The introduction of the European union’s pillar of social rights has marked a new chapter in EU social policy. The social policy of the union has been seen to affect the national welfare state of its members causing convergence between member states. Given that welfare politics is a salient issue of the electorate, this thesis aims at finding out what type of welfare regime is most prevalent in EU social pillar policy in order to identify the direction the EU is pushing its member states. By using a content analysis to examine policy initiatives within the scope of the social pillar through the lens of the theoretical framework of Esping-Andersen’s three worlds of welfare regimes, this thesis identifies a considerable prevalence of a social democratic welfare regime. Especially given the sizeable occurrence of universalism and defamiliarization in the analysed material. This shows that policy convergence between the member states will entail a considerable role of the state, universal welfare services and promoting female participation in the labour market.

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This thesis is an analysis of the use and definition of the concepts health, well-being and welfare within the field called “the science of animal health and welfare”. The materials used are a literature survey of the field, qualitative interviews with Swedish veterinary surgeons and a study of the concepts in legislation concerning animals in England, Germany and Sweden. The main emphasis has been on theoretical definitions explicitly stated in the different texts or in the interviews. Two ways of distinguishing between animals are used: according to species and according to the role that animals have for humans. As a result it becomes salient whether the definitions have limits with regard to species or role. In the thesis a great number of definitions of the three concepts are interpreted, compared and criticised. As a result a limited number of definitions have been categorised and collected into clusters which fulfil minimal requirements of consistency and practicability. The analysis supports the use of all three concepts – health, well-being and welfare – since they are all needed for making crucial distinctions in the science of animal health and welfare.

This essay has the form of a scientific essay. It explores and reflects on the practical knowledge and the importance of reflection for managers in the social welfare. The starting point is stories from my own experience of various managerial assignments, which are discussed and tested with theories about different kind of knowledge. The essay describes a background and gives a context with the help of scientific studies on leadership and reflection. The central themes that are explored in the essay are wisdom, understanding, individual responsibility and reflection. The theories used are focusing on the type of knowledge that manifests itself in action. They origin from the philosophers Aristotle, Kjell S. Johannessen, John Dewey, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Simone de Beauvoir and Donald Schön. This essay gives examples of how the practical knowledge that managers in welfare sector uses can be understood and how reflection is an important part and a prerequisite for the development of knowledge. / Den här uppsatsen har formen av en vetenskapliga essä. Den undersöker och reflekterar över den praktiska kunskapen samt vilken betydelse reflektion har hos chefer inom den sociala välfärden. Utgångspunkten är berättelser från min egen erfarenhet av olika chefsuppdrag, som diskuteras och prövas mot teorier om kunskapsformer. Essän ger en bakgrund och ett sammanhang genom forskningsstudier om ledarskap respektive reflektion. De centrala teman som utforskas är omdöme, förståelse, personligt ansvar och reflektion. Teorierna som används för diskussion och reflektion är sådana som fokuserar på den form av kunskap som visar sig i handling, huvudsakligen från filosoferna Aristoteles, Kjell S. Johannessen, John Dewey, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Simone de Beauvoir och Donald Schön. Essän visar exempel på hur den praktiska kunskapen hos chefer i välfärden kan förstås och hur reflektion är ett betydelsefullt moment och en förutsättning för utveckling av kunskap.

This paper aims to describe the dynamics of objective health and welfare in five populations, from the year 2000 to 2009, qua a methodological study. It proposes a three step approach to ensure the validity criteria in the conducted research process: firstly, to identify the relevant variables as predictors of the two phenomena, empiric studies and sociological theories by Esping-Andersen (1999) Nussbaum (1999, 2000, 2011), were consulted. This (with the data availability) frames the study to include five related categories of objective health and welfare indicators, including (1) demographic (e. g. life expectancy (LE), total fertility rate (TFR)), (2) child-welfare (i. e. under-five mortality rate (U5MR), (3) welfare services (immunization coverage and prevalence of tuberculosis (TB)), (4) education, and (5) indicators on health expenditure (HE). The applied theoretical frame–in a combination with the four posed research questions–indicates a need of an overall methodological approach that is primary quantitative. The data analysis follows an observational epidemiological type that is descriptive study, to analyse the indicators in five populations and two control groups. The study obtains descriptive data from three data bases, which are selected upon a qualitative analysis, to account for their validity and reliability. Further data analysis is strengthened qua the inclusion of the two control groups of populations, when appropriate. Since it wasn’t possible to compare data on populations across time, due to different data production methodologies. Main findings indicate that HE, immunization, TFR, male and female LE, U5MR and school enrolment, tend to diverge between and within the five populations, expressed in absolute and relative terms. The comparison of the estimated data for the five populations with the two control groups of populations, shows that most objective health and welfare indicators tend to converge, (within categories 1, 2 and 3, except TFR) when expressed in absolute and relative terms. When estimated data is analysed in the light of two sociological theories, it is evident that the existing gap between male and female LE, U5MR, and HE indicators can improve further. / B

A new municipal group house is emerging - and intentions are affected. Swedish welfare is described as something that is transforming. This essay is a case study on how a group house for young adults with mild mental retardation and social problems, developed in a municipal. The purpose of the essay is to gain a better understanding of a new group house with the help of theoretical concepts such as internal and external forces in relation to organizational change. The conclusion is that a group house emerges through a complex context where different factors influence the ability to reach or fail intention, where the intention of the group house is to give the residents greater autonomy and hence have less need for welfare. Internal pressure such as the physical design of the home and external pressure such as how different laws are interpreted and followed in everyday situations are examples of important forces.

Titel: ”Vilka vill jobba med detta i framtiden?” En kvalitativ studie om hur offentlig verksamhet i Småland arbetar med att attrahera och behålla socialsekreterare. Författare: Bettina Idberg Corr, Johanna Lindberg, Kevin Hammenstrand Problemformulering:  · Hur arbetar offentlig verksamhet med att attrahera och behålla kompetens inom yrkesgruppen socialsekreterare? · Vilka möjligheter kan identifieras för att möta fortsatta utmaningar med att attrahera och behålla socialsekreterare? Syfte: Syftet med studien är att få en uppfattning om hur offentlig verksamhet arbetar med att attrahera och behålla socialsekreterare. Studien ämnar också identifiera fortsatta utmaningar och möjligheter för offentlig verksamhet med att attrahera och behålla socialsekreterare. Metod: En kvalitativ fallstudie med en induktiv ansats. Datainsamling har skett genom semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer. Slutsats: Vår studie visar att hur offentlig verksamhet arbetar med att attrahera och behålla socialsekreterare skiljer sig åt beroende på vilka förutsättningar kommunerna har. De centrala faktorerna i arbetet med att attrahera och behålla socialsekreterare är ledarskap, arbetsmiljö, kompetensutveckling, tid för återhämtning, meningsfullhet och organisationskultur. Denna studie visar att det är klientarbetet som skapar meningsfullhet för socialsekreterarna i deras yrkesroll. / Title: "Who wants to work with this in the future?" A qualitative study on how public organisations in Småland work to attract and retain social workers. Authors: Bettina Idberg Corr, Johanna Lindberg, Kevin Hammenstrand Problem formulation:  · How does the public sector work to attract and retain competence within the professional group of social workers? · What opportunities can be identified to meet the continuing challenges of attracting and retaining social workers? Purpose: The purpose of the study is to get an idea of how public services work to attract and retain social workers. The study also intends to identify continuing challenges in how public services work to attract and retain social workers. Method: A qualitative case study with an inductive approach. Data collection has been done through semi-structured qualitative interviews.         Conclusion: Our study shows that how public services work to attract and retain social workers differs depending on the conditions the municipalities have. Central factors in the work to attract and retain social workers are leadership, work environment, skills development, time for recovery, meaningfulness and organisational culture. This study shows that it is the client work that creates meaningfulness for the social workers in their professional role.

Bakgrund: Den svenska psykiatrin består idag av både privata och offentliga aktörer som agerar i ett valfrihetssystem. Valfrihetssystemet anses stimulera konkurrensen mellan sektorerna och på så vis öka effektiviteten samt kvaliteten inom sektorerna. Valfrihetssystemet har dock mött kritik som grundas i hur lönsamhet överordnar kvalitativa mål. Denna problematik anses ha sitt ursprung i new public management reformer som har influerat den offentliga sektorn att agera mer som den privata. Med utgångspunkt i denna problematik behandlar uppsatsen hur aktörerna kombinerar sina motstridiga kvalitativa och ekonomiska mål. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur privat samt offentlig psykiatri arbetar med att kombinera kvalitativa och ekonomiska mål.  Metod: Uppsatsen utgår från en multipel flerfallsstudie, med en abduktiv forskningsansats. 16 stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer hölls med anställda inom både privat och offentlig sektor. Dessutom har data samlats in från vetenskapliga artiklar, litteratur och elektroniska källor.  Slutsats: Uppsatsens slutsats är att om ekonomin är i balans kan kvalitativ vård erbjudas. Inom psykiatrin sker avvägningar mellan kvalitet och lönsamhet, men kvaliteten går alltid före inom båda sektorerna då deras huvuduppdrag är att ge god vård till sina patienter. / Background: Swedish psychiatry consists of both private and public actors that exist in a freedom of choice system. The system of choice is meant to stimulate the competition between the sectors and in doing so improve their efficiency and quality. However, the system of choice has been criticized as it may promote profitability over qualitative objectives. The issue stems from how new public management reforms have influenced the public sector to act more as the private. On the basis of this issue, the essay covers how the actors combine conflicting qualitative and financial goals. Purpose: The purpose of the essay is to examine how private and public psychiatry combine qualitative and financial goals. Method: The essay is based on a multiple case study using an abductive approach. 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with employees within both sectors. In addition data has been collected from scientific articles, literature and electronic sources. Conclusion: The essay's conclusion is that if the economy is balanced then qualitative healthcare can be offered. Within psychiatry, trade-offs are made between quality and profitability, but quality is always prioritized in both sectors as their main mission is to provide good care.

Swedish elderly care stands before vast employee related challenges in a future with an aging population that will require welfare. By studying what makes working in elder care attractive and what can be done to strengthen its’ attractiveness, tools can be made to attract employees to the occupation and thereby secure the future needs. This qualitative study has investigated employees' experiences of attractive work in a municipal home care service. Through two focus groups based on a model for attractive work, six employees' experiences of what makes their work attractive in a municipal home care organization have been identified. The results show these are social contact and relationships with colleagues, helping others, having varied tasks and care recipients, present and understanding leadership, and problem-solving in work. Improvement points such as increased salaries, more flexible schedules, raising the status of the home care profession, improving employees' ability to show appreciation for each other, and expanding employees' autonomy in their work have also been identified as ways to enhance the attractiveness of the work according to respondents. The study was inspired by hermeneutic-oriented empirical phenomenology, where respondents' experiences of the phenomenon of attractive work are central, but pre-understanding is used to gain a deeper understanding of these experiences and put them in a broader context. Using the model for attractive work, respondents' experiences have been compared to the model and previous research in the field, where similarities and differences have been identified and discussed. / Svensk äldreomsorg står inför stora personalrelaterade utmaningar i en framtid med en åldrande befolkning som kommer behöva välfärd. Genom att undersöka vad som gör hemtjänstarbetet attraktivt och vad som kan göra arbetet attraktivare kan verktyg skapas för att locka fler medarbetare till hemtjänsten och därigenom säkra framtidens behov. Denna kvalitativa studie har undersökt medarbetares upplevelser av attraktivt arbete i en kommunal hemtjänstverksamhet. Genom två fokusgrupper som kommer ifrån en modell för attraktivt arbete har vad sex medarbetarna upplever som attraktivt med sitt arbete hos en kommunal hemtjänstorganisation identifierats. Resultatet visar att dessa är den sociala kontakten och relationen till kollegorna, att hjälpa andra, ha varierande arbetsuppgifter och brukare, veta vad som ska göras, ett närvarande och förstående ledarskap samt att få lösa problem i arbetet. Förbättringsområden som höjda löner, luftigare scheman, att höja hemtjänstyrkets status, att medarbetarna blir bättre på att visa varandra uppskattning samt en utökad handlingsfrihet i arbetet för medarbetarna har också identifierats som respondenterna menade kan stärka arbetets attraktivitet. Studien har inspirerats av en hermeneutisk orienterad empirisk fenomenologi där respondenternas upplevelser av fenomenet attraktivt arbete står i centrum men förförståelse används för att få en djupare förståelse för dessa upplevelser och sätta dem i en större kontext. Med hjälp av modellen för attraktivt arbete har respondenternas upplevelser jämförts med nämnda modell samt tidigare forskning inom fältet för att identifiera och diskutera likheter och skillnader.

The Swedish Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (known as LSS) is said to hold strong rights regarding support intended to empower people with severe disabilities. This study investigates to which extent children are attributed rights in the preparatory work for the LSS and in the administrative court’s judgments. Using qualitative content analysis, this study finds that there is a strong disa-bility rights perspective in the preparatory work but a general ambiguity concerning whether the perspective covers children. The absence of a disability rights perspective in court records concerning children can be under-stood in light of this ambiguity. Other findings include a strong parent perspective and an absent or weak chil-dren's rights perspective in both the preparatory work and court judgments. Children are seldom given a voice or made visible as social actors with rights of their own. Instead, children are described as family members and the care responsibilities of parents – who, in turn, have a voice and are seen as in need of support. The thesis con-cludes that there is a need to clarify the rights of the child in the LSS and how these should be prioritized against parents' interests.