The aim of this essay is to examine whether democracy in St Petersburg isconsolidated or not. Since studies of democratic transition have been rarelyconducted on post-communist cities, this study seems fruitful. Using the Linz andStepan theory, where democracy is considered consolidated when it has become?the only game in town? and Orttung's three criteria legitimacy, politicalpolarisation and policy effectiveness; this essay analyzes people's attitudes,political behaviour, the rule of law and civil society in St Petersburg. Theory isused to interpret the material mainly consisting of two interviews and newspaperarticles.

This is a hermeneutic study that analyzes and discusses whether it is possible to find Christian ethics in the TV-series Beverly Hills 90210 (1990) and the spin-off 90210 (2008) and how they differ in the preparation of these. I also aim to, based on my research, illustrate the discussion of Christian ethics in the curriculum and why we need a multicultural education.I have chosen three episode of both TV-series and I divided each episode into different themes, each theme is a phenomenon that I perceive to be a part of a Christian ethical position. Then I argue, using the theologian Stanley Hauerwas, these themes really can relate to what may be perceived as Christian ethics. In order to discuss how Christian ethics and secular ideals are connected I find the theory of secularization usefull. The results I came upwith is that I find a theme in each episode which I percieve to be a part of a Christian ethical position.

The purpose of this study was to find out what some young adults who have grown up in Husby themselves for perception of the area, what do they think they brought with them of their childhood there, and find out what they think others do not live in Husby has view of the area. In our study we also tried to find out what the young adults raised in Husby think about the media's influence on public perception of the area Husby, and what they think about the neighborhood's future. The main results that we believe we have come up with is that the media seems to have a big role in the creation of our beliefs. The respondents indicate that they think the media portrays an unfair picture of the suburb and its inhabitants. We believe it is very important that people meet to avoid the categories "us" and "them" to be formed.

The use of technology in today's society is frequent and often necessary, but how, when and where are we supposed to learn how to use it? And if it is such a big and important part of our society, then why don?t teachers get more training in how to use the technology? The purpose of this paper is to examine whether teachers attitudes to technology affects their use of technology in their teaching. In school technology can be a complementary to other material, if teachers have the necessary skills to use technology in a pedagogical way. I have chosen to do a qualitative study in form of interviews and observations at a school outside of Stockholm. The results show that both school and teachers must want to work with technology if anyone will be getting something out of it.

The first aim of the thesis is to analyse the problems of trust, according to game theory, in the Russian market for private pensions insurance. The second aim is to find suitable strategies to solve the problems. Problems of trust have arisen because, (i) buyers of insurance have had negative experiences when dealing with insurance companies and corruption has decreased trust for all players in the market, (ii) incomplete information makes it difficult to separate honest actors from dishonest, and (iii) dishonest insurance companies do not get punished because of corruption and weaknesses in the law. Mutual risk-sharing is a potential solution as necessary conditions already exist in the Russian society. There are groups who (i) share the same type of risks, (ii) are aware of moral hazards, and (iii) are able to control each other.

We live in a society where we are not bound to one place. We are encouraged to be mobile and constantly moving between different locations. The life in a convent is a contrast to this; nuns live at a specific place they are bounded to by vows and can not leave. The sisters in the convent of St. Birgitta, Pax Mariae have promised to stay at the same place and live by the rules of the convent.

This study aim to explore how the conditions of an individual's childhood may affect their coping with trauma. The individuals represented in this study, for the purpose to explore coping with trauma, are individuals grown up under insufficient childhood conditions. This study is based on the assumption that childhood conditions, are a factor of influence on coping with trauma, in a greater extent than it is understood and given credit for in todays society. Our result shows that there is an obvious correlation between insufficient childhood conditions and destructive coping with trauma. There is a need of larger general awareness that an individuals resources for coping with trauma is affected by the conditions growing up.

AbstractIT can facilitate communication among individuals and connect people across geographical distances. On the contrary, citizens of the society who do not use communication technologies to some extent might feel excluded from the information society. As elderly citizens are already in a vulnerable position for the digital divide, communication technology becomes an important tool for interacting with friends and family. The social situation of elderly, 60 years of age and older, is a topic of current interest since they are the fastest growing age group in the world today. Further, social interaction becomes more important among elderly since it has a positive effect on well- being.

AbstractIT can facilitate communication among individuals and connect people across geographical distances. On the contrary, citizens of the society who do not use communication technologies to some extent might feel excluded from the information society. As elderly citizens are already in a vulnerable position for the digital divide, communication technology becomes an important tool for interacting with friends and family. The social situation of elderly, 60 years of age and older, is a topic of current interest since they are the fastest growing age group in the world today. Further, social interaction becomes more important among elderly since it has a positive effect on well- being.

The reason why this essay is written can be parted in two, whereas one would be the global trend of urbanization that occurs to this moment and forward, whereas the other would be the debate of how motorism has come to be an issue of sustainable management of our cities and our environment. In purpose to deliver a thorough understanding of how the car and its capacity has come to shape the society of today, and to emphasize the problems it´s brought, a historical survey has been made, followed by the report of problems to the society formed by the needs of the car, discussed in several environmental issues, such as jamming, noise and air pollution. This is followed by the discussion of potential solutions for how city planning could return to the focus of the human scale and perspective, in purpose to correspond with the issue of ways to decrease the car use in towns. In conclusion, the given solutions are discussed, where examples like shared space, investment in public transport, mobility management and the theory of the assembled city are included, with aid from literature, to finally conclude the essay with personal thoughts of how the planning of today, or the given solutions, really are the result of sustainability for city planning from a human perspective.

Narratives about life-changing events like cancer have become more common in today?s society. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether gender patterns in society can also be found in pathographies about cancer, and further to investigate how gender is expressed in these cancer related narratives. Questions were posed on characteristics of the autobiographical cancer narratives, how gender is constructed by the authors of these narratives, and what these narratives say about gender structures? liability to change in the individuals affected by this disease.

This work has treated the subject of gender, with demarcation against the norms regarding appearance and beauty, conveyed by the media and how it affects society. This is expressed through social satire cartoons. This work has also led to an exploration of the importance of a personal drawing style and how it manifests itself..

The purpose of this thesis is to explore and analyze the processes and efforts involved in rebuilding the war-torn state of Afghanistan. The examined period span from the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, to the elections in 2005. This period, commonly known as the Bonn-process, sets out the initial time for the reconstruction of the state.A theoretical framework, which considers the necessary mechanisms for successful state-building, will be used to analyze Afghanistan's re-building process. The mechanisms include the prerequisite of a stable security environment, emerging from a cease-fire, together with the development of a well-functioning economy, re-introduction of rule of law and rejuvenating civil society.The failure to establish a secure environment has had a devastating impact on all analyzed aspects of the re-building process. It is therefore crucial that the international society continuing to assists the Afghan government in its efforts to strengthen its capacity, in order to improve the security situation.

The purpose of this study is to look into what part libraries take in the integration of mentally disabled persons into the society. What I wanted to know more about was how the mentally disabled persons experience the library. I also wanted to find out what librarians and persons working with mentally disabled persons have to say about the part libraries take in the integration of mentally disabled into the society. The study is based on interviews and literature studies. I have interviewed two librarians, four mentally disabled persons and two persons working with mentally disabled people.

The Swedish state and educational system are secular, so to say they do not depend on the former protestant state church anymore. Many people in Sweden are also secular. Even so, in school teachers meet students with a religious faith. The purpose of this study is to examine how teachers without a religious belonging experience the encounter with religious students. The method used was semistructured interviews with five teachers in a upper secondary school in a multicultural suburb of Stockholm.