This master?s thesis investigates how six Swedish public libraries integrate equality aspects in their user oriented activity. The theoretical starting point for the study is that Sweden is a part of a gender system characterized by gender separation and male superiority, as described by the Swedish historian Yvonne Hirdman and theories that argue that femininity and masculinity are social constructions. Another starting point is that the library sphere cannot be separated from the gender inequality in society. Since the library is part of a gender system that value individuals who are seen as males and separates men and women, some of the library users may be neglected.

? Does Karlstad municipality have adequate institutional conditions to make the best use ofthe citizens? proposals??The purpose with the thesis is to investigate if citizens? proposals lead to a broader politicalinfluence. To answer that, I have done a case study about how Karlstad municipal administers citizens? proposals. The research assignment is: Does Karlstad municipal have adequate institutional conditions to make the best use of the citizens? proposals? The perspective is a democracy perspective and the theory is institutional theory and policy process theory.A selection of citizens? proposals that have arrived to Karlstad municipal between 2008 and 2010 have been studied in detail to analyze how the proposals have been administered and if it matters how the proposals are phrased.

A qualitative interview study how the normative gender images affects on women, their roles and positions in a drug abuse. The purpose of this study aims to shed a light at the consequences that the normative gender scenario inflicts on women with drug abuse and how these prejudices affects these women. Based on interviews with four different women who all lived with a drug abuse we have problematized how the gender system and the normative gender images affected them. We have used gender perspectives and social constructivism theories while analyzing the empirical basis. More specifically we use the theories of Butler about how gender constructs through performative actions and Hirdmans theories of the gender system.

This thesis uses the ?What's the problem?-approach developed by Carol LeeBacchi. This approach studies how the problem that a certain policy is supposedto take care of is represented. Each representation will rest upon certainassumptions and will accordingly support certain solutions while other solutionswill be considered less suitable to the problem as it is represented.The thesis therefore evaluates the competing problem representations forgender mainstreaming in Sweden. The theory chapter explores two developmentpossibilities for gender mainstreaming, based on diversity and deliberativedemocracy.

The elderly care is an area of great importance to women. Women are more often in need of elderly care; they work with the service and provide a majority of the informal service. Research shows that managers? work-related prerequisites are significantly different between the male dominated technical administration and the female dominated care and educational administration. Studies also show that what the highest managerial organisation gives priority to, often permeate the whole organisation.

? Does Karlstad municipality have adequate institutional conditions to make the best use ofthe citizens? proposals??The purpose with the thesis is to investigate if citizens? proposals lead to a broader politicalinfluence. To answer that, I have done a case study about how Karlstad municipal administers citizens? proposals. The research assignment is: Does Karlstad municipal have adequate institutional conditions to make the best use of the citizens? proposals? The perspective is a democracy perspective and the theory is institutional theory and policy process theory.A selection of citizens? proposals that have arrived to Karlstad municipal between 2008 and 2010 have been studied in detail to analyze how the proposals have been administered and if it matters how the proposals are phrased.

At the Congress of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) in 1991 a decision was made to reform LOs politics of gender. In the new resolution class and gender were established as equal causes of oppression. This was a giant leap from LOs traditional politics, where the dimension of class had always been considered more important than gender. The present thesis discusses how gender was constructed in LOs discourse after 1990 by analysing their official publications about gender politics called Klass och kön. The key terms in the analysis are continuity and change.

The national curriculum states that the school actively should promote that women and men have equal rights and opportunities and that there is a responsibility to counteract traditional gender patterns. However do research observations show that teachers often treat girls and boys differently. Studies show that the teachers are influenced by their conceptions and their expectations of gender behavior. The aim of this study is to examine how teachers in preschool and primary school discuss gender awareness and how they state that they work with gender awareness according to the curriculum goals of counteracting the traditional gender patterns.The study is inspired by the phenomenographic research approach and the empirical material has been collected by qualitative interviews with eight teachers in preschool and primary school. The empirical material has together with earlier research and theories been analyzed and discussed in order to reach a conclusion.

Gender equality is a political issue that has gained a lot of support in the last decades. Researchers have however pointed out that gender equality has a wide variety of understandings.SKL (Sveriges kommuner och landsting) is an organization that looks after the interests of local authorities and county councils in Sweden. SKL has by the government been granted 145 million Swedish crowns to support gender mainstreaming at a local level. During a period of three years, 2008-2010, funding has been given to 89 projects for this purpose.The aim of this study is to examine what meanings are given to the term ?gender equality? in these projects.

The law of 2006 about Equal treatment, has been put in place to stop discrimination of students, example based on their gender. The law has an important function to increase the equality of opportunity between girls and boys in school. Therefore the teacher has an imported roll for raising the equality of opportunity between girls and boys in school. That?s why it?s imported to work gender awareness.

This study was focused to highlight the problems that comes with being a minority on a workplace, in this case female sports journalist who are working in a male dominated sports field. The objective was to find out how the female sports journalist was experiencing working in such a domain, with focus on journalists who works on local news papers. The study also wanted to look on how these workplaces incorporated gender in their daily work.       In combination with gender theory, with concepts as masculine hegemony and power structures, I also choose to apply the american researcher Rosabeth M Kanters concept ?token?. With these aspects in mind I analyzed the five interviews that I carried out with female sports journalist with a qualitative data analysis.           The results of the study showed that the female sports journalist in some aspects were aware of the difficulties of being a woman in a male dominated area ? when they were talking about the profession at large.

The purpose with this essay is to examine how principals, teachers and parents look at a possible cooperation between preschool-teachers and parents regarding the promoting of gender equality, with children's literature as a tool. The literature documentation presents theories concerning the application of gender and the gender-order in society as well as the influence society has on children?s development of a gender-identity. Parent?s participation in the gender equality-work in preschool describes, as well as its significance.

The purpose of this study was to find out how gender roles are described in two popular children?s detective stories, one of them written in 2002 and the other in 1946, to be able to compare the two. In order to do this, I used a qualitative research method in which I read and analyzed the text and illustrations of the books out of a gender perspective.I used gender theories describing how stereotypical gender roles are displayed, and these theories were later associated with the books I studied. I also used previous research concerning gender roles in other children's books in order to compare those results with my own.After having read, analyzed and compared the two books, I found vast resemblances between them, but also certain differences. However, it is obvious that the gender roles in both books for the most part are traditional.

This thesis is composed within the framework of the supplementary course in psychotherapy concentrating on family therapy (60 credits) arranged by Lund University's affiliate in Västerås, Sweden.The purpose of this thesis has been to explore how the idea to initiate evidence based methods in the workings of the Individual and Family Care Department of the City of Västerås was born. Furthermore the thesis will explore if consideration for methods of theoretical implementation are implied. The study assumes a qualitative attempt and is based on semi-structured interviews from three levels within the organization, including both management and operation.Theories on organization,implementation and the theory on change strategies have been used as a theoretical starting point.The study result shows that introduction of evidence based methods in the City of Västerås is based on the experiences of the organization regarding the need to develop and increase social services contributions to non-institutional care. Experiences from expensive transferrals to institutions which only occasionally produced satisfactory results were a contributing factor. New published research and a strong interest and desire inside the department to improve and change social services contributions have naturally been a positive influence for the development.

Background: Animals have been shown to have a positive effect on people. The nursing science approach says that a person can experience well-being despite illness. The positive attributes of animals can be used in health care to help ill people experience well-being. An animal-assisted intervention can be a form of activity or therapy involving pets (AAA / AAT) or horses (EAT).Aim: The purpose of this study was to elucidate how animals in health care promote well-being for people with long-term illness.Methods: Literature review based on fourteen original scientific articles, with both qualitative and quantitative approach.Results: The compilation of the results led to four main categories with two subcategories respectively. These were: Physical aspects with subcategories Physical well-being and Bodily functions; Psychic aspects with subcategories Psychic well-being and Reduced psychiatric symptoms; Existential aspects with subcategories Quality of Life and Safety; Social Aspects with subcategories Social behavior and Relationships.Discussions: Review and discussion of the selected method.