| 1. |
- Andersson Malmros, Robin
(author)
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Municipal Policy Responses to Violent Extremism: An Institutional Theory Perspective
- 2023
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In: Nordic Journal of Social Research. - 1892-2783. ; 14:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper explores and explains municipal policy responses to the grand challenge of violent extremism. Drawing on a content analysis of 60 Scandinavian municipal policies and using concepts from new institutional theory, the findings reveal that municipalities mainly translate and edit a variety of practices originally developed for purposes other than countering violent extremism, which result in an unfocused response with the risk of unintended and problematic consequences. Taken together, the results illustrate the downside of pressuring and rushing municipalities into co-producing efforts to counter or prevent the emergence or consequences of grand challenges without offering appropriate support or considering the specific objectives and limitations of municipal operations.
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| 2. |
- Aslan, Pinar, 1986-, et al.
(author)
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What works? Family Influences on Occupational Aspirations among Descendants of Middle Eastern Immigrants on the Swedish Labour Market
- 2019
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In: Nordic Journal of Social Research. - : Scandinavian University Press / Universitetsforlaget AS. - 1892-2783. ; 9, s. 134-160
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this article, we examine family influences on occupational aspirations among employed descendants of Middle Eastern immigrants. Using a qualitative approach, we conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with native-born descendants of Middle Eastern immigrants. We present and analyse their interpretations of their parents’ experiences and living conditions before, during and after migration and demonstrate how these interpretations shaped their own occupational aspirations. We discuss parents’ high expectations of their children in relation to ethnic-community valuations of educational and occupational achievements. These high expectations may increase the chances of social mobility but can also become a negative pressure, especially if parents set high standards but cannot help their children to meet those expectations. In these cases, older siblings who possess valuable knowledge of the educational system and labour market can function as important transferrers of resources.
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| 3. |
- Axelsson, Thom
(author)
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Intelligence testing, ethnicity, and construction of the deviant child : Foucault and special education in Sweden
- 2016
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In: Nordic Journal of Social Research. - : Lillehammer University College. - 1892-2783. ; 7:special issue
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this article, I discuss how Foucault may help us to reach a different understanding of special education. This article primarily draws on two analytical tools from Foucault’s ‘toolbox’: genealogy and governmentality. These tools are used to analyse three different cases of intelligence testing from the debate concerning the Swedish school organization in the early twentieth century. It is possible to see intelligence-quotient (IQ) testing as an overarching tool for controlling social behaviour. Intelligence-quotient testing was an important tool of power, with the aim of establishing certain regimes of truth on a societal as well as on an individual level. This article shows through a Foucauldian analysis that we should be careful in interpreting this entirely as an expression of state power from above or as different experts’ intentions. Rather, by using a genealogical approach, we can attempt to (re)write the history of interpretations, or problematizations, and then we can utilize a perspective of governmentality that focuses on the techniques and their effects.
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| 4. |
- Blom, Björn, 1965-, et al.
(author)
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Analysing written narratives : considerations on the ‘code-totality problems’
- 2010
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In: Nordic Journal of Social Research. - Lillehammer : The Centre for Public Policy Innovation, Lillehammer University College (HiL). - 1892-2783. ; 1:1, s. 1-20
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article describes and discusses a number of fundamental aspects of analysing short written narratives. Of particular interest are the code-totality problems that arise during the transformation of several individual stories into a collective narrative. This article starts with a brief introduction to our previous narrative research on Swedish social-work students, which is followed by a description of textual interpretation according to Paul Ricoeur’s theory of interpretation, and a discussion and elaboration on the different concepts of meaning within his theory. The core of this article is an account of four models for analysing narrative data from several informants. This is followed by a concrete example of the implications that follow from the implementation of these models. We conclude that the degree of heterogeneity in the narrative material affects the choice of the mode of textual analysis and the code compilation.
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| 5. |
- Blom, Björn, 1965-, et al.
(author)
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Evaluation of quality in social-work practice
- 2012
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In: Nordic Journal of Social Research. - Lillehammer, Norge : The Centre for Innovation in Services (CIS). - 1892-2783. ; 3, s. 1-17
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This theoretical article describes and discusses the concept of quality in relation to the evaluation of social-work practice. Of particular interest are the difference between quality of services and quality of life and the importance of balancing the stakeholders’ different interests in order to make a sound judgement of quality in social work possible. This article begins with presenting some basic perspectives on quality as well as the transference of the concept of quality from manufacturing industry to social-work practice. Thereafter the two main issues are discussed: the concepts of quality of service and of quality of life and the importance of balancing different stakeholders’ perspectives in the evaluation of quality in social-work practice. This article concludes that: 1) it is crucial to be aware of and to consider the distinction between quality of service and quality of life; 2) clients’ perspective on quality of life is an aspect of outcome that currently receives insufficient attention; 3) clients’ subjective experiences of welfare of well-being deserve greater attention for ethical as well as methodological reasons; and 4) judgement of quality in social work are inevitably dependent on different stakeholders’ perspectives.
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| 6. |
- Ede, Lena, 1949-, et al.
(author)
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Enhancing credibility : A qualitative study of being on sick leave with a stress-related psychiatric diagnosis
- 2021
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In: Nordic Journal of Social Research. - : Scandinavian University Press. - 1892-2783. ; 12:1, s. 181-200
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the Western world mental health problems are increasing and in Sweden these problems are the most common reason for sick leave. Diagnoses of adjustment disorders and reactions to severe stress are increasing the fastest out of all mental health problems. The aim of this study is to contribute new insights into employees’ experiences and management of being on sick leave with a stress-related psychiatric diagnosis. The empirical material consisted of individual interviews with 26 employees who were on sick leave from at least part-time employment because of a stress-related diagnosis. The grounded theory method was used to analyse the results. In the generated model, we propose that sick-listed employees engage in enhancing credibility in relation to themselves and others, here attempting to come across as credible and, thus, avoiding disbelief and the negative attributions of being on sick leave with a psychiatric diagnosis. The interviewees shared the general concern that being perceived as either healthier or sicker than the case may be, as well as greater sensitivity to what others might think, which was manifested as being on guard and controlling their behaviour and emotional display. To return to work, the sick-listed employees tended to re-evaluate their previous performance at work and saw the illness as self-inflicted and as the result of not having been capable of drawing the line between work and leisure.
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| 7. |
- Ede, Lena, 1949-, et al.
(author)
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Unresolved conflicts and shaming processes: risk factors for long-term sick leave for mental-health reasons
- 2014
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In: Nordic Journal of Social Research. - 1892-2783. ; 5, s. 39-54
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mental illness is the most common diagnosis resulting in long-term sick leave in Sweden today, especially stress-related syndromes and mood disorders. The aim of this article is to analyse the relational and emotional processes in the workplace that may contribute to the understanding of long-term sick leave for mental-health reasons. We conducted interviews with twenty-six people who were on sick-leave because of diagnoses of mental ill-health. The empirical material was analysed using Classic Grounded Theory. We suggest that the risk of being afflicted with mental illness, and forced into long-term sick leave, increases when there are conflicts at work that remain unresolved and which lead to malignant shaming processes that jeopardize personal dignity. In their struggle to maintain self-esteem, the afflicted escalate their work efforts by increasing work intensity, putting in overtime, and working when ill. Eventually, this behaviour affects their health and results in sick-listing. The strengths and weaknesses of the study are discussed along with the need for further research.
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| 8. |
- Giritly Nygren, Katarina, et al.
(author)
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(Re)assembling the ‘Normal’ in Neoliberal Policy Discourses : Tracing Gender Relations in the Age of Risk
- 2015
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In: Nordic Journal of Social Research. - : Scandinavian University Press / Universitetsforlaget AS. - 1892-2783. ; 6, s. 24-43
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The purpose of this article is to explore through a reading of an official Swedish policy document what questions and challenges such a document poses for feminist theory by the way the 'normal' is (re)assembled in accordance with what others have called the risk politics of advanced liberalism. The intensified focus on risk in neoliberalism has seen responsibility move from the state to individuals, and old divisions between society and market as well as between civil society and state are being refigured. The argument put forward here is that current modes of governance tend to neglect the complexities of present-day life courses when using a gender-'neutral' approach to social policy that is in fact the work of a gender regime.
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| 9. |
- Glasdam, Stinne, et al.
(author)
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Placed in homecare: Living an everyday life restricted by dependence and monitoring
- 2013
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In: Nordic Journal of Social Research. - 1892-2783. ; 4:1, s. 83-99
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Through a sociological case study this article analyses how, seen from a relational perspective, everyday life for elderly people receiving care in their own homes is lived with dependence on health-care professionals. The healthcare professionals’ time and tasks are assigned and allocated in advance so that the elderly people are neither allowed nor able to vary their response in relation to the situation they encounter. The life of the client is also treated as though it were a solid, structured everyday life with minimal private time. Work in the home, for example, household chores and personal care, resembles a disciplining strategy. The client lives under conditions of monitoring and control comparable to conditions of imprisonment. The client is subject to the will of and social intercourse with other people in his own home; he both knows it is necessary and offers resistance to the conditions. In short, the authors argue that the homecare service acts as a disciplining practice in modern society.
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| 10. |
- Gruber, Sabine, 1958-
(author)
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Cultural comptence in institutional care for youths: experts with ambivalens positions
- 2015
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In: Nordic Journal of Social Research. - 1892-2783 .- 1892-2783. ; , s. 1-13
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In Sweden, cultural competence if often singled out as both a strategy and solution for managing differences attributed to migrants, but few studies have critically investigated the idea of cultural competence. This article is an empirical contribution, based on an ethnographic study, and analyses talk and actions in the everyday practice in special residential homes for boys and young men. It examines when, how and in relation to what and whom cultural competence is made relevant, with special focus on how notions about cultural competence positions the staff in the studied institutions; organisationally, in relation to different work tasks and in narratives about the care and treatment provided. The analysis shows that cultural competence is almost exclusively attributed to staff who have a migrant background, and that the position as cultural competent is ambiguous. On the one hand a position as expert, on the other hand surrounded by a suspicion not to be professional. Staff who are ascribed cultural competence are made into representatives of cultural difference and locked into culturalised and ethnified positions. Thus, cultural competence rather emerges as a tool to master and control the boys who are placed in the studied institutions than as a tool to affect a change process in support of multiculturalism.
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