Text in English / Previous studies have reported a high prevalence of HIV and AIDS among adolescent girls. It is estimated that there are 5,24 million people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). These estimates would mean that about 2.36 million people living with HIV/AIDS would be young women and girls aged 15-24 years. The latest household survey conducted by the Human Science Research Council (HSRC) revealed that the prevalence of HIV is three to seven fold in girls and young women aged 15-24 than boys and young men (HSRC 2014) This resurgence in HIV incidence is occurring at a time when it is believed the epidemic has reached a plateau following aggressive behavioural, biomedical and structural interventions by the Department of Health, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) and civil society in general. A probability sampling method, involving a random selection of elements was used to select 130 young women and girls aged 18-24 presenting at Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital by simple random sampling. Data were collected by self-administering questionnaires. High unemployment and greater age-disparity in the relationships were found to have a direct correlation with HIV incidence in the population under study. This study also shows that inconsistent condom use, low rate of medical male circumcision of male partners, coupled with lower HIV counselling and testing than the national average, was associated with new HIV infections, in spite of high level of condom availability, knowledge of HIV issues and an exposure to an array of behavioural change communication interventions. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

Cette recherche s’inscrit dans le champ de la psychologie sociale du travail et des organisations. Elle s’intéresse aux conduites de socialisation organisationnelle des jeunes diplômées vietnamiennes. Adoptant une approche systémique et constructiviste, nous considérons que chaque individu au travail est un « sujet actif parce que pluriel et prospectif » dans son processus de socialisation et de personnalisation. Dans une visée exploratoire, nous cherchons à montrer que les conduites de socialisation des jeunes diplômées vietnamiennes ne sont pas uniquement déterminées par leurs caractéristiques socio-biographiques et leurs contextes organisationnels, mais qu’elles sont aussi orientées par leur activité psychologique de signification du travail. Après une enquête exploratoire par entretien, une enquête extensive par questionnaire nous a permis d’interroger 435 jeunes femmes diplômées à partir du niveau Maîtrise, dans une pluralité de domaines de travail. L’analyse des résultats permet tout d’abord d’établir une typologie des jeunes diplômées vietnamiennes. Les caractéristiques socio-biographiques de chacune des 4 classes dégagées, sont en relations significatives avec les différentes conduites de socialisation organisationnelle étudiées. A l’analyse de ces premiers constats, le contexte socio-économique et culturel dans la transition du travail et de l’emploi au Vietnam nous semble toujours constituer un « déterminant collectif » prégnant des conduites individuelles des travailleurs. Les résultats montrent, en outre, le poids important des processus axiologiques qui sont en jeu dans l’activité de nos sujets, notamment l’influence du sens du travail sur les processus d’évaluation par les sujets, des effets de leur activité de travail. En plus d’une contribution pour décrire les conduites au travail des jeunes diplômées vietnamiennes actuelles, ces résultats permettent de formuler des recommandations tant au niveau théorique qu’au niveau pratique. Au niveau théorique, ils invitent, entre autres, à enrichir la notion de « sujet pluriel » dans une même sphère professionnelle que la littérature n’aborde pas encore. Au niveau pratique, ils amènent à des propositions en matière de formation et d’orientation professionnelle pour faciliter l’insertion professionnelle des jeunes vietnamiennes ainsi que des jeunes vietnamiens. / This research is in the field of social psychology of work and organizations. It is interested in behavior organizational socialization of graduated Vietnamese young women. Adopting a systemic and constructivist approach, we think each person at work is « an active subject because plural and prospective » in his process of socialization and personalization. In an exploring view, we try to show that the socialization behaviours of young Vietnamese graduated are not only determined by their socio-biographical characteristics and their organizational contexts but also oriented by their psychological activity of meaning of work. After an exploratory investigation by interview, an extensive survey with questionnaire allowed us to inquire 435 young women graduates, from Master of Arts level, in a multiplicity of work spheres. First, the analysis of the results, allows establishing a typology of young Vietnamese graduates. The socio-biographical characteristics of the 4 classes are in significant relationships with the various behaviours of organizational socialization. When analyzing those first results, it seems that socio-economic and cultural context in the transition of labour and employment in Vietnam, stay a « collective determinant » for individual behaviours of workers. In addition, the results show the importance of axiological processes which are involved in the activities of our subjects, including the influence of the meaning of work, on the evaluation process by the subjects of the effects of their work activity. Over the contribution to describe the working behaviours of young graduates Vietnamese, these results provide recommendations both at a theoretical and at a practical level. At the theoretical level, they invited to enrich the notion of « plural subject » in the same professional sphere as literature doesn’t approach yet. Practically, they lead to propose training and professional guidance to make easier the professional insertion of young Vietnamese women and men. / Thuộc chuyên ngành Tâm lí học lao động và các tổ chức, luận án này nghiên cứu các hành vi xã hội hóa nghề nghiệp của nữ trí thức trẻ Việt Nam. Vận dụng « tiếp cận hệ thống và xây dựng », chúng tôi cho rằng mỗi cá nhân là một « chủ thể tích cực vì sự xã hội hóa đa dạng và hướng đến tương lai » trong quá trình xã hội hóa và cá thể hóa. Trong khuôn khổ một nghiên cứu mở đường, chúng tôi muốn chỉ ra rằng các hành vi xã hội hóa nghề nghiệp của nữ trí thức trẻ Việt Nam không chỉ phụ thuộc vào những đặc điểm cá nhân - xã hội và đặc điểm của môi trường lao động mà họ thuộc về, mà chúng còn được định hướng bởi đặc điểm tâm lí của nữ trí thức và ý nghĩa của công việc đối với họ. Từ phỏng vấn bán cấu trúc ban đầu, chúng tôi đã làm điều tra mở rộng bằng bảng hỏi trên 435 khách thể, là những nữ lao động có trình độ từ Đại học trở lên, trong nhiều lĩnh vực nghề nghiệp khác nhau. Các kết quả thu được cho phép thiết lập một hệ thống phân loại các nữ trí thức thành 4 nhóm. Những đặc điểm cá nhân xã hội của 4 nhóm trí thức này có mối quan hệ có ý nghĩa với hành vi xã hội hóa nghề nghiệp của họ. Từ những phân tích ban đầu, chúng tôi nhận thấy hoàn cảnh kinh tế, xã hội và văn hóa trong sự chuyển đổi lao động và việc làm ở Việt Nam luôn có ảnh hưởng mạnh mẽ đến hành vi của người lao động. Bên cạnh đó, các kết quả cũng chỉ ra sự ảnh hưởng của các giá trị cá nhân đến hoạt động của chủ thể, đặc biệt là ảnh hưởng của ý nghĩa của công việc tới cách đánh giá hiệu quả hoạt động của chủ thể. Ngoài những đóng góp vào việc mô tả hành vi nghề nghiệp của nữ trí thức trẻ Việt Nam, kết quả nghiên cứu cũng cho phép chúng tôi đưa ra những kiến nghị cả về mặt lý thuyết lẫn thực tiễn. Về lí thuyết, các kết quả này mở ra việc bổ sung vào khái niệm « chủ thể đa dạng » không chỉ trong mối tương quan với các mặt khác nhau của đời sống là cuộc sống gia đình, cuộc sống nghề nghiệp, cuộc sống cá nhân và cuộc sống xã hội mà người lao động trẻ Việt Nam còn thể hiện là một « chủ thể đa dạng » ngay trong cuộc sống nghề nghiệp khi họ một lúc làm nhiều công việc. Điều này chưa được lý thuyết về xã hội hóa nghề nghiệp đề cập đến. Về mặt thực tiễn, luận án hướng đến những kiến nghị liên quan đến đào tạo và hướng nghiệp để làm thuận lợi quá trình gia nhập vào đời sống nghề nghiệp của giới trẻ Việt Nam.

This study focuses on three young women in their final year of school using data gathered during a year-long process of individual conversational interviews, the contents of which were largely determined by their interests. Three themes arise from critical incidents during this year - the debutante ball, teenage pregnancy and dieting. These themes are used to focus wide ranging explorations of what it is to be a young woman at this particular time. The broader cultural production of discursive positions available to, and developed by, these young women as part of their identity formation is discussed. Methodological issues concerning power relationships between research participants are also the focus of critical attention. It is considered that young women's bodies and bodily practices are central to understanding the processes involved in their identity formation. It is in this context that the focus turns to bodies that matter. In contemporary Western cultures 'adolescent bodies' could be said to matter 'too much' in the sense that they are increasingly the focus for disciplinary practices in institutions such as schooling, the church, the family, health care, health promotion and the media. This disciplining is legitimised because adolescence is socially constructed as a 'becoming'. In this case it is a matter of 'becoming woman'; a sort of apprenticeship which allows for knowledgeable others to provide not only guidance and nurturance, but discipline. Using insights gained from feminist poststructuralist theory and cultural feminism this thesis argues that the discourses and practices generated within and across institutions, which are normalised by their institutional base, are gender differentiated. The focus is on young women's embodied subjectivity and how the discourses and practices they engage with and in work to construct an ideal feminine body-subject. The discursive production of a gendered identity has a considerable impact on young women's health and their health-related behaviours. This is explored specifically in the thesis in relation to sexuality and the cultural production of the 'ideal' female body. It is argued that health education and health promotion strategies which are designed to influence young women's health related behaviours, need to consider the forms of power, knowledge and desire produced through young women's active engagement with institutionalised discourses of identity if they are to have an ongoing impact

Background Adolescent subjective health and mental problems have become a public health concern not only in Sweden but worldwide. The overall aim of this thesis is to deepen and widen the understanding of young peoples’ subjective health, psychosomatic and stress-related problems. A special focus is put on experienced stress among adolescent girls and young women. The study setting is one youth health centre, and three upper secondary schools in Umeå, a university town in northern Sweden. The research design combines qualitative and quantitative methods with the main focus on qualitative methods. An interdisciplinary theoretical synthesis is utilised, primarily based on bio-psycho-social, phenomenological, and social constructionist approaches. The three qualitative papers (I-III) are based on the same sample of 40 young women who had sought help at the youth health centre because of their stress-related problems. Paper I explores the stressors experienced by the young women, whereas Paper II explores the lived experiences of stress. Paper III examines the young women’s experiences of living in a violent partner relationship as young teenagers, and how this has affected their lives and health over time. Paper IV investigates perceived stress and subjective health complaints among older adolescents in upper secondary school.   Methods Data was derived from: a) a qualitative interview study with 40 adolescent girls and young women, aged between 16–25 years, who had sought help at the youth health centre for stress problems. Qualitative content analysis was used in combination with discourse-orientated analysis (Paper I); a phenomenological approach (Paper II), and narrative method (Paper III); b) a school-based survey with a sample of 16–18-year-old boys and girls (n=1027), in upper secondary school, grades 1 and 2, from different educational programs at three schools. Perceived stress, self-rated health, subjective health complaints, anxiety, and depression, were measured with a questionnaire including a set of instruments. Statistical analyses were descriptive and analytical.   Results Paper I identified multiple stressors of modernity, gender orders and youth. Contextual factors, including social constructions and practices of gender, played an important role for the stress experienced by these young women. The results revealed that multiple and intersecting stressors and demands connected to essential life spheres, contributed not only to experiences of distress but also to feelings of constraint. Moreover, the roles of excessive taking of responsibility and failing adult support were revealed. Paper II illuminated multidimensional lived and embodied experiences of distress. ‘Living close to the edge’ emerged as the common theme running through all of the interviews and captured the young women’s sometimes unbearable situations. The theme contains dimensions of physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and existential distress, as well as dimensions of distrust and disempowerment. Paper III examined two Swedish adolescent girls’ experiences of living in a violent relationship as teenagers, and how this has affected their lives and health over time. The analysis revealed violation, stress, trauma, coping, and agency during adolescence and the transition into adulthood. Paper IV showed a high level of perceived stress, and subjective health and stress complaints among boys and girls. High pressure and excessive demands from school were experienced by a majority of boys and girls. Perceived stress was correlated with subjective health and stress complaints and anxiety. There was a clear gender difference: two to three times as many girls than boys reported subjective health complaints, e.g. headaches, tiredness and sleeping difficulties, musculoskeletal pain, sadness and anxiety.   Conclusion Several issues of relevance to public health were raised throughout the thesis. According to the interview results, the young women face multiple and intersecting stressors of modernity, gender orders and being young, which correspond to their multidimensional experiences of ‘living close to the edge’. Their experiences of stress are multidimensional, and include physical, emotional, cognitive, social and existential dimensions. Findings from the qualitative study were also mirrored in the findings from the larger group of adolescents in the school survey, where a high proportion of older adolescents, particularly girls, reported perceptions of stress. Moreover, perceived stress correlated to a variety of subjective health complaints and anxiety. The results can be understood and explained from a variety of perspectives. The experience of ‘managing alone’ indicated perceptions of inadequate social support. The overall results indicated a risk of more negative health development, particularly among adolescent girls and young women. Stressors of modernity, gender orders and youth were prominent. The continuation and normalisation of oppression and violence are also discussed as a severe gendered stressor in young women’s lives. This calls for a broad contextualised and gender-sensitive approach to young people’s stress and health problems. In conclusion, the age and gender gap in adolescent health needs to be further explored, and processes of distress, distrust and disempowerment have to be taken more seriously. / Under det senaste decenniet har medier och flertalet nationella forskningsrapporter informerat om ökande psykisk ohälsa och stress bland barn och unga i Sverige. Denna avhandlings syfte är att med hjälp av en utforskande och tvärvetenskaplig ansats fördjupa förståelsen av subjektiva ohälsoproblem och upplevd stress bland unga i Sverige, med speciellt fokus på flickors och unga kvinnors upplevda stressproblem. Avhandlingen har en explorativ och flexibel studiedesign som kombinerar kvalitativa och kvantitativa forskningsmetoder med särskild tyngdpunkt på de kvalitativa metoderna. Datainsamling har genomförts med a) kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer med en grupp flickor och unga kvinnor (16–25 år) som sökt hjälp för stressrelaterade problem på en ungdomshälsomottagning i Umeå, och b) en skolbaserad enkätunder-sökning med totalt 1027 pojkar och flickor, 16–18 år, i åk 1–2 på tre kommunala gymnasieskolor i Umeå. Forskningsintervjuerna har huvudsakligen analyserats med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Innehållsanalysen har i de olika delarbetena sedan kombinerats med diskursorienterad analys (Artikel I), med fenomenologisk ansats (Artikel II) och med narrativ metod (Artikel III). Skolenkäten har analyserats med deskriptiva och analytiska statistiska metoder (Artikel IV). Resultaten från den kvalitativa intervjuundersökningen med unga kvinnor belyser a) multipla stressorer som kan hänföras till flera parallella områden i livet – men även till samhälleliga diskurser: modernitetens stressorer, genusordningarnas stressorer och ungdoms-årens stressorer, b) multidimensionella, levda och förkroppsligade erfarenheter av stress och ”att leva på gränsen” som innefattar fysiska, emotionella, kognitiva, sociala och existentiella dimensioner och c) erfarenheter av våld och kontroll i partnerrelationer samt deras konsekvenser. Resultaten från enkätundersökningen med gymnasielever visar att en stor andel av ungdomarna rapporterar subjektiva hälso- och stressbesvär av olika slag inklusive oro och ångest. Jämfört med pojkarna så är det två till tre gånger fler flickor som rapporterar besvär och denna skillnad är signifikant. En majoritet av ungdomarna håller ett högt tempo och upplever sig också pressade av krav från skolan samt av egna inre krav. Upplevelserna av stress i form av högt tempo och höga krav korrelerar med de subjektiva hälso- och stressbesvären samt med ångest.   Sammanfattningsvis visar avhandlingen att ungas stressrelaterade och subjektiva hälsobesvär bör förstås i ett vidare socialt sammanhang som inkluderar ett genusperspektiv. Kontext- och genusspecifika interventionsmodeller behöver utvecklas för att möta dessa hälsoproblem, men stress bland unga behöver också diskuteras och studeras vidare i relation till hur samhällsutvecklingen och dess värdegrunder påverkar unga av idag.

Listan över influerare som har gjort skönhetsingrepp kan göras lång. För att nämna ett exempel har Bianca Ingrosso med ett följarantal på 343 000 på Youtube talat öppet om att hon gjort lipfillers (Ingrosso, 2020). Dessa inlägg där influerare talar om hur de korrigerar sin kropp i kombination med att de unga är i majoritet på internet och sociala medier (Svenskarna och internet 2019) ligger till grund för vår vilja att genomföra denna undersökning. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur influerares reklam och framställning av skönhetsingrepp kan skapa betydelse för hur unga kvinnor ser på den egna kroppen. För att genomföra studien har vi använt oss av sex stycken kvalitativa intervjuer med kvinnor i åldrarna 15–17 år. Intervjuerna har spelats in och transkriberats och materialet har sedan analyserats för att besvara våra frågeställningar. Utifrån våra intervjuer kan vi se att influerares sätt att tala om och göra reklam för skönhetsingrepp har betydelse för unga kvinnors attityder till den egna kroppen. Några av respondenterna har även uttryckt att de blivit osäkra gällande sin egen kropp efter att ha sett inlägg gällande skönhetsingrepp från en influerare. Vi kan tydligt se att respondenterna tror att unga kvinnor är den grupp som påverkas mest av influerares framställning av skönhetsingrepp. Intervjuerna visar att respondenterna tar del av ett dominerande skönhetsideal på sociala medier och de beskriver idealet som att man ska vara smal, lång och vacker. Vi kan tydligt se, genom de analyserade intervjuerna, att de unga kvinnorna som deltog i denna studie är kritiska till influerare som talar om och gör reklam för skönhetsingrepp, då de tycker att det uppmanar andra till att korrigera sin kropp. Trots kritiken så spelar influerare en stor roll i de unga kvinnornas liv och de uttrycker att de får inspiration av influerare gällande var och vad man äter, hur man klär sig och hur man tränar. Vi kan därmed se en viss ambivalens i respondenternas svar då de följer specifika influerare samtidigt som de riktar kritik gentemot dessa. / The list of influencers who has had cosmetic procedures done can be made long. To mention one example, Bianca Ingrosso with 343 000 followers on Youtube, has spoken openly about her lip fillers (Ingrosso 2020). These types of posts, where influencers talk about how they correct their body, in combination with the fact that young people are a majority of the internet and social media users (Svenskarna och internet 2019) forms the basis of our motivation to conduct this study. This study aims to analyze whether, and if so, how influencers advertising and speech about cosmetic procedures contribute in creating meaning regarding how young women view their own body. This study was conducted with six qualitative interviews, with women in age 15-17. The interviews have been recorded and transcribed and the material has been analyzed to answer our research questions. Throughout our analyzed interviews can we see that influencers' speech and advertising about cosmetic procedures are meaningful regarding young women's attitudes to their own body. Some of the respondents expressed that they felt insecure about their own body after seeing an influencer talk about cosmetic procedures. We can also see that the respondents think that young women as a group of people are affected by influencers' opinions about cosmetic procedures. In the interviews, we can also see that the respondents take part in constructing a dominating beauty ideal on social media and they define the ideal as being skinny, tall and beautiful. Clearly the young women who took part in this study are critical of how influencers talk and do commercials about cosmetic procedures, they think influencers tell others to correct their body. Despite the criticism, the young women in this study are still inspired by influencers, regarding where and what they eat, how they dress and how they work out. We can clearly see some ambivalence in the way the respondents answer as they follow specific influencers while they also are criticizing them.