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

Barnfri : en stigmatiserad position

Childfree: a stigmatized position International research has addressed the subject but in Sweden voluntary childlessness has until now been overlooked. This article draws on qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 21 Swedish childfree women. The interviews focused their decision not to have children and attitudes they faced due to their rejection of motherhood. They all had encountered pressure to conform to a pronatalistic norm, proclaiming parenthood to be self-evident in an adult normal life. The results highlight different strategies used by the women to avoid instigating the dislike of those around them. The article argues that understanding childfree as a stigmatized position helps providing new insights to what conditions the social relations between the childfree and ‘the normals’, i.e. persons who advocate having children. Further, viewing the childfree as a stigmatized group has theoretical implications that contribute to developing Goffman’s classical theory of social stigma.

Mellan raderna där normerna får fäste : En diskursanalys av tre läsläror ur ett genusperspektiv

Syftet med denna studie har varit att med en diskursanalys granska tre läsläror för årskurs 1-3ur ett genusperspektiv för att uppmärksamma hur könsnormer konstrueras och reproducerasi texten. Jag har undersökt hur karaktärerna skildras, resonerat kring hur eleverna kan påverkasav böckerna och sett om läslärorna är förenliga med läroplanen. Studien är kvalitativ med etthermeneutiskt förhållningssätt. Hirdmans teorier kring genuskontraktet, isärhållandet avkönen och hierarkin med mannen som norm, är grunden till analysen.Resultatet visar att traditionella könsnormer både konstrueras och reproduceras i läslärornastext och bild men i varierande mängd. Alla tre läsläror genomsyras av en mansnorm och dentydliga uppdelningen mellan barnen bidrar till ett upprätthållande av patriarkala strukturer.Huruvida läslärorna är förenliga med läroplanen är svårt att avgöra eftersom resultatet frånanalyserna inte är entydigt och läroplanen ger utrymme för en egen tolkning.

Cambios en el uso de la lengua meta en el aula tras la introducción de Lgy 11 : Una revisión sistemática de literatura con el objetivo de investigar si ha cambiado el uso de la lengua meta en la enseñanza de lenguas modernas tras la introducción de Lgy 11

Resumen: La tesina investiga si ha cambiado el uso de la lengua meta en la enseñanza de lenguas modernas en la escuela sueca tras el inicio de Lgy 11. El estudio se realiza a través de una revisión sistemática de literatura. Vemos que en nuestro campo de investigación faltan estudios profundos. Los estudios encontrados indican un aumento del uso de la lengua meta en el aula tras el inicio de Lgy 11. Sin embargo, en pocas situaciones parece cumplirse la norma que indica que todo lo esencial de la enseñanza debe realizarse en la lengua meta. Las unidades de gramática parecen ser el segmento de la enseñanza en el cual los profesores usan el sueco más extensamente. Según los estudios analizados solamente una profesora incorpora la lengua meta cuando enseña la gramática. No obstante, la mayoría de los profesores expresan que la gramática es una parte esencial de la enseñanza de lenguas modernas

Partnerlös och Barnfri : Friheten och ensamheten med singelskap

Med denna uppsats har vi velat ta reda på hur singlar över 30 år upplever sitt singelskap samt hur de förhåller sig till att inleda partnerskap och att skaffa barn. Singel är ett begrepp som inrymmer många olika aspekter och perspektiv. Genom individuella intervjuer har vi tagit del av 4 kvinnliga singlar och 4 manliga singlars egna upplevelser, alla är över 30 år och bosatta i mellan Sverige. Vi har analyserat det empiriska materialet vi fått fram med hjälp av vår teoretiska utgångspunkt som berör modernitetens samhälle där individen skapar sin självidentitet och livsstil utifrån sin kontext. Singlarna har givit oss en bild av deras liv och deras inställning till den norm om parrelationer och att skaffa barn som finns i vårt samhälle. Det empiriska materialet vi fått tillgång till har tolkats och analyserats med hjälp av Grounded theory. Vårt resultat visar på individens strävan efter känslan av frihet och oberoende. Singlarna är nöjda över sin livsstil men uppger att det kan finnas en saknad av någon ibland. En ambivalens uppstår mellan deras känsla av frihet till den ensamhet de kan uppleva. Upplevelsen av singelskapet och synen på partnerskap och barn mellan män och kvinnor visar sig inte vara så olik.

Estimation of genetic variance for macro- and micro-environmental sensitivity using double hierarchical generalized linear models

Background: Genetic variation for environmental sensitivity indicates that animals are genetically different in their response to environmental factors. Environmental factors are either identifiable (e.g. temperature) and called macro-environmental or unknown and called micro-environmental. The objectives of this study were to develop a statistical method to estimate genetic parameters for macro- and micro-environmental sensitivities simultaneously, to investigate bias and precision of resulting estimates of genetic parameters and to develop and evaluate use of Akaike’s information criterion using h-likelihood to select the best fitting model. Methods: We assumed that genetic variation in macro- and micro-environmental sensitivities is expressed as genetic variance in the slope of a linear reaction norm and environmental variance, respectively. A reaction norm model to estimate genetic variance for macro-environmental sensitivity was combined with a structural model for residual variance to estimate genetic variance for micro-environmental sensitivity using a double hierarchical generalized linear model in ASReml. Akaike’s information criterion was constructed as model selection criterion using approximated h-likelihood. Populations of sires with large half-sib offspring groups were simulated to investigate bias and precision of estimated genetic parameters. Results: Designs with 100 sires, each with at least 100 offspring, are required to have standard deviations of estimated variances lower than 50% of the true value. When the number of offspring increased, standard deviations of estimates across replicates decreased substantially, especially for genetic variances of macro- and micro-environmental sensitivities. Standard deviations of estimated genetic correlations across replicates were quite large (between 0.1 and 0.4), especially when sires had few offspring. Practically, no bias was observed for estimates of any of the parameters. Using Akaike’s information criterion the true genetic model was selected as the best statistical model in at least 90% of 100 replicates when the number of offspring per sire was 100. Application of the model to lactation milk yield in dairy cattle showed that genetic variance for micro- and macro-environmental sensitivities existed. Conclusion: The algorithm and model selection criterion presented here can contribute to better understand genetic control of macro- and micro-environmental sensitivities. Designs or datasets should have at least 100 sires each with 100 offspring.

Det är kompetensen som avgör : En studie av rekryterares föreställningar i en mansdominerad bransch

Studien syftar till att undersöka vilka föreställningar som kommer till uttryck då rekryterare inom stål- och verkstadsindustrin talar om jämställdhet, kompetens samt rekrytering. Syftet är också att kritiskt granska vilka konsekvenser dessa föreställningar kan få för rekryteringsprocessen. En hermeneutiskt ansats har valts, och sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med rekryterare inom stål- och verkstadsindustrin har genomförts. Av studien framgår att rekryterarna anser att jämställdhetsfrågor är viktiga att ta hänsyn till. Det framgår också att företagen, enligt rekryterarna, inte har någon uttalad definition på kompetens. Rekryterarna menar också att magkänsla spelar roll vid valet av kandidat. Studiens resultat visar också att rekryterarna har omedvetna könsstereotypa föreställningar. En konsekvens av detta skulle,enligt författarna, kunna bli att föreställningarna ligger till grund för rekryterarnas magkänsla som också skulle kunna påverka deras definition på kompetens. Detta skulle kunna leda till att bedömningen av en kandidat blir subjektiv, vilket innebär att kompetensen inte enbart är avgörande i en rekryteringsprocess.

Attitudes Towards and Uses of the Japanese Adverbzenzen by Swedish Learners of Japanese

The word zenzen is an adverb that is used frequently in daily conversational Japanese. From the Meiji period (1868-1912) until the early Showa period (1924-1989) the word was used together with both affirmative and negative words to form expressions. In the early Showa period the grammatical rules in education changed so that the only acceptable use was together with a negative word. From the 1990’s onward, the use together with an affirmative word has made a comeback especially among younger Japanese people. However even though the usage together with an affirmative word has made a comeback and was considered normal once in history, in today’s society it is still considered as slang and thus not recommended usage in formal situations. Foreign language learners however, tend not to learn a language only by textbooks but also by imitating the language of native Japanese speakers and Japanese popular culture. This may lead to a confusion regarding what words are acceptable to use in conversations. Therefore in this study, an online survey that examines the usage and attitudes regarding the word zenzen aimed at Japanese language learners at Swedish universities was conducted. The results of the survey showed that although a majority of the learners showed a good understanding of the usage, more than half of the learners displayed a feeling of confusion regarding the usage of the word. The gender comparison regarding the usage showed no major differences. Having lived in Japan, having Japanese friends whom you speak Japanese with regularly and length of Japanese study was associated with an increased understanding of the usage. Regular consumption of Japanese popular culture, however, was not associated with an increased understanding of the usage. A literature analysis was also conducted to examine the attitudes regarding the usage of zenzen in a variety of books with topics including business language and books aimed at Japanese language teachers. The results showed that zenzen used together with a negative word was considered as the norm while zenzen used together with an affirmative word was not recommended to be used in formal situations. When recommending proper usage of the word zenzen together with an affirmative word to foreign learners of Japanese, hijou-ni and totemo was seen as better alternatives to zenzen in a formal situation.

Definitioner av våld i överlevandes berättelser efter kriget i Bosnien

Definitions of violence in stories of survivors from the Bosnian war Previous research on violence during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina presents a one-sided picture of the phenomenon ”war violence.” Researchers have emphasized the importance of narratives but they have not focused on stories about war violence, nor have they analyzed the stories of war violence being a product of interpersonal interaction. This article tries to fill this knowledge gap by analyzing the narratives told by survivors of the war in northwestern Bosnia in the 1990s. The aim is to analyze how the survivors describe violence during the war, and also to analyze those discursive patterns that contribute in constructing the category ”war violence.” The construction of the category ”war violence” is made visible in the empirical material when the interviewees talk about (1) a new social order in the society, (2) human suffering, (3) sexual violence, and (4) human slaughter. All interviewees define war violence as morally reprehensible. In narratives on the phenomena ”war violence” a picture emerges which shows a disruption of the social order existing in the pre-war society. The violence practiced during the war is portrayed as organized and ritualized and this creates a picture that the violence practice became a norm in the society, rather than the exception. Narratives retelling violent situations, perpetrators of violence and subjected to violence do not only exist as a mental construction. The stories live their lives after the war, and thus have real consequences for individuals and society.

La noción de lo esencial en la enseñanza de lenguas modernas según los profesores. : Entrevistas con cinco profesores sobre la norma "Todo lo esencial de la enseñanza debe realizarse en la lengua meta" de Gy11.

La tesina investiga cómo cinco profesores interpretan la norma de Gy11 que indica que todo lo esencial de la enseñanza de lenguas modernas debe realizarse en la lengua meta. Las entrevistas semiestructuradas indican que los profesores interpretan la norma de maneras parecidas, es decir, que los profesores deben usar la lengua meta lo máximo posible en la enseñanza. La mayoría de los profesores están de acuerdo con la norma, sin embargo, tienen varias críticas contra Skolverket y la formulación de la norma. Ninguno de los profesores ha cambiado su uso de la lengua meta en el aula debido a la norma.

Normative-informational positions: a modal-logical approach

This paper is a preliminary investigation into the application of the formal-logical theory of normative positions to the characterisation of normative-informational positions, pertaining to rules that are meant to regulate the supply of information. First, we present the proposed framework. Next, we identify the kinds of nuances and distinctions that can be articulated in such a logical framework. Finally, we show how such nuances can arise in specific regulations. Reference is made to Data Protection Law and Contract Law, among others. The proposed approach is articulated around two essential steps. The first involves identifying the set of possible interpretations that can be given to a particular norm. This is done by using formal methods. The second involves picking out one of these interpretations as the most likely one. This second step can be resolved only by using further information (e.g., the context or other parts of the regulation).

Extending Agent Languages for Autonomy

BDI agent languages provide a useful abstraction for complex systems comprised of interactive autonomous entities, but they have been used mostly in the context of single agents with a static plan library of behaviours invoked reactively. These languages provide a theoretically sound basis for agent design but are very limited in providing direct support for autonomy and societal cooperation needed for large scale systems. Some techniques for autonomy and cooperation have been explored in the past in ad hoc implementations, but not incorporated in any agent language. In order to address these shortcomings we extend the well known AgentSpeak(L) BDI agent language to include behaviour generation through planning, declarative goals and motivated goal adoption. We also develop a language-specific multiagent cooperation scheme and, to address potential problems arising from autonomy in a multiagent system, we extend our agents with a mechanism for norm processing leveraging existing theoretical work. These extensions allow for greater autonomy in the resulting systems, enabling them to synthesise new behaviours at runtime and to cooperate in non-scripted patterns.

Towards a Formalisation of Electronic Contracting Environments

The IST-CONTRACT project is in the process of creating an electronic contracting language. One of the goals of this language is that it has formal underpinnings, and formalizations at a number of levels have been created. One of the lowest levels, upon which the other levels are built is the normative level. At this level, we identify how contract clauses (modeled as norms) may evolve over time. In this paper, we describe this formalization, and show how we may associate various states with a norm throughout its lifecycle. We also show how more complex evaluations may be carried out over a norm, and conclude with an example showing the application of the framework over a contract and its associated norms.

Monitoring and Explanation of Contract Execution: A Case Study in the Aerospace Domain

In the domain of aerospace aftermarkets, which often has long supply chains that feed into the maintenance of aircraft, contracts are used to establish agreements between aircraft operators and maintenance suppliers. However, violations at the bottom of the supply chain (part suppliers) can easily cascade to the top (aircraft operators), making it difficult to determine the source of the violation, and seek to address it. In this context, we have developed a global monitoring architecture that ensures the detection of norm violations and generates explanations for the origin of violations. In this paper, we describe the implementation and deployment of a global monitor in the aerospace domain of [8] and show how it generates explanations for violations within the maintenance supply chain. We show how these explanations can be used not only to detect violations at runtime, but also to uncover potential problems in contracts before their deployment, thus improving them.

A Model of Normative Power

A power describes the ability of an agent to act in some way. While this notion of power is critical in the context of organisational dynamics, and has been studied by others in this light, it must be constrained so as to be useful in any practical application. In particular, we are concerned with how power may be used by agents to govern the imposition and management of norms, and how agents may dynamically assign norms to other agents within a multi-agent system. We approach the problem by defining a syntax and semantics for powers governing the creation, deletion, or modification of norms within a system, which we refer to as normative powers. We then extend this basic model to accommodate more general powers that can modify other powers within the system, and describe how agents playing certain roles are able to apply powers, changing the system’s norms, and also the powers themselves. We examine how the powers found within a system may change as the status of norms change, and show how standard norm modification operations — such as the derogation, annulment and modification of norms— may be represented within our system.