The motivation of the study was to explore the problems of families in South Africa who struggle to manage their children with autism and to find out whether they were receiving appropriate assistance. This was done by assessing the needs of the parents of children with autism by means of semi-structured interviews. Through these interviews, the parents were given the opportunity to express what information or recommendations they would like to have available to them. How the parents view their experience, their feelings about these experiences, and the strategies and actions that they take in order to cope with raising their child with autism, is important information. The aim of the study was to explore the problems South African families have so that this may form the base of information supplied to professionals such as psychologists, social workers, and educators thereby assisting in improving service delivery to parents of children with autism. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Play Therapy)

Through literature and personal experience it became apparent that cerebral palsy is a condition that poses physical challenges to the everyday lives of children diagnosed with this condition. Negative feedback from society and significant others in the lives of these children may lead to an emotional imbalance in these children. Although various models for addressing emotional issues in children with cerebral palsy exist, their needs within a therapeutic setting are not addressed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of the Schoeman model in therapy with the child with cerebral palsy. The Schoeman model is a therapeutic model that is based on the Gestalt philosophy and is used in conjunction with Gestalt play therapy. Through applying the different aspects of this model the study sheds light on the usefulness of the Schoeman model in therapy with the child diagnosed with cerebral palsy. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Spelterapie)

Despite the wide spread use of psychological instruments in the forensic context, there is a dearth of research on the purposes for using it. A qualitative case study approach was adopted in this study to explore the purposes for which industrial psychologists use psychological instruments in loss of income claims. The research study comprised of two phases. Firstly, a literature review was used to provide some background on psychological assessment in the forensic context. The literature review described the historical development of forensic psychology, what psychological instruments are and how they are used in the forensic context. The forensic context, in which industrial psychologists operate, was also described. Furthermore, the initial conceptual framework to outline the context of the next phase of the research was illustrated. The second phase was an exploratory study that made use of a multiple-case study approach. The main research aim was to explore the purposes for using psychological instruments in loss of income claims by industrial psychologists. Another aim was to explore the psychological instruments used. The final aim was to explore the kind of information that is needed in the forensic context, which is not currently available by means of existing psychological assessment. Case study data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with four industrial psychologists. Each interview represented a case to be analysed. The multiple-case study data gathered were then analysed using coding, within-case analysis and across-case analysis. The findings indicate that psychological instruments are used for the following purposes: (1) to add value to the quantification of a loss of income claim; and (2) to provide information that is required on the specific situation and circumstances surrounding the claim. Furthermore, the research findings also revealed that the purpose of using a psychological instrument to add value is influenced by internal factors of the psychological instrument as well as situational characteristics of the legal matter at hand. Through the exploration of the purposes for using psychological instruments, specific instruments used could be identified. Another finding included the existence of a perception that the psychological instruments currently available in South Africa are inadequate to provide the information required in the forensic context. The findings also revealed the kind of information that is needed.Recommendations were made for future research and industry-related practices. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Despite the wide spread use of psychological instruments in the forensic context, there is a dearth of research on the purposes for using it. A qualitative case study approach was adopted in this study to explore the purposes for which industrial psychologists use psychological instruments in loss of income claims. The research study comprised of two phases. Firstly, a literature review was used to provide some background on psychological assessment in the forensic context. The literature review described the historical development of forensic psychology, what psychological instruments are and how they are used in the forensic context. The forensic context, in which industrial psychologists operate, was also described. Furthermore, the initial conceptual framework to outline the context of the next phase of the research was illustrated. The second phase was an exploratory study that made use of a multiple-case study approach. The main research aim was to explore the purposes for using psychological instruments in loss of income claims by industrial psychologists. Another aim was to explore the psychological instruments used. The final aim was to explore the kind of information that is needed in the forensic context, which is not currently available by means of existing psychological assessment. Case study data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with four industrial psychologists. Each interview represented a case to be analysed. The multiple-case study data gathered were then analysed using coding, within-case analysis and across-case analysis. The findings indicate that psychological instruments are used for the following purposes: (1) to add value to the quantification of a loss of income claim; and (2) to provide information that is required on the specific situation and circumstances surrounding the claim. Furthermore, the research findings also revealed that the purpose of using a psychological instrument to add value is influenced by internal factors of the psychological instrument as well as situational characteristics of the legal matter at hand. Through the exploration of the purposes for using psychological instruments, specific instruments used could be identified. Another finding included the existence of a perception that the psychological instruments currently available in South Africa are inadequate to provide the information required in the forensic context. The findings also revealed the kind of information that is needed.Recommendations were made for future research and industry-related practices. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Hälsa i arbetslivet är ett prioriterat område i politiken och återfinns i målområde fyra som är kopplat till det svenska folkhälsomålet. På senare år har hälsa i arbetslivet uppmärksammats eftersom den arbetsrelaterade ohälsan har ökat, vilket har resulterat i sjuktal som skjuter i höjden med ökande kostnader som följd. Människor spenderar stor del av sin livstid i arbetslivet och för att bibehålla en god hälsa genom livets alla skeden är goda arbetsförhållandena en förutsättning för att människor ska må bra. En viktig del i det hälsofrämjande arbetet i arbetslivet handlar om ledarskap, vilket påverkar människors hälsa i stor utsträckning. Tidigare studier visar att ledarskap har stor betydelse för människors hälsa och därför har denna studie genomförts. Syftet med studien är att undersöka chefers upplevelse av ledarskapets betydelse för medarbetarnas hälsa. En kvalitativ metodansats har används för att besvara studiens syfte. Fem chefer inom den privata sektorn har deltagit vid individuella semistrukturerade intervjuer. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats genom en manifest innehållsanalys. Resultatet visar att cheferna anser att ledarskap har stor betydelse för medarbetarnas hälsa. En utmaning som framkommit i studien är att cheferna uttrycker en frustration över bristande resurser och prioritering från företagsledning, vilket försvårar för cheferna att bedriva ett hälsofrämjande ledarskap. / Work related health is a priority area in national policy, being the fourth public national health target area which is connected to the Swedish public health goal. In recent years work related health has been highlighted due to that work related illness has increased, with the result of increased morbidity and with increasing costs as a result. People spend a whole lot of their lifetime at work, to keep a good health through all stages in life it is important that working conditions are good. Health promoting leadership is important at work, and affects people greatly. Previous research show that leadership affects people’s health and this is the reason why the study was conducted. The aim of this study was to examine the managers’ perception of the importance of leadership for employee health. A qualitative method was used to answer the purpose of the study. In this study five mangers in the private sector has participated in individual semi-structured interviews. The empirical material was analyzed by a manifest content analysis. The result show that leadership is important for the employees’ health. A challenge for managers in this study is a frustration over the lack of resources and priority from upper management.

What topics are discussed within the female genital mutilation debate? And who gets to speak out? Are there any prominent patterns able to detect? This thesis tries to elaborate these thoughts examining the journalistic coverage of FGM in Swedish newspapers during the year of 2016. A content analysis of all published newspapers during the year of interest sets the empirical basis, and is supported by interviews with journalists covering the issue. The dissertation holds a constructionist approach meaning that the perception of reality is constructed, and thereof differs. This approach also clarifies that there is no constant truth, but several. Findings within the empirical data are mainly discussed connected to feminist theory as well as the concept of agenda-setting, eventually involving discussions about human rights issue as a value for journalism. What is clear here is that women are overrepresented within the debate, and are depicted as strong individuals, are seldom victimized or depicted in stereotyped gender roles as opposed by scholars. Meanwhile, participating journalists are somewhat semi-aware about their own portrayals since they opine that they are focusing on representing female characters in their articles. This might indicate that the FGM debate is unilaterally represented in some ways. The result also shows a clear pattern in representing FGM in media as a global issue treating the prevalence of FGM around the world, even when a domestic perspective is used. The issue of interest is also perceived as a procedure aiming to control women and/or their sexuality in a quite vast extent, scholarly as well as empirically

The media landscape has evolved significantly over the last decades. Previously, the extent of media choice was limited to a handful of newspapers and radio- and TV broadcasts. However, with the rise of cable TV and internet access, people are faced with a multitude of choices regarding what media and content they choose to consume. Scholars have argued that these developments may enable people who are not interested in news consumption to avoid news more than previously. Considering this transformation of the media landscape, this paper aspires to shed light on the factors that affect news media choice. More specifically, the aim of this essay is to study upper secondary school students’ news interest, news consumption and their trust in news media.   This essay employs uses and gratifications and Bourdieu’s symbolic and cultural capital theory to analyze the empirical data. This data is based on 6 semi-structured interviews with students in the first or second year in two upper secondary schools.  The analysis demonstrates that parents’ political interest in addition to students’ uses and gratifications are significant to understand news interest and news consumption among upper secondary school students. Furthermore, the analysis highlights that the interviewees with higher cultural capital perceive news media with a higher symbolic capital as more trustworthy, while students with a lower cultural capital trust tabloid media to a greater extent.

The global climate threat has intensified Sweden’s ambitions to build wind power stations. This thesis explores the planning of, and opposition to, wind power in the inland rural and forest regions of Sweden. It is in these autonomous communities that the plans are implemented and the aim of the thesis was to, from a local perspective, understand and analyse the planning and acceptance challenges that large-scale wind power development faces in places that are both sparsely populated and have good wind conditions. This thesis is based on qualitative methods and was conducted as two studies. The case study area comprises four municipalities in Dalarna County. The first study analyses the planning and establishment process in three municipalities using interviews and an analysis method called process tracing. The second study analyses one wind power establishment, in which the interviews form the basis for a discourse analytical approach. One striking finding highlights the relationship between the global and the local. Global environment and energy aspects are absent in the local process, and wind power becomes a technical land issue that clashes with other local land interests. Another finding of the study reveals that planning for wind power establishment follows a rational planning tradition. The feelings and memories of the individual – different views regarding the landscape – play a background role in the formal permit process, while measurable observable conditions have a more prominent role. Wind power developers thereby acquire a more significant position than what they probably would have had if the planning had included local residents’ views on wind power in the landscape at an early stage.

The goal of the diploma thesis was to describe critical moments for solving systems of linear equations at the primary school. First, various methods of solving systems of two linear equations with two unknowns are summarized, the history of systems of linear equations is briefly outlined and the theme is described from the point of view of curricular documents. Based on the review of literature, the critical moments and types of mistake made by pupils are described. My own research used the mixed research strategy, where the main strategy was qualitative and the secondary strategy was quantitative. The research consisted of semi-structured interviews with four mathematics teachers, the preparation and realization of a questionnaire for primary school pupils and the creation, realization and analysis of a didactic test. The main results of the thesis consists of the description of the most frequent pupils' problems when solving systems of linear equations, the didactic analysis of textbooks and teachers' views of the topic and its teaching. Keywords: linear equations and their systems, pupils' problems, mistakes, semi-structured interviews, didactic test Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The global climate threat has intensified Sweden’s ambitions to build wind power stations. This thesis explores the planning of, and opposition to, wind power in the inland rural and forest regions of Sweden. It is in these autonomous communities that the plans are implemented and the aim of the thesis was to, from a local perspective, understand and analyse the planning and acceptance challenges that large-scale wind power development faces in places that are both sparsely populated and have good wind conditions. This thesis is based on qualitative methods and was conducted as two studies. The case study area comprises four municipalities in Dalarna County. The first study analyses the planning and establishment process in three municipalities using interviews and an analysis method called process tracing. The second study analyses one wind power establishment, in which the interviews form the basis for a discourse analytical approach. One striking finding highlights the relationship between the global and the local. Global environment and energy aspects are absent in the local process, and wind power becomes a technical land issue that clashes with other local land interests. Another finding of the study reveals that planning for wind power establishment follows a rational planning tradition. The feelings and memories of the individual – different views regarding the landscape – play a background role in the formal permit process, while measurable observable conditions have a more prominent role. Wind power developers thereby acquire a more significant position than what they probably would have had if the planning had included local residents’ views on wind power in the landscape at an early stage.