The purpose of this study is to identify and make attitudes among social workers towards homosexual and bisexual people visible, examine how these attitudes relate to their actions in their professional role and how these attitudes and actions can be understood by theories of heteronormativity and power. The study is a cross-sectional quantitative survey in the form of a questionnaire completed by social workers. The result shows that there are two groups among the social workers. One larger group that reproduces a norm of acceptance toward homosexual and bisexual people and one smaller that reproduces a heterosexual norm. This reproduction of heteronormativity increases the risk for homosexual and bisexual people to be made invisible and treated more negatively in contact with social workers, which in turn can lead to worse health among the clients..

This essay is about the staff in integrated homes very complex profession and this is illustrated through twelve interviews in five integrated homes for disabled people. The profession changed when the institution closed and especially when the Law of Support and Service (LSS) was introduced in 1994.The purpose of this survey is to study how staff works with LSS intentions in integrated homes for disabled people and to increase the awareness about the structure of power and how this affects the daily life for those who live there.The main objective in this survey is to find out which the differences that lie between LSS intentions and the work that take place in integrated homes for disabled people. This survey tries to illustrate when and why these differences occur. This survey has a multidisciplinary perspective, where three models of disability and theories from Foucault, Sibley and Wendell have been included. The result shows that the staffs work is difficult, full of responsibility and has many facets.

Every day we make numerous decisions. Some are better than others. Intuitive decisions usually results in less good decisions when we do not reason about our choices. Research has been interested about the process that is behind how we make good decisions. Decisions we face every day, such as when we shop, determined using various mental shortcuts that we use unconsciously.

A future expansion of wind power in the Nordic power system makes the balancing for the transmission system operator Svenska Kraftnät (SvK) more complicated. Up to the hour of delivery the balance responsible parties? (BRP) makes prognoses and plans, for consumption and production, to help maintain the balance in the electrical grid. How well this is accomplished is affected by the setup of the market design. Therefore SvK has proposed the following possible changes in market design: Increase the imbalance costsIntensify the regulation of imbalancesIncrease the temporal resolution on the different marketsPresent the prices for balancing power in real-timeModify the balancing market to simplify auction of consumption bidsA mapping over the BRPs? processes within planning and trading on the day-ahead, intra-day, and the balancing market has been performed in this thesis.

Research in the field of gaming and the gaming culture shows that the culture is characterized by sexism and hypermasculinity, however a majority of this research is conducted in an Anglo-Saxon context. Therefore the aim of this study was to elucidate the Swedish gaming discourse in relation to gender, gendered norms and stereotypes. We also sought to examine the relationship between the editorial content and the blog comments. The study was based on a critical discourse analysis with a gender perspective, applied to five Swedish gaming blogs. By implementing power theory and encoding/decoding theory, we have concluded that there is a discursive struggle, where one part of the gaming culture is characterized by male dominance, while the other part of the discourse is showing signs of resistance to this hypermasculinity.

The aim of this study has been to investigate Swedish youth?s conceptions about pornography and sexuality through a gender and power perspective. The questions of issue were the following: 1. Does youth reflect about gender and sexuality concerning pornography? a) Does any norms appear concerning consumption of pornography and sexuality?b) Is any kind of power structure related to gender recognized concerning pornography? c) Does youth think that pornography effects the conception of gender and sexuality? If so, how?2. Are there any differences between how girls and boys reflect about the questions of issue above?The used research method has been qualitative individual semi-structured interviews with eight students totally, four girls and four boys, all in the ages of 16-18. The study has a hermeneutical and abductive approach.The result shows that the respondents recognize both positive and negative influences from pornography.

Since the beginning of the new millennium, China has opened itself to the outside world and in an enormous pace increased its contacts and relationships with other countries. The trigger to these dramatic changes of economic and foreign policies is the insight that China can no longer sustain its rapid economic growth, largely based on industrial production, on energy and raw materials from China alone.Good relations with African countries have been of highest priority in China?s strategy of ?Going global?. The new African policy is based on the two principles of mutual benefit and non-interference in internal affairs ? as opposite to the West?s strategy of structural adjustment programmes (SAP), which include massive interference in internal affairs.

International media groups and the freedom of speech are two issues that have been questioned during the last years when large media groups control a large amount of public-oriented information. The masters thesis at hand considers three debates that illuminate Bonniers and AB Mariebergs hereinafter referred to as the Bonnier Media Group positions on the media market. The objective of such a study is to establish in the face of the theory on hegemonia, for example from which factors the media actors deduce their argumentation when discussing the above-mentioned topic and the meaning of such a discussion in our time. The thesis also discusses whether freedom of speech and free opinion are affected by the increasing power of the Bonnier Media Group and if they, as a result, have diminished their own cultural and liberal assets, features that are firmly associated with the company. I conclude that various features have come to change the media market during the last years.

The aim of this thesis is to explore how librarians approach to and knowledge of young people can be seen in their work methods and in activities arranged for young people. I also want to investigate other factors that librarians think can affect how they work. Five interviews were carried out with five librarians who worked with young people at public libraries. The literature review covers; young peoples needs and leisure activities, young peoples attitudes to libraries, activities arranged for them and towards departments for young people at public libraries. Literature dealing with librarians` attitudes and knowledge of young people was also included.

This project has revolved around finding better ways of overseeing vibrations of the gearbox at a wind power station. The gearbox has been a huge problem at the stations located at Gässlingen and the sooner the warning of an incoming breakdown is at hand the more money you can save from preparations. The work has been carried out together with Askalon AB in cooperation with consults from ÅF. Askalon is a company with a department focused on overseeing vibrations and it is in collaboration with that department the work has been carried out. During this work, new positions for the sensors and new methods of gathering and analyzing data have been worked out. This was then implemented at a wind power station to be tried out on site.

In the last decade the Italian authorities have tried to adapt themselves to a united European asylum system, in the European Union, through the adoption of legal reforms, intended to improve the conditions of asylum seekers in Italy. Despite these reforms, asylum seekers and refugee?s living conditions are far from covered. The aim of this study is to explore the different functions of social work in the Italian reception process regarding unaccompanied minors and their implications on the wellbeing of the unaccompanied minors. This study was conducted through several interviews with both social workers, which in some way worked with unaccompanied minors, and the unaccompanied minors themselves.

This is a thesis about the American empire. I also focus my work to see if this American empire is declining. The two main questions I ask and want to answer in this thesis are: is America an empire and is it in decline?I first conclude that America has been an empire ever since the end of the Second World War. The sheer military and economic power of the American empire matches and exceeds the ones before them.

This diploma work on D-level is made in cooperation with Varnäsföretagen AB in Eskilstuna. The company performs contract manufactured aluminium goods. This work is a continuation on earlier diploma work in Varnäsföretagen AB. Even if the industry process consumes much energy for melting the aluminium goods, they consume a great amount of oil to warm up the building. The purpose of this work is to examine some places in the building and the process to see how much energy it is possible to recycles to the heating system and reduce the costs for heating.

Bakgrund: Under senare år har många företag valt mer processorienterad inriktning påverksamheten, framförallt i syfte för att förbättra kundvärdet. Många företag har enmer hierarkisk struktur i utgångsläget, vilket innebär att vertikal och horisontellstruktur kombineras. Ett vanligt misstag är då att nya processorienterade styrmedelinförs, utan att existerande vertikalt orienterade styrmedel tas bort. Detta leder tillatt företagets styrmedel sänder ut motstridiga styrsignaler. För att öka företagetsmöjlighet att uppnå uppsatta mål, så krävs det att dess styrmedel är kompatibla.I sämre tider är det vanligt att företag formulerar mål med Net Working Capital somgrund.

Sarah Kane?s first play Blasted (1995) has often been read in a normative and biographical way by critics, authors and previous researchers. This essay makes a supplementary close reading of Blasted from gender and genealogical perspectives and utilizes theoretical works by Judith Butler, Luce Irigaray and Michel Foucault. My study makes clear that the characters different positions in language and talk create and maintain a power imbalance between them. Efforts to change and develop one?s individual position in language and talk are being made throughout the play since it is the only way to bring about a change in the social power structure.