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- Karlsson, Tom S., 1979-
(author)
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Manager and civil servant : exploring actors' taken-for-granted assumptions in public administration
- 2014
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Manager and Civil Servant is an exploration of actors' taken-for-granted assumptions that govern perceptions concerning how public administration should be undertaken within contemporary welfare states. It is argued that more than 30 years of continuous reforms directed towards public administration have caused dilemmas to arise. These dilemmas have resulted in a shifting of balances regarding the underpinning pillars of public administration. These reforms have furthermore resulted in an emergence of challenging social systems, entailing new beliefs and practices. The question posited is "how do actors engaged in public administration make sense of the dilemma(s) they face". Theoretically, this dissertation entails institutional theory as well as Structuration Theory. These are combined in a framework, wherein agency and structure are used in order to characterise manifestations of taken-for-granted assumptions. The framework is furthermore elaborated through conceptual perspectives concerning Management as well as Civil Service in order to model a framework for public administration. Empirically, this dissertation entails a use of qualitative as well as quantitative methods. Open-ended interviews are combined with self-administered surveys, statistical analysis, and focus groups. Two important contributions are highlighted. Firstly, actors engaged in public administration reject the idea of polarisation concerning inherent public administrative activities and that the dilemma being accentuated within public administration. As such, instances of making sense are reduced due to an unconscious enactment of meanings and sanctions that reject the presence of dilemmas. Secondly, actors' ability to reject polarisation, and thus dilemma, can be explained through compartmentalising interdependent perspectives. On the one hand actors enact an internal perspective wherein instances of Management make sense. On the other hand actors enact an external perspective wherein instances of Civil Service make sense. The separation and compartmentalisation of these perspectives not only enable actors to reject dilemma, they are enabled to enact seemingly different roles at once. They become both Managers and Civil Servants.
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| 2. |
- Birberg Thornberg, Ulrika
(author)
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Fats in Mind : Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Cognition and Behaviour in Childhood
- 2011
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The aim of this thesis was to examine possible effects of omega-3 fatty acids on children’s cognition and behavior. Longitudinal as well as cross-sectional comparisons were made among children with typical development and children with ADHD /at risk developing ADHD.The specific purposes were to examine (1) breast-feeding in relation to cognition; (2) relation between long chain poly unsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) in mothers breast-milk and children´s cognition; (3) effects of EPA supplementation on cognition and behavior in children with ADHD; (4) if LCPUFAs have differential effects on working memory, inhibition, problem-solving and theory of mind (ToM).The main conclusions were as follows; (1) duration of breast-feeding was positively correlated to children levels of intelligence (IQ); (2) LCPUFAs in breast-milk was related to children’s ToM and IQ, the quotient DHA/AA, together with length of breastfeeding and gestation week explained 76% of the variance of total IQ; (3) subtypes of children with ADHD responded to EPA supplementation with significant reductions in symptoms, but there were no effects in the whole group with ADHD; (4) ToM ability was related to LCPUFAs, but not to any other cognitive measures as working memory, inhibition and problem-solving.To conclude, these results indicate that fatty acid status in breast-milk at birth affect general cognitive function in children at 6.5 years of age, including ToM. Short-term intervention with omega-3 fatty acids does not affect cognition in children with ADHD, but improves clinical symptoms as assessed by means of teacher ratings. These results further indicate that hot executive function and social cognition may be an area of interest for future research.
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