This thesis is motivated by the need to explore the relationships between technology and volunteerism. Despite the fact that information and communication technologies (ICTs) proliferate within voluntary organisations and have an obvious effect on volunteering practice, the literature on the relationships between such technologies and voluntary contexts is scant. This is particularly in terms of its insights with regard to the actual processes of production and consumption of these technologies within the sector. This interdisciplinary research project was carried out to answer a central research problem: how do information technologies interrelate with human activities in voluntary settings? In throwing light on this problem, an ethnographic case-oriented study was conducted in a Scottish community-based sports organisation over the course of two years. This research has utilised insights from the Sociology of Technology, Information Systems Research and Organisational Sociology to find out how human actors’ interactions with technology play out in the context of volunteer-involving organisations, and to conceptualise the complexity of the unfolding of technology in relation to the specific characteristics of volunteering activities. To unpack the core research question, three types of sociotechnical interactions were identified as the most relevant: these were ‘service’, ‘identity’ and ‘ecological’. My analysis of the empirical data suggests that there are different domains within which these critical interactions are assembled. In my research, three different domains (drifting, conditioning and imbricating) have thematically emerged when sociotechnical interactions were being mapped out in (a) shadowing a technology project, (b) analysing technological non-use and (c) rethinking organisational persistence in the selected observed case. This thesis argues for an ‘infrastructural’ approach when studying technology so as to extend our understanding about technology-initiated improvement projects in the sector. This research argues that accomplishing volunteer work requires complicated mixture of sociomaterial assemblages, including ICTs, which are embedded in the everyday life of volunteers, paid staff and their community. Furthermore, this study discusses that existing analytical infrastructural approaches developed in relation to artefact-oriented, large-scale sociotechnical networks need some modification to be satisfyingly applied in low-tech, mundane settings such as volunteer work in amateur sports.

Aborder sous l’angle sociologique la criminalité financière conduit à relever les incomplétudes d’un traitement juridique, élaboré à partir d’un cadre répressif comme réponse aux crimes et délits commis, et économique, construit sur le rapport coût-bénéfice – risque. L’approche sociologique, permettant au contraire le développement d’une démarche syncrétique, oriente la compréhension de la nature des interactions entre l’acteur criminel -agent -et son environnement socio-économique. Cette thèse repose sur quatre hypothèses fondamentales. La criminalité financière est la résultante de déviances individuelles. Elle est le stade ultime du capitalisme financier. Elle se développe à partir de la manipulation de l’information financière. La lutte contre ce fléau constitue un enjeu de civilisation. La démonstration de ces hypothèses repose sur une double approche, empirique et pratique. L’approche empirique vise à étudier les principaux acteurs criminogènes. Les enquêtes de terrain auprès de magistrats, syndicalistes, agents des impôts, experts-comptables,commissaires aux comptes, universitaires permettent la validation des hypothèses de base et la perception des difficultés pérennes pour lutter efficacement contre cette criminalité de type intellectuel. La première partie de la thèse demeure consacrée à une approche socio-normative de la criminalité financière dans le but d’élaborer une réflexion théorique sur les moyens à mettre en oeuvre pour comprendre la portée des atteintes subies par la collectivité. En conséquence, le premier axe se construit autour d’une « démarche épistémologique en matière de criminalité financière » (Chapitre 1). Le second développe les principales atteintes à l’intégrité de l’économie de la confiance (Chapitre 2). La deuxième partie de la thèse se poursuit par une connaissance des agents et acteurs impliqués dans la construction d’opérations de criminalité financière. La criminalité financière ne saurait se concevoir sans l’action d’agents intimement convaincus de la justification d’un enrichissement absolu et sans cause (chapitre 3). Aborder ces acteurs, au sens juridique du terme, facilite la compréhension avec laquelle sont commis ces délits particuliers. Ces personnes physiques sont-elles des déviants économiques isolés ? L’analyse de leurs caractéristiques et parcours propres conduit à mettre en évidence la spécificité de ces grandes figures de la criminalité financière (chapitre 4). Cette approche permet d’explorer les raisons pour lesquelles ces agents criminogènes ne sont pas isolés lorsqu’ils s’insèrent dans des groupements de personnes à vocation criminelle (chapitre 5). Bénéficiant de complicité d’acteurs institutionnels contribuant indirectement à l’émergence de la criminalité financière (chapitre 6), ils donnent aux crimes financiers une dimension dépassant largement la responsabilité individuelle de leurs auteurs. Enfin, la troisième partie de la thèse développe concrètement des pistes pour résoudre le dilemme qu’une économie criminogène fait subir à une collectivité donnée. Utilisant à la fois des techniques d’enquêtes classiques et des raisonnements sociologiques s’inspirant de plusieurs courants de pensée en sciences sociales, l’analyse des actes de criminalité financière (chapitre 7) conduit à souligner l’importance du rôle des acteurs en charge de la lutte contre ce fléau (chapitre 8). Leurs témoignages débouchent sur la mise en perspective de propositions de lutte contre la criminalité financière dont on examinera les conditions de possibilité (chapitre 9). / The sociological perspective of financial crime not only reveals the inherent shortcomings of basing its legal treatment on a repressive framework and its economic treatment on a cost/benefit ratio, but by favouring a more syncretic approach, also helps clarify the nature of interactions between criminal actors and their socioeconomic environment. This thesis is based on four fundamental hypotheses. Financial crime is the result of individual deviant behaviour. It is the last stage of financial capitalism. It arises from the manipulation of financial information. The struggle against this scourge represents achallenge to civilisation. The demonstration of these hypotheses is based on a dual empirical and practical approach.The empirical approach aims to study the key criminal actors. Fieldwork interviews with magistrates, union members, tax officers, expert accountants, auditors and academics validate both the fundamental hypotheses and long-term difficulties involved in waging an effective battle against this type of intellectual crime. The first part of the thesis takes a socio-normative approach to financial crime with a view to developing a theoretical reflection on the means to be implemented to gauge the extent of damage to the community. Thus, the first area of research builds on an “epistemological approach to financial crime” (Chapter 1). The second studies the implications of the damaged integrity of the trust economy (Chapter 2).The second part of the thesis seeks to gain an insight into agents and actors involved in organising financial criminal activities. Such crime is only conceivable when agents firmly believe that they are entitled to absolute and unjust enrichment (Chapter 3). Taking a legal approach to these actors helps understand how these particular crimes are committed. Arethey isolated economic deviants? By analysing their characteristics and history, the specificity of major financial criminals is highlighted (Chapter 4). This approach identifies the reasons why these criminal agents are not isolated when they collude with criminally-minded groups (Chapter 5). They benefit from the complicity of institutional actors, who indirectly contributeto the emergence of financial crime, (Chapter 6), and give financial crime a dimension which goes far beyond the individual responsibility of the perpetrators. Finally, the third part of the thesis develops concrete proposals to resolve the dilemma inflicted by the criminal economy on a given community. Using both traditional fieldwork techniques and sociological reasoning drawn from various bodies of thought in social sciences, acts of financial crime are analysed, (Chapter 7) revealing the important role played by those leading the fight against this scourge (Chapter 8). Their testimonies lead to anevaluation of proposals for combating financial crime and their conditions of possibility (Chapter 9).

Given today's hurried pace of change in higher education and its institutions, it is imperative for the higher education research community to reflect on its current composition and resulting ability to understand and respond to the breadth and rapidity of that change. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to identify selected social and academic characteristics of the primary contributors (authors, editorial board members, and editors) to The Review of Higher Education, to categorize institutional affiliations of contributors via the Carnegie Classification System and to synthesize the data in a historical and sociological perspective. The contributions to The Review's articles, editorial board positions, and editorships in its first 25 years have predominantly been from male members of the higher education professoriate affiliated with and receiving doctoral degrees from major research universities ranked highest in the Carnegie Classification System. Trends toward greater gender and disciplinary representation, especially among author contributors, began to appear by the mid-point (1990s) of the study period.

Many scholars have argued that the education system in Brazil tends to strengthen the pattern that reproduces inequalities, where families with higher income are likely to be the ones holding the majority in education in Brazil. The focus lies in ten interviewees, thereof five parents/caregivers and five professionals that works/worked with the children who were interviewed in Banco da Vitória /Ilhéus, south of Bahia, Brazil 2012. This qualitative study intends to analyse the underlying social causes from a sociological perspective in how the informants reflect upon the child´s/children learning difficulties at the elementary school, Casa da Criança /Escola Daniel Rebouças in the shantytown Banco da Vitória. It will try to answer questions such as; which are the main social causes that affect a child´s learning difficulties in Escola Daniel Rebouças, according to the informants/interviewees? How has the informant´s situation affected their own perception in the child´s/children’s learning difficulties? This paper studies marginalised people who lives in a marginalised district, Banco da Vitória. It will highlight home environment and education to show a continuing pattern that causes the child´s/children´s learning difficulties. This study will demonstrate the necessary cooperation between the school, government, teachers, and parents/caregiver in order to improve the children´s education and well-being.

Many scholars have argued that the education system in Brazil tends to strengthen the pattern that reproduces inequalities, where families with higher income are likely to be the ones holding the majority in education. The focus lies in ten interviewees, thereof five parents/caregivers and five professionals that works/worked with the children who were interviewed in Banco da Vitória /Ilhéus, south of Bahia, Brazil 2012. This qualitative study intends to analyse the underlying social causes from a sociological perspective in how the informants reflect upon the child´s/children learning difficulties at the elementary school, Casa da Criança /Escola Daniel Rebouças in the shantytown Banco da Vitória. It will try to answer questions such as; which are the main social causes that affect a child´s learning difficulties in Escola Daniel Rebouças, according to the informants/interviewees? How has the informant´s situation affected their own perception in the child´s/children’s learning difficulties? This paper studies marginalised people who lives in a marginalized district, Banco da Vitória. It will highlight home environment and education to show a continuing pattern that causes the child´s/children´s learning difficulties. This study will demonstrate the necessary cooperation between the school, government, teachers, and parents/caregiver in order to improve the children´s education and well-being.

A presente tese foi desenvolvida na Linha de Pesquisa “O sujeito da Educação: conhecimento, linguagem e contextos”, na temática Sociologia e Educação, vinculada ao Projeto de Pesquisa “Perspectivas de Ensino na Educação Básica: prática pedagógica e formação de professores”, coordenado pela professora doutora Maria Helena Degani Veit. Na tese é examinada a prática pedagógica de 30 estagiários matriculados na disciplina de Prática de Ensino em Biologia do curso de Licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul no ano de 2005. O estudo desenvolveu os seguintes tópicos: 1) interpretação dos significados de conflitos de papéis que perpassam o ingresso dos licenciandos na carreira docente; 2) caracterização das práticas pedagógicas dos estagiários planejadas com o objetivo de favorecer a aprendizagem de conhecimentos biológicos pelos alunos do Ensino Médio;2.1) análise de discursos e de modalidades de conhecimentos que constituem a Licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas e que são mobilizados quando da recontextualização dos conteúdos biológicos para o Nível Médio e2.2) caracterização do discurso regulador empregado pelos estagiários no contexto de escolas da rede pública de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. A pesquisa participante, em uma abordagem quali-quantitativa, foi realizada pela professora da disciplina de Prática de Ensino em Biologia, utilizando, como referencial teórico-metodológico, a perspectiva sociológica de Basil Bernstein, complementada por conceituação da Fenomenologia Social e do Interacionismo Simbólico. Os resultados do estudo confirmaram os achados de Morais (2002a, 2002b) e de pesquisadoras associadas que, apoiadas em Bernstein, caracterizaram as modalidades de práticas pedagógicas mais produtivas em contextos de formação de professores e de ensino de alunos da Educação Básica pertencentes a famílias de baixa renda. As autoras designaram tais práticas como pedagogias mistas, as quais apresentam enquadramentos fortes nas dimensões seleção e seqüência de conteúdos, em nível macro, e avaliação, e apresentam enquadramentos fracos nas dimensões seleção e seqüência de conteúdos, em nível micro, ritmagem e regras hierárquicas. A tese complementa a caracterização das pedagogias mistas e descreve as formas da prática pedagógica que tornam disponíveis aos adquirentes regras de reconhecimento e de realização de textos, isto é, práticas legítimas no contexto educacional.A investigação também possibilitou a interpretação dos significados das interações entre transmissores e adquirentes, enfocando estratégias e discursos que buscam resgatar valores nucleares da sociedade ocidental. / This doctoral dissertation was developed within the Research Line “The Subject of Education: Knowledge, Language and Contexts” and the theme of Sociology and Education, which is connected to the Research Project, “Teaching Perspectives in Basic Education: Pedagogical Practice and Teacher Training”, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Maria Helena Degani Veit. The dissertation discusses the pedagogical practice of 30 student teachers enrolled in 2005 in a course on Teaching Practice in Biology, which is part of the Teacher Training Program in Biological Science at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. The study developed the following topics: 1) interpretation of the meanings of the role-related conflicts involved in the students’ entry into the teaching career; 2) characterization of the student teachers’ pedagogical practices designed to foster the learning of biology by high school students; 2.1) analysis of discourses and modes of knowledge that constitute the Teacher Training Program in Biological Science and are mobilized duringthe “recontextualization” of the contents of Biology for the level of secondary education, as well as 2.2) characterization of the “regulative discourse” employed by the student teachers in the context of public schools in Porto Alegre, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The participatory research, which adopted a qualitative-quantitative approach, was conducted by the professor of the course on Teaching Practice in Biology. It used Basil Bernstein’s sociological perspective as its theoretical-methodological frame of reference, supplementing it with concepts taken from Social Phenomenology and Symbolic Interactionism. The results of the study confirmed the findings by Morais et al. (2002, 2003), who, based on Bernstein, characterized the most productive modes of pedagogical practice in the contexts of teacher training and of teaching to basic education students who come from low income families. Morais et al. called such practices “mixed pedagogies,” as they exhibit “strong framings” in the dimensions of “selection” and “sequence” of contents at the macro level, as well as “evaluation,” and “weak framings” in the dimensions of “selection” and “sequence” of contents at the micro level, besides “pacing” and “hierarchical rules.”The dissertation supplements the characterization of the “mixed pedagogies” and describes the forms of “pedagogical practice” that makeavailable to the acquirers “rules of recognition” and “rules of realization” of texts, that is, legitimate practices in the context of education. The investigation also made it possible to interpret the meanings of the interactions between transmitters and acquirers, focusing on strategies and discourses that try to retrieve core values of Western society.

A presente tese foi desenvolvida na Linha de Pesquisa “O sujeito da Educação: conhecimento, linguagem e contextos”, na temática Sociologia e Educação, vinculada ao Projeto de Pesquisa “Perspectivas de Ensino na Educação Básica: prática pedagógica e formação de professores”, coordenado pela professora doutora Maria Helena Degani Veit. Na tese é examinada a prática pedagógica de 30 estagiários matriculados na disciplina de Prática de Ensino em Biologia do curso de Licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul no ano de 2005. O estudo desenvolveu os seguintes tópicos: 1) interpretação dos significados de conflitos de papéis que perpassam o ingresso dos licenciandos na carreira docente; 2) caracterização das práticas pedagógicas dos estagiários planejadas com o objetivo de favorecer a aprendizagem de conhecimentos biológicos pelos alunos do Ensino Médio;2.1) análise de discursos e de modalidades de conhecimentos que constituem a Licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas e que são mobilizados quando da recontextualização dos conteúdos biológicos para o Nível Médio e2.2) caracterização do discurso regulador empregado pelos estagiários no contexto de escolas da rede pública de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. A pesquisa participante, em uma abordagem quali-quantitativa, foi realizada pela professora da disciplina de Prática de Ensino em Biologia, utilizando, como referencial teórico-metodológico, a perspectiva sociológica de Basil Bernstein, complementada por conceituação da Fenomenologia Social e do Interacionismo Simbólico. Os resultados do estudo confirmaram os achados de Morais (2002a, 2002b) e de pesquisadoras associadas que, apoiadas em Bernstein, caracterizaram as modalidades de práticas pedagógicas mais produtivas em contextos de formação de professores e de ensino de alunos da Educação Básica pertencentes a famílias de baixa renda. As autoras designaram tais práticas como pedagogias mistas, as quais apresentam enquadramentos fortes nas dimensões seleção e seqüência de conteúdos, em nível macro, e avaliação, e apresentam enquadramentos fracos nas dimensões seleção e seqüência de conteúdos, em nível micro, ritmagem e regras hierárquicas. A tese complementa a caracterização das pedagogias mistas e descreve as formas da prática pedagógica que tornam disponíveis aos adquirentes regras de reconhecimento e de realização de textos, isto é, práticas legítimas no contexto educacional.A investigação também possibilitou a interpretação dos significados das interações entre transmissores e adquirentes, enfocando estratégias e discursos que buscam resgatar valores nucleares da sociedade ocidental. / This doctoral dissertation was developed within the Research Line “The Subject of Education: Knowledge, Language and Contexts” and the theme of Sociology and Education, which is connected to the Research Project, “Teaching Perspectives in Basic Education: Pedagogical Practice and Teacher Training”, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Maria Helena Degani Veit. The dissertation discusses the pedagogical practice of 30 student teachers enrolled in 2005 in a course on Teaching Practice in Biology, which is part of the Teacher Training Program in Biological Science at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. The study developed the following topics: 1) interpretation of the meanings of the role-related conflicts involved in the students’ entry into the teaching career; 2) characterization of the student teachers’ pedagogical practices designed to foster the learning of biology by high school students; 2.1) analysis of discourses and modes of knowledge that constitute the Teacher Training Program in Biological Science and are mobilized duringthe “recontextualization” of the contents of Biology for the level of secondary education, as well as 2.2) characterization of the “regulative discourse” employed by the student teachers in the context of public schools in Porto Alegre, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The participatory research, which adopted a qualitative-quantitative approach, was conducted by the professor of the course on Teaching Practice in Biology. It used Basil Bernstein’s sociological perspective as its theoretical-methodological frame of reference, supplementing it with concepts taken from Social Phenomenology and Symbolic Interactionism. The results of the study confirmed the findings by Morais et al. (2002, 2003), who, based on Bernstein, characterized the most productive modes of pedagogical practice in the contexts of teacher training and of teaching to basic education students who come from low income families. Morais et al. called such practices “mixed pedagogies,” as they exhibit “strong framings” in the dimensions of “selection” and “sequence” of contents at the macro level, as well as “evaluation,” and “weak framings” in the dimensions of “selection” and “sequence” of contents at the micro level, besides “pacing” and “hierarchical rules.”The dissertation supplements the characterization of the “mixed pedagogies” and describes the forms of “pedagogical practice” that makeavailable to the acquirers “rules of recognition” and “rules of realization” of texts, that is, legitimate practices in the context of education. The investigation also made it possible to interpret the meanings of the interactions between transmitters and acquirers, focusing on strategies and discourses that try to retrieve core values of Western society.

A presente tese foi desenvolvida na Linha de Pesquisa “O sujeito da Educação: conhecimento, linguagem e contextos”, na temática Sociologia e Educação, vinculada ao Projeto de Pesquisa “Perspectivas de Ensino na Educação Básica: prática pedagógica e formação de professores”, coordenado pela professora doutora Maria Helena Degani Veit. Na tese é examinada a prática pedagógica de 30 estagiários matriculados na disciplina de Prática de Ensino em Biologia do curso de Licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul no ano de 2005. O estudo desenvolveu os seguintes tópicos: 1) interpretação dos significados de conflitos de papéis que perpassam o ingresso dos licenciandos na carreira docente; 2) caracterização das práticas pedagógicas dos estagiários planejadas com o objetivo de favorecer a aprendizagem de conhecimentos biológicos pelos alunos do Ensino Médio;2.1) análise de discursos e de modalidades de conhecimentos que constituem a Licenciatura em Ciências Biológicas e que são mobilizados quando da recontextualização dos conteúdos biológicos para o Nível Médio e2.2) caracterização do discurso regulador empregado pelos estagiários no contexto de escolas da rede pública de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. A pesquisa participante, em uma abordagem quali-quantitativa, foi realizada pela professora da disciplina de Prática de Ensino em Biologia, utilizando, como referencial teórico-metodológico, a perspectiva sociológica de Basil Bernstein, complementada por conceituação da Fenomenologia Social e do Interacionismo Simbólico. Os resultados do estudo confirmaram os achados de Morais (2002a, 2002b) e de pesquisadoras associadas que, apoiadas em Bernstein, caracterizaram as modalidades de práticas pedagógicas mais produtivas em contextos de formação de professores e de ensino de alunos da Educação Básica pertencentes a famílias de baixa renda. As autoras designaram tais práticas como pedagogias mistas, as quais apresentam enquadramentos fortes nas dimensões seleção e seqüência de conteúdos, em nível macro, e avaliação, e apresentam enquadramentos fracos nas dimensões seleção e seqüência de conteúdos, em nível micro, ritmagem e regras hierárquicas. A tese complementa a caracterização das pedagogias mistas e descreve as formas da prática pedagógica que tornam disponíveis aos adquirentes regras de reconhecimento e de realização de textos, isto é, práticas legítimas no contexto educacional.A investigação também possibilitou a interpretação dos significados das interações entre transmissores e adquirentes, enfocando estratégias e discursos que buscam resgatar valores nucleares da sociedade ocidental. / This doctoral dissertation was developed within the Research Line “The Subject of Education: Knowledge, Language and Contexts” and the theme of Sociology and Education, which is connected to the Research Project, “Teaching Perspectives in Basic Education: Pedagogical Practice and Teacher Training”, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Maria Helena Degani Veit. The dissertation discusses the pedagogical practice of 30 student teachers enrolled in 2005 in a course on Teaching Practice in Biology, which is part of the Teacher Training Program in Biological Science at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. The study developed the following topics: 1) interpretation of the meanings of the role-related conflicts involved in the students’ entry into the teaching career; 2) characterization of the student teachers’ pedagogical practices designed to foster the learning of biology by high school students; 2.1) analysis of discourses and modes of knowledge that constitute the Teacher Training Program in Biological Science and are mobilized duringthe “recontextualization” of the contents of Biology for the level of secondary education, as well as 2.2) characterization of the “regulative discourse” employed by the student teachers in the context of public schools in Porto Alegre, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The participatory research, which adopted a qualitative-quantitative approach, was conducted by the professor of the course on Teaching Practice in Biology. It used Basil Bernstein’s sociological perspective as its theoretical-methodological frame of reference, supplementing it with concepts taken from Social Phenomenology and Symbolic Interactionism. The results of the study confirmed the findings by Morais et al. (2002, 2003), who, based on Bernstein, characterized the most productive modes of pedagogical practice in the contexts of teacher training and of teaching to basic education students who come from low income families. Morais et al. called such practices “mixed pedagogies,” as they exhibit “strong framings” in the dimensions of “selection” and “sequence” of contents at the macro level, as well as “evaluation,” and “weak framings” in the dimensions of “selection” and “sequence” of contents at the micro level, besides “pacing” and “hierarchical rules.”The dissertation supplements the characterization of the “mixed pedagogies” and describes the forms of “pedagogical practice” that makeavailable to the acquirers “rules of recognition” and “rules of realization” of texts, that is, legitimate practices in the context of education. The investigation also made it possible to interpret the meanings of the interactions between transmitters and acquirers, focusing on strategies and discourses that try to retrieve core values of Western society.

This study can be described as a journey into the discourse of ‘sangomahood’. It focuses on the narrative of a female sangoma in South Africa and how she experiences her ‘sangomahood’ and gives meaning to it in her specific cultural context. By qualitatively exploring her narrative an attempt was made to understand and illuminate the experiences informing her ‘sangomahood’. This journey starts with an introduction to the two discourses of health namely the dominant, scientific discourse of Western medicine and the alternative discourse of traditional healing. In this part of the journey the historical, anthropological and sociological perspectives on medicine are discussed, as well as the different views of Western medicine and traditional healing pertaining to healers, practices, illness and patients. The methodology and context of the research are then explained. Narrative analysis is used to explore the themes in the sangoma’s narration. The sangoma’s narrative is then introduced by means of five letters that I, as the researcher, write to her. In these letters I also reflect on the difference between her experience and mine, as well as the impact of her narrative on me as a psychologist trained in the Western perspective. This journey was undertaken to create a greater understanding of the culture and experience of ‘sangomahood’. This research also intends to make psychologists aware that the telling of a narrative is never a neutral process and that their clients’ stories always have a certain impact on them, as listeners. Each individual experience is shaped through time, by a specific cultural context which becomes the lens through which people experience and shape the world. / Dissertation (MA (Counselling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Psychology / unrestricted

Syftet med studien är att genom intervjuer synliggöra hur förskollärare uppfattar måltidsmiljön, barns delaktighet och autonomi samt hur barn uppfattar sin delaktighet och autonomi vid måltidssituationen i förskolan. Då uppfattningar om delaktighet och autonomi undersöktes utgick vi från det barndomssociologiska perspektivet och eftersom vi ville synliggöra de uttalanden som var mest frekventa och bärande i intervjuerna användes tematisk analys. Studien är gjord på en förskola med åtta avdelningar i en större kommun i Halland. Studien bygger på tre semistrukturerade intervjuer med tre förskollärare, där alla hade tidigare erfarenhet av olika måltidsserveringar i förskolan. Samt samtalsintervjuer i grupp med fyra femåriga barn. Resultatet av studien visar att förskollärarna anser att måltidsmiljön på förskolan är stökig, stressig och högljudd. Vidare framför de att barn inte görs så delaktiga och autonoma som de borde göras, vilket de anser beror på måltidsbuffén. Resultatet från barnen visar att de inte känner sig delaktiga i var de ska sitta när de äter lunch, vilken mat som serveras och inte görs delaktiga och autonoma i valet av hur mycket och vilken mat de tar, oavsett om det är vid måltidsbuffén eller vid bordet. Slutsatsen är att barnen inte görs så delaktiga och autonoma som de har potential att vara. / The purpose of the study is to use interviews to elucidate how preschool teachers perceive the mealtime environment, children's participation and autonomy, as well as how children perceive their own participation and autonomy during mealtime situations in preschool. As perceptions of participation and autonomy were investigated, we adopted a childhood sociological perspective. To highlight the most frequent and significant statements from the interviews, a thematic analysis was used.   The study was conducted in a preschool with eight departments in a larger municipality in Halland county, Sweden. The study is based on three semi-structured interviews with three preschool teachers, all of whom had prior experience with different meal services in preschool. Additionally, group conversations were held with four five-year-old children. The results of the study indicate that the preschool teachers consider the mealtime environment at their preschool to be disorderly, stressful, and noisy. Furthermore, they express that children are not made as involved and autonomous as they should be, which they attribute to the buffet-style meals. The results from the children demonstrate that they do not feel included in decisions regarding where to sit during lunch, what food is served, and are not involved in the choice of how much and what type of food they take, whether at the buffe or at the table In conclusion, it is evident that the children are not made as involved and autonomous as the have the potential to be.