Youth exclusion in a society is a major issue in many parts of the globe, and particularly in the Arab world. It limits the succession of social movements leading to political stability and leaves a relevant part of the society alienated from political processes. For this reason, this thesis aims to introduce and highlight youth as a source for political and social development, using Lebanon as a case study through the theoretical lens of empowerment theory. The work carried out understands empowerment theory as a useful theoretical framework in Political Science, and its contribution to the case under scrutiny will rest upon three interrelated categories: individual empowerment, collective empowerment, and social and political change as a subsequent. The research focuses on the capacity development of young Lebanese people through their participation in a UNDP program. Using content analysis of a UNDP report and semi-structured interviews conducted with youth (20-28) as well as with the youth focal point in UNDP, the thesis systemically examines and evaluates the extent to which Lebanese youth are feeling empowered by the UNDP for creating social change and reducing political instability. The results and findings of the research suggest that if organizations such as the UNDP place more attention on youth, they are likely to have a greater political and social impact on social and political development.

New generations of youth are coming of age at a time when digital technology is omnipresent, where devices are our constant companions, extensions of ourselves. It is not yet fully known what effect this mass consumption of digital technology will have on current and future generations. Although not entirely negative, dramatic shifts in human interaction and well-being have already presented themselves, begging understanding. Among these shifts are rising rates of youth struggling with mental health – especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Various international and domestic governing bodies highlight the importance of this burgeoning field of research, turning in part to our technology-loaded ecosystems for answers. Early research has established associations between increased digital screen usage and youth mental ill-health. Questions remain, however and there exist large gaps in counselling psychology research as to how we can best support youth in the digital age. Situated within this debate, the current study establishes a theoretical basis as to the role digital technology plays in youth mental health. The study employs a qualitative methodology, including semi-structured interviewing and thematic analysis. Eight youth were interviewed and asked to share their experiences of the relationship between their devices and their well-being. Thematic findings highlight a conflictual relationship between digital technology use and youth mental health, affecting their relationships with others, themselves, and the world around them. Because digital technology consumption on this scale is so new, this is one of the first available cohorts of youth to actively participate in the exploration of this topic, offering their unique voices in ways that will benefit broader societal understandings of technology and mental health. / Graduate

När en person drabbas av ätstörningar påverkas oundvikligen den sociala kontexten; inte minst hens familj och andra anhöriga. Innebörden i hur det är att vara anhörig till en person med psykisk ohälsa, såsom ätstörningar, är fortfarande ett relativt outforskat ämne. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att skildra upplevelser hos anhöriga till personer med ätstörningar. Vidare undersöks hur medberoende kan ta sig uttryck hos de anhöriga, och deras stödbehov identifieras. Åtta anhöriga till personer med ätstörningar intervjuades, och olika anhörigperspektiv åskådliggjordes då de hade olika positioner inom sina respektive familjer. Intervjupersonernas utsagor utgör studiens empiriska material. Intervjuerna var kvalitativa och semistrukturerade i syfte att fånga de anhörigas subjektiva perspektiv. Det empiriska materialet analyserades med hjälp av två teoretiska utgångspunkter; systemteori och medberoendebegreppet, samt relevant tidigare forskning. Resultatet belyser det faktum att anhörigskap till en person med ätstörningar innebär påfrestningar och stort lidande. Ätstörningen påverkar utan tvekan hela familjesystemet på olika sätt, och medberoende ges uttryck i olika strategier. Gällande anhörigstöd visar resultatet att det finns behov av olika former av stöd, eftersom anhöriga är en heterogen grupp med varierande behov. / An individual suffering from eating disorders will inevitably affect his or her social context; especially relatives within in the context of the family. The signification of being a relative of a person with mental illness, such as eating disorders, is still a relatively unnoticed topic. The purpose of this study is to describe and illustrate the experiences of being a relative of a family member suffering from eating disorders. Furthermore the aim is to examine how co-dependency can be expressed by the relative. Additionally the specific support needs in terms of being a relative is to be identified. Eight relatives of a family member with an eating disorder were interviewed, each providing us with a different perspective, as they had various positions within their families. Their statements constitute the empirical material of this study. The interviews were qualitative and semi-structured in order to capture the world as it is understood by their individual point of view. The analysis of the empirical material was based on two theories; systemic theory and concepts of co-dependency, as well as relevant previous research. The result highlights that being a relative of a family member with an eating disorder can be very stressful, and involves a great deal of suffering. The eating disorder affects the whole family-system in various ways, and co-dependency manifests in different strategies. Regarding relative support the result shows that various approaches are needed, as all relatives are different and hence have different needs.

In 2020, Fridays for Future activists joined forces with public transport workers to promote a climate-friendly mobility transition in Germany called #wirfahrenzusammen. To make redistributive claims, #wirfahrenzusammen adopted organizing practices from the United States. Given that social movement studies have identified struggles for recognition and advocacy- and mobilizing strategies as dominant practices, the question arises as to why the campaigners chose to buck the trend. This study, therefore, aims to identify and explain the strategic choices by turning to campaigners' interpretations of organizing. Applying a postmodern Grounded Theory method, I analyzed five semi-structured interviews, internal documents, and public information materials. Discourse analysis enabled the conceptualization of organizing practices in terms of their scale and scope by drawing on Nancy Fraser's theory of affirmative and transformative boundary struggles. The results indicate that strategic considerations, normative convictions, and path dependency led to the campaigners' choice of organizing practices which express affirmative and transformative boundary struggles.

Through qualitative interviewing and narrative analysis, this study sought to illuminate and examine the life story of a formerly incarcerated Trinidadian woman. To gain insight into her experiences across the life course, criminal and conventional, I conducted two semi-structured interviews with the same woman in the context of Trinidad and Tobago, focusing on experiences of motherhood, interpersonal relationships, employment, and those of incarceration. The aim was to uncover the events and relationships that the study participant presented as the most significant and determinative in her life story. Through narrative analysis, I also sought to understand how they could be further interpreted through four tenets of life course theory: agency, interpersonal relationship effects, events’ timing and sequence, and the historical context. Narrative analysis identified victimisation, the subsequent undermining of personal agency, motivated advocacy and motherhood’s responsibilities as the narratives that were most central to the participant’s presentation of her life story’s trajectories. Identifying both events and personal interpretations of those events, I have posited that qualitative narrative analysis paired with a life course approach can identify experiences crucial to the development and motivation of criminal behaviour. I have also put forward that a greater focus on qualitative research into female offenders’ life histories in the Caribbean region would serve to deepen both the global and regional knowledge bases, and to better inform public policy with offender-oriented insight.

For years, neonates have been "therapeutic orphans" and denied the benefits of clinical research because most therapeutic options are usually tested in the adult population. Most treatments and interventions have not been explored, and there is room potential rigorous, evidence-based clinical trials towards diseases specific to this population. Regenerative medicine holds great promise by potentially offering new ways of treating incurable diseases. However, bench to bedside translations often fail due to low recruitment rate. Thus, there is a need for effective interventions to increase trial participation and execution to help accelerate neonatal research. Behaviour theories could help to better understand trial participation, screening and recruiting behaviours, inform fit-for-purpose interventions, and assist in building cumulative evidence. There is a lack of clarity on the barriers and enablers to clinical trial participation from important stakeholder groups; NICU parents and research staff members. Study 1 reports findings on identified barriers and enablers that might affect parents' decision-making to participate in an early phase mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy trial including concerns with safety, efficacy and expected outcomes, but were willing to consider consenting to the trial after watching the animated video and having altruistic consideration. Study 2 reports findings on identified barriers and enablers that might affect research personnel recruitment to a multi-centre MSC trial which include: having cautious hope about the trial, importance of coordination with the clinical staff and study team and optimizing the study flow. Due to the challenging context of the study, the participants prefer to have clinicians involved with the recruitment. Lasty, Study 3 reports findings on identified barriers and enablers to screening potential patients for an adeno- associated viral vector gene therapy trial. Physicians were optimistic about the treatment but were concerned about the safety, feasibility, the expected outcomes of the treatment, and available resources (personnel, equipment, funding). Many expressed the need for support from clinical professionals prior to approaching parents and highlighted variability in screening roles. The resulting comprehensive set of factors helps to identify priorities for future research and provide insights towards developing novel interventions for neonatal research.

Research in life-course criminology has been studying turning points away from criminality. There is although a limited amount of research that has been focusing on parenthood and especially on fatherhood as a potential turning point. The available studies show mixed results in this topic and the findings suggest that there are factors that can both form and restrict fatherhood as a potential turning point towards desistance. The aim for the present thesis is therefore to get a better understanding of fatherhood as a potential turning point from persistent offending and to examine the role and meaning of fatherhood in the criminal careers of Swedish former criminals. Qualitative method in the form of retrospective semi- structured interviews has been used to collect data and five former offenders that became fathers during their criminal career participated in the study. The data have been analysed with systematic text condensation and the results indicate that the men did not desist after becoming fathers. They did however have both intended and unintended breaks from criminality when their child was born, but the criminal lifestyle was their first choice and their children were put on the second place. Relationships to friends and in some cases to the mother of the child was a restricting factor for fatherhood to become a turning point. Another factor that restricted fatherhood from being a potential turning point was human agency. The men concluded that an offending father can not receive help from society if there is no will for the father to desist.

This study will focus on explaining the dynamics of Saudi Arabia’s national security. In explaining these dynamics, the study will consider two of Buzan’s frameworks for analysing national security. Further enhancement will be given by conceptualising specific assumptions about Saudi Arabia’s national security – these will be based on the manner in which certain features are utilised within the Saudi state. Semistructured interviews will be utilised to examine the findings from the adapted frameworks. By studying the state’s domestic, regional and international concerns, as well as the specific threats that each level pose with regards to several security sectors (including the: social, political, economic, militant and environmental), this study will provide a distinctive analysis of national security within the Saudi state. Initially, this study acknowledges that only a few studies have been conducted into Saudi Arabia’s national security; furthermore, these have focused on the internal perspective by considering Saudi national security in terms of its military and strategic partnerships. Secondly, the study proposes that Saudi Arabia is unique (and unlike any other state) as it holds various important social and religious aspects that are not fully understood by external sources. Consequently, this study conceptualises Saudi national security from the internal perspective by considering the Saudi state’s specific features.

Mergers and acquisitions have become very popular in recent decades for firms seeking competitive advantage. The high failure rates of these initiatives make a closer look at the influence of the human factors and their complexity on these change activities necessary. This study traces the development of merger and acquisition activities in four companies, with a particular focus on individuals’ sensemaking over time and on the influence of human functional factors on the process and the outcomes of the mergers reviewed. A qualitative case-study approach is adopted with sixteen in-depth semistructured interviews in four post-merger organisations. The analysis of the collected primary data is done through a descriptive analysis of each individual case and a cross-case analysis of the four investigated cases. The findings show that there is a direct influence of the researched human functional elements and of the individual sensemaking on both the process and outcomes of the reviewed merger and acquisition cases. Based on the findings, a human functional merger and acquisition model – reflecting the interaction and influence of the human functional elements – and a management guideline for adopting this, are developed. This study provides a review of the influence of some significant organisational and individual human functional elements, such as leadership, communication, decision-making, relationship, and individual beliefs, values, attitudes and learning on the process and outcome of mergers and acquisitions. Such an investigation of these elements and their complexity, interaction with and influence on the process and outcome of change initiatives, and more specifically in the context of mergers and acquisitions, has not been undertaken previously.

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