The study sheds light on how individuals from different countries experience the labour action Komjobb. The study aim to examine in which consideration experiences of the action Komjobb differs among the participants. The study is based on eight qualitative interviews and analyzed by using the method of phenomenography. We have based this research on a theory about Social Constructivism. Other theories that we have used are Bauman's theory about the changing value of work in the modern and postmodern society and Andersson's theory of unemployment as a social category.

Our study has its starting point in the Swedish social legislation (Socialtjänstlagen) and more specifically in the 6th chapter's 5th paragraph. That paragraph regulates that social workers should try to find a kinship care placement when they are about to do a placement of a child. Our purpose is to examine how social workers, before they do a placement of a child, understand the informal kinship that is not relatives, if they consider the informal kinship and if certain circumstances have an impact on the consideration. To get this information we have done five interviews with social workers. Recent studies show that social workers in past years have begun to think more positively of people's kinships and that they more often use the resources of the kinship.

The purpose of this study is to find out teachers view on manipulatives as a way to concretize a certain mathematical content and to highlight knowledge and experiences within the range of using manipulatives to concretize. By answering the questions below different approaches a teacher may have towards the manipulatives and how that may impact on student?s learning will also be discussed in comparison to mainly traditional and socially constructive theories of learning.What is the teachers view on manipulatives as a way to concretize?What purpose do they have when using manipulatives?According to the teachers, what does it mean to concretize a certain mathematical content?According to the teachers, what connection is there between manipulatives and concretizing?Through interviews and observations conclusions can be made that the teachers are in general positive towards using manipulatives as a way to concretize a certain mathematical content although the definition of what a manipulative is differ somewhat between the teachers. The teachers working with manipulatives do it in a well thought out fashion but more research is needed to furthermore define the purpose of using manipulatives. Few countries spend so much time concretizing and working with manipulatives as Sweden do, but still Sweden score below the OECD-average on the mathematical PISA-tests.

This study aims to seek knowledge about what preschool teachers think about gender issues, and if it affects their work. The study has been performed in a multicultural district in Stockholm. A working party of three teachers, one male and two females, has been interviewed and observed. The empirical material from the interviews and observations has then been analyzed based on theories about gender, femaleness, maleness and cultural behaviour. The result proves that one of the three teachers considers that there are general typical female and male behaviour.

Denna uppsats behandlar frågan kring fördomar, muslimer och interaktion. Undersökningen sker genom en intervjuundersökning där respondenterna får svara på frågor som berör deras syn på muslimer utifrån deras interaktionsnivå. Tidigare forskning säger att den socialt konstruerade bilden av muslimer är negativ, och att den upprätthålls av samhället, däribland filmindustrin. Som ramverk för att undersöka detta används socialkonstruktivismen och kontaktteorin. Kontaktteorin, som introduceras av Gordon Allport, säger att interaktion mellan grupper minskar fördomar genom att grupperna interagerar som jämbördiga och med gemensamma mål.

Syftet med studien var att studera hur fenomenet självläkning framställdes i nationell och internationell forskning. Studien omfattar tre frågeställningar: (1) Hur definieras alkoholmissbruk i artiklarna? (2) Hur definieras självläkning i artiklarna? (3) Hur framställs självläkningsprocessen i artiklarna? För att besvara dessa frågeställningar gjordes en selektiv kunskapsöversikt och en kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes som metod. Kunskapsöversikten utgjordes av tio forskningsdokument vilka omfattades av kvalitativa och kvantitativa undersökningar mellan åren 1996-2007. Studiens position är postmodern.

The purpose of the study was to examine how exercise of authority social worker´s view and work with normality has changed. Together with the role of changes in society, as LSS (Act concerning Support and Service for Disabled), user influence and the principle of normalization had in this context. The material has been collected through a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews which were held with eight social workers. Three of them had not been active within the field of this study for more than ten years and five of them are currently working. The collected material was analyzed through the theoretical perspective social Constructivism and the theoretical concept case management.

This essay is a case study about the Swedish Armed Forces during the years 1988-2004; when it transformed from a force constructed to meet an invasion, to an international force with the primary mission to help subdue conflicts around the world. The essay uses texts and documents to examine what happened between these years and to find out what drove that change.By asking the questions A) ?What happened between the years 1988-2004?? and B) ?What is the difference between the Armed Forces in 1988 and in 2004??, it is possible to also ask C)?Why did the Swedish Armed Forces change??.The essay is divided into three main parts; 1) a theory-part focused on three main theories of international relations: liberalism, realism, and Constructivism, 2) a historical case study examining the evolvement of the Armed Forces during these years, and 3) a conclusions section that uses thethree theories of international relations to examine why this change happened.In examining the historical period and making conclusions about the differences between these years it was also necessary to construct a scale of military power, on which the historical case study is based..

The aim of this study is to investigate social workers? attitudes toward alcohol abuse, regarding the relationship between the individuals? own responsibility of causing and solving its addiction. The thesis also aims to gain a deeper understanding of what the respondents perceive as important in the creation of these attitudes. In this qualitative study six social workers who all have experiences of working with clients suffering from alcohol abuse are interviewed. The results from the interviews are analyzed with social Constructivism as theoretical framework, as well as theories regarding how attitudes are created.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain the European Union was challenged partly by an institutionalized organization of the union, as well as by a socio-psychology awareness concerning the meaning of the European Union. The increase in European integration has generated a political collaboration where national understandings in identities are constantly being exposed for reconstruction. This results in a collective European identity where states are united in diversity.National identities are created when boundaries are set up in a relation to other states. In these identity constructions there are thoughts and questions raised such as who we are and who we are not. Ukraine and the European Union has, during a long time, had diversified preconceptions concerning who has been the others.

This study aims at using discourse analysis to analyze SFI students attitudes to religion and religiosity in an SFI-context. The questions are: How is the discourse constructed and maintained by religion and religiosity of SFI students in an SFI context? How do SFI participants experience that their religion has affected their time at SFI?Using a case study approach, interviews were conducted with a group of SFI students. The results show that the religious discourse in SFI is influenced by the SFI-context and affected based on the current education discourse that exists there. Furthermore, the discourse is designed and maintained by the participants private religious beliefs and the religion of the majority of the group, One canhere speak of a strong social unit forming a plausibility structure The power structure that emerges is that the majority has the power to define the significance of religion and place within the SFI context. In the SFI-context the participants view is that religion is something private that should not be expressed in the school environment.

In this thesis the construction of identity within the EU is discussed. A thesis problem in three dimensions is used to explain the purpose of the construction, its realization and the consequences of such identity. These aspects show the complexity of the problems related to identity construction on a structural level.By using a post-modern and a social constructivist theoretical approach identity is presented as socially constructed by discourse. The theory of discourse makes it possible to analyze the development of an identity forming discourse within the EU and its status today.With an approach inspired by critical theory, we use discourse analysis as a methodological tool to illustrate the ideas that govern discourse, and in what way it is related to the social reality.The analysis states that the purpose of identity constructing is the striving for legitimacy. Without identification, the legitimacy is threatened.

The aim of this study was to, with a social constructivistic approach, examine how parents,regarded as neglecting their children, are depicted in 12 LVU-legal cases from the Supreme Administrative Court in Sweden. By using a document analysis influenced by discourse analytical tools, we found that there are repeated descriptions of the parents, which constructs an image of parents as shortcoming in the care of their children. The categories lack of emotions, mental disorder, substance abuse and physical maltreatment were the main reasons for child neglect that the parents were described from. Attitudes towards authority, aggression and immaturity, lack of insight, and deficiencies in the home were repeated in the description of the parent. We further found that mothers were regarded as more responsible of the children compared to fathers.

The aim of this study is to combine queer theories with quantitative methods. In social sciences, queer theories are being widely and increasingly used. Quantitative method is also widely used, and as a traditional method it can be regarded as a cornerstone in social sciences, sociology in particular. However, the two perspectives, queer theories and quantitative method, seem at a first glance to be very different in their understanding of social phenomena. Queer theories have, with some exceptions, mainly focused on qualitative research concerning such phenomena as sexuality, while the field of science is quite diverse.

The purpose of this thesis has been to explore the topic of business simulation from a theoretical foundation in social Constructivism and theories concerning leadership as the management of meaning. The most important findings are that business simulation can be used for strategical leadership by management to create a common vision in the organisation members, which affects their perception of the business and the decisions and actions they make, which in turn can lead to a more efficient organisation that becomes better at meeting set goals. This can be viewed in different ways from different theoretical viewpoints: as inducing targeted changes in mental models to create changes in decision making and actions; as a secondary socialization process where the vision of management is externalized as a business simulation that is in turn internalized by the organisation members that participate in the business simulation, or as a way to frame and define the reality of the organisational members which creates a shared reference point against which a feeling of organisation and direction can emerge. In the future, business simulations may become increasingly used by organizations to create a common vision or to communicate a new decision to the organization members..