Homeless adolescents are in Sweden rather invisible, as a group. There is no established definition or description of the problem, nor any uniform terms regarding it. The purpose of this study is to investigate how four different organizations, based on their basic principles, describe the group homeless adolescents. We discuss why the organizations reason as they do, and what it leads to. In order to do so we have performed qualitative interviews with representatives from each organization.

This thesis investigates how the optical properties of paperboard influences printing with targets in ISO 12647-2. The targets for optical properties in ISO 12647-2 are defined for paperboard without optical brightening agents and fluorescent brightening agents wich makes it difficult to reach the targets when printing paperboard containing these agents.Seven different types of paperboard, some with and some without the agents, have been printed and instrumentally andvisually measured to see if there is any deviation from the standard targets and if it shows visually.The result shows that paperboard containing optical brightening agents and fluorescent brightening agents can print with targets in ISO 12647-2 but in many measurments the difference between the types of paperboard were to small to assess. The differences between the types of paperboard in the instrumental measurements did not fully correspond with the waythe panel appraised them visually..

This essay examines the historical development of group rights for cultural minorities in Sweden between the years 1970 and 2010. The purpose of the study is to analyze the development of political measures taken at government level for different minority groups, foremost explaining the division that have arisen between measures aimed at the five national minorities, the Sámi, the Swedish Finns, the Roma, the Jews and the Tornedalians, and measures directed at other ethnic groups.My conclusions are that the division in Swedish public policy between one the one hand national minorities, and on the other hand immigrant groups, is in no way self-evident. The division has arisen from an international standard on how democratic states, such as Sweden, should treat their cultural minorities. Further, this division has had an immense impact in shaping public policy as well as determining the type of group rights introduced for minority groups in Sweden.A difference has also been found in how the minorities are perceived by state actors. Immigrant groups are currently perceived as less entitled to group rights due to their short presence in Sweden, whereas national minorities are seen as more entitled to group rights due to their long historic presence in the country.

The aim of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate a mindfulness- and acceptance-based smoking cessation program in group (MRG). MRG was developed into an intervention consisting of 6 group sessions during 35 days including individual homework assignments. 8 of 10 participants completed the program. In order to evaluate the effect of MRG a quasi-experimental design with pretest and double posttest (second posttest at 1 month) was chosen. At second posttest, 50 percent (of 8 completers) were non-smokers, and the rest showed a decrease in smoking at a rate between 45 and 75 percent.

The establishment of loan-based structures within a group of associated enterprises with the purpose of lowering the group's taxes by using deductible interest payments to transfer money has become increasingly popular in Sweden during the past few years. The legislator has therefore implemented new laws which restrict the amount of interest payments that are deductible within a group of associated enterprises. As a consequence the definition of associated enterprises has become of high importance. The definition has been criticized and is perceived by many as vague and difficult to interpret. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the definition of associated enterprises in Swedish tax law with the aim of clarifying its scope and meaning.

In 2022, Russia completed its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The EU responded with powerful restrictive measures against Russia to demonstrate its unified support for Ukraine, indicating that the perception of Russia as an external threat to the EU, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), has become increasingly evident following the invasion. Drawing on theory and previous research suggesting that external threats strengthen group identities, I argue that Russia is perceived as an external threat to EU identity in CEE after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Stephan and Stephan's integrated threat theory considers an external threat as either realistic, posing a threat to the ingroup's existence, or symbolic, posing a threat to the ingroup's worldview. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between EU identity and the perception of Russia as a group threat to the EU among individuals in CEE based on the nature of the group threat: realistic and symbolic.

Outdoor housing of horses? best fulfils the horses? need for physical activity and it is an alternative to the more cost and energy demanding indoor housing in stables. Furthermore, if outdoor housed horses have access to shelter they can generally cope well with adverse weather conditions such as high or low ambient temperature, heavy rain or strong winds. In this study, the daytime shelter-seeking behaviour of three groups of horses housed outdoors was studied during the summer. The aim was to evaluate whether shelter use is related to weather variables (e.g., ambient temperature and wind speed) and insect harassment. The shelter-seeking behaviour was studied for three different groups of horses: Group 1) eight individually housed horses in paddocks that had access to three different shelter types (C: closed on three sides with roof, R: open on three sides with roof, W: closed on three sides without roof), Group 2) 25 group housed mares with foals on pasture with access to shelters C, and Group 3) ten mares without foals on pasture without access to shelter. Each group was studied for eight days.

Our aim of this study was to investigate barriers and opportunities for people with mental disorders getting in to the labor market. This from experiences by people whose daily job contains work rehabilitation for this group in particular. On the basis of five qualitative interviews the results showed that prejudices towards people with mental disorders are a barrier for them to get a wage labor. Furthermore the results showed that low self-esteem within the target group and also high educational demands becomes a barrier to a wage labor. The results also showed that to focus on the healthy aspects may serve as an opportunity for people with mental disorders to get in to the labor market and be able to have a paid job.

There are no guidelines regarding how companies should design status updates on Facebook which attain good readability and engage the readers. Half the Swedish population are Facebook-users, but companies have yet to publish comprehensible messages on Facebook which effectively include the recipients. Inclusion is not just a matter of accessibility, but also of readability.Therefore, I studied how status updates should be designed on Facebook in order to increase the readability and to engage the readers. My target group is 22-32 year olds, since the company I worked with wanted to target this group. I conducted my research through literature studies, interviews with the client, analysis of past status updates, questioned an expert in social media, and organized a group interview with the target group.My research shows that status updates should contain information that is topical, informative and relevant to the target group.

Hearing is considered to be the most important sense for the communication between people. Several studies have shown that hearing loss can lead to deterioration in quality of life, reduced social activities, feelings of alienation and hence the increasing incidence of depression symptoms.An early audiological rehabilitation is a prerequisite for proper communication among people with hearing loss. Knowledge has been shown to be of great importance and structured learning and individually targeted approach can be expected to facilitate the audiological rehabilitation.The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an educational effort for people with hearing loss where the effort was made in the distance within the audiological rehabilitation and was followed-up by professional phone support, through a randomized controlled study.The study group consisted of 69 hearing aid users who were randomized by an independent person into two groups, an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group (n = 33) had access to the book "When the sounds are weaker - on hearing and hearing aids". The group received weekly topic-based information related to the different chapters of the book, in five rounds.

The aim of this study was to examine musculoskeletal disorders among dental hygienists inrelation to work postures (sitting, standing, and altering) and to study differences in thegroups regarding numbers of disorders, locations and degrees. A mail questionnaire wasdistributed among 200 dental hygienists in the region of Skåne. The response rate was 79 %.The majority of the dental hygienists were working in a sitting position. Only43 dental hygienists were altering their working position and two were working in a standingposition. The results showed that 85 % of the dental hygienists have experiencedmusculoskeletal disorders in the last 12 months.

The Swedish public inquiries and most of the political science advocate reforms in the spirit of participatory democracy to strengthen the democracy. Although it is striking how limited and narrow the scientific documentation is in analysing the effects of participatory democratic reforms. Still, many of the local governments in Sweden are reshaping their organisations according to the participatory democracy model. Is it a trend and a symbolic action or a veritable action of good-will of the politicians?The paper argues that the idea of participatory democracy has become popular and widely spread.

The essay deals with questions concerning the reasons, difficulties and subjects for rejoicing which various people experience when visiting "voluntarily" old, lonely people in the congregation of Trollhättan. What knowledge is developed and which values are formed? How is aging and solitude experienced? The visits are co-ordinated by two lay workers employed by the Swedish Church. The study is built on oral interviews in April and May 2003 from a questionaire using open questions. The research group consists of six women between 65-80 of age with 1-30 years´ experience.Inner reasons, contact with other people in similar situations, positive responses to visits, and meetings in the visiting service group seem to be the principal driving forces.

The theoretical background in this essay made clear that the students? knowledge about physics improve, and they express a more positive attitude towards physics as a subject, when they have access to a more laboratory-based learning style. The aim of this study is to research how the placement of the lab relative to the lecture affects the students? experiences and level of knowledge. The study involved students in year eight and was carried out during four weeks.

The purpose of this thesis is to increase the knowledge about the comprehensibility of the easy-to-read civic information. In the study I present my analysis of the content of four easy-to-read texts from four government authorities. The analysis constitutes the starting point for interviews with the target group ? people with a minor mental retardation ?, but it also reveals some possible difficulties for the intended readers. In the empirical study ten persons from the target group were asked to read a text and the comprehension was tested by oral questions about facts in the text.