<p>I have in this thesis looked at the reasons for why boys, in upper school classes, read so little fiction. Several surveys show that boys in their teenage years stop reading fiction. If they read fiction it is only as a school assignment and not as leisure. There has been research done in boys attitude towards literature, but there hasn’t been any research done asking them about <em>why</em> they don’t read fiction</p><p>I have interviewed a group of boys about their reasons, and attitude, for why they don’t choose to read fiction on their spare time after school. I have interviewed five boys and from their answers I have made a conclusion.</p><p>The main reason to why the boys in my survey chose not to read fiction was that they found it ‘boring’. The reasons to this were that they found the assignments to the books boring and they found the books boring. They said that the assignment usually was to answer questions which were to easy to answer.</p><p>I have used Judith A Langers’ reception theories to try to explain why the boys find the task of reading so boring.</p>

I have in this thesis looked at the reasons for why boys, in upper school classes, read so little fiction. Several surveys show that boys in their teenage years stop reading fiction. If they read fiction it is only as a school assignment and not as leisure. There has been research done in boys attitude towards literature, but there hasn’t been any research done asking them about why they don’t read fiction I have interviewed a group of boys about their reasons, and attitude, for why they don’t choose to read fiction on their spare time after school. I have interviewed five boys and from their answers I have made a conclusion. The main reason to why the boys in my survey chose not to read fiction was that they found it ‘boring’. The reasons to this were that they found the assignments to the books boring and they found the books boring. They said that the assignment usually was to answer questions which were to easy to answer. I have used Judith A Langers’ reception theories to try to explain why the boys find the task of reading so boring.

A study around some fourteen and fifteen year old boys, who are interested in reading. It is about their reading and library habits, what has created their interest and where they acquire access to literature. A certain amount deals with the habits of the boys’ school-friends in this subject. The result compares with earlier made reports. The study is built on interviews between six boys, a children librarian at a public library and a school librarian. Furthermore, a questionnaire has been carried out among 79 school-friends to the interviewed boys. The result of the report indicates that the foundation of the boys’ reading interests begins at an early age within the family and mainly through their mothers’ influence. The boys’ main access to literature is acquired mostly in the home in the families’ own library. The boys prefer to buy their own books, rather than visiting the public library. The reason for this is that they do not feel at home in the library. They have difficulties in finding what they want. The supply of popular literature and music is limited. On the contrary, they are busy visitors to the school library, where they feel more at home. The supply is there more adapted to their demands. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The aim of this study is to examine how teenage boysperceive the public library. How do they utilize the resourcesprovided by a public library? What are their thoughtsregarding what a public library offers in terms of services toits visitors? Four qualitative interviews with teenage boyswere done for the purpose of this study. The study showsthat these individuals perceive the library as a resource foryoungsters, women, elders or people with disabilities orspecial needs, but not themselves. / Program: Bibliotekarie

The aim of this study is to examine the opinions and the reflections workers at women’s shelters have regarding the limited access teenage boys experience to these shelters. Furthermore, what the workers think regarding the presence of teenage boys at the shelter. In order to achieve a deeper understanding of the reasoning workers have, the study applied a children's rights perspective and Hirdmans concept of genussystem and genuskontrakt. For this study a qualitative method has been applied using semi-structured interviews, in total six interviews were conducted. Workers from five different women’s shelters in Skåne, Sweden participated in this study. The results of this study implied that an age-limit for boys at these shelters is not compatible with a children's rights perspective. The boys’ rights as children were in some cases overlooked in favour of the abused women. The study showed that both abused women and some of the workers saw the teenage boys as young men. The boys’ were attributed personality traits based on societal stereotypical conceptions of their gender, which included a dominant and controlling behaviour and the potential risk of violence. However, neither of the workers had ever experienced any violent incidents at the shelters and none of the workers thought that the presence of teenage boys affected, or would affect, the work itself. At the same time, several workers pointed out that women might feel uncomfortable and unsafe with the presence of teenage boys, if living in a collective residence. This due to their experience of violent men but also, for some women, because of their religion prohibiting them from taking of their hijab in the presence of, what they consider, young men. It should be pointed out that the workers had little and in one case no experience of working with teenage boys at the shelter. In conclusion only one shelter practised an age-limit for boys. However, the results implied that workers un-reflected, gender-based norms and conceptions might risk a reproduction of the image of men as controlling, dominant and abusive and women as passive and victimised.

Bakgrund: Skolsköterskors uppdrag är att arbeta hälsofrämjande och förebyggande med psykisk hälsa, att identifiera och stödja elever med psykisk ohälsa. Tonårspojkar med psykisk ohälsa uppsöker skolsköterskor i liten utsträckning och kan uppvisa varierande uttryckssätt på psykisk ohälsa. Skolsköterskor har en central roll för att uppmärksamma tecken på psykisk ohälsa och för att kunna initiera stöd till tonårspojkar med psykisk ohälsa.  Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva skolsköterskors uppfattningar av hur stöd kan ges till tonårspojkar med psykisk ohälsa. Metod: Studien har en kvalitativ metod med induktiv ansats. Datainsamlingen utfördes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med elva skolsköterskor och materialet analyserades med fenomenografisk metod. Resultat: Studien resulterade i fyra beskrivningskategorier; att identifiera signaler på psykisk ohälsa, att skapa förtroendefulla relationer, att stödja tonårspojkars egen förmåga att hantera sin situation samt att samverka med andra aktörer. Konklusion: Grundläggande för att initiera stöd till tonårspojkar är att skolsköterskorbesitter goda kunskaper att identifiera signaler på psykisk ohälsa hos tonårspojkar. Genom hälsosamtal, hälsobesök och öppen mottagning kan skolsköterskor skapa förtroendefulla relationer och stödja tonårspojkarnas förmåga att hantera sin situation. Skolsköterskor ger stöd genom professionellt och normkritiskt förhållningssätt, elevcentrerat arbetssätt och i samverkan med andra aktörer. / Background: The mission of school nurses is health promotion and prevention with mental health, identifying and supporting students with mental health problems. Teenage boys with mental health problems seek out school nurses to a small extent and may exhibit varying modes of expression of mental health problems. School nurses have a central role in drawing attention to signs of mental health problems and to initiate support for teenage boys with mental health problems. Aim: The aim was to describe school nurses' perceptions of how support can be provided to teenage boys with mental health problems. Method: A qualitative method with an inductive approach. Semi-structured interviews with eleven school nurses were carried out and data was analysed with phenomenographic approach. Results: Four description categories: to identify signs of mental health problems, to create trusting relationships, to support teenage boys' own ability to handle their situation and to interact with other actors. Conclusion: Fundamental to initiating support is that school nurses possessknowledge to identify signs of mental health problems in teenage boys. Through health talks, health visits and open reception, school nurses create trusting relationships and support teenage boys' ability to manage their situation. School nurses provide support through a professional and norm-critical approach, student-centered methods and in collaboration with others.

The health of adolescent boys is complex and surprisingly little is known about how adolescent boys perceive, conceptualise and experience their health. Thus, the overall aim of this thesis was to explore adolescent boys’ perceptions and experiences of health, emotions, masculinity and subjective social status (SSS). This thesis consists of a qualitative, a quantitative and a mixed methods study. The qualitative study aimed to explore how adolescent boys understand the concept of health and what they find important for its achievement. Furthermore, the adolescent boys’ views of masculinity, emotion management and their potential effects on wellbeing were explored. For this purpose, individual interviews were conducted with 33 adolescent boys aged 16-17 years. The quantitative study aimed to investigate the associations between pride, shame and health in adolescence. Data were collected through a cross-sectional postal survey with 705 adolescents. The purpose of the mixed methods study was to investigate associations between SSS in school, socioeconomic status (SES) and self-rated health (SRH), and to explore the concept of SSS in school. Cross-sectional data were combined with interview data in which the meaning of SSS was further explored. Individual interviews with 35 adolescents aged 17-18 years were conducted. In the qualitative study, data were analysed using Grounded Theory. In the quantitative study, statistical analyses (e.g., chi-square test and uni- and multivariable logistic regression analyses) were performed. In the mixed method study, a combination of statistical analyses and thematic network analysis was applied. The results showed that there was a complexity in how the adolescent boys viewed, experienced, dealt with and valued health. On a conceptual level, they perceived health as holistic but when dealing with difficult emotions, they were prone to separate the body from the mind. Thus, the adolescent boys experienced a difference between health as a concept and health as an experience (paper I). Concerning emotional orientation in masculinity, two main categories of masculine conceptions were identified: a gender-normative masculinity and a non-gender-normative masculinity (paper II). Gender-normative masculinity comprised two seemingly opposite emotional masculinity orientations, one towards toughness and the other towards sensitivity, both of which were highly influenced by contextual and situational group norms and demands, despite that their expressions are in contrast to each other. Non-gender-normative masculinity included an orientation towards sincerity, emphasising the personal values of the boys. Emotions were expressed more independently of peer group norms. The findings suggest that different masculinities and the expression of emotions are intricately intertwined and that managing emotions is vital for wellbeing. The present findings also showed that both shame and pride were significantly associated with SRH, and furthermore, that there seems to be a protective effect of experiencing pride for health (paper III). The results also demonstrated that SSS is strongly related to SRH, and high SRH is related to high SSS, and further that the positioning was done in a gendered space (paper IV). Results from all studies suggest that the emotional and relational aspects, as well as perceived SSS, were strongly related to SRH. Positive emotions, trustful relationships and having a sense of belonging were important factors for health and pride was an important emotion protecting health. Physical health, on the other hand, had a more subordinated value, but the body was experienced as an important tool to achieve health. Even though health was mainly perceived in a holistic manner by the boys, there were boys who were prone to dichotomise the health experience into a mind-body dualism when having to deal with difficult emotions. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that young, masculine health is largely experienced through emotions and relationships between individuals and their contexts affected by gendered practices. Health is to feel and function well in mind and body and to have trusting relationships. The results support theories on health as a social construction of interconnected processes. Having confidence in self-esteem, access to trustful relationships and the courage to resist traditional masculine norms while still reinforcing and maintaining social status are all conducive to good health. Researchers as well as professionals need to consider the complexity of adolescent boys’ health in which norms, values, relationships and gender form its social determinants. Those working with young boys should encourage them to integrate physical, social and emotional aspects of health into an interconnected and holistic experience. / Tonårspojkars hälsa är komplex och det finns förvånansvärt lite forskning gällande hur tonårspojkar uppfattar, konceptualiserar och upplever hälsa. Därför var det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling att undersöka tonårspojkars uppfattningar och upplevelser av hälsa, emotioner, maskuliniteter och subjektiv social status. Denna avhandling består av tre delstudier: en kvalitativ, en kvantitativ och en mixed metod studie. Den kvalitativa studien syftade till att undersöka hur tonårspojkar uppfattar begreppet hälsa och vad de tyckte var viktigt för att uppnå hälsa, samt deras syn på manlighet, känslohantering och potentiell påverkan på deras välbefinnande. För detta ändamål genomfördes individuella intervjuer med 33 unga pojkar i åldern 16-17 år. Den kvantitativa studien syftade till att undersöka sambandet mellan stolthet, skam och hälsa i tonåren, och data samlades in genom en postenkät där 705 ungdomar deltog. Syftet med mixed metod-studien var att undersöka sambanden mellan subjektiv social status (SSS) i skolan, socioekonomisk status (SES) och självskattad hälsa (SRH) samt att undersöka innebörden av begreppet subjektiv social status. Data från en enkät kombinerades med intervjudata av 35 ungdomar i åldern 17-18 år. I den kvalitativa studien analyserades data med hjälp av Grounded Theory metoden. I den kvantitativa studien användes statistiska analysersåsomchi-två-test samt uni- och multivariabel logistisk regressionsanalys. I mixedmetod-studien användes en kombination av statistiskaanalyser ochtematisknätverksanalys. Resultaten visade att det fanns en komplexitet i hur unga pojkar uppfattade, upplevde, hanterade och värderade hälsa. På en teoretisk nivå uppfattade de hälsa som holistisk men när det handlade om att hantera svåra känslor, var de benägna att separera kroppen från sinnet. Således upplevde de en skillnad mellan hälsa som begrepp och hälsa som upplevelse (I). Gällande den känslomässiga maskulina orienteringen, identifierades två huvudkategorier av maskulina föreställningar: könsnormativ och icke-könsnormativ maskulinitet (II). Könsnormativ maskulinitet bestod av två till synes motsatta maskulinitetsorienteringar, en mot tuffhet och den andra mot känslighet, som båda var starkt påverkad av kontextuella och situationella gruppnormer och krav, trots att deras uttryck kontrasterade varandra. Icke-könsnormativ maskulinitet inkluderade en inriktning mot uppriktighet som betonade de personliga värdena för pojkar; känslor kunde uttryckas mer oberoende av kamratgruppens normer. Resultaten tyder på att olika maskuliniteter och känslouttryck är starkt sammanflätade och att känslohantering är avgörande för välbefinnandet. Resultat visade också att upplevelser av skam och stolthet var signifikant associerade med självskattad hälsa, och att stolthet verkar ha en skyddande effekt för hälsa (III). Vidare visade resultaten att det finns ett starkt samband mellan subjektiv social status och självskattad hälsa och att mycket god självskattad hälsa är relaterad till hög subjektiv social status. Positioneringarna gjordes i en starkt genuskodad skolmiljö (IV). Resultat från allastudier visarattde känslomässiga ochrelationellaaspekternavaravgörandeförhälsa, liksomden subjektivt upplevda statussomvar starktrelaterad tillsjälvskattad hälsa. Positivakänslor och tillitsfulla relationer, och att känna tillhörighet och stolthet varviktiga faktorerförhälsa. Fysiskhälsa å andra sidan hadeettmerunderordnat värde menkroppen var ettviktigt verktyg för attuppnåhälsa. Även omhälsauppfattadespå ett holistiskt sätt av de flesta pojkarna, fanns det pojkar som varbenägna att dela upp hälsoupplevelsen i kropp och sinne när det gällde att hantera svåra känslor. Sammanfattningsvis visar denna avhandlingatt den unga, manligahälsantill stor delupplevs genomkänsloroch relationermellanindivider och derassammanhang som är starkt genuskodade. Resultaten stöderteorier omhälsasomensocial konstruktionav sammankopplade processer. Hälsa är att må och fungera bra i kropp och sinne och ha tillgång till tillitsfulla relationer. Att ha självkänsla, tillgång till förtroendefulla relationer och att våga stå emot traditionella maskulinitetsnormer utan att tappa status bidrar positivt till hälsa. Forskare samt yrkesverksamma måste ta hänsyn till komplexiteten i unga pojkars hälsa, där normer, värderingar, relationer och genus utgör dess sociala bestämningsfaktorer. De som arbetar med unga pojkar bör uppmuntra dem att integrera fysiska, sociala och känslomässiga aspekter av hälsa till en sammanlänkad helhetsupplevelse.

<p>This paper aimed to investigate to what extent there is an age cut-off for teenage boys in the women’s shelters of Sweden and how a possible cut-off is described and maintained. This occurrence has not been investigated earlier to a large extent, which emphasizes the importance of this paper. A mixed strategy was used to cover both the frequency as well as the explanations to the age cut-off. The quantitative survey was sent to all women’s shelters in Sweden and the result showed that 56 % of the shelters had an age cut-off for teenage boys from 12 years of age and above. Qualitative interviews were conducted with six women’s shelters in Stockholm to examine how the notion teenage boys was constructed and used by the respondents to deny them refuge together with their mothers. The teenage boys were described as young men, aggressive and in the same time need of support, which all had the consequence that they could not stay at the shelters with collective housing. The age cut-off was neither discussed nor questioned by the members of the women’s shelters and was upheld by its legitimation. From a social constructive perspective the women’s shelters could be understood as institutionalized.</p>

This paper aimed to investigate to what extent there is an age cut-off for teenage boys in the women’s shelters of Sweden and how a possible cut-off is described and maintained. This occurrence has not been investigated earlier to a large extent, which emphasizes the importance of this paper. A mixed strategy was used to cover both the frequency as well as the explanations to the age cut-off. The quantitative survey was sent to all women’s shelters in Sweden and the result showed that 56 % of the shelters had an age cut-off for teenage boys from 12 years of age and above. Qualitative interviews were conducted with six women’s shelters in Stockholm to examine how the notion teenage boys was constructed and used by the respondents to deny them refuge together with their mothers. The teenage boys were described as young men, aggressive and in the same time need of support, which all had the consequence that they could not stay at the shelters with collective housing. The age cut-off was neither discussed nor questioned by the members of the women’s shelters and was upheld by its legitimation. From a social constructive perspective the women’s shelters could be understood as institutionalized.