1.
Alenius Wallin, Linn
(author)
Bonusbarnbarn och bonusförföräldrar : Om omsorgsrelationer mellan generationer i ombildade och valda familjer
2024
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
Grandparents play an increasingly significant role as caregivers in their grandchildren's lives, even in welfare states like Sweden (Bordone et al., 2023; Zanasi et al., 2023). Concurrently, the rise in separations and reconstitutions of partnerships, both among parents and grandparents, has led to an increase in step-relationships (Guzzo, 2016; Lowenstein, 2005). Step-grandparenting and step-grandchild relationships arise as a consequence of these family reconfigurations, as well as through personal choices and life circumstances. These relationships may emerge suddenly, become lifelong, fade over time, or end abruptly, with the step-relative being part of one’s family for either a brief or extended period. Despite the common occurrence of step-relationships between step-grandchildren and step-grandparents, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the significance of these relationships in daily life. This dissertation examines how these relationships are constructed and understood, with the overarching aim of deepening our understanding of how caregiving relationships manifest in these families.Based on 35 biographical interviews with 15 step-grandparents (aged 64–83) and 13 step-grandchildren (aged 5–19), I explore how step-grandchildren and step-grandparents articulate the ways in which they engage in caregiving within their step-relationships, describe their positions, and interpret their experiences of being step-grandchildren or step-grandparents.Theoretically, I adopt the perspective that family is something that is actively constructed (Morgan, 1996), particularly through practices like "displaying family" (Finch, 2007). Other significant theoretical tools include the concept of personal life (Smart, 2007), the understanding of caregiving as emotional labour (Mason, 1996), as well as concepts of belonging (Mason, 2018; May, 2013) and recognition (Honneth, 2003).In this dissertation, I address the role that step-relationships play in the context of step-grandparent or step-grandchild relationships from the perspectives of both parties. The narratives of the informants reveal a variety of approaches to navigating step-relationships, including the influence of gendered norms and ideals of caregiving on intergenerational relations. Step-relations provide opportunities for both giving and receiving care, which for some informants is a new and welcomed experience, while for others (particularly older informants), it is perceived as burdensome. The dissertation demonstrates that step-grandparents play an important role in the lives of step-grandchildren through practical and emotional caregiving. The middle generation is attributed with a significant role in shaping the development of the relationship between step-grandparents and step-grandchildren, with some members of the older generation expressing uncertainty about the role they wish to assume towards their step-grandchildren.In contrast, step-grandchildren’s descriptions of their relationships with step-grandparents are marked by greater certainty. They see themselves as important to their step-grandparents by bringing joy and care into their lives. The younger generation also exhibits an awareness of the vulnerability of step-relationships, acknowledging that significant step-relatives may disappear, although these informants are more likely to have lost contact with a biological relative in their lives.
2.
Björkenfeldt, Oscar
(author)
Online Harassment Against Journalists : A Socio-Legal and Working-Life Study of the Challenges and Impacts in Swedish Journalism
2024
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
Integrating socio-legal analysis and working life science, this compilation thesis aims to enhance the understanding of how the evolving digital landscape—particularly the rise of online harassment—influences journalism and its potential to foster healthy public discourse. Additionally, the thesis seeks to advance the field of socio-legal studies by examining the interplay between digital transformation, shifting norms, and the intersection of informal and formal social controls. Utilizing a triangulated mixed-method approach—comprised of a survey, Twitter data mining, and interviews with media managers—the empirical focus is on exploring the interplay between perceptions of legal conditions, manifestations of online harassment, the consequences of such harassment for journalists, and workplace dynamics in relation to increased external pressure on journalists and news organizations.The first paper assesses journalists' perspectives on the legal framework's effectiveness against unlawful online harassment, identifying a gap in protection and underscoring the need for enhanced legal resources. However, the empirical data also reveal that online harassment frequently occurs within the realm of the work environment rather than remaining solely a matter for criminal law. The second paper, through a sociopragmatic lens, examines online harassment on Twitter (X), revealing strategies that merge impoliteness, moral discourse, and anti-press rhetoric to negatively influence journalists and challenge professional credibility while also highlighting the paradoxical use of freedom of speech to suppress journalistic expression. The third paper, informed by institutional theory, analyzes how Swedish news organizations manage the psychosocial effects of online harassment, noting a focus on physical safety over mental strain and the need for a more holistic approach to harassment management. This paper aims to achieve a deeper understanding of the factors that contribute to resilience against self-censorship induced by online harassment, as well as the factors that exacerbate it, leading to withdrawal and reluctance among journalists.Overall, this thesis emphasizes the challenges facing the legal system and news organizations in addressing systematic efforts to undermine journalism's autonomy through online harassment disguised as free speech. It shows that such disorientation is intertwined with the emergence of new communication norms and the absence of effective (formal and informal) mechanisms for fostering healthy public discourse. It demonstrates that efforts to safeguard these public values—journalists' free speech and, in turn, freedom of information—are largely misdirected, with a heavy focus on criminal law rather than on building a resilient work environment within journalism. Accordingly, the thesis cements online harassment as a work environment issue, illustrating the importance of acknowledging this problem at the intersection of digital transformation, working life, and democratic values.
3.
Bromark, Kristina, 1973-
(author)
The user as a key actor in user participation : Exploring knowledge production in personal social services with a participatory approach
2024
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
The concept of user participation in social work is frequently debated. In Sweden, users are supposed to be active and involved in matters concerning them, a stance which is regulated in policy and law. The involvement of users in practice can be considered a form of knowledge production that can strengthen and develop users as well as the organizations. In practice, however, research shows that actual engagement, education or activation of users is difficult to attain and can be understood as a devaluation of user knowledge. The aim of this dissertation is to increase knowledge of how to understand and enhance the conditions for user participation in personal social services. To study this question, the dissertation focuses especially on young people’s participation in the context of out-of-home care. To explore user participation in personal social services, a participatory approach was applied. Data was gathered with young people and staff using participatory techniques as well as qualitative interviews. To explore challenges and possibilities with user participation, a future workshop was held with staff in personal social services (study I). This was followed by a co-design process in which staff, young people, and researchers collaborated on a support tool (study II), later to be implemented in practice (study III). The implementation process was explored by interviewing both staff and managers as well as a user representative (from a youth council). The co-design and implementation processes are problematized and discussed in the dissertation from a researcher’s perspective (study IV). The theoretical framework for understanding how users can be devalued as knowers is epistemic injustice. The assumption is that the role of a knower can shift, depending on social power and the structures in a context. The findings in this dissertation show that user participation is contingent on the distribution of power and responsibility and on perceptions of knowers and knowledge in practice. Although the general attitude towards user participation is positive, a reluctance in practice is revealed. It appears to be a challenge for staff to acknowledge the expertise of users, despite the fact that the users’ have the capacity and are willing to contribute with their knowledge. Work with user participation is identified as a team effort that requires actions at all levels of the organization as well as increased resources, leadership and a coherent understanding and agreement of the concept. A participatory approach to knowledge production with users is identified as a possible way to enhance epistemic justice and the inclusion of all relevant actors in activities and processes. The dimensions important to user participation can be acknowledged. For the dynamics to be maintained in a wider sense, however, an organizational infrastructure, with routines and methods, is necessary. To sustain epistemic justice in the implementation of user participation, a participatory culture with a solid and coherent understanding of user participation in practice is encouraged. A realization of user participation in practice requires a critical exploration of power and positions, systematic changes to infrastructure and transparency about roles and responsibility.
4.
Ciziri, Nubin
(author)
(Dis)Integrating Families : Refugees’ social histories and their encounters with education in Sweden
2024
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
Refugees are often perceived as a homogeneous group and defined by their present conditions; the diversity of their social histories is thus overlooked. (Dis)Integrating Families explores the extent to which the backgrounds of Kurdish refugees from Syria shape their encounters with education in Sweden, as the key vehicle of state-led integration.The thesis breaks with the mainstream perspective on integration by emphasising refugees as products of their social histories. Family interviews are used to analyse parents’ backgrounds based on their individual, family, and social background, including the Syrian context. The focus is on Kurdish refugee families arriving in Sweden from Syria after the war in 2011 as parents encounter the constraint to further educate themselves and their children. Kurds in diaspora work hard at keeping their past alive, despite lacking a Kurdish education system and the disruption of migration. This particular case provides sociological insight into how individuals’ social histories shape their response to constraints from ‘receiving societies,’ drawing on Abdelmalek Sayad’s holistic view of immigration as determined by emigration in critique of ‘State thought,’ and Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of habitus.This thesis helps understand how forced migration challenges parents’ former dispositions. While in some respects, class background determines their strategies in Sweden, in others, their social status as refugees blurs the differences related to class and reinforces their national identity, which they relate to their sociopolitical history of oppression and statelessness. Their present status thus challenges family dynamics in terms of generation and gender, thereby highlighting the constraints they face in Sweden. While acknowledging the weight of these constraints on parents, the thesis shows how their engagement with education is shaped by their social histories and how their Kurdish identity becomes a source of unity beyond class.In contrast to the normative view that integration is the ultimate goal for refugees, this thesis reveals a constant process of negotiation between present and past social ties; between integration and (dis)integration. This suggests that integration in specific domains of social life in Sweden entails the (dis)integration from past identities previously internalised as ways of existing in the world. In summary, the dynamic between integration and (dis)integration can be seen as habitus clivé in the making.
5.
Duntava, Aija, 1985-
(author)
A View on the Invisible : A Study of Relationships between Different Aspects of Health in Populations
2024
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
This thesis studies relationships between different aspects of health. Health is a multi-faceted concept consisting of various aspects: most commonly morbidity, functional limitation, subjective health, and mortality. The relationships between these aspects, however, are not fully understood, so this thesis aims at contributing to our knowledge on the topic. Three studies are included, each with a particular aim within the general objective.The first study is a systematic review of the articles that have attempted to study more than two aspects of health in one model. The review maps out the field of study, presenting and summarising the results of the articles selected to review, thereby also highlighting gaps in the research. One of its conclusions is that studies approaching health as one interconnected system are rare and that the relationships between the different aspects of health do not consistently show significant effects on each other. Additionally, many population groups in terms of age and place of residence are understudied. The findings from the systematic review have largely guided the scientific curiosity of the following two empirical studies.The second study proposes and tests a parsimonious model of health structure consisting of morbidity, functional limitation, and subjective health on the adult respondents of European Social Survey (n=32,679) using structural equation modelling. The findings suggest that, in general, the proposed model holds true but there are age and gender differences in the health structure.The third study explores the variations in the health structure of the adult population in 17 countries in three European regions (North, East, and West). The results show that the model does not apply in all the studied groups across the regions. Clear gender difference in health structure exist in the Western and Northern parts of Europe but not in the East. As to age groups, the analyses show that young adults are similar in their health structure across the regions while there are regional differences between the other two age groups.This thesis shows that it is necessary to study the relationships between different aspects of health as one interconnected system. Furthermore, when health is at centre of scientific inquiry its multiple dimensions as well as age, gender, and regional variations should be acknowledged and taken into account.
6.
Fjellborg, Daniel, 1988-
(author)
Strategies and Actions in Swedish Mining Resistance : Mapping Anti-Extraction Movements and Exploring How Their Interpretations of Socio-Political Context Shape Mobilization Against Mining Projects
2024
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
Across the world, the demand for minerals is steadily increasing. In Europe, the push for mining coincides with rising public mobilization against extraction projects, and mining-related conflicts will likely be a feature of Europe’s foreseeable future. To understand the trajectories of mining conflicts, and to find just ways of handling them, it is important to understand the strategies and actions of the networks of actors that oppose extraction projects, that is, anti-extraction movements. While previous research has primarily explored mining resistance in the Global South, our knowledge about mining resistance in Europe is lacking. I contribute to filling this gap by investigating anti-extraction movements in Sweden, a long-term producer of minerals. The aim of the thesis is thus to explore what strategies and actions anti-extraction movements in Sweden use and how and why they choose them. I use social movement theory and emphasize how choices of strategies and actions are shaped by the socio-political context in which movements are embedded. With the help of frame analysis and an interpretive research approach, I explore how movement actors’ interpretations of contextual opportunities and constraints shape their actions, thus contributing to the ongoing research debate about how surrounding societal actors and institutions influence movement agency. In four papers, building on an extensive document analysis and interviews with movement actors, I systematically map and analyse anti-extraction movements in Sweden and provide in-depth studies of selected cases. I ask two research questions: 1. What anti-extraction movements are there in Sweden, in what socio-political contexts are they embedded, and what actions have they taken? 2. How do anti-extraction movements’ goals and interpretations of contextual opportunities and constraints shape their strategies and actions?The thesis presents the first comprehensive mapping of anti-extraction movements in Sweden and shows that mining resistance has increased across Sweden during the last two decades. My results reveal that movements use a wide range of actions, from civil disobedience and public demonstrations to litigation and political lobbying, and are composed of heterogeneous mixes of actors, including newly formed activist networks, organizations for farmers and Indigenous Sámi, and environmental organizations. Movements promote several visions for societal development, including environmental protection and sustainability, Sámi Indigenous rights and culture, and landowners’ rights and agriculture. In international comparison, the Swedish anti-extraction movements to a larger extent aim to influence political and legal actors and place less emphasis on project owners and corporate investors. Regarding how socio-political context shapes strategies and actions, my results indicate that movement actors’ interpretations of contextual opportunities do not always align with researchers’ understandings of what an opportunity is, thus producing unexpected actions. Movement actors’ interpretations of opportunities and constraints are found to be influenced by their goals, their comparisons of available options, their previous experiences, and their role in relation to other actors in the movement. My research shows that socio-political context often influences movement actors’ strategies and actions via their interpretations of opportunities and constraints for achieving goals. My results also suggest that socio-political context shapes movement actors’ strategies and actions by presenting them with appropriate ways to act in society. Lastly, my studies indicate that additional factors, including movement actors’ action traditions and identities, resources, and the diffusion of strategies, can influence movement actors’ interpretations of contextual opportunities and strategies and actions.
7.
Ginnerskov, Josef, 1989-
(author)
Quest for Sociology : Revisiting Prevailing Understandings of a Discipline with Computational Text Analyses of Dissertations
2024
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
What is sociology? For centuries sociologists have struggled to answer this question and repeatably proclaimed that their discipline is in crisis. The problem has generated a field of its own, the sociology of sociology, where sociologists of knowledge offer concepts for how the paradigmatic status of discipline and its crisis ought to be understood. Yet, the foundation of these understandings has often been limited to conceptual reasonings, historical exposes, and anecdotes from prominent scholars. Following the increasing availability of digitized texts and the development of computational techniques, new venues have been opened for investigating the empirical bearing of what sociology is. This dissertation offers a synthesis of, and a contribution to, this growing literature at the intersection of the sociology of knowledge and computational social science.The starting point is a review of literature in the sociology of sociology that has found that our discipline is believed to exist in a state of fragmentation, lacks a paradigm, and is conditioned by the context of its production. Akin to the supposed crisis, these conceptualizations are often taken for granted rather than being empirically put to test. This is why this dissertation aims to shed new light on the crisis of sociology by empirically scrutinizing prevailing disciplinary understandings with an interpretative and theory-driven methodological approach to computational text analysis (i.e., word correlation networks, topic modeling, stylometry, and shallow neural networks). To account for textual representations of sociological knowledge that are firmly institutionalized and exist across different local contexts, hundreds of dissertations in this discipline published in Sweden between 1980 and 2019 by five main universities have been digitized to form two corpora – 380 full-texts and 850 abstracts. Using these corpora, the conceptualizations are operationalized to be able to scrutinize, and trace, reoccurring instances where dissertations allude to certain images of sociology, which, drawing on the work of Margaret Masterman, can be regarded as crude replicas of paradigms. The study design allows us to problematize prevailing understandings of what sociology is.In contrast to the notion of fragmentation, the corpora are constituted by a core conditioned by local institutions attuned to different paradigmatic images of sociology. A discrepancy is also found between the two corpora where the abstracts appear to follow a divide between qualitative and quantitative research, and the full-texts are characterized by five paradigms with distinct methodological, epistemological, and ontological positions. These results suggest that the coexistence of multiple paradigms has been conflated with fragmentation and that sociologists tend to present their knowledge along the lines of simplified dichotomies. In response to the crisis, a more fruitful approach might be to embrace paradigm pluralism.As a contribution to the sociology of knowledge, this dissertation is an example of how the methodological divide can be overcome by merging insights from the conceptual strand with a hermeneutical take on computational methods to empirically explore taken-for-granted assumptions behind the production of disciplinary knowledge.
8.
Hansén, Caroline
(author)
(In)Vulnerable Masculinity : Men's Narration and Identity when Experiencing Violence from a Female Partner
2024
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
The complex realm of intimate partner violence (IPV) against men by female partners continues to be under-researched in Sweden. The lack of knowledge and recognition regarding the impacts and dimensions of violence that men face can severely affect their self-perception and masculinity. The thesis is anchored in the objective to describe and analyse men’s lived experiences of (diverse dimensions of) violence perpetrated by a female partner, the men’s reactions to their experiences, and what subsequent effects these experiences have on their sense of self and masculinity. Employing a narrative methodology, the study captures the experiences of 21 men to illuminate the complexities of male vulnerability and victimhood. Although no man explicitly voiced being a victim of IPV, the men’s narratives implicitly convey the essence of being subjected to something and indicate that the men’s experiences do not fit with the public and prevailing narratives of gender and IPV.The thesis employs a hermeneutical approach to delve into the men’s narratives, integrating theoretical frameworks on masculinity, liminality, possible self, and the concepts of epistemic injustice, definitional hegemony, and definitional dialogue. These concepts frame the men’s struggle for recognition and understanding within societal and authoritative contexts, where their experiences often clash with prevailing narratives of gender, IPV, and institutional biases. The findings portray the men’s efforts to reconcile traditional masculinity while they are in limbo and trying to (re)construct their sense of self. The intricate dance between outward perception and inner turmoil invites a critical re-evaluation of complicit masculinity within the realm of IPV, urging a departure from rigid masculine archetypes towards a more inclusive, empathetic understanding of masculinity that embraces the multifaceted realities of these men’s lives. Such findings have led to the development of the concept of piloting masculinity, which illustrates the men’s trajectory of entering and leaving liminality, while reconstructing their identities into a new possible self and embracing vulnerability. This thesis provides a comprehensive understanding of the men’s lived experiences, challenging conventional gender narratives and highlighting the need for a more inclusive discourse on IPV that acknowledges male victims. It emphasises the necessity for systemic changes in order to recognise and support men better through IPV and its aftermath.
9.
Härd, Sofia, 1992-
(author)
Knowledge in practice : The feasibility of recovery capital in Swedish alcohol and other drug treatment
2024
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
The recovery model, endorsed by various governmental bodies, emphasises the integration of a recovery perspective into alcohol and drug policy, with a focus on post-treatment interventions such as housing, employment and education needs. In an effort to enhance the utility of the recovery perspective in treatment, the concept of recovery capital (RC) has been used as a foundation for operationalisations used to measure treatment needs and progress. While other countries have embraced the recovery model and RC in alcohol and other drug (AOD)-related policy and treatment, the treatment setting in Sweden has not undergone a comparable transformation. This dissertation aims to explore the feasibility of implementing RC in Swedish AOD treatment. It examines the transferability and applicability of assessment tools and considers the challenges of translating research into practice. This involves delving into the complexities of knowledge transfers, production and use in order to bridge the gap between research findings and practical implementation. The feasibility study involved qualitative interviews with AOD treatment professionals to gather their perspectives on the applicability of an RC-based assessment tool (Papers II and III). Insights into feasibility were also obtained from a quantitative study assessing treatment progress in individuals residing in a recovery residence in Florida, USA, using an established RC-based assessment tool (Paper I). To further evaluate the target setting for the feasibility study, the use of a locally developed assessment tool was explored through a deviant case analysis (Paper IV). The dissertation’s theoretical framework is built upon conceptualisations of standardisations and professions that emphasise their interconnected nature and thereby underscore the significance of their relationship in the analysis of knowledge production and use, thus situating the study within a broader theoretical discourse on the interplay between standardisation and professionalism.The findings confirm the applicability of the RC concept in Swedish AOD treatment by highlighting its unique benefits in exploring diverse recovery pathways to address individual challenges and strengths. However, it is evident that certain elements of its conceptual framework are already implemented in the treatment facilities visited in the study. Furthermore, whether or not to use standardised assessment tools to implement RC in Swedish AOD treatment remains unclear. The dissertation also emphasises the importance of collaborating with professionals during the development of assessment tools as a way of ensuring that these tools align with the cultures and structures of the social work profession, presenting this collaboration as an approach to bridging the gap between research and practice. It also identifies a significant knowledge gap in locally produced knowledge, urging further research to map its extent and evaluate its impact on current and future knowledge production and use in social work. Lastly, the absence of client participation is acknowledged. The need for future research to explore the client perspective is emphasised, given the potential adverse effects of recovery-oriented interventions on clients.
10.
John, Ben Malinga, 1988-
(author)
Union-Fertility Nexus and Fertility Variation in Sub-Saharan Africa : The Role of Marital Dissolution and Repartnering
2024
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic) abstract
The role of marital dissolution and repartnering in shaping fertility patterns in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been largely overlooked, even though marital dissolution and repartnering are fundamental features of marriage dynamics in this region. This dissertation addresses this gap by using existing statistical and demographic techniques and developing new demographic methods to (i) examine the relationship between union dissolution and fertility at the micro level (Study I); (ii) assess the dynamics of union dissolution, including the levels of all-cause first union dissolution, the timing of first union dissolution, and the reproductive years spent outside of marriage due to union dissolution (Studies II & III); and (iii) analyze the influence of marital dissolution and repartnering on macro fertility patterns in SSA (Study IV). The analyses are mainly based on Demographic Health Survey data collected in 34 SSA countries since 1986. The findings show that marital dissolution is associated with reduced fertility at both the individual and the population level, and remarriage does not fully compensate for lost fertility at the individual level. The assessment of the dynamics of union dissolution indicates that union dissolution is common, it typically occurs at relatively early reproductive ages, and the number of reproductive years lost due to union dissolution is minimal. Furthermore, this dissertation documents that cross-country differences in union dissolution and repartnering rates account for 9.4% of cross-country fertility differences in SSA. In addition, the results show that changes in marital dissolution and repartnering rates and the fertility behaviour of women who experience these events mostly contributed to the slow pace of fertility decline in this region. For the SSA region (as a whole), fertility would have declined 1.24 times faster in the absence of such changes. These findings demonstrate that marital dissolution and repartnering are important drivers of fertility variation in SSA, and thus highlight the value of integrating these dynamics into the discourse on the union-fertility nexus and fertility variation in SSA and beyond.
