The role and meaning of play for children’s learning and development has been clear in preschool teacher’s education. The purpose of this study is to contribute knowledge on the experience of preschool teachers on how play can promote children’s learning and development. The study makes use of the qualitative method wherein five pre-school teachers were interviewed.  The results from this study showing that based on their experiences, the preschool teachers have seen and described play as a safe place to develop social interactions. The preschool teachers show how play is actively used in the preschool for learning and development to promote the children's learning and development, which contributes linguistically, empathically, motoric ally and not least promotes their independence. The results showed that they use play as a tool in planned play and activities with didactic questions for learning based on interesting topics for children and for children's developmental needs. It is important that preschool teachers understand the difference between free play and planned play and how these contribute to children's learning and development. The preschool teachers make it clear based on their experience that they have an important task to challenge children in everyday activities in a fun way. Furthermore, the results show that the pre-school teacher's presence and active listening are important in children's play / I hela förskollärarutbildningen har lekens betydelse för barns lärande ochutveckling varit tydlig. Syftet med studien är att bidra med kunskaper omförskollärares erfarenheter av hur leken kan främja barns lärande ochutveckling. Studien bygger på en kvalitativ metod där fem förskolelärare harintervjuats. Denna studie har vart intressant och lärorik i relation till syftet ochfrågeställningarna.Resultat från denna studie visar att förskollärarna utifrån sina erfarenheter harsett och beskrivs leken som en trygg plats att utveckla sociala samspel.Förskollärna visar hur lek använder aktiv i förskolan till lärande ochutveckling för att främjar barnens lärande och utveckling, som bidrar språkligt,empatiskt, motoriskt och inte minst främja deras självständighet. I resultatethar framkommit att de använder lek som verktyg i planerad lek och aktivitetermed didaktiska frågor för lärande utifrån intressanta ämnen för barn och förbarns behov av utveckling. Det är viktigt att förskollärare förstår skillnadenmellan fri lek och planerad lek och hur dessa bidrar till barns lärande ochutveckling. Förskollärarna tydliggör utifrån deras erfarenhet att de har enviktig uppgift att utmana barn i vardagliga aktiviteter på ett lustfyllt sätt. Vidareframkommer i resultatet att förskollärares närvarande och lyssnar in aktiv ärviktigt i barns lek

The Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is a gregarious carnivore known for its strictly structured hierarchical rank relationships. At the zoo of Borås a clan, consisting out of two Spotted hyenas, are participating in an ex-situ program. In order to successfully enact conservational work, within zoos, sustainable management of zoo populations is of importance, and the behavioral aspect is vital in enabling welfare. In this study, I observed social interactions and activity in the Spotted hyenas at the zoo of Borås, for ten continuous days. The study aimed to investigate the dominance relationship and daily activity of the individuals. Furthermore, if this correlates with concentrations of testosterone. I performed two different observational studies, one focusing on social and agonistic behaviors, and the other on general behaviors. A third method, blood sampling, was intended to be performed but due to non-optimal conditions it was not executed. The results implied that the two individuals were highly nocturnal, with activity peaks to be observed during the first half of the night and at dawn. The individuals spent the majority of the time, 60.6%, resting which signifies that they are active during shorter periods. They were highly social with each other, but force measurements and aggressive displays did occur, mainly during the night. Sansa was the one taking initiative in conflicts, which suggests attempts in dominating Arya. Further, this indicates that the activity and dynamic of the individuals resembles that of a wild population, along with corresponding with previously performed studies and behavioral descriptions.

The main goal of this thesis is to provide a sociologically informed analysis of tax avoidance and tax evasion in contemporary Mexico and Sweden, focusing particular attention on the explanatory role of social networks, social interactions, and positive feedback mechanisms. Two major data sources are used: (1) A panel dataset that includes all persons, 16 years or older, who resided in Stockholm County during at least one of the years 1990 to 2003 (N=1,967,993). The dataset includes detailed information on the socio-demographic characteristics, kinship networks, and criminal offences of these individuals; (2) A random sample of 36,949 firms that appeared in the Mexican Federal Register of Taxpayers for the year 2002. The records of the Mexican Federal Administrative Fiscal Tribunal provided data on all types of tax claims appealed before them during the 2002-2008 period. A variety of approaches and techniques are used such as agent-based simulation models, discrete time event history models, random effect logit models, and hierarchical linear models. These models are used to test different hypotheses related to the role of social networks, social interactions, and positive feedback mechanisms in explaining tax behaviour. There are five major empirical findings. (1) Networks seem to matter for individuals' tax behaviour because exposure to tax crimes of family members appears to increase a person’s likelihood of committing a tax crime. (2) Positive feedback mechanisms appear relevant because if a person commits a tax crime, it seems to increase the likelihood that the person will commit more tax crimes in the future. (3) Positive feedback mechanisms are also important for explaining corporate tax behaviour because a firm that has engaged in legal tax avoidance in the past appears to be more likely to engage in tax avoidance in the future. (4) Network effects are important in the corporate world because exposure to the tax avoidance of other firms increase the propensity of a firm to engage in tax avoidance. (5) Substitution effects between tax evasion and tax avoidance are likely to exist because when tax evasion becomes more prevalent in a firm’s environment, their likelihood of engaging in legal tax avoidance is lowered. The results underscore the importance of a sociological perspective on tax behaviour that takes into account social interactions and positive feedback mechanisms. In order to understand microscopic as well as macroscopic tax evasion patterns, the results presented in this thesis suggest that much more attention must be given to mechanisms through which taxation crimes breed more taxation crimes.

La présente étude concerne le rôle de l’aménagement intérieur dans les centres de santé, dans une perspective thérapeutique. Il s’agit d’une recherche théorique exploratoire. Le cadre théorique à l’intérieur duquel elle s’effectue comprend la Biopolitique de Michel Foucault, du Sens de cohérence d’Aaron Antonovsky, ainsi que de La théorie des environnements reconstituants de Kaplan & Kaplan. Chacune de ces approches vise à mieux saisir le problème de la thérapeutique dans son rapport avec la santé, ainsi qu’à dégager des éléments permettant d’enrichir et d’apporter un regard autre sur le thème à l’étude, à savoir, celui des environnements thérapeutiques. C’est ainsi que nous proposons six concepts que sont l’exclusion/l’isolement, le pouvoir, les interactions sociales, le soutien social, le plaisir et la réflexion. Une étude de cas effectuée au Centre de réadaptation Estrie vise à vérifier leur validité. Cet établissement, qui fait partie du Réseau de la santé et des services sociaux du Québec, est également un membre désigné du Réseau Planetree, dont la mission est vouée au développement de pratiques gestionnaires respectueuses de la dimension humaine dans les centres de santé. La qualité de l’environnement physique étant l’une des dix composantes du modèle promu par cette organisation, l’analyse, en vue de la validation ou du rejet des concepts issus du cadre théorique, concerne leur articulation dans le concret. Nous retenons des quatre concepts que sont les interactions sociales, le soutien social, le plaisir et la réflexion, qu’ils sont valides, et rejetons l’exclusion/isolement et le pouvoir. Des propositions de remplacement pour ces deux derniers sont soumises, soit, les limites/l’’intimité et l’emprise. La principale piste de sujet de recherches futures est le développement de la notion « d’accueil », où l’aménagement intérieur joue, à ce titre, un rôle dans les milieux de santé. / The present study considers the role of interior design in health centers in a therapeutic way. It is a theoretical exploratory research. The framework within which it is performed comprises the Biopolitics of Michel Foucault, the Sense of Coherence of Aaron Antonovsky, and the Restorative Environments from Kaplan & Kaplan. Each of these approaches is to provide a better understanding of the therapeutic question in its relation to health, and to identify elements to further enrich and to give another view on the thematic issue – that is, Healing Environments. We suggest six concepts: exclusion/isolation, power, social interactions, social support, pleasure and reflection. A case study aimed at examining their validity is carried out in the Centre de réadaptation Estrie. This facility, part of the Réseau de la santé et des services sociaux du Québec, is also a designated member of Planetree, whose mission is devoted to the development of management practices respectful of the human dimension in the health care environment. The quality of the physical environment being one of the ten key components of the model promoted by this organisation, the analysis, in view of the validation or the rejection of the concepts drawn from the theoretical framework, concerns the concrete forms given to these concepts. Hence, we retain: social interactions, social support, pleasure and reflection, and reject exclusion/isolation and power. Alternative proposals for these last two concepts are submitted: limits/privacy and empowerment. The principal suggestion for future research is the development of the notion of “welcome”, where interior design plays, as such, a role in health care environments.

Apesar dos morcegos hematófagos serem muito estudados, diversos aspectos de sua biologia e de seu papel na transmissão da raiva ainda não são conhecidos. O objetivo da presente tese foi estudar os abrigos diurnos, os agrupamentos e o comportamento agonístico do morcego hematófago comum, Desmodus rotundus, e sua relação com a raiva dos herbívoros no Vale do Paraíba. Foi possível também obter informações sobre as duas outras espécies de morcegos hematófagos, especialmente de Diphylla ecaudata. Entre 2011 e 2014, dados sobre abrigos diurnos, composição dos agrupamentos, lesões corporais, diagnóstico de raiva e sorologia antirrábica de D. rotundus foram obtidos nos municípios de Jacareí, Paraibuna, Pindamonhangaba, Salesópolis, Santa Branca e São Luiz do Paraitinga no Vale do Paraíba, Sudeste do estado de São Paulo, Sudeste do Brasil. Foram estudados 14 abrigos diurnos de D. rotundus, dos quais 12 eram construções abandonadas na área rural. Desmodus rotundus partilhou abrigos diurnos com apenas cinco espécies de filostomídeos: Diphylla ecaudata, Chrotopterus auritus, Carollia perspicillata, Glossophaga soricina e Anoura caudifer. O tempo de recolonização desses abrigos diurnos por D. rotundus foi em média 12,5 meses, com uma variação entre três e 25 meses. O tamanho dos agrupamentos variou de dois a 79 indivíduos, com uma média de 15,6 morcegos/grupo. Fêmeas foram encontradas em 15 agrupamentos, com uma média de 13 fêmeas e uma variação entre uma e 55 fêmeas/grupo. Por outro lado, machos estiveram mais presentes nos agrupamentos, ocorrendo em quase todos (N=21), com uma média de 7,1 machos/grupo e uma variação de um a 24 machos. Sete agrupamentos foram considerados de machos solteiros. Onze dos 22 agrupamentos eram constituídos de colônia e grupo de machos solteiros. O dimorfismo sexual no comprimento do antebraço de D. rotundus do Vale do Paraíba foi estatisticamente significativo e sugere que as fêmeas são maiores 13 do que os machos. Lesões corporais, atribuídas às mordeduras provocadas por outros morcegos, foram encontradas em 76,7 por cento dos indivíduos de D. rotundus, tanto em machos como em fêmeas. A região mais atingida foram as membranas alares, com 68 por cento , porém lesões nas orelhas, face e membros foram menos frequentes (23,1 por cento nas fêmeas e 26,9 por cento nos machos). Acredita-se que as lesões nessas regiões sejam mais importantes nos mecanismos de transmissão de raiva. Apesar de ter analisado 310 amostras de encéfalos de D. rotundus do Vale do Paraíba, o resultado foi negativo em todas as amostras. A sorologia mostrou que todos os morcegos apresentaram positividade em diferentes graus. Contudo, se considerarmos o ponto de corte 0,5 UI/ml, o número de indivíduos positivos caiu para 30,1 por cento (N=90), sendo 30,9 por cento nas fêmeas e 28,8 por cento em machos. Apesar de nenhum indivíduo de D. rotundus positivo para a raiva ter sido encontrado no Vale do Paraíba durante a presente tese, a sorologia positiva de, pelo menos, 30 por cento mostra que há vírus da raiva circulando em sua população. Essa alta circulação viral pode ter sido favorecida pelas interações agonísticas, que causam lesões em mais de 75 por cento dos morcegos, a formação compacta (em penca) dos agrupamentos, o grooming social, a reciprocidade e partilha alimentar / Despite the hematophagous bats are very studied, many aspects of their biology and their role in the transmission of rabies are not yet known. The aim of this thesis was to study the diurnal shelters, groups and the agonistic behavior of the common hematophagous, Desmodus rotundus, and its relation to the cattle rabies in the Paraíba Valley. It was also possible to obtain information about the two other species of vampire bats, especially Diphylla ecaudata. Between 2011 and 2014, data on diurnal shelters, composition of groups, body injuries, diagnosis of rabies and rabies serology D. rotundus were gathered from the cities of Jacarei, Paraibuna, Pindamonhangaba, Salesópolis, Santa Branca and São Luiz do Paraitinga in the Valley Paraíba, Southeastern of São Paulo State, Southeastern Brazil. Fourteen diurnal shelters of D. rotundus were studied here and 12 were abandoned buildings in rural areas. Desmodus rotundus shared daytime shelters with only five species of phyllostomid bats: Diphylla ecaudata, Chrotopterus auritus, Carollia perspicillata, Glossophaga soricina and Anoura caudifer. The time of recolonization of these roosts by D. rotundus was on average 12.5 months, ranging from three to 25 months. The size of the groups ranged from two to 79 individuals, with a mean of 15.6 bats/group. Females were found in 15 groups with an average of 13 females/group and ranging between one and 55 females. Moreover, males were present in most groups from Paraíba Valley, occurring in almost all (N = 21), with an average of 7.1 males/group, and a variation of 24 males. Seven groups were considered to be single males groups. Eleven of the 22 groups were made up of colony and single male groups. Sexual dimorphism in the forearm length of D. rotundus from the Paraíba Valley was statistically significant and suggests that females are larger than males. Body Injuries, attributed to bites caused by other bats were found in 76.7 per cent of individuals of D. rotundus, in both males and females. The most affected region was the wing membranes, with 68 per cent , but lesions on the ears, face and limbs were less frequent (23.1 per cent in females and 26.9 per cent in males). It is believed that injuries in these regions are more important in the rabies transmission mechanism. Despite having analyzed 310 samples of brains of D. rotundus from the Paraíba Valley, the result was negative in all samples. Serology showed that all bats were positive in varying degrees. However, if we consider the cut off 0.5 IU/ml, the number of positive samples dropped to 30.1 per cent (N = 90) and 30.9 per cent in females and 28.8 per cent males. Although no individual of D. rotundus positive for rabies was found in the Paraíba Valley during this thesis, the positive serology at least 30 per cent shows that there is rabies virus circulating in this bat population. This high viral circulation may have been favored by agonistic interactions, that cause lesions in more than 75 per cent of the bats, the compact formation (in clusters) of groups, social grooming, reciprocity and food sharing.

隨著網際網路的發展，人們花費更多時間群聚在網路空間裡活動，實體社群 的概念也因此延伸至虛擬網路中。在網路空間瀏覽時，可以看到相當多主題和性 質不盡相同的線上虛擬社群，例如：提供人們交誼聯繫的社群、或是以論壇討論 形式存在，讓人們對共同的興趣討論和分享資訊的帄台。其中，資訊瀏覽和分享 的交流以及人際往來討論的互動，是網友參與虛擬社群的核心活動，故不論對哪 種虛擬社群來說，擁有一個良好的資訊交流和互動環境是相當重要的，也成員社 群經營者關心的問題。 本研究以探究社會群體活動特性的社會資本為基礎，將過去學者所定義的社會資本三構面：認知面（cognitive dimension）、結構面（structural dimension）、關係面（relational dimension），應用至虛擬社群成員交流互動的參與行為探討，並選擇在台灣具有代表性的虛擬社群–Facebook 和Mobile01 作為研究對象，Facebook 是讓參與成員和朋友維持社交友誼的社群，Mobile01 則是讓對相同主題有興趣的成員一起交流討論的社群，兩個虛擬社群主要內容和群聚成員參與的動機和目的都不盡相同，各代表了不同性質種類的虛擬社群。研究結果發現不同構面的社會資本對於成員在社群內交流互動的參與行為有不同程度的影響，而不同性質的虛擬社群在同一構面的社會資本下對於參與成員的行為債向也會有不同程度的影響。 / With the rapid development of internet, much more people have spent much more time surfing through internet. The concept of community in the real life also extends to the virtual network. There are so many kinds of virtual community in the virtual network space that it provide different content and benefit for members, including social contacts and common topic discussion. Actually, the information sharing and interpersonal social interactions are the core activities for members in the virtual communities. Therefore, it is important to form a good environment in the virtual communities. This research uses social capital, constituting cognitive dimension, structural dimension and relational dimension, to examine the behavior of members in virtual communities. We choose two different types of virtual community, Facebook and Mobile01, as our sampling source. Facebook provides members to stay in touch with their friends, and Mobile01 provides members to discuss common topic of conversation and interest. Therefore, members in these virtual community have different purpose and motivation. The results found that different social capital can influence members’ behavior in different ways. Also, different types of virtual communities can influence members’ behavior in different ways through the same social capital dimension.

La présente étude concerne le rôle de l’aménagement intérieur dans les centres de santé, dans une perspective thérapeutique. Il s’agit d’une recherche théorique exploratoire. Le cadre théorique à l’intérieur duquel elle s’effectue comprend la Biopolitique de Michel Foucault, du Sens de cohérence d’Aaron Antonovsky, ainsi que de La théorie des environnements reconstituants de Kaplan & Kaplan. Chacune de ces approches vise à mieux saisir le problème de la thérapeutique dans son rapport avec la santé, ainsi qu’à dégager des éléments permettant d’enrichir et d’apporter un regard autre sur le thème à l’étude, à savoir, celui des environnements thérapeutiques. C’est ainsi que nous proposons six concepts que sont l’exclusion/l’isolement, le pouvoir, les interactions sociales, le soutien social, le plaisir et la réflexion. Une étude de cas effectuée au Centre de réadaptation Estrie vise à vérifier leur validité. Cet établissement, qui fait partie du Réseau de la santé et des services sociaux du Québec, est également un membre désigné du Réseau Planetree, dont la mission est vouée au développement de pratiques gestionnaires respectueuses de la dimension humaine dans les centres de santé. La qualité de l’environnement physique étant l’une des dix composantes du modèle promu par cette organisation, l’analyse, en vue de la validation ou du rejet des concepts issus du cadre théorique, concerne leur articulation dans le concret. Nous retenons des quatre concepts que sont les interactions sociales, le soutien social, le plaisir et la réflexion, qu’ils sont valides, et rejetons l’exclusion/isolement et le pouvoir. Des propositions de remplacement pour ces deux derniers sont soumises, soit, les limites/l’’intimité et l’emprise. La principale piste de sujet de recherches futures est le développement de la notion « d’accueil », où l’aménagement intérieur joue, à ce titre, un rôle dans les milieux de santé. / The present study considers the role of interior design in health centers in a therapeutic way. It is a theoretical exploratory research. The framework within which it is performed comprises the Biopolitics of Michel Foucault, the Sense of Coherence of Aaron Antonovsky, and the Restorative Environments from Kaplan & Kaplan. Each of these approaches is to provide a better understanding of the therapeutic question in its relation to health, and to identify elements to further enrich and to give another view on the thematic issue – that is, Healing Environments. We suggest six concepts: exclusion/isolation, power, social interactions, social support, pleasure and reflection. A case study aimed at examining their validity is carried out in the Centre de réadaptation Estrie. This facility, part of the Réseau de la santé et des services sociaux du Québec, is also a designated member of Planetree, whose mission is devoted to the development of management practices respectful of the human dimension in the health care environment. The quality of the physical environment being one of the ten key components of the model promoted by this organisation, the analysis, in view of the validation or the rejection of the concepts drawn from the theoretical framework, concerns the concrete forms given to these concepts. Hence, we retain: social interactions, social support, pleasure and reflection, and reject exclusion/isolation and power. Alternative proposals for these last two concepts are submitted: limits/privacy and empowerment. The principal suggestion for future research is the development of the notion of “welcome”, where interior design plays, as such, a role in health care environments.

Recent advances in camera technology have made it possible to build a comfortable, wearable system which can capture the scene in front of the user throughout the day. Products based on this technology, such as GoPro and Google Glass, have generated substantial interest. In this thesis, I present my work on egocentric vision, which leverages wearable camera technology and provides a new line of attack on classical computer vision problems such as object categorization and activity recognition. The dominant paradigm for object and activity recognition over the last decade has been based on using the web. In this paradigm, in order to learn a model for an object category like coffee jar, various images of that object type are fetched from the web (e.g. through Google image search), features are extracted and then classifiers are learned. This paradigm has led to great advances in the field and has produced state-of-the-art results for object recognition. However, it has two main shortcomings: a) objects on the web appear in isolation and they miss the context of daily usage; and b) web data does not represent what we see every day. In this thesis, I demonstrate that egocentric vision can address these limitations as an alternative paradigm. I will demonstrate that contextual cues and the actions of a user can be exploited in an egocentric vision system to learn models of objects under very weak supervision. In addition, I will show that measurements of a subject's gaze during object manipulation tasks can provide novel feature representations to support activity recognition. Moving beyond surface-level categorization, I will showcase a method for automatically discovering object state changes during actions, and an approach to building descriptive models of social interactions between groups of individuals. These new capabilities for egocentric video analysis will enable new applications in life logging, elder care, human-robot interaction, developmental screening, augmented reality and social media.

The three chapters of this thesis investigate the decision-making processes behind financial and donation behaviour of individuals. Chapter One studies the impact of prior learning and competition on the presence of the disposition effect in a venture capital setting. It reveals that prior learning leads to better venture choices and confirms competition as the most efficient form of resource allocation and management. Chapter Two addresses the empirical finding of a negative relationship between income and charitable giving as a proportion of that income. As the first study to replicate this downward relationship in an experiment, it exposes income rank information as one of the factors causing the relationship. Using a unique dataset from a natural experiment in Chapter Three, I explore the effect of increased publicity via additional visibility and information on the household donation behaviour. The results show that donations increase with public announcements and the announcement order. / Los tres capítulos de esta tesis investigar los procesos de toma de decisiones que describen la conducta financiera y la donación de los individuos. Capítulo I estudia el impacto de la formación previa y la competencia en la presencia del efecto de la disposición en un entorno de capital de riesgo. El estudio confirma que la formación previa favorece el proceso de selección y que la competencia permite la asignación más eficaz de recursos y gestión. Capítulo II investiga la presencia de una relación negativa entre los ingresos y las donaciones (representados en proporción de esos ingresos). El capitulo presenta los resultados del primer estudio que examina esta relación con un experimento y propone que entre los factores que explican esta relación es la información sobre los ingresos personales comparado con los de sus compañeros. Capítulo III utiliza una base de datos única que contiene los resultados de un experimento natural y presenta resultados empíricos sobre el efecto de una mayor publicidad a través de la visibilidad e información adicional sobre el comportamiento de la donación de los hogares. Los resultados muestran que las donaciones aumentan con los anuncios públicos y el orden de estos anuncios.

Cette thèse porte sur le leiwah d’Arabie orientale, un rite de possession pratiqué par les Zunûj, une population de descendants d’esclaves originaires des côtes est-africaines. Durant les quatre dernières décennies, les institutions culturelles des États-nations d’Arabie orientale ont présenté la musique et la danse de ce rite comme une pratique festive sans lien avec la possession, participant ainsi à dissocier ce rite de l’histoire régionale et de la population qui le pratique. Cette thèse, qui combine l’étude de sources écrites et orales avec l’analyse de discours et une ethnographie fondée sur l’observation participante (11 rites leiwah au Sultanat d’Oman, dont 1 décrit en détail) montre que le leiwah ne peut se comprendre que par rapport à l’histoire et au statut initial d’esclaves des Zunûj. Dans un premier temps (chapitres 1 à 3), cette étude révèle la profondeur historique du leiwah et explore les différents processus ayant participé à l’invisibilité de sa pratique rituelle. Dans un deuxième temps (chapitre 4), elle montre en quoi les notions d'esprit de possession en vigueur dans cette population diffèrent de celles connues en Islam ainsi que dans la pratique du zâr, un autre rite de possession décrit dans la région depuis le XIXe siècle (mais aussi dans la corne de l’Afrique, en Égypte et en Iran). Enfin (chapitres 5 à 7), l’analyse de la mise en œuvre de la possession et de la musique dans le rite leiwah (interactions, protocole, structure) montre l’existence d’un complexe rituel qui interagit, depuis près d’un siècle, avec la norme culturelle et religieuse arabo-musulmane qui l’environne. / This thesis focuses on the leiwah of Eastern Arabia, a rite of possession practiced by the Zunûj, a population of slave descendants from the coasts of East Africa.During the last four decades, the cultural institutions of Eastern Arabian nation-states have presented the music and the dance of the rite of possession as a festive practice unrelated to possession, and participated in dissociating this rite from the regional history and the population practicing it.This thesis, which combines the study of written and oral sources with discourse analysis and an ethnography based on participant observation (11 leiwah rites observed in the Sultanate of Oman, 1 described in detail) shows that the leiwah can be understood only in relation to the history and original slave status of the Zunûj.First (chapters 1 to 3), this study reveals the historical depth of the leiwah and explores the various processes contributing to the invisibility of its ritual practice. It then shows (chapter 4) how the notions of spirit of possession in this population differ from the ones known in Islam as well as in zâr, another rite of possession described since the 19th century in the area (and in the Horn of Africa, Egypt, and Iran). Finally (chapters 5 to 7), the analysis of the execution of possession and the music in the leiwah rite (interactions, protocol, structure) reveals the existence of a ritual complex that has been interacting, for almost a century, with the cultural and religious Arab-Muslim norm surrounding it.