Adolescent boys’ health : managing emotions, masculinities and subjective social status

The health of adolescent boys is complex and surprisingly little is known about how adolescent boys perceive, conceptualise and experience their health. Thus, the overall aim of this thesis was to explore adolescent boys’ perceptions and experiences of health, emotions, masculinity and subjective social status (SSS). This thesis consists of a qualitative, a quantitative and a mixed methods study. The qualitative study aimed to explore how adolescent boys understand the concept of health and what they find important for its achievement. Furthermore, the adolescent boys’ views of masculinity, emotion management and their potential effects on wellbeing were explored. For this purpose, individual interviews were conducted with 33 adolescent boys aged 16-17 years. The quantitative study aimed to investigate the associations between pride, shame and health in adolescence. Data were collected through a cross-sectional postal survey with 705 adolescents. The purpose of the mixed methods study was to investigate associations between SSS in school, socioeconomic status (SES) and self-rated health (SRH), and to explore the concept of SSS in school. Cross-sectional data were combined with interview data in which the meaning of SSS was further explored. Individual interviews with 35 adolescents aged 17-18 years were conducted. In the qualitative study, data were analysed using Grounded Theory. In the quantitative study, statistical analyses (e.g., chi-square test and uni- and multivariable logistic regression analyses) were performed. In the mixed method study, a combination of statistical analyses and thematic network analysis was applied. The results showed that there was a complexity in how the adolescent boys viewed, experienced, dealt with and valued health. On a conceptual level, they perceived health as holistic but when dealing with difficult emotions, they were prone to separate the body from the mind. Thus, the adolescent boys experienced a difference between health as a concept and health as an experience (paper I). Concerning emotional orientation in masculinity, two main categories of masculine conceptions were identified: a gender-normative masculinity and a non-gender-normative masculinity (paper II). Gender-normative masculinity comprised two seemingly opposite emotional masculinity orientations, one towards toughness and the other towards sensitivity, both of which were highly influenced by contextual and situational group norms and demands, despite that their expressions are in contrast to each other. Non-gender-normative masculinity included an orientation towards sincerity, emphasising the personal values of the boys. Emotions were expressed more independently of peer group norms. The findings suggest that different masculinities and the expression of emotions are intricately intertwined and that managing emotions is vital for wellbeing. The present findings also showed that both shame and pride were significantly associated with SRH, and furthermore, that there seems to be a protective effect of experiencing pride for health (paper III). The results also demonstrated that SSS is strongly related to SRH, and high SRH is related to high SSS, and further that the positioning was done in a gendered space (paper IV). Results from all studies suggest that the emotional and relational aspects, as well as perceived SSS, were strongly related to SRH. Positive emotions, trustful relationships and having a sense of belonging were important factors for health and pride was an important emotion protecting health. Physical health, on the other hand, had a more subordinated value, but the body was experienced as an important tool to achieve health. Even though health was mainly perceived in a holistic manner by the boys, there were boys who were prone to dichotomise the health experience into a mind-body dualism when having to deal with difficult emotions. In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that young, masculine health is largely experienced through emotions and relationships between individuals and their contexts affected by gendered practices. Health is to feel and function well in mind and body and to have trusting relationships. The results support theories on health as a social construction of interconnected processes. Having confidence in self-esteem, access to trustful relationships and the courage to resist traditional masculine norms while still reinforcing and maintaining social status are all conducive to good health. Researchers as well as professionals need to consider the complexity of adolescent boys’ health in which norms, values, relationships and gender form its social determinants. Those working with young boys should encourage them to integrate physical, social and emotional aspects of health into an interconnected and holistic experience.

Kyrkorum och status : En studie om bänkplacering i 1700-talets Falun

Denna studie har som syfte att undersöka bänkrummets betydelse för vidmakthållandet av hierarkier och status i 1700-talets Falun. Materialet som används för att uppfylla detta syfte består främst av kyrkorådsprotokoll ifrån Kristine församling i Falun mellan 1744-1784. Utöver dessa kyrkorådsprotokoll används stundtals biografier för att kunna ge en djupare bild av vissa individer. Resultatet visar att det under den undersökta perioden råder en strikt uppdelning av kyrko-rummet. Det mest uppenbara är uppdelningen mellan kvinnor och män. Uppdelningen av kyr-korummet följer emellertid inte bara könstillhörighet utan även ett mönster för över- och un-derordning. Inflytelserika personer satt långt fram i kyrkan och detta gällde både på manssi-dan som kvinnosidan i kyrkan. Ju längre bak i kyrkan man satt desto lägre social status hade man. Att sitta utmed en vägg verkar inte heller ha varit förknippat med hög status i Falun. Bänkplaceringen i kyrkan blev ett sätt att upprätthålla skillnad mellan människor, dock inte helt utan utmaningar och undantag.

Manipulation in Newspaper Articles : A Political Discourse Analysis of Lexical Choice and Manipulation in Japanese Newspaper Crisis Reporting in the case of North Korea

This paper analyzes some forms of linguistic manipulation in Japanese in newspapers when reporting on North Korea and its nuclear tests. The focus lies on lexical ambiguity in headlines and journalist’s voices in the body of the articles, that results in manipulation of the minds of the readers. The study is based on a corpus of nine articles from two of Japan’s largest newspapers Yomiuri Online and Asahi Shimbun Digital. The linguistic phenomenon that contribute to create manipulation are divided into Short Term Memory impact or Long Term Memory impact and examples will be discussed under each of the categories.The main results of the study are that headlines in Japanese newspapers do not make use of an ambiguous, double grounded structure. However, the articles are filled with explicit and implied attitudes as well as attributed material from people of a high social status, which suggests that manipulation of the long term memory is a tool used in Japanese media.

Perspektiv på ålder i vardagslivets interaktioner

Perspective on age in everyday interactions The aim of the article is to discuss how ethnomethodology and (symbolic) interactionism may contribute to sociological studies on age in everyday interactions. A theoretical framework on age, ‘age-as-accomplished’, inspired by ethnomethodology and symbolic interactionist approach has been proposed by Laz (1998; 2003). Our comparison of these approaches show, that the perspectives are incompatible, for example with regard to the definitions of culture, interaction and meaning. As such issues are not discussed by Laz, the theoretical framework is lacking in transparency and clarity. Ultimately the definition of ‘age as accomplished’ is not congruent with the notions of meaning and interpretation as used by Laz. In some respects the perspectives may though be complementary and valuable in age studies, for example the detailed study of situated norms in ethnomethodology, as well as some new developments within (symbolic) interactionist perspectives focusing on social status, and issues of subordination and superordination as relational processes.

Abdellah Taïa et le pays de la tolérance : Une étude sur l’auteur Marocain Abdellah Taïa et ses deux oeuvres L’Armée du salut et Le Jour du Roi.

Ce mémoire a pour but d’étudier comment l’auteur Abdellah Taïa dépeint l’homosexualité et les classes sociales dans la société marocaine, à travers ses oeuvres L’Armée du Salut (2006) et Le Jour du Roi (2010). La méthode utilisée dans le mémoire est l’herméneutique, qui donne la possibilité d’utiliser ses propres interprétations des textes pour les analyser. Les ouvrages étudiés révèlent les difficultés de vivre dans une société religieuse où l’homosexualité est condamnée ainsi qu’interdite par la loi et où l’avenir d’une personne dépend de son statut social.

L’interaction comme méthode d’apprentissage du Français langue étrangère (FLE) en Suède

Mon travail s’inspire de l’idée de la Direction nationale de l’enseignement scolaire suédoise (Skolverket, 2011) qui suggère que « les élèves doivent avoir la possibilité de développer une capacité de communication et de compréhension de la langue ». Mon mémoire commence par une introduction générale, continue avec une analyse des manuels utilisés dans l’apprentissage du FLE et des activités favorisant l’interaction - échange réciproque verbale ou non verbale, pour terminer par une conclusion générale. Comme il n’existe pas d’enseignement sans méthodes appropriées, il existe des manuels qu’on peut utiliser afin de faciliter l’apprentissage par l’interaction de la langue cible. Les activités de communication orale et écrite d’ordre pédagogique sont indispensables. Tout comme l’écrit Revue française de pédagogie (1994 :133) « La classe est un système social complexe dont les parties sont en interaction dynamique, acteurs (enseignant et élève[s]), situation, matière selon des statuts sociaux. ». Pour effectuer mes recherches, j’ai porté mon attention sur l’analyse des manuels scolaires qu’il m’a été permis de consulter. Il s’agit des manuels d’entraide comme : Mais oui 3 et Escalade littéraire. Concernant l’analyse du matériel didactique favorisant l’interaction, ces deux manuels proposent des exercices de réflexion selon le niveau de l’apprenant. Dans mon travail, je m’intéresse à l’aspect didactique et linguistique de ces deux manuels scolaires.