1.
Esholdt, Henriette frees
(författare)
Når humor, leg og lyst er på spil : Social interaktion på en multietnisk arbejdsplads
2015
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
How can we understand the multi-ethnic workplace as a social meeting place? And what happens if we do not 'frame' in advance the social meeting in the widespread anti-racist frame of understanding? These are the questions that are central to this thesis. Starting from a phenomenological methodology, it is the ambition of the thesis to challenge our usual preconceptions and not pre-define how inter-ethnic relations are to be understood, which is why the thesis - expressed in Goffman's terms - asks: ”What is it that’s going on here?” (Goffman 1974), as a way of finding which framework of understanding should be applied. Based on the part of the lifeworld that unfolds in a multi-ethnic workplace, the thesis examines the social interaction in inter-ethnic collegial relationships as it spontaneously arises and develops in the inter-ethnic collegial relationships in everyday working life. The thesis is based on fieldwork (consisting of participant observation and interviews) at the Food Factory ("Madfabrikken"), a multi-ethnic workplace in the hospitality sector in Denmark. With an auto-ethnographic point of departure, the researcher brings herself into play in the relationships under study, and makes herself an object of observation, reflection and study. In addition to the life at the Food Factory, the thesis is also concerned with the research process, and experiments with different methods of grasping and conveying the life lived in the Food Factory in all its complexity and ambiguity. The thesis explores empirical observations of social interactions, where humour, play and pleasure are on the line. As much as the interplay in the collegial relationships at the Food Factory can be pleasurable and fun, it does, however, bring the risk of danger. It is this duality that is illuminated in this thesis. In the first instance, the humour, play and pleasure are continually on line in the collegial interaction and this contributes to a range of humour-based and sexualized forms of social interaction, where "ethnicity" is defused and enjoyed as an aesthetic and sexualised surface. Secondly, it is true in the sense that humour, play and pleasure risk being on the line or jeopardized, if the rules for the interaction are not mastered or respected. What was previously 'framed' as being pleasurable, sexualized play and teasing at work, or what was set in a humorous frame, is suddenly in danger of being replaced or overtaken by a new 'framing' of the situation as sexual harassment or racism. The thesis does not end up with definitive answers as to how social interaction in a multi-ethnic workplace should be understood and how we can understand it as a social meeting place, but contributes with the knowledge that social interaction in inter-ethnic collegial relationships is vulnerable, ambiguous, fragile, undecidable, manipulable and redefinable. With an object-sensitive eye, the thesis contributes to other, more nuanced narratives about the social meeting of the inter-ethnic relationships - namely the narratives about the life lived and its forms.
2.
Ebsen, Frank
(författare)
Udsat til børneforsorg : om etablering af familiepleje, børenanstalter og indsats i hjemmet for udsatte børn i Danmark
2012
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
This dissertation looks into the treatment of exposed children and young people. The background is a puzzlement as to how the discourse on treatment, during the latest twenty years, has concentrated on the same institutions and themes (Ebsen, 2007). The aim of the dissertation is to shed light on how the institutions of child saving, (family care, placement in residential care, intervention in the home) the specific social technologies and the understanding of children and adolescents, within the child saving system, were established. The first step in this research was to look back in time through the legislation and realize that the first stand-alone act on exposed children and adolescents was launched in 1905 (The Act of neglected and Criminal Children and Adolescents). The Act states that the institutions of child saving include family care, small and large institutions, special intervention in the homes of the neglected children, and an agency which was to make decisions on removing a child and, if necessary, on where the child should be placed. It appears as if the institutions had already been established at the time, and were just gathered in one act. The act gathered the many organizations into a public unity of child saving with the crucial point of securing a public financing by the state. There are good reasons for regarding the 1905 Act as a kind of constitution of the Danish child saving (Like e.g. Egelund, 1997; Bryderup, 2008). This led to research into the background of the 1905 Act More specifically, it led to the study of how the various institutions mentioned in the Act had come into being, and it was examined whether there existed some kind of special institutional “lock-up” which meant that one century later the same institutions were still crucial.
3.
Egelund, Tine
(författare)
Beskyttelse af barndommen : Socialforvaltningers risikovurdering og indgreb
1997
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The objectives of this dissertation are 1) to describe what child protection services actually do when assessing risk and deciding on interventions, and 2) to analyze this practice in the light of institutional expectations, organizational demands and professional technology. The field work was carried out in two Danish municipal social service agencies. Data consist of records on families subjected to serious interventions. Participant observation of case conferences and social workers' and supervisors' work days was undertaken, including their conversations with clients. In-depth interviews were conducted with mothers whose children had been placed outside home. Protection of children is analyzed in a historical and a child abuse and neglect research context. Results indicate that children's risks are not, as a rule, assessed on the basis of an understanding of the child's well-being, day to day experiences, or symptoms. Child protection services, normally, do not know the children concerned well enough for this. Neither are children's unfavourable socioeconomic conditions considered. Risk is assessed according to parents' conformity with or deviation from dominating cultural and moral conceptions of acceptable adult and parental performance. The services construct "normal cases" in order to adapt family complexity to administrative criteria and the available repertoire of solutions. A central construc tion is "the deviant family", focusing on all deviant traits and relations. Another construction is that of the "undeserving client", stressing parents' demanding and unruly ways. Yet another is "the psychological individual" transforming social needs into psychological problems which can be met by social policy measures. Institutional and legal expectations from child protection are so many and contradictory that the service objective, i.e. protecting children, is at variance with competing interests and expecta tions. The child protection organization maintains its legitimacy and proves its efforts by conforming to a variety of procedural requirements, which favour intra-organizational administrative processes and keep families at a distance. Institutional and organizational contradictions and an uncertain technology account for a child protection professionalism which is based on common sense concepts and moral evaluations and, seldom, includes the use of knowledge verified by research.
4.
Klitgaard, Vibeke
(författare)
Social (u)orden i distriktspsykiatrien : En systemteoretisk analyse af psykiatriske patienters kommunikation og adfærd samt stigmatisering fra omverdenen
2021
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
This dissertation looks into everyday life at two day-care centres of community psychiatry in the municipality of Copenhagen. More specifically, it is about the patients' communication and behaviour, and about the stigmatization fromthe outer world they experience. The empirical material is based on three years of participant observation. The two daycare centres and their districts were situated in opposite ends of the socioeconomic scale within the municipality, one of them in the district of the highest socioeconomic status in the municipality, the other one in a district of very low socioeconomic status. The socioeconomic distance caused marked differences in the patients' communication and behaviour patterns, which had to do with the patients' orientation. In the day-care centre placed in the low socioeconomic status district the patients focused mainly on the patient community, whereas the patients at the day-care centre in the district of high socioeconomic status were oriented towards normality. I analyze patients’ communication and behaviourin line with the communication part of Luhmann’s systems theory approach. The patients expressed varying degrees of communication disturbances: some major, when they could not express themselves in a comprehensible way and therefore could not interact with other patients; some minor, which enabled them to interact with other patients even if they expressed for instance singular delusions. I focus on the day-care centres' double status as places of refuge and as stigmamarkers. They were places of refuge where the patients could talk freely about their symptoms and the effects of psychopharmaceuticals. However, the day-care centres were also stigma-markers because the patients were subjected to stigmatisation and moral judgment as a consequence of their mere contact with the psychiatric treatment system. The literature on stigmatisation describes how the discrimination against psychiatric patients influence their chances in more or less all life areas: Income, education, job and employment, psychological well-being, housing status, medical treatment, health and satisfactory relations. On top of the above-mentioned, psychiatric patients are at severe risk of excess mortality, as recently documented in a forensic autopsy study.
5.
Munk, Martin D
(författare)
Livsbaner gennem et felt : En analyse af eliteidraetsudøveres sociale mobilitet og rekonversioner af kapital i det sociale rum
1999
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The thesis deals with a theoretical outline of the theory of reconversions in the light of the social space, with an analysis of top level athletes' mobility and strategies of reconversions in their trajectories through the relative autonomous field of sports. Some disciplines in this field have much autonomy, others less, and are positioned according to a state of distribution of the specific capital, accumulated in the consequence of previous struggles. Trajectories and classes are not reproduced in a mechanical way, there are specific effects in those. By the concept of strategies of reconversions it is possible to determine central societal processes according to transformations and reproductions of the social world. They are defined as practices by which social groups endeavour to keep 'on the road' or even change position. In that sense social life is about struggles and converting capital. The thesis builds upon investigations of sports. In an enquete, 1990, I examined whether cycling could be characterized as a field, and included 220 schemes. In 1993, I studied athletes' trajectories through sports, and how these athletes left sports, including 538 athletes distributed on 25 disciplines in the main analysis. Some of those were interviewed, and material about achievements in international championships and the Danish population were applied. I compared central tables with French sociologists in 1994-1996. I have used correspondence analysis according to a French interpretation. The important thing with this type of analysis is that modalities with small frequencies do not get lost, and there is a possibility of using supplementary modalities and individuals. The main thing is to analyse objective relational oppositions. Correspondence analysis is used together with sociological analysis, which is more sensitive towards empirical material and thereby closer to actually social processes. Two aspects in the transitions between the field of sports and the social space are important: the relative short period of time in sports and the objective possibilities after the time in sports. It is clear that the small conversion-rate of capital into a permanent job in sports (after the active period) is closely related to the fact that Denmark is a society with private organized institutions of sports and clubs grounded upon voluntary work, and no state institutions. This is contrary to the United States and France. Fifteen per cent obtain a job in the field, and it primarily concerns athletes from 'upper' and 'middle' classes (academics, teachers and directors) and agents with large volume of sports capital. What seems to be important is the structural homology between the social space and the way in which athletes find their pathways from the field to other places in the social space; capital can be converted on certain conditions. The great amount of movements regarding sons and daughters of self-employed to working class conditions and to positions like teachers reflect a general tendency in society. The correspondence analysis shows two main positions over time, dealing with agents who pass through and spend some time of the trajectory in the field of sports. On one side there is a vocational pole with origin among dominated classes, and on the other side an academic pole primarily with origin among dominating classes. Furthermore the analysis point at a dichotomy between objective opportunities for a professional career in badminton, golf, tennis etc. and no possibilities in curling, orienteering, shooting etc. There is an effect of gravitation/struggle from the field of sports, with the possibility of converting sports capital, but the strategies of reconversions and mobility depend also on the structural homology between the field and the social space mediated by trajectories, and the structure of society.
6.
Raunkiær, Mette
(författare)
At være døende hjemme? : Hverdagsliv og idealer
2007
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The dissertation deals with two part-studies. The main focus is a field study the purpose of which is to understand incurable disease and death as hands-on experiences at the player's level. With the aid of observations and interviews, nine dying people, relatives and community nurses are followed in the families? homes over time. The second part-study is a discourse analysis of Danish health-policy reports on the palliative field from 1985 to 2006. The object is to elucidate social ideals about ?the good death?. The epistemological approach has been inspired by social constructionism. The field study has been analysed on the back of everyday-life theory, and the discourse analysis with inspiration from genealogical discourse analyses, discourse theory and perspectives on the construction of social problems. The field study shows how everyday routines, ruptures, time and space are essential to the family's everyday life, as well as how the bodily experience of the dying can have a bearing on action strategies. Insight is provided into the way relationships and interactions are challenged, as well as the potential difficulty of handling issues about dying people's whereabouts, intimate situations and "talking about death". In terms of the nurses, for example, it emerges that dispensing medication and other clinical tasks can have various functions, as well as contact with the families proving a potential challenge to professionals.
7.
Skytte, Marianne
(författare)
Anbringelse af etniske minoritetsbørn : Om socialarbejderes vurderinger og handlinger
2002
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The dissertation studies how social workers ensure continuity in relation to the individual child's background when placing and working with children of ethnic minority background in care. This is studied through 44 sets of case study notes from a foster-care association and interviews with 10 foster-care consultants. These two types of data are analysed through three perspectives: a continuity perspective, a right-to-continuity perspective derived from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and an equality perspective. The study suggests that in general the social workers do not seem to have a continuity perspective that involves the child’s minority background; and the social workers’ assessments and actions are not affected by the child’s continuity rights according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The children with other mother tongues than Danish are in reality denied the right to speak their mother tongue and develop their language through regular contact with others speaking this language. In an equality perspective the foster care study suggests that children taken into care from ethnic minority parents are not given the opportunity to develop social and communicative skills that would put them on an even footing with their peers when it comes to contact with their families. Discussing these findings the dissertation presents a vignette study, where the main result is, that there is no systematic difference in the social workers' assessments and tendencies of actions dependent on whether the boys in the vignettes were called Ali and Osman or Erik and Jan. The discussion also draws on the results of an analysis of what data from Statistics Denmark has to say about children in care and preventative measures in relation to children and young people in 2000 for children and young people categorised in the population statistics as immigrants, descendants and ‘others’. The analysis shows that in all age groups descendants are far less frequently the subjects of care orders than children in the ‘others’ category. Also there is a strong tendency that immigrants are less frequently the subjects of care orders than ‘other’ children in the 5-14 age group. The results of the three sets of data material are discussed with reference to differences in the living conditions of the children in Denmark, differences between the social workers attitudes and their actions in social work, the uncertainty of the social workers when working with ethnic minority children and the quality of the interventions the social workers have to offer the child and its family. The dissertation further suggests that the specific results of the foster care study can be understood in a context of Danish nationality, the specific Danish welfare state regulation and the ideology of social work.
8.
Thorsted, Kristine
(författare)
It-retorik og hverdagsliv : Et studie af fødevarehandel over Internet
2005
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
From a social constructivist point of view this thesis investigates how e-commerce of grocery develops in the period 1998-2003. The empirical research is done in Sweden. Most Swedish grocery concerns that have had e-commerce and have been forced to shut down as a result of lack of demand. The starting point for this thesis is that technological development is an ongoing process where different actors participate. Likewise, technological invention cannot be considered finished before it is in use. Therefore in this thesis consumer - as well as supplier perspectives are investigated. The analysis focuses on understanding how different knowledge and practices in these two contexts affect the development of e-commerce of groceries. Empirical data from the supplier side shows that technical solutions for online grocery shopping arose from certain perceptions in the grocery business and IT sector. In the late 90's there was a strong faith in ICT (information- and communication technology) which affected how venture interests invested in new IT-applications. Empirical data show that among suppliers there is a rather narrow perception of consumers? use of e-commerce in grocery shopping. This perception of consumer needs is contradicted by the analysis of consumer behavior which shows how Internet use is embedded in contexts of everyday life and how consumer skills are used in shopping. It is particularly households with several family members that use the Internet for grocery shopping and it is especially women who are purchasing groceries on the Internet. The empirical data shows how consumers form strategies for buying groceries on the Internet. Typically consumers prefer to purchase certain kinds of products in the store and other kinds on the Internet. This stems from the fact that consumers feel it is important to have physical contact with especially fresh products. This can be interpreted to mean that the shopping is a way of expressing affection for family members. Another finding is that dilemmas arose in the work of shopping. There is a need for being effective in shopping but also a need for precise investigation of products and accuracy in selecting. E-commerce cannot fully satisfy shopping needs, and it is only seen as a complement among families using it. Thus, e-commerce is used in correspondence with consumer skills in the household. The thesis shows the gendered aspects of shopping and the importance of understanding consumer culture where technology is introduced.
9.
Wright Nielsen, Tabitha
(författare)
Viljen til at frigøre : En undersøgelse af empowerment i praksis
2009
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Empowerment is a concept and a method in social work associated with liberation from oppression. Some paradoxes inherent in the concept and method of empowerment, however, lead to questioning the contradiction between freedom and force that is usually framed by “empowerment”. This dissertation investigates how empowerment is created in a concrete language and an integration project directed towards a group of women with refugee and immigrant background. The Project was part of the Equal Program under the European Social Fund. Departing from the paradoxes characterizing empowerment, the principal research questions of the dissertation are: How is empowerment created in the Project? What shall practices of empowerment create? The dissertation demonstrates that empowerment as the will to liberate, cannot be understood as a liberating method. Rather it has to be understood as a form of power aiming to create certain subjects corresponding to the objective of the making of empowerment. In other words, liberation cannot be derived from an essential meaning. The meaning of liberation receives a specific meaning from the institutional context within which it takes place and are being made. Based on the French philosopher Michel Foucault’s concept of power, I employ a perspective of power analysis, within which empowerment is perceived as a productive power, and the subjectivity of the individual is seen as an object of power. Empowerment becomes a way to govern to change and create subjects in accordance with its own objective. The analysis of empowerment hence turns into an investigation of empowerment as a form of productive power, and addresses the question of how empowerment is created, and what it itself creates. The Dissertation shows that the problematization of the women, which is the precondition for empowerment, is principally, based on culture. When the will to liberate is about liberation from a culture, the women are created as deviating from a Swedish norm. Empowerment frames the individual or the group in a specific way, whereby other conditions that can have importance for their situation as a marginalized group are foreclosed. The will to liberate in this way risks becoming an empowerment space that itself sustains the inequality from which it was intended to liberate.
