| 1. |
- Karlsson, Lis Bodil
(författare)
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Berättelser om inre röster : Ett fenomenologiskt och kommunikativt perspektiv
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The phenomenon of hearing voices is examined in a communicative way and with a phenomenological perspective. Data consist of talks in focus groups and of written autobiographical texts. (I) The aim of the first article, “More real than the reality”- A study of voice hearing, is to describe and analyse how participants in focus groups account for and understand their voice hearing experiences. Voice hearing can be understood as a continuum of various experiences, including thoughts about the self and the inner and the outer world. Voice hearing can be experienced as ‘more real than the reality’. (II) The aim of the second article, Från rösthörarnas värld - en analys av självbiografiska brev om hörselhallucinationer [From the world of the voice hearers - en analysis of personal letters on auditory hallucinations], is to analyse how people can describe and interpret inner voices in texts. The terms monologue, dialogue, polyphony and cacophony characterise variations of voice hearing. (III) The aim of the third article, ‘Schizophrenic or occult harassed?’ A narrative study of an autobiographical text about auditory and visual hallucinations, is to show that important insight into voice hearing can be gained when one describes and analyses how a subject writes. The analysis showed how writing was a way of adapting to inner voices and to the psychiatric diagnosis the author had received. (IV) The aim of the fourth article, Leva med inre röster. Utforskande av röstupplevelsers mening [Living with inner voices. A quest for the meaning of voice experiences], is to describe and analyse some methods and attitudes that the subjects use in order to cope with inner voices. It was important that the participants accepted their voices as a part of life. The participants also must cope with being stigmatised.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Gunnel, 1955-
(författare)
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Vardagsliv och boendestöd : En studie om människor med psykiska funktionshinder
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the wake of deinstitutionalization, people with psychiatric disabilities are, to a great extent, living in the community. In this thesis everyday life of people with psychiatric disabilities, living in independent housing with community-based social support to manage their daily life, is investigated. Special attention is paid to the characteristics and meaning of community-based social support. Through participating observational studies, interviews and time-geographic diaries, data have been gathered about everyday life of seventeen men and women. It is the interpersonal social conditions that have been the main target of the study, addressed as social networks and social support. Everyday life conditions are dependent on social as well as physical and material circumstances. Although the social conditions are emphasized in the study they are not looked upon as isolated dimensions but as part of everyday life circumstances. The everyday life perspective offers an opportunity to reveal the structures within which everyday life takes place. The time-geographic concepts “community-organized projects” and “individual-organized projects” were used to investigate the structures of everyday life, resulting in four substructures. Four types of everyday life and four patterns of networks connected to the different substructures were identified, showing great variations. The characteristics of community-based social support can be summarized as “the doing”, “the talking” and “the being with” in a reciprocal type of relationship. The meaning of support is shortly described as solution of and relieving problems, social companionship, security, protection and control. Community-based social support show similar importance regardless of the type of everyday life when it comes to solution of problems and different importance when it comes to aspects of support such as social companionship.
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| 3. |
- Backlund, Åsa, 1970-
(författare)
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Elevvård i grundskolan : Resurser, organisering och praktik
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of the thesis is to describe and analyse the organization, resources and practice of pupil welfare work in municipal compulsory schools. In one study, telephone interviews with head masters from a random sample of 100 municipal compulsory schools have been carried out. A second study is based on material from two case studies, where the work of the pupil welfare team members and the everyday organizing of pupil welfare, are scrutinized.The distribution of special pupil welfare resources varied considerably. Almost one-third of the variation could be explained by organizational and structural variables included in a regression analysis. Practically all schools in the sample had a school nurse, while school social workers and in particular school psychologists, were available to a lesser extent. Regarding the latter two professions, the results indicate that these resources are allocated to pupils of different age groups. The involvement of different kinds of municipal service in pupil welfare work is becoming a common form of organization. The case studies show that these service units can become influential actors in the organizing of local pupil welfare work.School nurses appear to be an institutionalized resource, with regard to their presence in schools and the content of their work. The school social worker lacks a specific technology of her own that distinguishes her work from other professions. School social work is performed by several professions and for some tasks domain conflicts can arouse. These conflicts can to a certain degree be rooted in the enhanced consultative role of the pupil welfare specialists, which affects the division of labour between the actors. The pupil welfare meetings studied in the case studies where characterized by asymmetrical relationships, where little space were given for pupils and their parents to be actively involved in the decision-making process.
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| 4. |
- Börjeson, Martin, 1959-
(författare)
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"Vi vet inte vilka metoder vi ska använda" : om relationen mellan kunskap, praktik och politik när det gäller det sociala arbetet med hemlöshetsfrågor
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation examines the relationship between knowledge, practice and policy within a specific area of social work, namely, social intervention to ameliorate the problem of homelessness. In the thesis, the ambition shown in recent years to lay the ground for an evidence-based practice in social work is discussed as an expression of late modern attempts to deal with the contradictory character of scientific knowledge.The work is composed of four separate studies along with an introduction. The first study considers the present state of knowledge concerning those groups readily described as “the most vulnerable” in that they often have a diffi¬cult complex of problems. The social conditions of these groups can only be examined to a limited extent with the help of traditional methods, however, so that our knowledge of their situation is poor. The group of the homeless seems largely to have remained unchanged during the most recent decade; but results of various studies suggest that the vul¬nerability of the group has increased, which is to say that even if the group has not increased in size, their social situa¬tion has definitely become worse.In the second study, a more in-depth discussion is advanced of methods and definitions concerning the charting of groups with a weak position in the housing market. Starting from a review of the various research methods presently in use, a model is sketched for future investigations that might more adequately provide the evidence-based information for making informed decisions.The third and fourth studies deal above all with the effectiveness of social interventions being made to come to grips with homelessness; how these strategies have evolved and the role of knowledge in them. The goal of the third study has therefore been to describe how knowledge and social work practice have developed respectively, and above all, to shed some light on their relationship. A review of social work journals dated 1965-2000 shows that only a very few of the relatively small number of articles dealing with homelessness could in any way directly form a basis for the planning and implementation of social interventions. In Stockholm Municipality, also during this period, several special programs were instigated to boost the development of knowledge in the field; but the connections between this accu¬mulation of knowledge and any implementation in actual social interventions remains unclear.The fourth study uses interview material to describe the social work being carried out to combat homelessness in four Swedish local government districts and to discuss any differences between them, where a clear difference did emerge between the larger and the smaller districts. The larger local governments had created special organisations for work with homelessness issues, which had even brought with it the allocation of special resources for the build-up of knowledge; but not even here is it possible to state that any cumulative build-up of knowledge has taken place. An in-depth case study of the discussion carried out in Stockholm Municipality concerning a proposal to create a special knowledge centre suggests that these questions are also deeply influenced by the local political context in which it would be used.In the introductory section of the dissertation, the aim is to relate the four studies to a broader discussion. The vari¬ous strategies being developed for increasing the evidence basis for social work with the homeless are discussed, taking a point of departure in Ulrich Beck’s contention that in spite of contrary intentions, more knowledge tends to involve the risk of added uncertainty. Also treated in this context is how an earlier dominant tradition of knowledge – inspired by social medicine – has come to diminish in importance, while another – more directed towards the results and effects of social interventions – has grown.
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| 5. |
- Gerner, Ulla, 1944-
(författare)
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De sjukskrivna i rehabiliteringsprocessen : hinder och möjligheter
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The background to the thesis is the high rate for sickness absence in Sweden since the end of the 1990s. In an international perspective, the Swedish sickness absence appears exceptionally high. This can appear paradoxical bearing in mind the high standard of living and the high average length of life in Sweden, and there is much to indicate that complex causal correlations are involved.The overall aim of the thesis is to study and analyse the return to work or transition to disability pension, for persons on long-term sick leave from their own perspective. The focus of the thesis is the individual in a social context.The theoretical frame of reference is within medical sociology and is about sickness concepts and models and on medicalisation. The concept of work capacity is also taken up based on the concepts of disability and impairment.The empirical material consists of four studies. Two of these are qualitative interview studies with women. One of them (I) is about Greek women who have been granted Swedish disability pension. The aim of this study is to find explanations why such a large number of Greek women have become disability pensioners in Sweden. The analysis indicated some important factors: the doctors, the family and the social insurance system. The women had unclear psychosomatic complaints, which had been medicalised. The other qualitative study (IV) concerned women who after sick leave and rehabilitation succeeded in returning to work. It was seen to be strong and stubborn women who had to struggle to get back to working life. They had also been well taken care of in rehabilitation.The other two studies (II and III) are quantitative, prospective cohort studies with persons on sick leave with unspecified back and neck complaints. One main aim of one study (III) was to investigate the importance of motivation for rehabilitation and return to work. Two specially designed forms were used. It was seen, among other things that the forecasts of the person on sick leave on return to work coincided quite well with a follow-up two years later. One important result was that those who had undergone rehabilitation measures had returned to work to a much lesser extent than those who had not.Overall, the results showed the importance of listening to the individual and taking their own assessments of obstacles and possibilities in the rehabilitation process into consideration. The results in study III indicated that rehabilitation had not been sufficiently effective and in many cases did not lead to a return to work.
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| 6. |
- Gustafsson, Rolf Å, et al.
(författare)
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Arbetsvillkor och styrning i äldreomsorgens hierarki : - en enkätstudie bland personal och politiker
- 2005
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- I rapporten redovisas en enkätstudie som genomfördes under hösten 2003 bland äldreomsorgspersonal och kommunpolitiker i åtta kommuner. Det sammanlagda antalet svarspersoner är 5 800; svarsfrekvensen är 66 procent för personalen och 72 procent för politiker. Tre av studiens kommuner har även undersökts under år 2000 vilket möjliggör jämförelser över tid. De åtta kommuner som ingår i undersökningen kan sammantagna betraktas som representativa för äldreomsorgen i Sverige. Studien berör personalens arbetsvillkor, inbördes relationer mellan olika personalgrupper och politiker samt de olika gruppernas syn på äldreomsorgen i stort. För äldreomsorgens vårdbiträden har arbetsmiljön försämrats jämfört med ingången till 1990-talet, men mellan 2000 och 2003 har de föregående avsevärda försämringarna avstannat, och i viss mån vänts till sin motsats. Detta är rimligt att sätta i relation till det faktum att de ekonomiska och personella resurserna åter ökade vid millennieskiftet efter kraftiga resursåtstramningar under 1990-talet. Dock är vare sig resurserna (i relation till antalet äldre) eller vårdbiträdenas upplevelse av arbetsmiljön tillbaka på den nivå som rådde vid ingången av 1990-talet.Genomgående finns det tydliga skillnader mellan hemtjänst och särskilt boende: med de flesta av de mått som presenteras framträder hemtjänsten som en bättre arbetsmiljö än det särskilda boendet. Omsorgsarbetare (vårdbiträden och undersköterskor) i särskilt boende upplever i större utsträckning att de har för mycket att göra, de känner sig oftare otillräckliga och anser i mindre omfattning att arbetet är omväxlande och engagerande/stimulerande.Endast drygt en fjärdedel av omsorgsarbetarna arbetar heltid. Detta gäller både inom hemtjänst och särskilt boende. Arbetsmiljön upplevs som mer påfrestande bland heltidsarbetande än bland dem som arbetar deltid. Detta gäller speciellt bedömningen att man har för mycket att göra, känslor av otillräcklighet inför hjälptagarna samt kroppslig och psykisk trötthet. Den låga andelen heltidsarbete bland omsorgsarbetarna kan därför delvis vara ett försök att anpassa sig till en krävande arbetssituation. Ofrivilligt deltidsarbete (deltidsarbetslöshet) är dock också vanligt: mer än var femte omsorgsarbetare vill arbeta fler timmar. Att öka möjligheten till heltidsarbete, utan att samtidigt utsätta omsorgsarbetarna för ökade arbetsmiljöpåfrestningar, är en stor och viktig välfärdsutmaning.Två tredjedelar av omsorgsarbetarna sjukanmäler sig vid ett eller flera tillfällen under ett år, men minst lika många går också till jobbet fast de enligt egen bedömning borde ha stannat hemma av hälsoskäl. Denna sjuknärvaro har (oavsett omfattningen av sjukfrånvaro) ett starkt samband med kroppslig och psykisk trötthet. Studien visar på tydliga skillnader mellan olika grupper i äldreomsorgens formella styrningshierarki när det gäller arbetsvillkor och synen på äldreomsorgens organisation (jämförelser mellan centrala förvaltningstjänstemän, omsorgstjänstemän som biståndsbedömare, sjuksköterskor och arbetsledare samt omsorgsarbetare). Genomgående har omsorgsarbetarna en mer problematisk arbetsmiljö än de övriga grupperna, framför allt är upplevelser av otillräcklighet inför hjälptagarnas behov betydligt vanligare bland omsorgsarbetare än bland övriga personalgrupper. Upplevelser av otillräcklighet är tydligt kopplat till trötthet, och det är därför inte förvånande att även kroppslig och psykisk trötthet visar ett starkt hierarkiskt mönster och ökar betydligt för varje steg neråt i den formella styrningshierarkin. I studien har också de inbördes relationerna mellan kommunens politiker och personalen studerats. Här framkommer att medan drygt 70 procent av kommunens politiker upplever sig uppskattade av äldreomsorgens personal är det knappt 10 procent av omsorgsarbetarna som uppger att de känner uppskattning från politikerna. Upplevelser av kränkning är generellt sett mindre vanliga men även här är mönstret hierarkiskt: knappt var tionde politiker uppger sig kränkt av äldreomsorgens personal medan drygt var femte omsorgsarbetare uppger sig kränkt av kommunens politiker.När det gäller synen på äldreomsorgens politiska styrning är politiker och äldreomsorgspersonal i stort sett överens om att kommunens politiker har ett stort inflytande över äldreomsorgens ekonomi, kvalitet och organisation/arbetsmiljö. Stora delar av omsorgspersonalen anser dock att det råder obalans mellan politikernas inflytande och ansvar. De vill i större utsträckning än politiker och centrala tjänstemän att politikerna ska ta ett större ansvar för dessa områden. Framför allt vill omsorgsarbetarna att politikerna ska ta större ansvar för äldreomsorgens arbetsorganisation och arbetsmiljö, något som kan tolkas som att de vill ställa politikerna till svars för de problem i arbetsmiljön som kommit till tydligt uttryck i rapporten.
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| 7. |
- Holmdahl, Johan, 1971-
(författare)
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Hot om vräkning : Tre aktörers perspektiv
- 2009
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- From the filing of an application to evict to the final execution of an eviction order is a long and complicated process. This raises questions about how the actors involved experience and act during this process. The general aim of the study was to describe and analyse this process from the respective perspectives of the landlords, the social services and the individuals (families) facing eviction in three municipalities in the county of Stockholm. The issues discussed are how the landlords and the social welfare offices are organised, their work procedures, respective scopes of action and resources, and how individuals facing eviction cope with their life situation. The material for the study consists of qualitative interviews with nine handling officers at six landlord offices, fifteen social workers at three social welfare offices, twelve individuals who were facing eviction and fifteen observations of conversations between social workers and individuals who were facing eviction. The analytic framework used consists of perspectives and concepts derived from organisation theory – Human Service Organizations and street-level bureaucrats – and theories on coping. A main result of the study is that the work procedures of the professionals are standardised in many ways and are characterised by similar procedures for classifying and categorising the individuals facing eviction, irrespective of how the three municipalities have organised their work. Another main result is that the primarily interests of the individuals facing eviction are to meet what they experience to be their children’s needs, and to avoid eviction. Further, the individuals experience as stressful their life situation marked by the threat of eviction in combination with reduced financial resources that make it difficult for them to meet their children’s needs. The study has identified two types of strategies that individuals facing eviction use in order to cope with their life situation and to achieve their interests. These are emotion-focused strategies and problem-focused strategies, which are described and discussed.
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| 8. |
- Högdin, Sara, 1972-
(författare)
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Utbildning på (o)lika villkor : Om kön och etnisk bakgrund i grundskolan
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this thesis is to examine children’s educational conditions in senior compulsory school. The purpose is to compare girls and boys’ conditions on the basis of ethnical background. The thesis includes four articles. The first three are based on questionnaire data from 1,193 children, 13 to 15 years old, at four Swedish municipal schools. The last article includes two studies: A study conducted among the headmasters at the four schools and a study of the compulsory school attendance law. The first article introduces a study concerning parental involvement in their children’s education. The aim is to examine the children’s experience of their parents’ assistance in their homework, participation in school meetings and interest in their education. Finally, these topics are analysed in relation to the children’s own involvement in their education. The second article introduces a study concerning schoolchildren’s involvement in their own education and factors that correlate, beside parental involvement. The implicit aim is to study the children’s experience of teacher support, their situation in school and attitudes towards university education. The third article introduces a study concerning parent’s directives regarding their child’s participation in social activities. The aim of the study is to examine how many children that are not allowed to participate in social activities and some educational elements at school, for example psychical education and school journeys. The results of the questionnaire show great complexity concerning how the children experience their conditions, where sex/gender and ethnicity correlate. The last article examines the conflicts that may arise between the educational system and the parents regarding specific elements in their child’s education. This study examines the attitude of the schools towards allowing children to refrain from compulsory attendance at the family’s request. Results show that the attitude towards the families varies between the schools. The compulsory attendance law is indistinct, but legal cases show that it is illegal to allow children to refrain from specific elements within the education to fulfil the parent’s wishes.
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| 9. |
- Jemteborn, Annika, 1970-
(författare)
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"Å stå på sig, på egna ben" : En fallstudie om en flicka i en hederskultur och hennes motstånd mot att inordna sig efter släktens krav
- 2005
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study concerns girls and young women in Sweden who live in communities and families regulated by norms and values emphasizing honour. The ambition is to understand the terms for possible change when girls refuse to incorporate themselves in a patriarchal structure which subjects women. I study this through the narrative of one girl’s story. Thus this is a qualitative case study (Merriam 1994). The study’s comprehensive aim is to illuminate the particular girl’s conditions, considering both surrounding circumstances and terms for transgressional actions and choices. The empirical base of the case study is qualitative interviews with the girl and a voluntary worker (who supported the girl as she proceeded through “acts of resistance”) carried out in the years of 2001 and 2002. The results offered in this case study are seen as perspectives and information attached in a context (Patton1980:283). The results could be used as workable hypothesis (Cronbach 1975:124) in future research and the processes described may also indicate what ought to be done or what should be avoided in practice as social workers and others come across these girls (cf. Olson in Hoaglin et.al.1982). The study shows that responsive reactions on acts of resistance can sometimes be understood trough the aspects of the parental- child relationship and not only through values emphasizing honour. In understanding the context it is also important to consider the aspect of how the family regard the girl and that the dimension of existence have terms for who is included and who is excluded in the family entity. The analysis of the girl’s actions and contemplations has illuminated experiences of negotiation and negotiations as a frequently used strategy. Under certain circumstances eagerness to please the family’s wishes may lead to renounce of own needs and withdrawal from acts of resistance. I have found some prominent “patterns” in the story about this girl. Firstly I would like to accent that the conditions determining the outcome of the girl’s processes not only are terms for possible actions and behaviour. The dimension of existence (in the story visible through norms, valuation of gender and the emphasizing of honour)should also be included as a condition. Secondly I would like to accentuate that she was able to negotiate the terms of living within this system, by finding “allies” within the normative system (the community regulated by norms and values emphasizing honour). However, changing the frames of description(by intervening in the structure that defines her) required the support from allies outside the normative system.
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| 10. |
- Jess, Kari, 1956-
(författare)
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Att räkna med nytta : samhällsekonomisk utvärdering av socialt arbete
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The general purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate KrAmi – a correctional program for young offenders – regarding socioeconomic profitability. Evaluating socioeconomic results enables us to examine and reflect upon the possibilities of applying socioeconomic models to social work. The basic data, from a long-term follow up study of 140 persons in two KrAmi programs, one Knuff program and two probation programs (treatment as usual), also allow systematic comparisons with more traditional evaluation modelsThe data have been presented in one research report and three articles.The research report examines both the effects in an effect study and the socioeconomic results in a CBA (Cost-Benefit Analysis) and a CEA (Cost-Effectiveness analysis). The overall aim of the socioeconomic study was to examine the socioeconomic profitability of the programmes. We found a halving of expenditure for the KrAmi and Knuff groups and a 25 percent reduction for the two probation programmes compared to the cost one year before rehabilitation started.The 15-year investment analysis (CBA) showed that expenditures decreased and benefits increased by about 2.5 million SEK per individual for the two KrAmi programmes and one non-custodial program, by 0.5-1.0 million SEK for the Knuff program and the other non-custodial program. For the KrAmi programs investment in rehabilitation pays off in 1-1.5 years, for probation in 2.5-4 years and for Knuff in 4 years after the intervention. The benefit-cost ratios were 17.8 - 12.7 for the two KrAmi programs and 5.1 - 5.8 for the two non-custodial programs. For the Knuff program the benefit-cost ratio was 13.2. KrAmi rates are higher for rehabilitation rate (pension points), rehabilitation rate compared to investment costs and benefit-cost ratio, pay-off time is the shortest.The results of both the effect study and socio-economic study, which were presented in the first article, suggest that social improvements for the clients corresponded with socio-economic profitability. However, these findings should be interpreted with caution due to difficulties in comparing short-term data on effects from ASI interviews collected in one period with long-term data concerning socio-economic costs per day per client in a different period. The second article elaborated on these design issues and also examined whether approaching an evaluation from different perspectives and employing different research methods can increase understanding. The conclusion drawn was that it was essential to have knowledge on the dissimilarities in design and measures between the two studies to come to the correct interpretations. These interpretations led to new questions to illuminate the results of the evaluations.In the third article the focus was the long-term follow up period. In this study the Knuff program was excluded from the study and the two KrAmi programs formed the program group and the two probation group formed the control group. The follow-up period was two years during which the socioeconomic costs decreased stepwise for both groups, probation groups more so than program groups. The deteriorations were 70-80% compared to the period before treatment. However rehabilitation to labour market was more successful for program groups than for control groups thanks to the greater socio-economic profitability for program groups.The introductory part of this dissertation focuses on methodological difficulties, and a multivariate regression analysis (MRA) is presented which shows that pre-existing differences in the composition of the program groups and control groups were not responsible for the differences on the socio-economic results. Moreover the introductory section includes a research presentation and the rationale for socioeconomic evaluation.
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