Gender in Administrative Court of Appeal - A discourse analysis of verdicts concerning compulsory drug treatmentThe purpose of this study was to examine gender discourses that could be identified inverdicts concerning compulsory drug treatment. A discourse analysis was conducted of 46verdicts from an administrative court of appeal, located in central Sweden. The main findingsof the study was that the descriptions of women, more often than men, are based on factorsother than their addiction, such as appearance and social environment. Men are in all casesdescribed by their addiction and on their own behavior. Women are presented as they riskvulnerability, while men are presented already suffer from vulnerability.

Background: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of deliberate self-harm in a Swedish University population.Method: A random sample of first year students at University of Kalmar was invited to participate in an Internet-based survey in the autumn of 2007. A total of 139 (53,1 %) completed the anonymous survey.Results: The results showed that 25,2 % (n=35) of the students reported having engaged in some kind of deliberate self-harm at least once, and deliberate self-harm was endorsed by 7,9 % within the past year. The most frequently procedures to self-harm were to tear, carve or pinch self, cutting skin and hitting self on purpose. 37,1 % reported that they had told no one about their self-injurious behaviors and 36,4 % significantly reported that they had no one they trusted and who they could talk to if they were concerned about something. Students with self-injurious behavior were also more likely to report a history of emotional, sexual and/or physical abuse, alcohol and drug use, cut classes and questioning their sexual orientation.Conclusions: Findings suggest that self-harm is associated with risk factors and that self-injury is not only associated with adolescence but also with adulthood.

The purpose of this essay was to examine the different aspects of motivational work with active heroin-using clients from a social workers point of view. The further purpose of this essay is to also examine what the advancements and discouraging factors in such a motivational work might be. To attain this purpose we focused on these following questions:What might motivational work with active heroin-using clients look like?According to the social worker, what factors constitutes for a beneficial progress in the engagement of motivational work with active heroin-using clients?According to the social worker, what constitutes for discouraging factors in the engagement of motivational work with active heroin-using clients?We chose to do a qualitative study by conducting separate interviews with six social workers working in a social services agency, all of whom are working with drug-addicted adults. We then analyzed the answers by using an abductive research strategy, testing the collected empirical data against our chosen theoretical perspectives.

Syftet med denna studie har varit att undersöka vilka faktorer och motiv som ligger till grund för en missbrukares beslut att söka vård och behandling. Vidare har syftet varit att undersöka om beslutet grundar sig på individens egen insikt om sin problematik eller om det är ett resultat av omgivningens och nätverkets krav. Studien var av fenomenologisk karaktär då vi hade för avsikt att studera vad det är som gör beslutet till vad det är, d.v.s. finna essensen i vad det är som påverkar och samspelar med beslutet. För att uppnå syftet har vi använt oss av kvalitativ metod med en abduktiv ansats.

This study aims to examine how the interventions for homeless persons in the municipality of Kalmar are organized. The study is based on four half-structured qualitative interviews with both representatives from different instances and also from persons who have experience of being homeless.The theoretical bases we have used to analyze the material are organization theory, specifically the concept of bureaucracy. Our results show that homelessness is not seen as a problem in itself, since the general view is that homeless people often have a complex problem scenario where drug- and alcohol abuse and mental illness are common.It is often the latter that takes priority in the interventions and the housing question is therefore neglected. We also found that social services do not have a satisfactory structure around the organization of the work on homelessness. They do not have any specific device in Kalmar that focus on homelessness issues with the result that the existing units are forced to take care of the work of homelessness.

Nearly nine percent of the population in Sweden are 75 years or older. Still they consume more than a quarter of all medicines. This increased use, is specially noticeable in nursing home residents, where the elderly is using a average of 8-10 preparations per day. According to the National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden, the number of drugs and specially psychotropic drugs, has proved to be a risk factor for drug-related problems among the elderly, such as drug interaction and side effects. Routines for regular and systematic follow-up of drug prescription and utilisation reviews were not extensively implemented.

Då jag som receptarie kommer att ha ett ansvar när jag expedierar läkemedel ville jag lära mig mer om interaktioner (samspelet) mellan olika läkemedel samt interaktioner mellan traditionellt växtbaserade läkemedel (TVBL) och vanliga läkemedel. Min avgränsning gällande TVBL kom att bli interaktioner mellan johannesört och vanliga läkemedel och detta därför att johannesört är det växtbaserade läkemedel som interagerar mest och kan ställa till det ordentligt vid fel kombinationer. Som receptarie har jag ett ansvar gentemot apotekskunden och därför kände jag att jag ville fördjupa mig i interaktionsproblematiken. Den farmaceutiska kompetensen innefattar i hög grad kunskapen om läkemedelsinteraktioner. Farmaceuter arbetar sida vid sida med sjukvården och har ofta kontakt med förskrivande läkare och då kan det vara bra att rent professionellt kunna hur specifika interaktioner yttrar sig.

The aim of this study was to describe and understand how individuals in adulthood experienced a childhood with neglect, and how they handled neglect. In order to reach the perspective of the individuals who grew up with neglect, we chose to use autobiographical books as our empirical material. The criteria the autobiographies had to meet in order to fall within the scope of this study was that the biographies had to display the experience of neglect during childhood, and thereto the books had to be written by individuals who themselves experienced neglect. Based on the aim of this study we sought answers to three questions: How do the individuals describe their upbringing with a mentally or socially disabled parent? How have the individuals coped with the neglect they?ve been exposed to? What consequences have the neglect supposedly led to? The findings of this study show that the extent to which the individuals experienced neglect were profound and comprising.

The number of persons with problems of abuse or addiction seeking care has increased during the last years in Sweden. Recent international studies show stigmatizing attitudes among nursing staff, which affect the treatment and care negatively. The purpose of this study was to describe experiences among nursing staff of treating persons with problems of abuse or addiction at an emergency department. The participants were six nurses and one assistant nurse who worked at an emergency department. The interviews were analyzed through qualitative content analysis.

This study aims to examine how the interventions for homeless persons in the municipality of Kalmar are organized. The study is based on four half-structured qualitative interviews with both representatives from different instances and also from persons who have experience of being homeless.The theoretical bases we have used to analyze the material are organization theory, specifically the concept of bureaucracy. Our results show that homelessness is not seen as a problem in itself, since the general view is that homeless people often have a complex problem scenario where drug- and alcohol abuse and mental illness are common.It is often the latter that takes priority in the interventions and the housing question is therefore neglected. We also found that social services do not have a satisfactory structure around the organization of the work on homelessness. They do not have any specific device in Kalmar that focus on homelessness issues with the result that the existing units are forced to take care of the work of homelessness.

Title:What influences the assessment of addiction treatment? - Factors that may affect thechoice of interventionsThere are few studies on trauma and the importance of religion for the professional handlingof abuse clients in a Swedish context. It is therefore appropriate to examine the role of suchfactors. This study examines whether experienced trauma in childhood or religious beliefsinfluence the assessment and selection of input in fictitious cases. To examine this created sixvignettes.

The purpose of this thesis is to study the personal problems that can occur when defecting from a destructive cult, and what kind of support you may need from social authorities. The aim is to develop guidelines for social workers who are in contact with sect defectors. It?s a qualitative study based on interviews with six defectors from Jehovah?s witnesses. The results shows that all the defectors that have been interviewed have had anxiety problems, lost contact with friends and relatives, low level of education, and low self esteem when defecting or after.

The aim of this study was to examine how women in a voluntary organization, KRIS (C.R.I.S. Criminals' Return Into Society) express their experience of help and support from voluntary and professional organized social work. This was an empirically based study with, qualitative approach. The methods of data collection were unstructured interviews and participant observation.The central question was which importance KRIS possible may have in the process of the women's return into society from involvement in crime and Drug abuse. What can KRIS offer that the professional organization can't?The findings were that mutuality, mutual aid or mutual help based on shared experiences is hard to replace with support from professional organized social work.

The aim of this study was to gain an understanding about how people with a former alcohol abuse expresses and gives meaning to feelings of guilt and shame in autobiographical books. In particular the purpose of the study was to find out how the authors writes about feelings of guilt and shame, whether it was expressed explicitly or implicitly, and which meaning the authors gives to feelings of guilt and shame and how these feelings are related to each other. We randomly selected 8 autobiographical books by using different criterias. The foundation of this study was social constructionism, which is also a foundation for one of our analysis methods: discourse analyse. This analysis method was used for the analysis of the expressions that were made in an explicit way.

The purpose of this essay is to explore how social workers view a possible connection between exposure to honour violence and development of mental illness and/or substance abuse. We first heard of the possible connection from a voluntary organization who work in this field and who believe that this connection could be common. We therefore wanted to explore this from the perspective of social workers who come into contact with victims of honour violence: was this something they had noticed? How did they deal with it if it was noticed? We also asked how the possible connection could be interpreted and, supposing the social workers had failed to notice the connection, why this could be. We made five qualitative interviews with six social workers working in different contexts whom within their work come across honour-related issues.