This study has aimed at examining the nature and function of the support and protection that is offered and provided to human rights defenders trough a selected few international as well as regional human rights instruments and mechanisms, among them the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders as well as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights. In order to conduct such a study in a fairly limited and concrete way a number of cases were selected of human rights defenders who have undergone or are currently undergoing criminal prosecution and are incarcerated in Guatemala. The selection was based on the notion that apart from murder, criminal prosecution and incarceration of human rights defenders constitutes one of the most harmful and effective ways to actively hinder the continuance of valuable human rights work. Consequently, it impedes the promotion, implementation and protection of human rights on a general level. In regards to this States such as Guatemala have found ways to circumvent their international human rights duties by allowing others or themselves to label human rights defenders as criminal and violent actors, thus taking away the legitimate aspect of their roles and functions when it comes to promoting and safeguarding the enjoyment and exercise of human rights. The examined cases were meant to shed light on the situation for defenders in Guatemala but most importantly they were meant to illustrate a context in which one can examine the role and function that international human rights instruments and mechanisms have to combat such types of situations. The study found that although the concerned instruments and mechanisms such as the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the EU-guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights have a positive, important and impacting role in providing support to human rights defenders they have not yet reached/obtained the function of preventing persecution of human rights defenders, most notably of the legal kind. Since these mechanisms can only recommend but not force States to recognize and treat advocates of rights as “human rights defenders” their role and function for this specific purpose becomes less effective. All is not negative however, and the instruments and mechanisms that exist today are an illustration of the ambitions of States to follow international human rights principles and standards, at least to some extent.

Internet Service Providers gather vast amounts of data in the form of trouble tickets created from connectivity related issues. This data is often stored and seldom used for proactive purposes. This thesis explores the feasibility of finding correlations in network support data through the use of data mining activities. Correlations such as these could be used for improving troubleshooting or staffing related activities. The approach uses the data mining methodology CRISP-DM to investigate typical data mining operations from the perspective of a Network Operation Center. The results show that correlations between the solving time and other ticket related attributes do exist and that support data could be used for the activities mentioned. The results also show that it exists a lot of room for improvement when it comes to data mining activities in network support data.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka individens upplevelse gällande samarbete, gruppsammanhållning, förtroende och kollegialt stöd i ett virtuellt team i jämförelse med ett traditionellt team. Studien genomfördes på en rikstäckande myndighet som arbetat med virtuella team i tio år. I studien deltog sju intervjupersoner varav fyra personer var män och tre personer kvinnor som valdes ut genom ett målstyrt urval. Personerna var mellan 28 och 62 år gamla och hade haft en anställning inom vald organisation under minst två år. Personerna ingick i samma team men hade olika platsbundenheter. Data samlades in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer och analyserades med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet bekräftade tidigare teori om utmaningar i utvecklande av samarbete, gruppsammanhållning, förtroende och kollegialt stöd inom virtuella team. Intervjupersonerna upplevde ett starkare samarbete, gruppsammanhållning, förtroende och kollegialt stöd för de kollegor som var samplacerade och såg därmed ingen nytta av det virtuella teamet.

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published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Master / Master of Science in Real Estate and Construction Development

Background: In Sweden about 19000 people fall victims of sudden death every year. This covers around 20% of all deaths. Relatives are those who are closest to the patient, regardless of the type of relationship. When a patient suddenly dies this affects the relatives and they can suffer from high risk of complicated grief reactions or crises. Being the nearest professional contact in these situations, the nurse has an important role in supporting and guiding the relatives. Aim: The aim of this literature review was to nominate the relatives' needs of support from the nurse when a loved person suddenly dies. Method: The literature review was based on seven articles with a quality approach. Results:The analysis resulted in four themes; "to be seen and confirmed", "information", "take farewell" and "follow-up ". To be able to give support both mentally and physically, it is important for the nurse to give proper attention to the relatives. The nurse supports according to individual circumstances, giving clear and concise information. With privacy, peace and quiet the nurse may create the conditions for a dignified farewell. Afterwards, when the shock phase subsides, many questions need to be answered and a follow-up meeting is important. Conclusion: As nurses we will meet with relatives of patients who have suddenly died. Our results are, however, useful in all types of care, not only in cases of sudden death. The nurse´s attention to the relatives is an important factor in health care. Knowledge about the benefits of taking care of relatives in a situation of sudden death is, currently insufficient. Knowledge of the reactions of relatives who are confronted with sudden death needs to be further explored and existing research needs to be conducted / implemented in health care.

In this Thesis, I investigate the social meaning of child support payments for members of separated families. Drawing on 21 interviews with members of separated families, I explore how payments from one parent to another shape family relationships. I focus on three main topics: how child support payments are different from other forms of money in the ways that they are discussed, earmarked and spent; what child support payments reveal about cultural expectations of motherhood and fatherhood; and how respondents regard the fairness and efficacy of state child support policy. I argue that child support payments reinforce class and gender inequality. Child support reifies mothers’ disproportionate responsibility for children and uneven child support enforcement further subjects the poor to the coercive power of the state. / text

Most acculturation research has been focused on the direct relationship between acculturation and mental health (Yoon, Langrehr, & Ong, 2011; Salanta & Lauderdaleb, 2003; Koneru, Weisman de Mamania, Flynn, & Betancourt, 2007). However, less is known about the mechanisms for this relationship. Social-cultural resources such as friend and neighbor support may have a beneficial impact on mental health, and acculturative stress such as the level of family conflict and perceived racial discrimination would be expected to be risk factors (Kawachi & Berkman, 2001; Wolff & Agree, 2004; Gong et al., 2003; Kerr-Correa, Igami, Hiroce, & Tucchi, 2007). The present study investigated the mediating roles of acculturative stress and social-psychological resources in the relationship between acculturation and psychological distress among first generation Asian Americans. Data were from 1528 Asian Americans who participated in the National Latino and Asian Americans Study (NLAAS), a nationally representative study of the Asian immigrant population in the U.S. Using structural equation modeling with latent variables, direct and indirect influences on Asian immigrant psychological distress were examined. The findings indicate that higher acculturation was not directly associated with psychological distress for Asian immigrants, but there was an indirect pathway from higher acculturation to poorer mental health through acculturative stress. Asian immigrants with higher levels of acculturation experienced more acculturative stress, which contributed to more psychological distress symptoms. However, this finding was moderated by gender, holding only for women. On the other hand, while a higher level of acculturation was also associated with more perceived social resources, the expected protective effect of these resources was not present. The findings show the complex relationship between acculturation and psychological distress during the acculturative process of Asian immigrants. / text

This thesis describes the relationship between adult attachment style, coping strategies, identity development and perception of social support. 107 participants answered four self-report questionnaires examining their attachment style, coping strategies, identity development status and perception of social support. Correlation analyses were used. Results showed secure attachment to significantly positively correlate with identity moratorium and to negatively correlate with identity foreclosure. Avoidant attachment significantly positively correlated with denial and mental disengagement and negatively correlated with seeking social support. Individuals with high avoidant attachment scores were more likely to have high scores for identity diffusion, more likely to perceive fewer available social supports and were less likely to be satisfied with this support. Anxious ambivalence positively correlated with denial and mental, behavioural and alcohol/drug disengagement, and negatively correlated with active and planning which are pro-active coping strategies. Anxious ambivalence positively correlated with identity diffusion and negatively with identity foreclosure. Individuals with high anxious ambivalence scores were more likely to be dissatisfied with social support. Overall, secure attachment was found to correlate with acknowledging the need for an identity search. Insecure attachment was found to relate to less effective coping methods, to correlate with not acknowledging the need for an identity search and dissatisfaction with social support. Results are considered in terms of attachment styles and applications, for example in therapeutic settings.

No description available.