In Sweden the divorce rates has increased during the latter part of the 20th century. For many children it?s everyday life growing up with parents no longer living together. The Parental Code states that "The child's best interests must be central to any decision in custody, residence and access." But what does the child?s best interest really mean and how do we investigate it? We decided to investigate its meaning by interviewing social workers regarding their interpretations of the child's best interests from a family law perspective.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur familjerättsekreterarna upplever barns situation i samband med deras uppdrag med vårdnads-, boende- och umgängesärenden. Frågeställningarna var; Hur definierar familjerättssekreterarna sitt uppdrag vid vårdnads-, boende- och umgängesärenden vid föräldrars separation? Vilka instrument/verktyg använder familjerättssekreterarna för att ta reda på barns situation i samband med vårdnads-, boende- och umgängesärenden vid föräldrars separation? Hur upplever familjerättssekreterarna att barns fysiska och psykiska hälsa samt relation till föräldrarna påverkas i samband med föräldrarnas separation? Studien utfördes med en kvalitativ forskningsmetod där undersökningen innefattade åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med familjerättssekreterare. I vår studie har vi utgått från systemteorin och gräsrotsbyråkratin. Detta för att familjerättssekreterarna har myndighetsutövning och att de vid utredningsärenden tittar på hur familjemedlemmarna samspelar med varandra.

The choice between bare-rooted and containerized seedlings in southern Sweden affects the investment costs as well as growth and survival. It is important to take these differences into account when choosing seedling type for reforestation. The most important differences between the two seedling-types is that bare-rooted seedlings has open root systems whereas the roots of containerized seedlings are grown in a container which may contain water and nutrients that are available for the seedling during the first period after planting. Moreover, bare-rooted seedlings are often older which results in thicker stembase and better resistance to attacks of pine-weevil (Hylobius abietis). In order to study differences in survival and growth between bare-rooted and containerized seedlings a survey study of newly planted clearcuts in south-western Sweden was made. In the study tree seedling types was included, one bare-rooted and two containerized with different ages. The population of pine weevils was probably low during the studied period which resulted in lower pine-weevil damage than normally found in this area.

The rainforests of the world are important not only to the countries in which they grow but to the world as a whole. They influence oxygen and water circulation as well as carbon sequestration which in turn affect global radiation and global warming. The forest also have great value and in Malaysia as in many other tropical countries large volumes are harvested which leaves great areas of degraded forest with little growth and biological diversity. Due to their low financial value these forests are often transformed and used for other purposes than forestry such as oil palm plantations. The trees are often transported out of the forest using large bulldozers. They are heavy which causes compaction of the forest floor and during transport the top soil layers are moved to improve mobility.

The probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri DSM17938 was evaluated as a starter culture in cheese production, with the intention to produce a new interesting product within the functional food market. Growth and acidification rate in milk subjected to different heat treatments, as well as supplementation with growth promoting factors or support cultures was measured during controlled fermentations. The results showed that the weak proteolytic activity of L. reuteri could be compensated for by supplementation with 1% casamino acids or 5% MRS broth. Furthermore, a decrease in growth and acidification rate could be seen when using yoghurt culture or Lactobacillus delbrueckii as adjunct cultures.

It is not unusual that women and children fall behind in development countries. It is not even unusual that these groups are exposed to all forms of discrimination due to the countries lack of capacity to erase poverty. We also know that women and children in a larger extent suffers from the shortage of proper health conditions. India is one of these countries. It is a country where women even before birth are exposed to discriminatory family planning.

Male piglets have been castrated for centuries to avoid contamination of their meat with boar taint, a strongly unpleasant odour that makes the meat inedible. Today boar taint can be prohib-ited by vaccination against gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) using Improvac®. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of vaccination on growth performance and behaviour of vaccinated male pigs compared to surgically castrated male pigs. The effect of two feeding regimes, restricted (SLU-norm) and semi ad libitum, was also included in the study. At birth, pigs (n=206) were randomly allocated to the two treatment groups; surgically castrated and vaccination.

Background: There has been a process of de-institutionalisation and mental health care re-forms in Sweden. Social services are, according to the law, responsible for helping persons with mental illness to live a life like others and to participate in the community. The aim of the study was to describe the culture in one of the social services adult day care center for social relations and activities in Stockholm. The aim was also to focus on the importance of the adult day care center for recovery and empowerment from the participants´ perspective. Methods Observations in the adult day care center were combined with four interviews with regular participants.

The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze a group of participants (social workers, contact families and the young adults who had been given a contact family as children) and monitor their experience of the intervention contact family and its goals, contents and design. We also wanted to look into what goals and guidelines are available regarding the interventions design and contents. We also looked into parts of the intervention which the participants found most useful for them individually. The method we used in our study was qualitative interviews. We compared and analyzed our results to research made on the subject and the theoretical frame.

AbstractOil rich states all over the world share a common feature. They are less likely than other states, depending on other resources, to be ruled democratically. In this essay Saudi Arabia has been studied with the purpose of trying to find which mechanisms that lie behind why oil rich states do not have institutions or institutional change that promotes democracy.Saudi Arabia has the world's largest known reservoir of oil. The oil brings huge revenue each year to the Saudi Arabian government. Why have Saudi Arabia not developed democratically when their economic growth suggests that to be a natural step? Under the framework of historical institutionalism and path dependency theory, I have used process tracing trying to track the mechanisms behind Saudi Arabia's authoritarian rule down.

The purpose of this essay was to examine female immigrants of South East Asia who have lived together with a drug addict and how they were affected and let themselves be influenced by that, and to study their reactions to such situations.The main questions were:· How do the women describe their personal relationship matters with their husbands with focus on abuse / co-dependency?· How do they show their co-dependency in actions?· How do the women handle their co-dependency?I chose a qualitative method because my purpose was to get a comprehension and hopefully find a pattern in the life situation in this specific target group. Regarding the collection of dataI used both primary data in the frame of interviews with persons connected to the problem, and secondary data in the form of earlier studies in that field.As the main result I found that these women lived in a severe stress. They were affected both psychically and physically by the abuse of their partners. They developed different strategies of survival to stand the reality and to save the family.

The Swedish Cellulosa Companiy, SCA, has today 280 000 ha planted with lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) (?C?) which is equivalent to 14 % of its total forest area. Exotic lodgepole pine has in previous experimental stands shown a superior growth than the native Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) (?S?).But also the comparison could be questioned because stand histories were was unknown and also differences in age between C and S existed.

During some time there has been a debate whether or not logging contractors? profitability can be considered poor. The contractors? situation is important for maintaining long term relationships and continuity in the forest industry. A thorough analytic picture is however missing.

Title: The life is too soft to accord in to tariffs: an essay about youth and families with children who are recipients of economic support, their experience of their financial situation and the reception towards the social welfare.Author: Ana Becovic & Kerstin Olsson         Supervisor: Erik WesserInstitution: Humanvetenskapliga institutionen, Högskolan i KalmarType of Essay: Degree project, 15 ECTS                     Date: December 2008The aim for our study has been to examine how youth and families who are recipients of economic support on long term basis experience their contact with social welfare. The starting point for the question at issue has been the client's experience of their financial situation the reception and expectations towards the social welfare.In our B-level study we carried out qualitative interviews with social welfare officers to find out how they applied the "child perspective" in granting financial support and to what extent they felt that they succeeded in meeting the need of the client. The conclusion was that there is still room for improvement in this field and particularly a wish to focus more on the child's situation and development. The officers told us that they tried to pay closer attention to the child's situation through asking about the children and by visiting the families at home.They expressed awareness of the importance to a child's well being the financial situation of their family. They also expressed the need for the child to be able to take part in leisure time activities and having an active social life.In this study our research method is based on qualitative interviews.

AimThe aim of this study was to try to understand youngsters and their attitude to alcohol in the countryside and in a large city. The questions at issue have been: How do youngsters from the countryside, who drink, and do not drink alcohol, view the school- family- and friendsituation? How do youngsters from a large city, who drink, and do not drink alcohol, view the school- family- and friendsituation? Can we understand youths? attitude to alcohol on basis of the factors: School, family and friends? Are there any differences and similarities?MethodInterviews have been implemented with four youngsters in a large city and in the countryside. To gain as much as possible from the interviews a questionnaire was distributed to two classes in year nine in the countryside, and one class in the large city. The interview material was analysed on the basis from earlier research and two theoretical models.ResultsAccording to the youngsters that drink, both in the countryside and the large city, the most common view in school was that high demands are put on the youngsters and that they should study more then they do.