1.
Redmalm, David, 1981-
(författare)
An animal without an animal within : investigating the identities of pet keeping
2013
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
If the human is an animal without an animal within—a creature that has transcended the animal condition—what is a pet? This creature balancing on the border between nature and culture, simultaneously included in and excluded from a human “we”, is the focus of this thesis. The thesis analyzes the discourses and normative frameworks structuring the meaning of pets in people’s lives. By extension, it analyzes how the boundary between “human” and “animal” is produced, negotiated, and challenged in the relationship between pet and owner.Each of this thesis’ four constituent studies focuses on an aspect of personal relationships between humans and pets: pets as figures for philosophical thinking, the dual role of pets as commodities and companions, the grief for lost pets, and the power issues at play in the everyday life of pet and owner. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s genealogical approach, crossbred with Donna Haraway’s material-semiotic perspective, the analysis exposes the powers allowing pets to occupy these various positions.The thesis demonstrates that pets occupy a special position as boundary creatures in the lives of humans, allowing humans to play with and thus reproduce dichotomies inherent to the contemporary Western worldview, such as human/animal, person/nonperson, subject/object, and friend/commodity. However, pets’ conceptual transgressions may also challenge this worldview. On the one hand, pets are bought and sold as commodities, but on the other, they are widely included in the human sphere as friends or family members. This paradoxical position is accentuated in the construction of a more-than-human home, and it is also visible when pets pass away. This thesis argues that pets, these anomalous creatures, may help humans understand that there are no humans or animals within, only relations between them. Based on this argument, this thesis develops a sociological approach for analyzing the production of humanity and animality in relations between humans and other animals.
2.
Salmonsson, Lisa, 1978-
(författare)
The 'Other' Doctor : Boundary work within the Swedish medical profession
2014
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
This thesis is about medical doctors with immigrant backgrounds who work in Sweden. Based on 15 qualitative interviews with medical doctors with immigrant backgrounds, this thesis explores the medical doctors’ feeling of professional belonging and boundary work. This thesis focuses mainly on the doctors’ experiences of being part of the Swedish medical profession while, at the same time, being regarded as ‘different’ from their Swedish medical counterparts. It starts off with the idea that medical doctors with immigrant backgrounds may have, or could be regarded as having, contradictory social positions. By virtue of being part of the Swedish medical profession, they belong to one of the most privileged groups in Swedish society. However, due to their immigrant background these doctors do not necessarily occupy a privileged position either within their profession or in society in general. This thesis shows that doctors with immigrant backgrounds feel that they are not perceived as full-fledged doctors, which seem related to how they are somewhat ‘othered'. The results show that these doctors cope with being seen as different from doctor with non-immigrant backgrounds, by using the notion of ‘migranthood’ as a resource in negotiations in everyday work life but they also do what they can to overcome the boundaries of ‘Swedishness’. Belonging should therefore be seen as having a formal and an informal side, as getting a Swedish license does not automatically mean that you feel belonging to, in this case, the Swedish medical profession. This seems to put doctors with immigrant backgrounds in a somewhat outsider within position, which seems having to do with boundaries between who is included in the ‘us’ and in the ‘them’. Lastly, these findings indicate that sociologists need to expand the understanding of professional groups to also include boundary work within these groups. In order to do so, this thesis argues that sociological theory on professional groups could be combined with sociological theory about social positions as that is one way to understand the outsider-within position that these doctors (and presumably other skilled migrants) have to cope with.
3.
4.
Blomberg, Helena
(författare)
Mobbning, intriger, offerskap : att tala om sig själv som mobbad i arbetslivet
2010
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
This thesis is a study of bullying narratives, mainly co-produced in a process of ongoing interaction. The focus is on how narrators rhetorically organize their storytelling and identity work by using discursive resources. The empirical material consists of 12 interviews with, and 12 written stories by people who have been exposed to workplace bullying plus information from three websites about bullying, and previous research. The overarching aim of the study is to identify how a bullying discourse is produced, reproduced, challenged and negotiated in bullied persons’ narratives. Specific aims are to determine how bullying is portrayed publicly, how narrators with experience of being bullied build their stories, how the narratives stand in relation to victimization, what makes it possible to talk about vulnerability and what are its limits, and finally to develop a narrative approach.Theoretically and methodologically, the study has its basis in narrative analysis, discursive psychology, conversation analysis, and metaphor analysis. The study shows how the narrators categorize themselves as active, competent, and consensus seeking. They resist being victimized, but by their use of the interpretative repertoire and a standard story of bullying, they nevertheless become indirectly victimized. What’s at stake, in the narratives, is the question of guilt, which they rhetorically evade by the use of different metaphors. These metaphors depict bullying as a mystery, a lifelong source of suffering, a transformation, a learning experience, a battle, a contagious virus, and a trap. The narrators are constrained by the narrative conditions, the interpretative repertoire, standard story, and narrative form and content – a story of good and evil when creating their own story. The narrative conditions at the same time set the limit for expressing oneself in the identity work. This also means we are part of the production and reproduction of the bullying discourse when I, as a researcher, and the narrators use the repertoire and the standard story in mutual understanding.
5.
Ewertzon, Mats, 1956-
(författare)
Familjemedlem till person med psykossjukdom : bemötande och utanförskap i psykiatrisk vård
2012
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
This thesis focused on the situation of family members of persons with psychotic illness, particular on their experience of the approach of the healthcare professionals and of their feelings of alienation regarding the professional care of their family member. A further aim was to explore how siblings who have participated in a support group for siblings experienced their situation.A questionnaire was developed that enabled the aims of this thesis to be investigated (I). Seventy family members from various parts of Sweden participated, and data were collected via the questionnaire developed in study I (II-III). Thirteen siblings who previously had participated in a support group participated in follow-up focus groups interviews (IV).The questionnaire developed was shown to be reliable and valid in these studies (I). In many cases, the participants had experienced an approach from professionals that indicated that they did not experience openness, confirmation and cooperation, and that they felt powerless and socially isolated in relation to the care. There was also found to be a certain degree of association between how the participants experienced the approach and whether they felt alienation (II). The majority of the participants considered openness, confirmation, and cooperation to be important aspects of professional’s approach. The result also identified a low level of agreement between the participants’ experience and what they considered to be significant in the professional’s approach (III). The findings revealed the complexity of being a sibling of an individual with psychotic illness. Participating in a support group for siblings can be of importance in gaining knowledge and minimizing feelings of being alone (IV).Although the psychiatric care services in Sweden have been aware of the importance of cooperating with family members, the results indicated that there is a need for further research in this area.
6.
Jönsson, Jessica H., 1981-
(författare)
Localised Globalities and Social Work : Contemporary Challenges
2014
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Recent global and structural transformations, a West-centric development agenda and the triumph of neoliberal politics have led to destructive consequences for many local communities and individual life chances. The global dominance of the West-centric development agenda, with its roots in the colonial past, has created uneven developments and an unjust world in which Western countries continue to gain advantages and increase their prosperity. Although a minority elite in many non-Western countries share the same interests as Western countries and their global organs, the majority of people in these countries are suffering from increasing socioeconomic inequalities. As a result of the dogmatic belief in a singular and West-centric modernity and its practices, many problems are considered to be the result of non-Western countries’ inabilities to complete the project of modernity in accordance with Western blueprints. This has also influenced social work as a global and modern profession. Social problems are often individualised and the reasons behind many inequalities are increasingly related to non-Western people’s individual shortcomings and traditional cultural backgrounds. In Western and non-Western countries equally are the neoliberal structural and institutional transformations ignored and social problems of individuals and families defined as a matter of wrong and deviant actions and choices.The main objective of the dissertation, which is constituted of four articles and an overall introduction and summary, is to examine the consequences of recent neoliberal globalisation based on the belief in a single and West-centric modernity and development agenda and their consequences for social work facing increasing global inequalities. The following research questions have guided the work: ‘How can social work play an effective role in combating social problems and otherisation, marginalisation and increasing inequalities in a globalised world?’, ‘How does the global development agenda function within the local arenas of social work?’, ‘Are development projects improving people’s life chances in local communities in non-Western countries?’, ‘How informed and responsive are social workers towards the global context of local problems?’The work is based on a qualitative design using qualitative content analysis for analysing data collected through interviews, participant observations and official documents. The results show that irrespective of where and in which context social problems are appearing, since local problems often have global roots, a global perspective to local problems should be included in every practices of social work in order to develop new methods of practices in an increasingly globalised field of work. Destruction of local communities, forced migration from non-Western countries, and marginalisation of people with immigrant background in Western countries should not be considered only as local problems, but also as problems with their roots in global structural inequalities which reproduces global social problems with local consequences.It is argued that social work should consider the dilemmas and problems connected to the taken for granted West-centric theories, understandings and practices of social work in order to develop new methods of practices for combating social problems, marginalisation and increasing inequalities in a globalised world. Such a position includes practicing multilevel social work, social work in global alliances beyond the division of East and West, and mobilisation against neoliberalism and the retreat of the welfare state. This requires critical standpoints against the relationship between the global context of the neoliberal ideology and practices in a Western-dominated and postcolonial world and the daily practices of social work.
7.
Löfmarck, Erik, 1974-
(författare)
Den hand som föder dig : En studie av risk, mat och moderskap i Sverige och Polen
2014
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
This is a study of how mothers of young children relate to risk in everyday life, with an emphasis on the invisible risks associated with modernity in general, and with food in particular. It explores variations and similarities in how mothers deal with risk in two cultural contexts: Sweden and Poland. The study is based on twenty qualitative interviews with university educated mothers of small children in Stockholm and Warsaw. While risks more generally challenge how we “get on” with our lives, mothers of young children in particular have a special relationship to risk. During pregnancy and breastfeeding they are subject to all kinds of risk minimization efforts, and mothers are ultimately held "infinitely responsible" for their children's welfare by society. Women's transition to parenthood then makes for a particularly interesting case as to how risks manifest in everyday life. The theoretical framework draws on modernization theory, combined with insights from cultural theory. In addition, various contributions from sociological and psychological risk research, family sociology and research on parenting and motherhood are used to highlight contextual aspects and to interpret the empirical results. Two aspects of the mothers’ relationship to risk and food are examined in this study: firstly, their risk constructs, i.e. what they perceive as ‘risky’ with regards to food; and, secondly, their risk management strategies, i.e. how they deal with identified risks on a practical and cognitive level. The overall risk management depicted in this study is characterized by reflexivity, critical thinking, information retrieval, attention to scientific evidence, purposely transferred trust, confidence and the ability to make fairly sophisticated tradeoffs between risks and other aspects of life. Neither the Swedish nor the Polish mothers then conform to popular notions of ‘security junkies’ or ‘paranoid parenting’. Nonetheless, the comparative approach demonstrates how contextual differences, such as general trust levels and family policy, influence both the risk constructs and the employment of different risk management strategies.
8.
Bennich, Maria, 1959-
(författare)
Kompetens och kompetensutveckling i omsorgsarbete : Synen på kompetens och lärande – i spänningsfältet mellan samhälleliga förutsättningar och organisatoriska villkor
2012
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
Avhandlingen är en sammanläggningsavhandling med syfte att studera om synen på kompetens är relaterad till lärmiljön och strategier för kompetensutveckling. Parallellt med syftet har jag analyserat och diskuterat kompetensutveckling ur ett samhälleligt och interorganisatoriskt perspektiv. Fokus ligger här på styrprinciper, brukarinflytande och nationella utvecklingsprogram. Avhandlingen utgörs av en lokal studie som bygger på 22 intervjuer och 74 enkäter, en forskningsöversikt samt en studie som bygger på utvärderingar av det nationella utvecklingsprogrammet Kompetensstegen.Resultatet från den lokala studien – två vårdboenden och två hemtjänstverksamheter – visar att förutsättningarna för lärmiljön skiljer sig åt beroende på verksamhetstypen. Inom hemtjänstverksamheterna var stöd och engagemang från ledningen mer central för kompetensutveckling än inom vårdboendena. Samtidigt visar resultatet att i de verksamheter där det fanns en mer utvecklad lärmiljö och en integrerad strategi – dvs. en kombination av icke‐formella och formella läraktiviteter – för kompetensutveckling, var uppfattningarna om omsorgspersonalens kompetens mer utvecklade. Fokus låg här på att utveckla både kompetens och verksamhet. Det som förenade samtliga verksamheter var uppfattningen att personalen behöver en förmåga att utveckla relationer till brukaren.Analysen av Kompetensstegen – en stor nationell satsning – visar på en brist i samspel och jämlika relationer mellan arbetsplatserna och utbildningsanordnare. Denna brist hade implikationer för hur väl satsningen på kompetensutveckling lyckades. Inom de verksamheter där arbetsplats‐ och utbildningssystem samverkat, ledde detta samspel till att arbetsplatslärandet blev mer flexibelt, effektivt och användbart för deltagarna. Exemplet visar att kompetensfrågor behöver analyseras ur ett samhälleligt perspektiv.Den samhälleliga analysen visar att kompetensfrågor lätt kommer bort eftersom dessa inte är integrerade i styrprinciper som konkurrensutsättning, upphandlingsförfaranden och kundval. Kompetensutveckling inom äldreomsorgen är en komplex, svårbestämbar och krävande process som behöver synkroniseras på olika nivåer. De nationella satsningar, där formell utbildning dominerar, har sällan fått något genomslag i verksamheten. Perspektivet har oftast varit kortsiktigt och individinriktat. Tillfälliga resursförstärkningar och projektsatsningar leder inte heller till att frågan om kompetensutveckling prioriteras och att nödvändiga resurser avsätts lokalt. Nyckelord: omsorgspersonal, kompetens, kompetensutveckling, äldreomsorgen, interaktiv forskning, interorganisatorisk samverkan
9.
Enelo, Jan-Magnus, 1980-
(författare)
Klass, åsikt och partisympati : det svenska konsumtionsfältet för politiska åsikter
2012
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The aim of this thesis is to study political opinions and party voting in relation to class. The range of opinions studied consists of a socioeconomic dimension, dealing with issues of economic equality, and a socio-cultural dimension, dealing with questions of culture and morality.Following Pierre Bourdieu, the object of the study is conceptualised as a field of consumption of political opinions consisting of a space of political opinions or stances, a space of political party preferences, and a space of social positions or opinion holders defined by (among other things) their cultural and economic capital. The field of consumption is examined through multiple correspondence analysis and Euclidean classification.Overall, the field of consumption of political opinions is found to be relatively homologous to the social space. The field of consumption is found to be a two-dimensional space, with one dimension separating left-wing from rightwing opinions and the second distinguishing between socio economic and socio- cultural opinions. The tendency to vote left wing and to have left-leaning socio-economic opinions corresponds to a low total volume of capital and possessions dominated by cultural capital, whereas the tendency to vote right wing and to have right-leaning socio-economic opinions corresponds to a high total volume of capital. Liberal socio-cultural opinions correspond to a high level of possession cultural capital (and its relative weight in the structure of the total possession of capital), whereas the opposite is true for conservative opinions. Furthermore, the socio-cultural dimension is found to harbour two different aspects: liberalism or conservatism with regard to traditional morality and liberalism or conservatism with regard to the idea of a national culture.This thesis also studies how individuals tend to combine opinions from the two dimensions into tangible constellations of opinions.
10.
Gustafsson, Karin M, 1983-
(författare)
The importance of trust. : a study of knowledge production of biodiversity.
2013
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt) abstract
The loss of biological diversity is one of today’s greatest environmental problems. Scientific knowledge is typically presented as the premise to solve this problem. However, science alone is not sufficient to produce knowledge of biodiversity. Other actors are also involved in knowledge production. The aim of this thesis is to analyse how different actors create knowledge of the environmental problem of biodiversity loss and to further investigate the importance of trust in the relationships between these knowledge producers.This thesis uses a discourse analytical perspective and conducts interviews and document studies to explore how actors use different narratives to legitimate their knowledge production. Through four papers addressing different aspects of knowledge production, this thesis discusses conditions for knowledge production, particularly the importance of trust.The results show that actors other than scientific experts also have the ability to act in knowledgeable ways and to be involved in knowledge production of biodiversity. Knowledge is produced by making use of many different dimensions and aspects, such as global, regional, local, and science, politics, and everyday life. The result also shows how trust, distrust, and as-if trust are key activities in knowledge production of environmental problems, such as the loss of biodiversity.This thesis argues that the actors involved need to realise and acknowledge that knowledge production is a mutual process in which actors must engage in trust and distrust activities. In so doing, it will be possible to understand the complexity of the loss of biodiversity and thus to better manage this problem.
