Våldets onda cirklar : En explorativ undersökning av mäns barndomsupplevelser, maskuliniteter, känslor, våld samt terapeutiska interventioner mot våld

Avhandlingens överordnade syfte är att utforska möjligheterna för ett integrerat forskningsperspektiv på mäns våld samt exemplifiera hur sådan forskning kan bedrivas. Det konkreta syftet är att öka kunskapen om hur våldsamma mäns barndomsupplevelser, socialisation, maskulinitetskonstruktion och emotioner kan relateras till deras våld mot andra män, mot sig själva och mot kvinnor samt till hur terapeutiska interventioner mot våld kan analyseras och utvecklas i korrespondens med denna kunskap. Med vetenskapsteoretiska utgångspunkter hämtade från den kritiska realismen och ekologiska metoder relaterar studien forskning från olika skolbildningar till varandra; - psykologisk: om barndomserfarenheter och socialisation, socialpsykologisk: om emotioner och interaktion samt sociologisk: om social klass, könsmaktsstrukturer och hegemonisk maskulinitet. Detta genomförs för att kunna få tillgång till kunskap om hur olika faktorer samverkar vid mäns våld. I studie I och II studerades möjligheterna att undersöka de sociala banden mellan terapeut/terapi och klient inom terapeutiska behandlingar mot våld. I studie I operationaliserades indikatorer på emotionerna stolthet och skam och i studie II testades dessa på terapeuter inom en KBT-orienterad terapi. I studie IIIundersöktes män i olika maskulinitetspositioner, där urvalet för den ena gruppen hämtades ur populationen män dömda till terapi för våld och missbruk och den andra ur populationen män som organiserat arbetade för jämlikhet och mot våld mot kvinnor. I studien jämfördes de båda gruppernas förhållningssätt till faktorer som i tidigare forskning relaterats till våld och våld mot kvinnor. I studie IVundersöktes våldsdömda mäns karriärer fram till deras nuvarande position som våldsbejakande kriminella i avsikt att öka kunskapen om det samspel mellan faktorer som i olika situationer leder fram till deras våld mot andra män, sig själva och kvinnor. Samtliga empiriska studier använde kvalitativa metoder för datainsamling och analys. I studie IV användes individuella intervjuer och biografisk analys, I studie II ochIII användes gruppintervjuer samt deduktiv innehållsanalys. I studie I, den teoretiska reviewartikeln, utgjorde sociologisk, socialpsykologisk och psykologisk teoribildning empiri. Avhandlingen visar att det finns fler fördelar är nackdelar med ett nivåövergripande perspektiv. Nivåintegrerande studier försvåras av att de kräver en komplex metodologi för att kunna hantera samverkan mellan faktorer bakom våld på olika nivåer men ger å andra sidan en mer holistisk förståelse av fenomenet i fråga. Resultaten visar att integrerande perspektiv kan minska risken för ekologiska felslut och ökar förståelsen av komplex samverkan mellan faktorer bakom mäns våld, något som kan komma att bidra till kunskapsutvecklingen inom våldsterapiområdet. Den teoretiska reviewartikeln (studie I) exemplifierade hur teoretiskt och metodologiskt driven forskning om sociala band kan göras pragmatiskt tillämpbar av terapeuter inom våldbehandlingar. Den tillämpade studien av en KBT-terapi (studie II) gav exempel på hur operationaliserade indikatorer på stolthet och skam kan användas praktiskt för att bestämma kvalitén på det sociala bandet mellan terapeut och klient. Den studerade KBT-terapin innehöll som förväntat både skam- och stolthetskapande moment vilket utgör värdefulla utgångspunkter för vidare forskning. Jämförelsen mellan män i idealtypiskt motsatta maskulinitetspositioner (studie III) visade att både gruppen av män som arbetar mot våld mot kvinnor och männen dömda till behandling mot våld, bär på ambivalenta attityder gentemot våld och våld mot kvinnor. Jämförelsen visade vidare att gruppernas maskulinitetskonstruktioner och attityder till våld korresponderar med grupperingarnas olika tillgång till ekonomiska, sociala och kulturella resurser. Den biografiskt fokuserade kvalitativa studien av män i våldsbehandling (studie IV) undersökte explorativt hur karriären fram till våldskriminell kan se ut och hur barndomsupplevelser, socialisation, maskulinitet och emotioner hos enskilda våldsverkande män kan tänkas ha samverkat med varandra när våld äger rum. Resultaten visade att de män som vittnar om utsatthet för allvarligt våld i barndomen är mer skambenägna och vid kränkningar från andra tenderar att omedvetet och utan föregående känslor av skam direkt reagera med aggressioner och våld mot båda könen. Övriga män var visserligen skambenägna men beskrev en mer kontrollerad våldsreaktion. Två män som blivit brutalt fysiskt mobbade i grundskolan, berättade om ett mer kontrollerat våld. En preliminär hypotes är att männen kan ha lärt sig att kognitivt, för att undslippa fortsatt mobbing, ta kontrollen över processen där skamkänslor ersätts med aggressioner. Föräldrarnas personliga problem tillsammans med deras bristande sociala kontroll och omsorg antogs ha ett samband med flera av männens skolproblem, deras umgänge med avvikande ungdomar, deras senare svårigheter med att kunna försörja sig med konventionella medel samt deras våldskarriärer.

Parenthood in transition : Somali-born parents' experiences of and needs for parenting support programmes

BACKGROUND: Pre- and post-migration trauma due to forced migration may impact negatively on parents' ability to care for their children. Little qualitative work has examined Somali-born refugees' experiences. The aim of this study is to explore Somali-born refugees' experiences and challenges of being parents in Sweden, and the support they need in their parenting. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive study was undertaken. Data were collected from four focus group discussions (FGDs) among 23 Somali-born mothers and fathers living in a county in central Sweden. Qualitative content analysis has been applied. RESULTS: A main category, Parenthood in Transition, emerged as a description of a process of parenthood in transition. Two generic categories were identified: Challenges, and Improved parenting. Challenges emerged from leaving the home country and being new and feeling alienated in the new country. In Improved parenting, an awareness of opportunities in the new country and ways to improve their parenting was described, which includes how to improve their communication and relationship with their children. The parents described a need for information on how to culturally adapt their parenting and obtain support from the authorities. CONCLUSIONS: Parents experienced a process of parenthood in transition. They were looking to the future and for ways to improve their parenting. Schools and social services can overcome barriers that prevent lack of knowledge about the new country's systems related to parenthood. Leaving the home country often means separation from the family and losing the social network. We suggest that staff in schools and social services offer parent training classes for these parents throughout their children's childhood, with benefits for the child and family.

We did it together : Fathers´ experiences of planned home birth in the Nordic countries

Sammanfattning: Bakgrund: för många pappor kan det vara en av livets största och bästa stund att närvara vid när deras barn föds. Det finns studier som beskriver pappors upplevelse av sjukhusförlossning, däremot finns det få studier som beskriver pappors upplevelse av planerad hemförlossning. Syftet med den här studien är att beskriva pappans upplevelser och erfarenheter av planerad hemförlossning. Metod: i denna studie medverkar 105 pappor från de nordiska länderna som har deltagit i planerad hemförlossning mellan 2009-2011. Materialet från en öppen enkätfråga analyserades med hjälp av deduktiv ansats. Den öppna frågan löd ”beskriv gärna förlossningen med egna ord”. Resultat: papporna upplevde den planerade hemförlossningen som lugn och säker, mycket tack vare den professionella barnmorskan och den välbekanta miljön. Att få vara hemma med sin partner och om så önskades, sin familj var högt skattat. Födelseprocessen hemma beskrevs av papporna som att ”vi gjorde det tillsammans” och ”det var vår egen förlossning”. Papporna uttryckte delaktighet i förlossningsflödet. De kände också att de fick ett barn och var en del av en vacker förlossning full av kärlek. Konklusion: att välkomna ett barn hemma i en lugn miljö där paret känner sig trygga och ostörda, kan underlätta en positiv och meningsfull förlossningsupplevelse.

Translation, Communication and 'Learning' : Experiences from teaching a master program in Viet Nam

In Vietnam, as in other Asian countries, co-operation with foreign universities plays an important role for the development of higher education. This paper is based on personal experiences from teaching a Swedish Master Programme in Education Science at Vietnam National University in Hanoi. Using theories developed by Lev Vygotsky and Donald Schon, the programme is explored as an inter-cultural learning process. Three aspects are focused upon. Firstly, the fact that communication between students and teachers is conducted with the help of translators who support both teachers and students in their attempt to understand and make themselves understood. Secondly, the expressed need to connect the ideas and techniques which are studied in the programme to the students´ professional worlds. Thirdly, the need to construct a framework wherein the students can inquire into their own situations and to encourage them to try new and more productive ways to deal with problems they are confronted with.

Barns strategier och ekonomisk utsatthet : knappa resurser som utgångspunkt för en förhandling av positionerna i familjen

Economic hardship and children’s strategies – scarce resources as a starting point for negotiating family positions The aim of this article is to discuss how children and adolescents experience everyday life in economic hardship and how a negotiation of the family positions can be linked to these experiences. The article takes its theoretical starting point in childhood sociology, and is based on an interview study involving 17 children between the ages of 6–18 in families living on or below the limit for receiving welfare benefits. The purpose of these interviews is to explore how these children experience economic hardship at home and among friends, focusing their own strategies and agency. I argue that the financial situation in these families do indeed challenge the way that the child position is traditionally understood, which also has implications for the children’s identity work. Including children as participants in research therefore becomes crucial in order to fully understand the ramifications of child poverty. 

Barnen och stadsrummet : relationer mellan kompetens, ålder och delaktighet

Children and urban space – relations between competence, age and participation In this paper we focus on how children and adults discuss children’s competence in urban space, and how this relates to the age of the child. Spatial competence is linked to the possibility to experience and participate in urban space. Gaining spatial competence thus requires children to be allowed to make experiences in public space. However, our research suggests that age is the organizing norm regarding who is viewed as competent enough to gain access to and participate in urban space. Firstly, spatial competence is related to age-based categories, where children and adults are viewed as homogeneous categories. Adults are viewed as spatially competent while children are viewed as non-competent. Secondly, spatial competence is related to chronological age and defined from an adult perspective which means that increased chronological age is equated with increased competence. It is shown that chronological age is the organizing norm also for how children order other children within the category of children in terms of how spatially competent they are

Existential issues in surgical care : Nurses’ experiences and attitudes in caring for patients with cancer

The overall aim of this thesis was to explore surgical nurses’ experiences of being confronted with patients’ existential issues when caring for patients with cancer, and to examine whether an educational intervention may support nurses in addressing existential needs when caring for patients with cancer. Previously recorded discussions from supervision sessions with eight healthcare professionals were analysed (I), written descriptions of critical incidents were collected from 10 nurses, and interviews with open questions were conducted (II). An educational intervention on existential issues was pilot tested and is presented in Studies III and IV. The intervention was the basis of a pilot study with the purpose of testing whether the whole design of the educational intervention, including measurements instruments, is appropriate. In Study III and IV interviews with 11 nurses were conducted and 42 nurses were included in the quantitative measurements of four questionnaires, which were distributed and collected. Data was analysed using qualitative secondary analysis (I), hermeneutical analysis (II), and mixed methods using qualitative content analysis and statistical analyses (III-IV). Results in all studies show that existential issues are part of caring at surgical wards. However, although the nurses were aware of them, they found it difficult to acknowledge these issues owing to for example insecurity (I-III), a strict medical focus (II) and/or lacking strategies (I-III) for communicating on these issues. Modest results from the pilot study are reported and suggest beneficial influences of a support in communication on existential issues (III). The results indicate that the educational intervention may enhance nurses’ understanding for the patient’s situation (IV), help them deal with own insecurity and powerlessness in communication (III), and increase the value of caring for severely ill and dying patients (III) in addition to reducing work-related stress (IV). An outcome of all the studies in this thesis was that surgical nurses consider it crucial to have time and opportunity to reflect on caring situations together with colleagues. In addition, descriptions in Studies III and IV show the value of relating reflection to a theory or philosophy in order for attitudes to be brought to awareness and for new strategies to be developed.

Reading That Matters : A Literature Review on Meaningful Reading Experiences in the EFL Classroom

This thesis is a literature review on literature reading in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom, of mainly upper secondary schools. The underlying objective for this work is that meaningful reading experiences can have a positive impact on a developing young individual on his or her way into adulthood. The aim of this thesis is to explore what theories and methods are used when trying to create prerequisites for meaningful reading experiences, and how these experiences actually are realized. Qualitative methods are mainly used, except for a small section of the methodology of finding the sources, which is quantitative in nature. Since very little previous research has been done in the field, the six sources used in this review are internationally spread over five continents. They are mainly analyzed from a theoretical background of reader response and critical literacy perspectives. The main findings show that a number of theoretical approaches and methodologies can be useful in creating meaningful reading experiences. What may have proven most effective was addressing actual problems in the students’ everyday lives through applied critical literacy.

Systematic work environment management : experiences from implementation in Swedish small-scale enterprises

Small-scale enterprises face difficulties in fulfilling the regulations for organising Systematic Work Environment Management. This study compared three groups of small-scale manufacturing enterprises with and without support for implementing the provision. Two implementation methods, supervised and network method, were used. The third group worked according to their own ideas. Twenty-three enterprises participated. The effects of the implementation were evaluated after one year by semi-structured dialogue with the manager and safety representative. Each enterprise was classified on compliance with ten demands concerning the provision. The work environment was estimated by the WEST-method. Impact of the implementation on daily work was also studied. At the follow-up, the enterprises in the supervised method reported slightly more improvements in the fulfilment of the demands in the provision than the enterprises in the network method and the enterprises working on their own did. The effect of the project reached the employees faster in the enterprises with the supervised method. In general, the work environment improved to some extent in all enterprises. Extensive support to small-scale enterprises in terms of advise and networking aimed to fulfil the regulations of Systematic Work Environment Management had limited effect especially considering the cost of applying these methods.

MLCMS actual use, perceived use, and experiences of use

Mobile learning involves use of mobile devices to participate in learning activities. Most elearning activities are available to participants through learning systems such as learning content management systems (LCMS). Due to certain challenges, LCMS are not equally accessible on all mobile devices. This study investigates actual use, perceived usefulness and user experiences of LCMS use on mobile phones at Makerere University in Uganda. The study identifies challenges pertaining to use and discusses how to improve LCMS use on mobile phones. Such solutions are a cornerstone in enabling and improving mobile learning. Data was collected by means of focus group discussions, an online survey designed based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and LCMS log files of user activities. Data was collected from two courses where Moodle was used as a learning platform. The results indicate positive attitudes towards use of LCMS on phones but also huge challenges whichare content related and technical in nature.