In South African schools various factors influence relationships between facilitators and learners, compounding their frustrations: class sizes, cultural and language barriers, and hierarchical power/knowledge relations. These problems have led to a polarisation between facilitators and learners which could cause facilitators to experience a lack of appreciation and agency. Learners participated in this qualitative study experienced themselves as without voices, and wanted to be acknowledged as people with worthwhile knowledges of their own. This report shows how the therapist and participants engaged in a participatory process of narrative co-search during individual and group conversations where social construction of knowledges and practices of acknowledgement and care, enchanced by letters and externalising conversations, led to the co-creation of a better understanding of one another. This resulted in a more caring, supportive and acknowledging school community, where facilitators re-connected with their preferred stories, and learners found acknowledgement for their own knowledge and preferred ways of living. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology with specialisation in Pastoral Theology)

This study is an exploration of the representation of masculinity in film, with particular focus on the way in which the leading male characters in a purposive sample of action genre and romantic comedy genre films represent masculinity. It is posited that masculinity is a construct, the meaning of which is dependent on the social context of the individual. Film being a social artefact could then possibly influence individuals understanding of the construct. Therefore an exploration of the kind of masculinity, the variations thereof across genres, and masculine characteristics of masculinity prevalent in each genre, is a first step in understanding possible influences of the definition of masculinity. In order to accomplish this exploration, a combination of methods is used to analyse these fictional characters according to a set of codes and „real‟ world norms. The real world norms are based on seven theoretically derived norms of masculinity developed from previous research on masculinity conducted by Levant, Hirsch, Celentano, Cozza, Hill, MacEachern, Marty and Schnedekerl (1992). The results of the findings from this study indicate that the way in which male characters are created for each genre are different, with male lead characters from the action genre having more characteristics that align with the „real‟ world norms of masculinity (Levant et al 1992). Alternatively, the male lead characters from the romantic comedy genre, have fewer characteristics that align with the seven theoretically derived norms of masculinity. The masculinity represented in the romantic comedy genre is more emotionally available and expressive, less aggressive, more compromising and reliant on others; while in the action genre masculinity is more independent, stoic, aggressive and more physically adventurous. The male lead characters in the romantic comedy genre are more about the emotional aspects of masculinity while the male lead characters in the action genre are more about the physical aspects of masculinity. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

According to conventional wisdom winning hearts and minds is one of the most important goals for defeating terrorism. However, despite repeated claims about U.S. efforts to build popular support as part of the war on terror during the first seven years after 9/11, a steady stream of polls and surveys delivered troubling news. Using a counterinsurgency and social movement informed approach, I explain why the United States performed poorly in the race for Muslim hearts and minds, with a specific focus on problems inherent in the social construction of terrorism, the use of an enemy-centric model while overestimating agency, and the counterproductive effect of policy choices on framing processes. Popular support plays wide-ranging roles in counterterrorism, including: influencing recruitment, fundraising, operational support, and the flow of intelligence; providing credibility and legitimacy; and, sanctifying or marginalizing violence. Recognizing this the U.S. emphasized public diplomacy, foreign aid, positive military-civilian interactions, democracy promotion, and other efforts targeting populations in the Muslim world. To explain the problems these efforts had, this thesis argues that how Americans think and talk about terrorism, reflected especially in the rhetoric and strategic narrative of the Bush administration, evolved after 9/11 to reinforce normative and enemy-centric biases undermining both understanding of the underlying conflicts and resulting efforts. U.S. policy advocates further misjudged American agency, especially in terms of overemphasizing U.S. centrality, failing to recognize the importance of real grievances, and overestimating American ability to implement its own policies or control the policies of local governments. Finally, the failure to acknowledge the role of U.S. policies counterproductively impacted contested framing processes influencing the evolution of mobilization. The resulting rhetoric and actions reinforced existing anti- American views, contributed to the perception that the war on terror is really a war on Islam, and undermined natural counter narratives.

The overall purpose of this thesis is to investigate, discuss and problematise different aspects of movement ability. The four sub-studies of the thesis deal with various issues concerning assessment of movement ability. First, the focus is on how the concept of physical literacy has influenced the steering document of the subject physical education and health (PEH) in Sweden. The question is: What kind of tensions and conflicts arise when different approaches and interpretations of movement ability are used in an educational context? Second, a structural validation is conducted of the NyTid test, an assessment tool developed to assess basic and complex movement skills at the ages of 12-16 years. The question is: Which categories of movement skills are identified through the validation of the NyTid test? Third, the study examines how ‘ability’ is conceptualised, configured and produced in movement tests and movement assessment tools. Finally, an investigation of how or whether an assessed low or high movement ability at the age of 15 matters for developing an interest in, or taste for, sport and physical activities nine years later, in young adulthood. Movement ability is studied from different perspectives, including a multidisciplinary sport science approach using mixed methods. The theoretical standpoint in the sociocultural analyses is inspired by Bourdieu’s theories and concepts of habitus, capital, field and doxa, which are used as analytical tools. Different theories relating to the evaluation of movement abilities as product- or process oriented assessment are also made use of. Movement abilities tests and assessment tools are also found to construct a specific and narrow form of physical capital strongly related to traditional sports. Accordingly, the social construction of movement ability through assessment tools is far from neutral and could affect how children see themselves and their sense of ‘ability’. Furthermore, the assumption that an acquired high level of movement ability plays a central role for being physically active is challenged in the thesis. Even though pupils at the age of 15 had a low level of assessed movement ability, it did not prevent them from acquiring a taste for sport and physical activity later in life. However, more studies on movement ability and the underlining mechanisms and factors for engaging in physical activities are necessary. / Forskningslinjen Utbildning

La délinquance juvénile a été souvent dépeinte de façon globale sans distinction de genre, ou encore, elle fut décrite principalement chez les garçons. Constater la faible représentation des adolescentes prises en charge en vertu de la Loi sur le système de justice pénale pour adolescents, comparativement aux garçons, conduit vers diverses explications. Certaines mettent l’accent sur la personne, arguant que la délinquance des filles est différente de celle des garçons, moins fréquente et surtout moins violente. D’autres mettent l’accent sur le traitement des instances judiciaires qu’on dit protectionniste vis-à-vis des filles, ce qui fait qu’on les dirige plutôt vers le système de Protection de la jeunesse pour troubles de comportement. Devant cette divergence d’explication, nous avons cherché à comprendre si la faible représentation des filles dans le système de justice pénale pour adolescent est due aux comportements des adolescents en tant que tels, ou à la manière dont leurs comportements sont perçus et gérés par les intervenants oeuvrant auprès de ces jeunes impliqués dans des situations-problèmes, lesquelles sont susceptibles ou non, d’être judiciarisées. Notre étude pose un regard sur l’enclenchement du processus judiciaire auquel des adolescents se trouvent confrontés, c’est-à-dire leur arrestation ou leur signalement à une instance officielle, sous l’angle de la représentation sociale des jeunes par les intervenants. Pour ce faire, nous avons rencontré des intervenants du milieu scolaire, puisque l’école se situe au deuxième rang des signalants vers le système de prise en charge des adolescents en difficulté, après les parents. Nous leur avons présenté des cas-types, sous forme de vignettes, visant à saisir leurs perceptions et réactions vis-à-vis des situations-problèmes impliquant des adolescentes et des adolescents, en souhaitant déterminer si celles-ci varient en fonction du genre. Bien qu’en théorie la vision des interviewés quant à la délinquance juvénile soit assez uniforme, et ce, peu importe le sexe du délinquant, nos résultats montrent qu’en pratique, il y a un double standard. Ainsi, si les règles sont conçues pour tous et les conséquences de leur non-respect doivent en principe s’appliquer également sans distinction, lorsqu’il s’agit d’intervenir, les interviewés conviennent que leur approche diffère selon qu’ils aient affaire à une fille ou à un garçon. Par ailleurs, ils déplorent le manque criant de ressources et questionnent la volonté de certains parents de contribuer à la réussite scolaire de leur enfant. Ultimement, ils remettent en cause, dans une large mesure, le système éducatif québécois. En tant qu’acteurs sociaux, les intervenants ont le pouvoir de faire valoir leur point de vue. L’analyse de ce point de vue, dans le cadre de notre mémoire, montre l’importance de leur rôle dans le parcours des adolescents, garçons et filles, plus spécialement lorsque ceux-ci se trouvent impliqués dans des situations-problèmes. / Juvenile delinquency has often been described in a global way, without any distinction regarding the gender, or it has been described mainly regarding teenage boys. The fact that there is a low representation of teenage girls taken in charge according to the Youth Criminal Justice Act, compared to teenage boys, leads to several explanations. Some, focusing on the individual aspects, point out that girl delinquency is different, less frequent and especially less violent. Others are pointing out how protectionist the judicial proceedings are towards girls, which leads them to be referred mostly to child protection for behaviour disorders. Considering this difference in the explanations, we wanted to understand if the low representation of girls in the youth criminal justice system was due to teenage behaviour itself, or to the way behaviours were perceived and dealt with by the interveners working with these teenagers involved in problemsituations, which could possibly be subject, or not, to judicial control. Our study looks at the start of the judicial process which teenagers must face, meaning their arrest or their reporting to an official organization, from the point of view of the interveners and how they perceive the teenagers. In order to do this, we have met school interveners, because schools are ranked second after the parents for referring teenagers to the system that will take charge of them. We have presented them with test cases in order to have their perceptions and reactions concerning problematic situations involving teenage girls and boys, aiming to determine if it would vary according to the gender. Even if in theory the vision of the interviewed persons concerning juvenile delinquency is somewhat uniform, regardless of the offender’s sex, our results show that in practice, there is a double standard. Therefore, if the rules are made for all and the consequences of not obeying them are equal without gender distinction, when it comes to the way they act on it, interveners agree that their approach is different if they are dealing with a girl or a boy. Incidentally, they are concerned about the critical lack of resources and question the will of some parents to assist their kids towards school success. Ultimately, they are substantially questioning Quebec’s educational system. As social stakeholders, interveners have some power to promote their point of view. The analysis of this point of view in the framework of our thesis, shows the importance of their role in the path of the teenagers, boys and girls, especially when they are involved in problematic situations.

The diploma thesis "Construction of the imagination of the first republic era from the point of view of two generations explained by an example of the Czech TV series První republika" focuses on the mechanisms in which the TV series co-constructs the audience perception of the given era. The series was broadcasted from January 2014 untill June 2014 on the Czech Televisions program. The thesis aims to show how the younger generations of TV viewers construct the period in which they did not live through their consuming of media content. This is compared with the old-timers who could compare their own experience with the series. The audiences of both generations are equally scrutinized and consequently compared. The theoretical part introduces the theses about social and media construction of reality accompanied by audience cultivation theories. The final analysis of the acquired data is based on these theories but it aims to invent a new hypothesis. The subject matter of the research part is analysed by the qualitative method of the grounded theory as Strauss and Glaser understand it. For the questioning the semistructured and group interviews were used .

Title:” Now I took his child, what will he do with mine?” A qualitative study on threat and violence aimed at social workers within child protective service. Authors:  Emma Andersson and Torbjörn Sjölin. Supervisor:  Peter Hultgren. Assessor: Barzoo Eliassi. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how social workers within child protective service understand and experience threat and violence aimed at them in their profession and how these understandings and experiences affects their well-being. The study will provide an understanding of the subject at hand and can also lead way for new research areas of how to improve the well-being of social workers within this field.   Method: A qualitative approach based on semistructured interviews has been used as method in this study. To collect empirical material seven currently working social workers from three different municipalities in the same region were interviewed. Theory: The theoretical points of this thesis has been Berger and Luckmanns theories about social construction, theory of social cognition and a model produced in the writing of how interaction between experience and understanding affects the well-being. The different theories and approaches has been a valuable tool to analyze the empirical material gathered in the study. Results: The result of this study is divided in different themes based on the purpose of the study. Our results indicate that social worker within child protective service consider threat and violence as occurring within their profession and that this perception has a negative impact on their well-being. Even though social workers consider threat and violence as not acceptable at work and perceive threat as a part of their job they continue to fulfill their obligations at work. The main explanation, found in this study, is that they consider the well-being of children as higher valued than their own.

Engagée à l’occasion de l’introduction en France de contrats de commande publique de type "partenariat public-privé" [PPP] – elle fut initiée peu après la promulgation de l’Ordonnance du 17 juin 2004 créant les « Contrats de Partenariat » – notre recherche explore les PPP, modalités de commande publique complexe à caractéristiques financières, en tant qu’ils constituent un marché émergent pour des acteurs financiers, fournisseurs de capitaux et de techniques de financement, potentiellement porteurs de valeurs, modes de raisonnement, et logiques économiques, exogènes au monde de la commande publique. Aiguillonné par notre désir de participer aux débats disciplinaires des mondes de la sociologie économique, des études sociales de la finance, et d’autres approches hétérodoxes des phénomènes économiques, par notre souci de contribuer à la compréhension des formes d’organisation des services publics et des infrastructures urbaines, stimulé également par notre curiosité à l’égard des mutations des économies occidentales, interpellé évidemment par l’actualité incontournable de la grande crise financière, puis économique, entamée en 2007-08, notre travail prend prétexte de ce "phénomène" – l’immixtion, par l’entremise des PPP, de nouveaux acteurs financiers dans une partie de la commande publique de grands équipements – pour nous inscrire dans le programme de recherche qui vise à caractériser le mouvement socio-économique plus large parfois qualifié de "financiarisation". Ce terme recouvre, sans grande précision ni définition consacrée et indiscutable, un ensemble d’évolutions liées à l’extension du domaine de la finance, que ce soit au niveau macroéconomique, sectoriel, ou cognitif, dans l’ordre de la connexion de pans entiers de la vie économique et sociale aux "marchés" financiers et à leurs exigences. Notre ambition est donc, à partir d’un sujet particulier et technique, non réductible à sa seule dimension financière4, de considérer la valeur heuristique du cas des PPP pour interroger plusieurs dimensions caractéristiques de ce mouvement de "financiarisation" – voire essayer d’en identifier les principaux éléments constitutifs. Ce dessein passe par une analyse en termes de sociologie économique menée à plusieurs niveaux / Committed (Hired) on the occasion of the introduction in France of contracts of state commission of type(chap) "Public Private Partnership" [ PPP] - She (it) was introduced shortly after the promulgation of the Prescription of June 17th, 2004 creating "Partnership agreements" - our search (research) explores the PPP, the modalities(methods) of complex state commission with financial characteristics, as they establish (constitute) an emerging market for financial actors, suppliers of capital and techniques of financing, potentially valuable carriers, ways of reasoning, and economic, exogenous logics to the world of the state commission

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:56:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sandra Francisca de Oliveira Silva.pdf: 1245238 bytes, checksum: 230e1beea66f5a7da23b4128650806b7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-11-19 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation aims to approach the meanings of conceptions of childhood constituted in the daily experiences of urban children, residents of São Paulo city, in an unequal society. The theorethical approach adopted in this study is the Socio-historical Psychology, that based the analysis and interpretation process which conceives the human constitution as a social and historical construction.This work is also based on childhood critical studies that allowed the comprehension of the childhood as a social construction, and the child as active social actor, with the right to speak and as a culture producer and a subject of right.The data was produced through an individual dialogue with two children: Ludmilla, 8 years old, private school student, resident of São Paulo city, in a neighborhood characterized with a low rate of social exclusion, and Samira, 9 years old, public school student, resident of São Paulo city in a neighborhood with a high rate of social exclusion. All the work has been recorded, transcripted, systematized and analysed according to the proposal of González Rey (2005). In the analysis of the dialogues, it was possible to unveil the particularities of each child, at the same time that it stablished discussion about the childhood conception and the maintenance of the social inequality. The first results indicated to the existence of different meanings to the concept of childhood. The first conception introduces a childhood associated to a more coletive experience, in which the child has more oportunities to lead a wide range of social roles; the second conception, socially more appreciated, presents a childhood that focus on the formation of a future adult, by adding value the process of schooling as a way of social rise, in which the daily child's life is organized by the goal of the school formation. The social inequality has shown a relevant aspect of the childhood differentation. The study pointed that there´s a need of production of future researches that may develop these childhood meanings and turn the variety of childhood more visible / Esta dissertação objetiva aproximar-se das significações sobre a infância constituídas nas vivências cotidianas de criança urbanas, residentes no município de São Paulo, em uma sociedade desigual. A perspectiva teórica adotada no estudo é a da Psicologia Sócio-Histórica, que auxiliou nas análises e interpretações que partem de concepções da constituição humana como uma construção social e histórica. O presente trabalho também apoiou-se nos estudos críticos sobre a infância, que possibilitaram a compreensão da infância como uma construção social, a criança como ator social ativo, com direito a voz, produtor de cultura e sujeito de direitos. Os dados foram produzidos mediante a conversa individual, junto a duas crianças: Ludmila, de 8 anos de idade, estudante de escola particular, residente no município de São Paulo, em bairro com baixo índice de exclusão social, e Samira, de 9 anos de idade, estudante de escola pública, residente no município de São Paulo, em bairro com alto índice de exclusão social. O material foi gravado, transcrito, sistematizado e analisado de acordo com a proposta de González Rey (2005). Nas análises das conversas, foi possível desvelar aquilo que é particular de cada criança, mas que ao mesmo tempo apresenta-se como uma totalidade em um movimento dialético, que permitiu estabelecer discussões voltadas para as concepções de infância/criança e a manutenção da desigualdade social. Os principais resultados da pesquisa apontaram a existência de significações diferentes para a infância. A primeira concepção apresenta uma infância com mais convivência coletiva, em que a criança tem maior oportunidade de protagonizar diversos papéis sociais; a segunda concepção, mais valorizada socialmente, apresenta uma infância que visa à formação do futuro adulto, valorizando o processo de escolarização como meio de ascensão social, em que o cotidiano da criança é organizado em prol da formação escolar. A desigualdade social mostrou-se um fator importante nas diferenciações de infância. Indicamos a necessidade da realização de futuras pesquisas que possam desenvolver essas significações e dar maior visibilidade às concretizações dessas diferentes infâncias

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:31:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Juliana A Oliveira.pdf: 795655 bytes, checksum: cd71278ab84392899b8db3021d0e1f1b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The Reform of Psychiatric services in Brazil is in process of consolidation and the transition from treatment at psychiatric hospitals to rehabilitation and shelter services is still under way. As such, due to a variety of reasons, some clients of these services prefer to remain at psychiatric hospitals instead of returning to their homes. Research was carried out at a psychiatric hospital attached to SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde) and located in the city of São Paulo, in order to better understand the reasons for the resistance to disinterment. Information was gathered with clients and professionals using a diversity of research strategies (observations, conversations, interviews and participation in routine activities) during the visits made to the institution between August 2005 and March 2006. Interviews were carried out with patients that, according to the various health professionals working at this institution, externalized the "desire to remain in the internment" and with a Charity Sister that assumed the role of "spokesman" for the professional team. The analysis was base on Discursive Social Psychology in dialogue with a constructionist perspective. The desire to remain at the hospital was based on multiple factors, including lack of financial conditions, of housing, family, work and social relationships, as well as the progressive weakening of these social bonds due to frequent psychiatric internments. Moreover, the psychiatric hospital seems to function as a protective shell from a society that is intolerant with regards to mental illness. However, the desire to remain in hospital seems to be more related to lack of alternatives than to internment itself as the people that were interviewed often were sad and their speech presented many lapses and contradictions indicating paradoxical positions regarding staying in and leaving. We conclude that it is urgent to implement the proposals of the Psychiatric Reform, specially concerning strategies for strengthening social bonds in order that the desire to return to social life can truly blossom / Partindo do pressuposto que a Reforma Psiquiátrica está em pleno processo de construção e que em decorrência de seus pontos falhos, alguns usuários podem querer continuar vivendo em hospitais psiquiátricos, o presente estudo investiga, por meio das práticas discursivas de usuários e trabalhadores de um serviço de Saúde Mental da cidade de São Paulo, os sentidos que sustentam o suposto desejo de permanecer internado . Para coleta de informações elegimos um hospital psiquiátrico da cidade de São Paulo, predominantemente vinculado ao SUS, onde fizemos visitas durante o período de agosto de 2005 a março de 2006, distribuídas entre observação das rotinas, participação nas variadas atividades, entrevistas com usuárias que verbalizaram o desejo de permanecer no internamento e uma Irmã de Caridade, porta-voz da equipe profissional. A análise das informações coletadas foi sustentada a partir da perspectiva do construcionismo social. De modo geral, as entrevistas contribuíram para melhor entender o suposto desejo de permanecer no hospital psiquiátrico . A falta de condições financeiras, habitação, trabalho, relacionamentos sociais, além de internações psiquiátricas recorrentes, pareceram dificultar a reinserção social, bem como diminuir a proximidade com a família. Além disso, o hospital psiquiátrico pareceu tornar-se uma proteção do usuário em uma sociedade intolerante perante a loucura. É válido destacar as falas das usuárias sobre o hospital e a experiência de internação psiquiátrica foram acompanhadas de lapsos de linguagem e feições entristecidas, retratando o sofrimento da internação e a contradição presente em optar pela vida intra-muros. A partir dessas reflexões indaga-se sobre a urgência do fortalecimento efetivo da rede social extra-muros, a partir da estruturação da Reforma Psiquiátrica, de modo a possibilitar o desejo de retorno ao convívio social