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| 2. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1966-, et al.
(author)
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Accounting for Personal Overindebtedness : Debtors' Accounts in Applications for Debt Relief at the Swedish Enforcement Authority
- 2012
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In: Sociological Research Online. - : Sage Publications. - 1360-7804. ; 17:4, s. 114-124
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper aims to describe and understand the accounts given in applications for debt relief/adjustment in relation to the 'question situation' that overindebted person stand before in their encounters with Swedish authorities. The analysis is based on the sociology of accounts and is made against the background of previous research on overindebtedness in the Nordic countries. The paper shows that the accounts given by debtors include examples of 'refusals' and 'denials', but mainly comprise narratives and accounts centred around giving 'justifications' and 'excuses' focusing on external circumstances (illness, unemployment, divorce, bankruptcy), helplessness, or a lack of knowledge or intent (others causing the debt, or problems of addiction). The applications also contain some 'concessions', 'pledges' and 'appeals' by which the debtors try to show that they are improving in taking economic responsibility and deserve debt relief. The analysis thereby shows which accounts are considered legitimate, but also that the framing cues defining and delimiting the question situation are too weak to produce uniform forms of accounting. Many applicants for debt relief respond to a wide definition of the question situation - one that relates to self-image and social identity.
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| 3. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1966, et al.
(author)
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Accounting for personal overindebtedness: Debtors’ accounts in applications for debt relief at the Swedish Enforcement Agency
- 2011
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In: 10th Conference of the European Sociological Association.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- While the Swedish economy is recovering fast from the financial crisis of 2008-9, many households are still in severe and increasing debt problems, not least because of credit driven private consumption. Even though the increase of overindebted persons is coming to a halt at app. 5 % of the population, the number of applications to the Swedish Enforcement Agency for debt release is still increasing (appr 1 %). This paper is part of a project studying the process of debt relief/adjustment in Sweden and analyses 60 such applications. The aim is to describe and understand the accounts given in these applications in relation to the “question situation” that the over-indebted person stands before in their encounters with the authorities. The analysis is based on the sociology of accounts and is made against the background of previous research on the experiences of personal overindebtedness in the Nordic countries. The paper show that the accounts given by debtors include some few examples of “refusals” and “denials”, but mainly comprise of narratives and accounts centred around giving “justifications” and “excuses”, focusing on external circumstances (illness, unemployment, divorce, bankruptcy) helplessness, or a lack of knowledge or intent (others causing the debt or problems of addiction). The applications also contain “concessions”, “pledges” and “appeals” by which the debtors are trying to show that they are improving in taking economic responsibility and deserving a debt relief. The analysis thereby shows which accounts are considered being legitimate, both by the debtors and by the municipal budget- and debt advisers that are to help debtors in applying for debt relief. In addition, the analysis shows that the accounts and narratives given by the debtors often go far beyond what they are asked to explain by the Enforcement Agency, thus indicating that debtors have difficulty in bracketing explanations and accounts produced to acquire social and moral acceptance and re-establishment.
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| 4. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1966, et al.
(author)
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Discretion in the “Backyard of Law”: Case Handling of Debt Relief in Sweden
- 2013
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In: Professions and Professionalism. - Oslo : OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University. - 1893-1049. ; 3:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article explores discretion in welfare professional work. The aim is to analyse what room for discretionary decision-making that exist in case handling of debt relief at the Swedish Enforcement Authority (SEA). The analysis is guided by a conceptual distinction between structural and epistemic aspects of discretion, as well as between substantive and procedural aspects. The data comprises official and internal SEA documents, interviews with management and staff and field notes from observations. The analysis points to a change in the balance between standards and discretion in relation to the on-going formalization of case handling at the SEA, though not in the simplistic sense that discretion is diminished through formalization. When taking into account the different analytical aspects of discretion, it is concluded that discretion is narrowed only in some respects. There is still space for case officers in selecting and interpreting information and assess-ing the conditions regarding subject matter.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Larsson, Bengt, 1966, et al.
(author)
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Standards and discretion in the “backyard of law” – case handling of debt relief at the Swedish Enforcement Authority
- 2012
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In: 26th Conference of the Nordic Sociological Association, 15-18 August 2012, University of Iceland, Reykjavik.
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The number of applications for debt relief has been increasing in Sweden during the last ten years. Up until 2006 when a new debt relief law was introduced, the number of rejections was higher than the number of decisions on debt relief. But since then that relation has been inversed and the number of positive decision almost twice as high as the number of rejections. The policy of the enforcement agency during the last years has been, not only to grant debt relief in as many cases as possible given the legal space for maneuver, but also to strengthen both the productivity and the uniformity in the decision making process. This paper analyses the case handling in the debt relief process at the Swedish Enforcement Authority. The focus is on the relation between legal standards and professional discretion in case-handling. In addition to this general theme, the paper also discusses the relation between individual and collective interpretive practices, local variation and uniformity, and the translation of the debtors’ accounts and other information into legally binding decisions. The empirical base of the paper is organizational documents from the Enforcement Agency, ethnographic participation at meetings, and interviews with staff and management.
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| 7. |
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A world of standards
- 2000
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Editorial collection (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In this insightful discussion of the phenomenon of standardization in organizations and society at large, the authors regard standards as a form of regulation enabling a higher degree of global order in the modern world, and argue that they represent an alternative to markets and hierarchies as a mode of social organization.
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| 8. |
- Adams, Robin, et al.
(author)
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What is the word for 'Engineering' in Swedish : Swedish students conceptions of their discipline
- 2007
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Engineering education in Sweden – as in the rest of the world – is experiencing a decline in student interest. There are concerns about the ways in which students think about engineering education, why they join an academic programme in engineering, and why they persist in their studies. In this context the aims of the Nationellt ämnesdidaktiskt Centrum för Teknikutbildning i Studenternas Sammanhang project (CeTUSS) is to investigate the student experience and to identify and support a continuing network of interested researchers, as well as in building capacity for disciplinary pedagogic investigation. The Stepping Stones project brings together these interests in a multi-researcher, multi-institutional study that investigates how tudents and academic staff perceive engineering in Sweden and in Swedish education. The first results of that project are reported here. As this study is situated uniquely in Swedish education, it allows for exploration of “a Swedish perspective” on conceptions of engineering. The Stepping Stones project was based on a model of research capacity-building previously instantiated in the USA and Australia (Fincher & Tenenberg, 2006).
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Adebahr, Josefina, et al.
(author)
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Cation coordination in ion-conducting gels based on PEO-grafted polymers
- 2000
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In: Solid State Ionics. - 0167-2738. ; 135:1-4, s. 149-154
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ionic conducting polymer gels prepared from PEG-grafted acrylates, ethylene carbonate (EC), dimethyl carbonate (DMC), and LiPF6 are studied by means of infrared and Raman spectroscopy. It is found that the presence of grafted PEO chains substantially changes the coordination of lithium cations from 'cation-solvent' to 'cation-polymer'. Spectroscopic studies show that Li+-PEO coordination is strongly favored in competition with the solvent molecules and dominates completely at ether oxygen to Li-cation ratios (O:Li) of 10:1 and 5:1. At an O:M of 4:1 a solvent-cation interaction arises, in agreement with previously reported MD calculations of a preferred coordination number of 5 in similar systems. The results suggest that the complex interactions which determine long time stability and ionic transport properties can be designed by functionalization of the polymer backbone in PMMA-based gel electrolytes.
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