S.-only sample. Third was to extend analyses to include the other ten countries in the sample, and evaluate to what degree age patterns found in the U.S. generalize to other parts of the world. I explored age patterns in the U.S. using a variety of statistical approaches, including analysis of variance, regression, and piecewise regression to better understand how these analyses shape our conclusions regarding the age of maturity of cognitive capacity and self-regulatory capacity. Age patterns found in the U.S. were consistent with past research. Specifically, whereas cognitive capacity reached adult levels around age 16, self-regulatory capacity generally continued to mature beyond age 18. When extending the analyses to the other ten countries, I found that generally cognitive capacity matured prior to self-regulatory capacity, but there were numerous deviations from this pattern. For instance, some countries evinced no discernible age pattern in one or both composites (e.g., Kenya or Jordan), while in others self-regulatory capacity reached adult levels earlier than or at the same age as cognitive capacity, inconsistent with hypotheses. In sum, juveniles may be capable of deliberative decision making by age 16, but even young adults may demonstrate “immature” decision making in arousing situations. It is therefore reasonable to have different age boundaries for different legal purposes, at least in the U.S.: one for matters in which cognitive capacity predominates, and a later one for matters in which self-regulatory capacity plays a substantial role. Whether and how these results ought to inform policy in other countries, however, is unclear. / Psychology

Did the new Bolivian Constitution of 2009 influence a change on its democratic model? The thesis of the article claims that as a result of how the Constitution elaboration process was carried out on a frame of certain historical conditions, the product elaborated –The Constitution- by the Constituent Assembly had little substantial change in contrast to former Constitutions. Historical constrains of the Bolivian economy and the polarization of the actors involved on the elaboration process of the new Constitution had a great influence to prevent a substantially different new one. Progressive’s elements were introduced as a matter of result of the Bolivian revolution as Human Rights, Plurinationality, and Regional Autonomies, but certain constitutional prerogatives remained unchanged to preserve the status quo. The presence of corporatists, rentist and statist actors has been a trend along Bolivian history, which does allow the reproduction of the internal political relationships of the Bolivian model and inhibits the possibility of a substantial change or re-foundation. Furthermore, the pos-contitutional situation will consolidate a democracy that hardly would break the historical constrains thatrules its hybrid character. / ¿La nueva Constitución Boliviana del 2009 motivó un cambio sustancial en su modelo democrático? La tesis del artículo argumenta que la poca variación sustancial en el producto elaborado –la Constitución- por la Asamblea Constituyente, en comparación a Constituciones anteriores, fue fruto de cómo se llevó a cabo el proceso de elaboración de la misma aunque se debe resaltar algunas consideraciones históricas. Las constricciones históricas de la economía boliviana así como la polarización de actores en la elaboración de la nueva Constitución tuvieron una gran influencia al impedir una refundación de la misma. Si bien hubo un gran recojo de elementos progresistas fruto de la revolución boliviana como Derechos Humanos, Plurinacionalidad y Autonomías Regionales, aún se mantuvieron ciertas prerrogativas constitucionales a actores que protegían el status quo. La presencia de actores corporativistas, rentistas y estatistas se ha mantenido a lo largo del tiempo, por lo que se permite la reproducción de las relaciones políticas internas del modelo boliviano y se inhibe la posibilidad de su reemplazo o refundación. Esto derivó en una situación posconstitucional que consolidará una democracia que dificultosamente podrá quebrar las ataduras de un pasado que condiciona su carácter híbrido.

The thesis focuses on a new concept of cellular automata control based on instructions. The instruction can be understood as a rule that checks the states of cells in pre-defined areas in the cellular neighbourhood. If a given condition is satisfied, the state of the central cell is changed according to the definition of the instruction. Because it's possible to perform more instructions in one computational step, their sequence can be understood as a form of a short program. This concept can be extended with simple operations applied to the instruction's prescription during interpretation of the instructions - an example of such operation can be row shift or column shift. An advantage of the instruction-based approach lies in the search space reduction. In comparison with the table-based approach, it isn't necessary to search all the possible configurations of the cellular neighbouhood, but only several areas determined by the instructions. While the groups of the inspected cells in the cellular neighbourhood are designed manually on the basis of the analysis of the solved task, their sequence in the chromosome is optimized by genetic algorithm. The capability of the proposed method of cellular automata control is studied on these benchmark tasks - majority, synchronization, self-organization and the design of combinational circuits.

British church history in the last sixty years is best described as a “coat of many colours”. This image is appropriate because of the growth and proliferation of Black Majority Churches in urban areas of the British Isles. The advent of these churches has contributed to the prevailing pluralistic theological landscape. This thesis aims to evaluate the current status of Black Majority Churches with respect to their origin, growth, distinctives and contributions to British Christianity. Historiographical research methods are utilised in this study, including a review of historical publications on Britain’s Black Majority Churches and evaluation of their liturgical practices, preaching styles, common ethos, training standards and generally accepted doctrinal statements. Hitherto, the general consensus amongst Black British theologians was that the Black Majority Churches originated in the Windrush migration era, beginning in 1948. However, this era is more appropriately seen as one of expansion, rather than the foundation, of Black Majority Churches. The foundation stone for the growth and proliferation of these churches had been laid with the establishment of Sumner Chapel, Peckham, in 1906 by a Ghanaian, Pastor Brem Wilson. Further impetus was given to this initiative with the emergence of the African Church Mission in 1931, led by a Nigerian, Rev Daniel Ekarte. The growth of these churches in urban areas was greatly accentuated during the Windrush dispensation, with the emergence of West Indian churches, which evolved not only as a result of racism but in order to meet the authentic social, cultural and religious needs of Africans and Caribbeans in Britain. The theological flavours of these churches are similar to those of global Pentecostalism, but are modulated by African and Caribbean cosmologies. Alongside their pneumacentric, experiential approach, there exists a strong resonance with the American Pentecostal “health and wealth” ideology. The socio-cultural and religious importance of these churches during the acculturation of migrants in Britain is pivotal, but at times these churches also limit the process of acculturation because of their minimal social interaction with the wider British communities. The political pragmatism of Black-led Churches is gradually evolving and is in sharp contrast to the political ideology of the Black Movement of America. The active involvement of various Black-led Church leaders, community groups and parachurch organizations is gradually shaping the political activities of Black Majority Churches. The missiological praxis of these churches seems suspect because many are “migrant sanctuaries”. The limitations are inherently due to a lack of retrospection on the missional tools of these churches and a certain disregard of the British context. The role and functionalities of these churches in terms of social and political relevance is gradually unfolding. The future relevance of these churches is totally dependent on proactive initiatives such as the planting of missional churches, development of articulate leadership, theological training and engagement with British culture. / PhD (Missiology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, in association with Greenwich School of Theology, UK, 2011

British church history in the last sixty years is best described as a “coat of many colours”. This image is appropriate because of the growth and proliferation of Black Majority Churches in urban areas of the British Isles. The advent of these churches has contributed to the prevailing pluralistic theological landscape. This thesis aims to evaluate the current status of Black Majority Churches with respect to their origin, growth, distinctives and contributions to British Christianity. Historiographical research methods are utilised in this study, including a review of historical publications on Britain’s Black Majority Churches and evaluation of their liturgical practices, preaching styles, common ethos, training standards and generally accepted doctrinal statements. Hitherto, the general consensus amongst Black British theologians was that the Black Majority Churches originated in the Windrush migration era, beginning in 1948. However, this era is more appropriately seen as one of expansion, rather than the foundation, of Black Majority Churches. The foundation stone for the growth and proliferation of these churches had been laid with the establishment of Sumner Chapel, Peckham, in 1906 by a Ghanaian, Pastor Brem Wilson. Further impetus was given to this initiative with the emergence of the African Church Mission in 1931, led by a Nigerian, Rev Daniel Ekarte. The growth of these churches in urban areas was greatly accentuated during the Windrush dispensation, with the emergence of West Indian churches, which evolved not only as a result of racism but in order to meet the authentic social, cultural and religious needs of Africans and Caribbeans in Britain. The theological flavours of these churches are similar to those of global Pentecostalism, but are modulated by African and Caribbean cosmologies. Alongside their pneumacentric, experiential approach, there exists a strong resonance with the American Pentecostal “health and wealth” ideology. The socio-cultural and religious importance of these churches during the acculturation of migrants in Britain is pivotal, but at times these churches also limit the process of acculturation because of their minimal social interaction with the wider British communities. The political pragmatism of Black-led Churches is gradually evolving and is in sharp contrast to the political ideology of the Black Movement of America. The active involvement of various Black-led Church leaders, community groups and parachurch organizations is gradually shaping the political activities of Black Majority Churches. The missiological praxis of these churches seems suspect because many are “migrant sanctuaries”. The limitations are inherently due to a lack of retrospection on the missional tools of these churches and a certain disregard of the British context. The role and functionalities of these churches in terms of social and political relevance is gradually unfolding. The future relevance of these churches is totally dependent on proactive initiatives such as the planting of missional churches, development of articulate leadership, theological training and engagement with British culture. / PhD (Missiology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, in association with Greenwich School of Theology, UK, 2011

Sweden is nowadays a multicultural society. This also means that Swedish social services increasingly come in contact with ethnic minority families. This study aims to examine the ways in which social workers consider and talk about the clients’ ethnic background in relation to child welfare cases. Further, the aim is to reveal the ways in which ethnicity is done and reproduced in social work practice. To reach this goal, a qualitative vignette study is applied. The research participants, Swedish social workers in the field of children and family, were invited to focus groups interviews and asked to react to vignettes constructed around three notices of child abuse. Different focus groups received vignettes with different names of the child: Erik represented ethnic majority name, while Ali represented ethnic minority name. The application of qualitative content analysis resulted in the differentiation of the following themes: worry, description of the case and construction of the family. The results in this study demonstrate that depending on the child’s name, social workers viewed the case and the family differently and ascribed different levels of worry to their respective cases. These findings are discussed through the perspective of social constructionism and the concept of ethnicity as being socially constructed to demonstrate the mundane ways in which ethnicity is constructed in social work practice. This study emphasizes the complexity and challenges that may accompany social work practice with ethnic minority families.

This thesis deals with the functioning of the family in connection with the physiological and psychosocial development of children. It also describes the reasons why children are taken away from the family and the options of residential care. The first option is institutional care in orphanages and therefore we mention several organisations that offer projects to help these children in particular to have an easier entry to life after the completion of institutional care. The empirical part of this study analyses the background, the habits and also the preparation of young adults to leave the orphanage in two institutions: Primary school and Orphanage Přestavlky and Orphanage Klánovice. It includes personal life stories of several children not only from the two orphanages but also from children brought up in foster care. The main goal of this thesis was to find out whether the children brought up in orphanages have different vision of the future in comparison with children raised in foster care. The results of our open- ended interview survey are presented in the final part of this paper.