Syftet med detta examensarbete var att undersöka hur ungdomar beskriver steget vidare från studieavbrott till sysselsättning. Författarna använde kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer baserade på en intervjuguide för att besvara studiens frågeställningar, med avsikt att fånga in kunskap om de ungas uppfattningar kring vändpunkter samt betydelsen av självbilden och relationer i omgivningen. Totalt genomfördes fyra intervjuer med ungdomar i åldrarna 17-20 år, där samtliga gjort studieavbrott under gymnasietiden men vid tillfället för intervjuerna var åter i någon slags sysselsättning. Författarna använde tidigare forskning samt de teoretiska perspektiven symbolisk interaktionism och KASAM för att analysera datamaterialet. Resultatet av studien påvisade att samtliga ungdomar upplevt någon slags vändpunkt under vägen tillbaka till sysselsättning, som de anger varit betydande. Vändpunkterna har dock varierat i uttryck och har kunnat bestå av såväl en händelse eller ett möte. Vidare konstaterar författarna att självbilden har haft stor inverkan på ungdomarnas möjlighet att både hantera vändpunktssituationer samt på motivation till studier och att relationer med faktorerna vägledning och respektfullt bemötande varit avgörande för steget vidare mot sysselsättning. / This study aimed to investigate how school drop-outs describe their way back to any type of occupation. The authors carried out a qualitative study with interviews based on an interview guide to be able to answer the studies questions at issue, with the intention to capture knowledge about the young adults’ opinion concerning turning-points and the meaning of self-image and relations in the surroundings. In a total, four interviews were carried out with young adults in the ages of 17-20 years, whom had dropped-out of high-school but were, at the time of the interviews, back in some kind of occupation. The authors used previously published science articles, along with the theoretical perspective of symbolic interactionism and KASAM to analyze the data. The result of this study showed that all of the young adults had experienced some kind of turning-point during their way back to an occupation, which they found to be substantial. There were some variations in how these turning-points occurred; they turned out to be an event as well as a meeting. Further on, the authors has found that self-image have had a great effect on the young adults´ possibilities to handle turning-point situations, as well as their motivation for studies, and that relations with factors of guidance and a respectful treatment has been crucial for the step towards an occupation.

Elevers upplevelser av att befinna sig i stödåtgärder är antagligen av stort intresse för de lärare som undervisar elever med allmänna eller specifika matematiksvårigheter. Hur beskriver då några elever själva sina upplevelser av stödåtgärder? Syftet med denna studie är att få större kunskap om och ökad förståelse för hur stödåtgärder i matematik upplevs av de elever som fått särskilt stöd under en längre period. För att kunna ta del av några elevers upplevelser av stödåtgärder valde jag att utgå från en livsvärldsfenomenologisk forskningsansats. Denna ansats lämpar sig väl för att studera just upplevelsen i elevernas livsvärldar. Jag har fått möjlighet att ta del av elevers upplevelser och erfarenheter så som de själva beskriver dem och sedan hermeneutiskt tolkat dessa utifrån min egen förförståelse och erfarenhet. Det resultat som jag presenterar bygger på intervjuer jag genomfört med tre elever i årskurs 9. Resultatet berättar om dessa tre elevers upplevelser av stödåtgärder i matematik och jag finner här både likheter och skillnader. För de elever som jag intervjuat innebar stödåtgärder framförallt det som sker utanför den ordinarie undervisningen, det vill säga extra matematik lektioner, men efter reflektion och samtal nämner eleverna även annat material, extra böcker, lättare böcker och miniräknare som exempel på stödåtgärder. Elevernas berättelser om positiva upplevelser handlar om att få mer tid med läraren. Stödåtgärderna blir mer positivt mottagna då eleverna själva känner sig delaktiga i valet av stödåtgärder. Resultatet kan tolkas som att då eleven beskriver sig själv som bärare av problematiken blir eleven mer positiv till den hjälp han får. Resultatet tolkar jag som att läraren och relationen till läraren är av stor betydelse för elevens upplevelse av de stödåtgärder som sätts in. / The experiences of students receiving support measures are probably of great interest to teachers who teach students with general or specific difficulties in mathematics. How do students themselves describe their experiences of support measures? The purpose of this study is to gain greater knowledge and understanding of how support measures in mathematics is perceived by the students who have received special support for an extended period of time. In order to study and observe the experiences of students who receive support measures, I have chosen a phenomenological life-world approach. This approach is well suited for studying the experiences in students' life worlds. I have had the opportunity to share students’ experiences as they describe them themselves, and then hermeneutically interpreted them from my own understanding and experience. The results presented in this thesis are based on interviews which I conducted with three students in the grade 9. The findings tell us about the three students' own experiences of support measures in mathematics. I found both similarities and differences. For the students I have interviewed, support measures above all mean what occurs outside the regular curriculum, that is extra lessons in Mathematics, but after reflection and discussion the students also mention other material, extra books, easier books and calculators as examples of support measures.   Students' accounts of positive experiences are about spending more time with their teacher. The help was more positively received when the students themselves were made to feel a part of the selection of measures. The result can be interpreted as when the student describes himself as the bearer of the problem, the student becomes more positive to the help he gets. I interpret the result as that the teacher and the relationship to the teacher are of great importance to students' experiences of support measures.

The goal of the present study was to examine the relationships between gender schema, level of cultural identification, and body dissatisfaction in African American men. The first hypothesis under study was that men with a low identification to African American culture would report higher dissatisfaction with their body than those with a high cultural identification. Secondly, it was hypothesized that men with a large discrepancy from their culture’s description of an “ideal man” would also report higher body dissatisfaction than those with low or no discrepancy. Lastly, it was hypothesized that an interaction between variables would occur and that men who were less identified with their African American culture and reported themselves as not matching their culture’s masculine ideal would have higher levels of body dissatisfaction than men who were highly identified with their African American culture and reported themselves as strongly matching their culture’s masculine ideal. Participants were 42 college and post-graduate African American males that were recruited from a Southern university. Participants were assessed using the Body Assessment (BA), Body Satisfaction Questionnaire (BSQ), Physical Appearance Comparison Scale (PACS), Physical Attractiveness Scale (PAS), Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS), and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). Results supported all three hypotheses: men lower in cultural identification with a high masculine discrepancy reported higher body dissatisfaction than those higher in cultural identification with a lower masculine discrepancy. The importance of these findings is that, as the idealized physical image of masculinity becomes more ubiquitous, it is likely that men who measure themselves against this ideal will have greater difficulty achieving self-acceptance and struggle for an unrealistic (and often unhealthy) level of control. Such a struggle for control could lead to engagement in behaviors that could potentially contribute to poor health such as pathological or disordered eating, excessive exercise, and abuse of performance-enhancing substances including food supplements and anabolic steroids. Limitations and suggestions for continued research are also discussed.

Abstrakt Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur tjejer och killar ser på och upplever sig själva i relation till skolan. Det är således deras perspektiv som är centrala. Arbetet genomsyras av ett symboliskt interaktionistiskt synsätt som baseras på att människan behöver interagera med andra för att kunna skapa sin självbild. Betydelsen av ungdomars självbilder i förhållande till skola och skolarbete är inte särskilt uppmärksammat, trots att skolgången är en lång period av livet. Studien baseras på observationer av två klasser i åk 7 samt tio intervjuer jämnt fördelade mellan tjejerna och killarna. Resultatet visar på hur den enskilde elevens uppfattning om sig själv påverkas vid interaktion med andra, alltså sin sociala omgivning. Flera olika mönster för killarnas och tjejernas syn på sig själva framkom och visade variationen av deras uppfattningar om interaktionens betydelse. Det blev också tydligt vilka personer de ansåg ha störst betydelse för skapandet av deras självbilder. Killarna betonade kompisarna medan tjejerna betonade kompisarna och lärarna. Eleverna beskrev vad de ansåg vara typiska tjej- och killämnen. Eleverna klassade Engelska, Matematik och Svenska som tjejämnen och Idrott och Träslöjd som killämnen. Vi har dessutom kunnat se att eleverna utifrån situationen de är i intar olika identiteter.

In schools today, we expect student performances and achievements to be exceptional. Having good reading and writing skills are essential if students want to excel at their school assignments. Students with reading and writing difficulties have to work much harder than their other classmates. Their having to work harder coupled with being teenagers and facing all the uncertainties which are present at that age, these students face the difficult task of trying to find out who they are and who they want to be. In other words, they try to create their own individual identities. This study investigates the experiences of students with reading and writing difficulties in their interactions with other students and school personnel, in different situations. The collection of data has been done through group interviews. Thirteen, 15 year old students participated in these interviews. Some of the factors which characterise a hermeneutic approach have helped to form the basis on which the study lies. A hermeneutic approach suggests that the data collected is sorted and analysed to enable the identification of differences and patterns. These patterns are arranged to give results that are subjective and which also show an interpretation of the data collected. The results show that students are more comfortable with their identities, when they are diagnosed or made aware that their performances in school are directly affected by their reading and writing difficulties. The study also shows that having reading and writing difficulties tells the students who they are but, at the same time, plays an important role in their interactions with other classmates and adults. The outcomes of these interactions greatly affect the formation of their identities. The way in which school personnel treat students is also shown to be of great importance.

<p>Abstrakt</p><p>Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur tjejer och killar ser på och upplever sig själva i relation till skolan. Det är således deras perspektiv som är centrala. Arbetet genomsyras av ett symboliskt interaktionistiskt synsätt som baseras på att människan behöver interagera med andra för att kunna skapa sin självbild.</p><p>Betydelsen av ungdomars självbilder i förhållande till skola och skolarbete är inte särskilt uppmärksammat, trots att skolgången är en lång period av livet. Studien baseras på observationer av två klasser i åk 7 samt tio intervjuer jämnt fördelade mellan tjejerna och killarna.</p><p>Resultatet visar på hur den enskilde elevens uppfattning om sig själv påverkas vid interaktion med andra, alltså sin sociala omgivning. Flera olika mönster för killarnas och tjejernas syn på sig själva framkom och visade variationen av deras uppfattningar om interaktionens betydelse. Det blev också tydligt vilka personer de ansåg ha störst betydelse för skapandet av deras självbilder. Killarna betonade kompisarna medan tjejerna betonade kompisarna och lärarna. Eleverna beskrev vad de ansåg vara typiska tjej- och killämnen. Eleverna klassade Engelska, Matematik och Svenska som tjejämnen och Idrott och Träslöjd som killämnen. Vi har dessutom kunnat se att eleverna utifrån situationen de är i intar olika identiteter.</p>

I läroplanerna för grund- och grundsärskolan står att läsa om skolans uppdrag att låta varje elev finna sin unika egenart för att aktivt kunna ta del i samhället. Många lärare inom och utom särskolan bär på frågan om hur de ska möta elever med utvecklingsstörning på bästa sätt. Utifrån syftet att undersöka hur elever med utvecklingsstörning uttrycker sig kring bilden av sig själva och hur de ser på sina möjligheter att verka i samhället, samt genom arbetets frågeställning, söks efter hur elever med utvecklingsstörning beskriver bilden av sig själva och sig själva i relation till sin egen utvecklingsstörning, hur de beskriver samhällets syn på gruppen utvecklingsstörda samt hur de beskriver sin framtid som samhällsmedlemmar. Goffmans stigma-teori, tillsammans med Anonowskys KASAM, används som arbetets teoretiska ramverk.   Självbilden, hur du ser på och värderar dig själv, står i nära samklang med samtidens syn på människa och samhälle. Dels formas bilden av dig själv genom reflektion över det egna jaget, dels genom interaktion med omgivningen. Vi har alla olika förutsättningar med oss in i livet som underlättar eller försvårar processen att bygga en självbild som är hållbar och ger en rättvis spegling av vår identitet. En sådan förutsättning är att ha en intellektuell funktionsnedsättning, en utvecklingsstörning. Samhällets syn på personer med utvecklingsstörning har varierat genom tiderna. Uttryck som ”sinnesslö”, ”bildbar” och ”obildbar” säger mycket om hur en tidigare samtid såg på funktionsnedsättningen. Idag förs diskussioner kring begreppet ”utvecklingsstörning”, vilka värderingar som ligger bakom och vad begreppet signalerar i ett samhällsperspektiv.   Denna fallstudie bygger på en kvalitativ metod som gett möjlighet att lyfta fram nyanser, samband och underliggande värderingar. Via semistrukturerade intervjuer beskriver fyra respondenter från gymnasiesärskolan synen på sig själva och andra. Den hermeneutiska ansatsen innebär tolkning och förståelse av beskrivningar av självbild och hur den formats i skolkontexten.   Särskoleklassen beskrivs som en trygg plats för lärande och byggande av vänskapsrelationer, en plats för tillhörighet och sammanhang. Tydligt blir ändå att alla fyra respondenter är medvetna om den samhälleliga stigmatisering som funktionsnedsättningen utvecklingsstörning bär på. Samtidigt är det en ljus framtidsyn, ett vanliggörande, som målas upp av respondenterna där banden till föräldrar blir allt vagare och där önskan finns om en egen bostad, familj, barn och arbete.

The overarching aim of this thesis was to describe how family members experienced everyday life with life-threatening illness close to death, with focus on self-image and identity. The thesis comprises four papers, each with a specific aim to illuminate various aspects of the phenomenon under study. The study population consisted of 29 participants; ten family caregivers and five families, including five patients with life threatening illness and their family members. Data were based on retrospective single interviews (paper I), prospective individual, couple and group interviews with the families over six to eighteen month (papers II-III). Interpretive description approach (papers I, II, IV), narrative method (paper III) and secondary analysis (paper IV) were used to analyze data. The findings show how living close to death influences everyday life at home, at several levels (papers I-IV). From the perspective of the dying person, narrations of daily situations was described by four themes related to identity and everyday life; inside and outside of me, searching for togetherness, my place in space and my death and my time. The changing body, pain, fatigue, decreased physical capacity and changed appearance, appeared to influence the dying person’s need for altered knowledge and community, and as a result the patterns of interaction within the families changed. The strive for knowledge and community took place at home, an arena for identity work and the conscious search for meaning, knowledge and community; it was limited by time and inevitable death (paper III). For the family member, life close to death can mean sharing life with a changing person in a changing relationship (paper II). It may mean that everyday life needs to be modified in order for it to work (papers I-IV). New patterns of dependence and an asymmetrical relationship affect all involved (papers III-IV). Daily life close to death is about finding the space to promote the individual self-image, me-ness, at the same time as finding new ways of being a family; we-ness (paper II). Regardless of being the ill person or not, the family members we interviewed had to face impending death, which challenged earlier ways of living together (papers I-IV). From the perspective of the relatives, the everyday life of caring for the dying family member was characterized by challenged ideals, stretched limits and interdependency (paper I). Situations that challenged the caregivers’ self-image were connected to intimacy, decreasing personal space and experiences such as “forbidden thoughts”. The findings suggest that the bodily changes were of importance for the self-image, and that the former approach to the own body was important in the process of experiencing the body. The person living close to death was in transition to something new; being dead in the near future. One way of handling the struggles of everyday life was to seek togetherness, strive to find other persons with similar experiences while sharing thoughts and feelings. Togetherness was sought within the family, in the health care system and on the internet; a sense of togetherness was also sought with those who had already died. The other family members were also in transition as the future meant living on without the ill family member and changing their status to for example being a widow or being motherless. Identity work close to death denotes creating an access ramp into something new; a transition into the unknown. From a clinical perspective, this study emphasizes the significance of creating a climate that allows caregivers to express thoughts and feelings.

This essay is inserted into the research on the teacher s formation. It is a study where I have tried to come close to the imaginary regarding to self-image process. Three elementary school teachers were formally questioned about their lives considering both the personal as well as the professional aspects. It is a research using a qualitative approach involving life stories and memories of these three teachers/co-workers from The Municipal Elementary School System of Santa Maria. The interviews have been partly structured, recorded through tape recorder and divided into three different groups: the teacher as a human being; the teacher as a professional and, at last both their personal and professional lives as well as their interlacements. It was given time for the three teachers to be listened, such as the possibility for acting through their inner attention, standing easy to report a little from their personal and professional lives. At the beginning, I myself describe my personal history of life, my forthcomings to the topic and the motive of my choice. Afterwards, I present the teachers/co-workers, my colleagues and co-producer of this research. Following, I point out what the motive for the trajectory of this study, the purpose of the research and the thesis. Relevant aspects as time, the solitude of the scholar routine and the professional depreciation were observed and analyzed alongside the reports. There was no intention of generalizing the results but just to take it as a reference to rethink about our practices and attitudes in the world where we actuate, that is, the school. In such case we realize that the chosen subject, even much discussed in schools routine, seems to be not in accordance with the academic researches. This takes us to believe in the complexity of dimensions and contexts that build the images and self-images of teachers. To conclude, we believe that the teacher has the possibility of provoking transformations: liberty and responsibility are only possible from self-respect, where we can choose by ourselves, not only under external pressures / Este estudo está inserido na linha de pesquisa de Formação, Saberes e Desenvolvimento Profissional, vinculada à Temática Trajetórias de Formação Docente. É um trabalho com o qual busquei aproximar-me do imaginário em relação ao processo de construção da auto-imagem de três professoras dos Anos Iniciais do Ensino Fundamental, bem como a condição docente. É uma pesquisa com abordagem qualitativa envolvendo as histórias de vida e a memória dessas três professoras/colaboradoras da rede municipal de Educação de Santa Maria. As entrevistas foram semi-estruturadas, realizadas com o uso do gravador e distribuídas em três blocos: a professora como pessoa, a professora como profissional e, por último, a vida pessoal e profissional das professoras e seus entrelaçamentos. Às três professoras/colaboradoras foi oportunizado tempo para ouvi-las, bem como, a possibilidade de colocarem em ação a atenção interior e deixá-las à vontade para narrarem um pouco da sua vida pessoal e profissional. Na primeira parte conto passagens da minha História de Vida, minhas aproximações com o tema e o porquê da minha escolha. Depois apresento as professoras/colaboradoras, minhas colegas e (co)produtoras desta pesquisa. A seguir, busco tecer as narrativas com os autores que escolhi. Aspectos relevantes como a questão do tempo, da solidão do cotidiano escolar e a desvalorização profissional foram observados e analisados no decorrer das narrativas. É uma pesquisa que não teve como pretensão generalizar os resultados, mas tomá-los como referência para um repensar das nossas práticas e atitudes no universo que atuamos - a escola. Sendo assim percebemos que o tema escolhido, mesmo que muito comentado no cotidiano escolar, parece não ter a mesma correspondência quanto às pesquisas acadêmicas o que leva-nos a acreditar na complexidade das dimensões e dos contextos que constroem as imagens e auto-imagens do professor. Para finalizar, acreditamos na possibilidade que o professor tem de provocar transformações e que a responsabilidade e a liberdade só são possíveis desde o respeito por si mesmo, que permite escolher a partir de nós e não movidos somente por pressões externas

Este estudo aborda a temática das relações existentes entre a formação universitária e a imagem social de mulheres negras universitárias da área da saúde e suas possíveis transformações pessoais e sociais. Considerando que a formação universitária produz uma valorização social e os seus desdobramentos influenciam nos papéis sociais vividos por este grupo. Buscamos assim, descrever a imagem social de mulheres negras na perspectiva de mulheres negras universitárias e sua autoimagem social; e analisar a influencia da formação universitária na autoimagem social das mesmas. Metodologia: Pesquisa descritivo-exploratória com abordagem qualitativa, realizada com roteiro de entrevista semi estruturada com dez entrevistadas que se autodeclararam pretas ou pardas matriculadas em Programa de Pós-graduação (Mestrado) de uma universidade pública estadual no município do Rio de Janeiro (Brasil). Os dados produzidos foram analisados e interpretados à luz da análise de conteúdo de Bardin. Deste processo emergiram três categorias. A primeira categoria A imagem social da mulher negra na perspectiva de mulheres negras universitárias descreve a condição desigual da mulher negra na sociedade a partir da desvalorização do gênero feminino e da raça (sexismo e o racismo) e o corpo da mulher negra como objeto de sensualidade. A segunda categoria - A formação universitária na vida de mulheres negras desdobrou-se em duas categorias intermediárias: Situações positivas vivenciadas durante a formação (formação universitária como veículo para as transformações sociais e pessoais a partir da ampliação do conhecimento científico e a melhora na inserção social); Situações negativas (desigualdades de classes, sentimentos de indecisão, frustração frente à escolha do curso e limitações na aprendizagem e adaptação). A terceira categoria A autoimagem social de mulheres universitárias negras desenvolve a percepção das entrevistadas acerca da sua autoimagem a partir do processo de formação universitária, e desdobra-se em visões positivas e negativas sobre sua autoimagem. A visão positiva destaca o empoderamento diante da sua condição étnica caracterizado por atitudes perseverantes e demonstração de competência no cotidiano, favorecendo o fortalecimento de posições sociais; algumas inclusive não identificam vivenciar diferenças sociais pela etnia. A visão negativa foi descrita a partir dos sentimentos de baixa estima, insegurança no posicionamento nos espaços sociais e a dificuldade de falar sobre a sua autoimagem. Para as depoentes a autoimagem se traduz não no estereótipo, mas, nas conquistas sociais que elas alcançam decorrente da formação universitária. A formação universitária se torna condição fundamental para transpor os estigmas sociais que interferem na imagem social deste grupo populacional na sociedade. / This study approaches the theme of existing relationships between college background and social image for African-descendant women in the health care field and its possible personal and social transformations. We bear in mind that college background results in social appreciation and its consequences influence the social roles played by this group. Therefore, we seek to describe African-descendant women's social image from the perspective of African-descendant college women and their social self-image; we further seek to analyze the influence of college background in their social self-image. Methodology: Descriptive exploratory research with qualitative approach, carried out with partially-structured interview scripts with ten interviewees who have self-declared African-descendants or dark-skinned individuals enrolled in Graduate Programs (Master's Degree) from a public state university in the district of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The data produced were analyzed and interpreted according to Bardin's content analysis technique. Three categories emerged from this process. The first category African-descendant women's social image from the perspective of African-descendant college women describes the unequal condition of from the perspective of African-descendant women in society from the depreciation of female gender and race (sexism and racism), as well as the African-descendant women body as sex object. The second category - College background in the life of African-descendant women broke down into two intermediary categories: Positive situations experienced during education (college education as a vehicle for social and personal transformation from the broadening of scientific knowledge and improved social insertion); Negative situations (class inequalities, feelings of indecision, frustration towards the choice for the course and learning and adaptation constraints). The third category African-descendant college women's self-image develops the interviewees perception regarding their self-image from the college education process, and unfolds in positive and negative views on their self-image. The positive view highlights the empowerment before their ethnic condition, characterized by persevering attitudes and e evidence of competence on their daily lives, favoring the strengthening of social positions; moreover, some of them do not report experiencing social differences due to their ethnic condition. The negative view was described from the feelings of low self-esteem, insecurity towards their position in the social environment and difficulty to talk about their self-image. For the interviewees, self-image is not expressed by stereotypes, but by the social accomplishments they achieve as a result of their college background. College background becomes a paramount condition to overcome the social stigmas that interfere in this groups social image in society.