Genom ett kvalitativt frågeformulär svarade 53 stycken anhöriga till soldater och officerare på hur deras behov av anhörigstöd såg ut under tiden för en internationell insats. Uppsatsens frågeställning handlar om det  anhörigstöd som Försvarsmakten och externa stödorganisationer har utarbetat och om detta går i linje med de behov som finns hos de anhöriga. Syftet med uppsatsen är att jämföra Försvarsmakten och stödorganisationernas utbud på anhörigstöd med den anhöriges faktiska behov och därmed svara på uppsatsens frågeställning. Syftet är vidare att utifrån resultatet även kunna ge förslag på eventuella förbättringar på dagens anhörigstöd. Genom att analysera rådata har ett resultat kunnat redovisas som visar en markant förbättring av anhörigstödet i förhållande till det missnöje som presenterades av Officersförbundet och Synovate år 2008. Enligt resultatet i denna undersökning går Försvarsmakten och stödorganisationernas anhörigstöd i linje med vad den anhörige generellt är i behov av. Denna positiva utveckling har skett med hjälp av en balanserad blandning av psykosociala och praktiska åtgärder. ABC-X modellen som behandlar familjer i stress samt Halls bok ”Counseling military families” har till stor del legat till grund för denna undersökning och stödjer resultatet utifrån de åtgärder som vidtagits skall leda till en mer tillfredställd grupp anhöriga. / The method used in this study is a qualitative questionnaire. 53 next of kin or relatives to soldiers, who is assigned internationally, were asked to answer a questionnaire. The questions were about how these persons are experiencing the support that the Swedish Armed Forces and external support organizations is providing the relatives with. The purpose of this study was to describe the available support provided by The Armed Forces and the external support organizations and then compare that to the actual need of support. Another aim of this study is to suggest possible improvements to the support of today.By analyzing the raw data from the questionnaire we can see a significant improvement of the family support in relation to how the former support looked like a couple of years ago. Officersförbundet and Synovate made a study in 2008 and the result of that study was a major dissatisfaction in the range of family support and according to that we can see a lot of positive developments. This developments has been taken place with the help of a balanced mix between psychosocial and practical measures. The ABC-X model that deals with families in stress and Hall’s book “Counseling military families” has in many ways worked as a frame for this study and also helped to explain how the developments of the family support has increased the group of satisfied relatives.

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The aim of my study is to investigate how representatives of wine-farm workers' unions and wine-farm workers' support groups formulate their ideas about procedures aiming at achieving improved conditions. As sustainability work and ethical follow-up are terms which most often are used within companies, and not reflect methods, procedures instruments etc. for change, I have chosen to name them approaches. The study's data is collected between April and June 2016, through interviews with representatives for the farm workers' unions and farm workers' support groups in the Western Cape province (where most of the wine districts are located) in South Africa. The results are structured by using the theory around 'mapmaking', originally created by Smith (2005), and which Newman (2012) further developed in her theory known as 'working the spaces of power'. The various approaches on how to improve working and living conditions that the study will show, are structured in clusters according to where the spaces of power are created. This forms the first part of the analysis and its purpose is partly descriptive. The map that is formed, containing the various approaches to improve the farm workers' positions, shows the plurality of aspects in which improvement can be made. The second part of the analysis is based on the presented result's clusters, on which theories of governmentality then are used to place the study in a broader context. / <p>2017-01-31</p>

Nongovernmental actors have long been involved in the funding of U.S. K-12 public schools. With recent cuts to state funding to public education, however, groups called school-supporting nonprofits (Nelson & Gazley, 2014) have taken on a much larger role in school funding. Nonacademic, volunteer, parent-led groups such as parent teacher associations (PTAs), parent teacher organizations (PTOs), and booster clubs, especially, have grown in number and in amount of revenues raised, and are funding core school needs and functions. This situation confuses obligations of public institutions, undermines equity, and complicates the role of educational leaders. This mixed-methods study explores the influence of school-supporting non-profit organizations (SSNPs), in the suburban districts in the Richmond, VA quad-county metropolitan area. The focus of the current study is on the intersection of student economic disadvantage and race/ethnicity with the presence and types of SSNPs, their volunteer capacity and activities, and their financial capacity and impact. This study further examines why and how SSNPs exist as they do and how educational and nonprofit leaders manage their roles. Results show meaningful differences between groups in almost every variable, showing socioeconomic and racial disparities exacerbated by parent-led SSNP organizations. SSNPs at the most affluent schools with the most White and Asian students justify their work by touting the benefits to SSNP members’ children, explaining that the raising of funds and providing of volunteer staffing is both a virtuous activity and needed for the schools they support to function. Educational leaders must share power with these groups. This phenomenon raises questions about the purpose of SSNPs as civic and nonprofit organizations, exacerbates already inequitable availability of educational opportunities and resources across schools, and threatens the public nature of public education. While many policy remedies for this problem exist, a priority is more public revenues and funding of public schools.

Woodlots have become the most important investment opportunity among smallholders of Mufindi district in the southern highlands of Tanzania. Smallholder woodlots are also a major source of wood supply contributing to narrow the supply gap which in 2015 was reported to be 19.5 million m3 per year, where the main wood consumption sectors being construction and domestic heating energy. However, inadequate information about smallholder woodlots, supporting organizations, their linkages and impacts on woodlots performance derail its sustainable development and potential contribution for wood supply and poverty alleviation. The present study therefore specifically explored the tree grower’s motivations, knowledge base and challenges to woodlots farming; assessed woodlot tree species, products, and performance; analyzed the linkages of tree growers with support organizations and evaluated their impacts on the performance of woodlots. Both survey and case study approaches were used to collect data in the three villages namely: Igowole, Mninga, and Nundwe, both in Mufindi district, Tanzania. Mufindi district was purposively selected because of advanced smallholder tree growing. In all the three villages, a total of 93 actors were approached, including 72 tree grower households, 24 from each village, 14 nursery operators and 9 support organizations by snowball sampling. Then, an in-depth interview was conducted to all 72 sampled households. Of which 48 woodlots, 12 - from organized and the other 12 from unorganized tree growers in each village for Igowole and Nundwe, were assessed by rapid appraisal (RA) approach and their performance compared. While 24 woodlots were assessed from Mninga village, and all were from unorganized tree growers. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 and the results summarized in tables and graphs in excel. Woodlots performance and social network data were analyzed using R – software. Based on the study respondents, the results revealed that tree growers were motivated to plant and manage trees mainly for economic reasons (48%, 45%, and 51%) and land security reasons (37%, 30% and 31%) for Igowole, Mninga and Nundwe respectively. About the knowledge base, most tree growers (75% – 100%) in all the three villages had the knowledge on land preparation, nursery management, planting, weeding, pruning, and fire protection. But in all the villages, respondents did not have knowledge on forest growth principles and dynamics, on objectives for the product of the plantations and influence of tree spacing on such desired products. Again, other analyses revealed that; fire, inadequate knowledge, inadequate capital, lack of improved seeds and low timber/tree prices were the main challenges constraining farmers to plant and manage trees in woodlots in the three study villages. And, the main tree species in the study area were Pinus patula and Eucalyptus sp. Organized tree growers where much more supported by organizations than the non-organized ones. Logistic regression analysis performed in R (P = 0.05) revealed significant difference in woodlots performance among organized farmers based on gaps (P = 0.00216), growth condition (P = 0.04478) and planting space (P = 0.02013) criteria. That means, woodlots from organized farmers were generally performing better than those from unorganized farmers. The better performing woodlots of organized tree growers were contributed by social capital through networks and the role of collective action of the farmers in TGAs. Nursery operator farmers were the main source of tree seedlings for unorganized tree growers, while organized tree growers obtained most of the resources including knowledge, seeds and planting materials as well as funds from tree grower associations (TGAs), which were supported by organizations. Thus, for future planning, nursery operator farmers should be supported for improved seeds and planting materials to benefit the nonorganized farmers. Nursery operator farmers should be encouraged to join TGAs, and TGAs should generally be adopted as an effective smallholder tree grower’s support platform in the study area.