What kind of international actor is the European Union and how shall we define it? These are questions that many have tried to answer often by addressing the apparent uniqueness of the EU itself. One of these theories is Normative power Europe. A theory whose main argument is that the EU is best perceived as a changer of norms. My aim with this thesis is to test this claim and to see if the Union should be regarded as a normative power.

Following study is about the anorexic behavior and the pro-ana movement, which is a web-based subculture where the followers of this, stands for anorexia as an identity position and lifestyle, rather than a disease. The purpose of this study was that, from a sociological perspective give possible interpretations of the anorexic behavior, and interpret why some anorexics choose to be a part of and identify oneself with the pro-ana movement. The reason has been to conduce more knowledge and understanding of the topics, but also to contribute with a deeper perspective and sociological approach to the former research that is already available.To conduct the study, qualitative research has been used, and the chosen methodology was document analysis/text analysis. The collected empirical data consisted material from two pro-ana forums, four blogs and six twitter accounts, where all the users of those claimed to be supporters of the pro-ana. The empirical data has been interpreted by Howard S.

Syftet med denna C-uppsats är att genom Pincus och Minahans resursinriktade systemteori undersöka innebörden av hur samhälleliga system tillgodoser hjälpbehov för klienter som uppbär försörjningsstöd under lång tid. Målet är att skapa en strukturerad bild av vad som är bidragande faktorer till långvarigt beroende av försörjningsstöd samt hur samhälleliga system arbetar med insatser gällande dessa faktorer.Frågeställningarna är följande:Vilka hjälpbehov framträder genom journalerna för undersökningsgruppen?Hur adresseras dessa av samhälleliga system och vilka slutsatser kan man dra av detta?Resultatet visar att hjälpbehoven som tillgodoses är av olika karaktär och att det samhälleliga resurssystemet ibland ersätter formella och informella resurssystem när dessa inte är välfungerande. Slutsatsen visar att samhälleliga system kan motarbeta varandra och att detta då blir till men för den enskilde.Slutsatsen visar också att preventivt arbete för att förhindra att långvarigt beroende av försörjningsstöd uppstår är viktigt..

Coping theory asks what the cognitive and behavioral patterns of individuals dealing with stress are. This essay includes, besides the perspective of the psychology of religion, theories of culture and ritual in exploring two Swedes coping with the natural disaster in Thailand year 2004. The vacation paradise was struck by an enormous flood wave, called a tsunami, causing vast destruction and the death of over 200.000 people. Among these 543 were Swedes on vacation. When a disaster of such measures happens, what kind of stress does it cause? How do you cope? Are religion and ritual important? What is the function of the culture in the copingprocess? Using hermeneutical analysis this essay interprets the material from two books by Swedes, who not only experienced the disaster, but lost two children and husband and wife in the flood wave.

This study is commissioned by the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU - Department of Forest Resource Management) in coorporation with Sveaskog and Vilhelmina Norra Sami reindeer herding community. The purpose of this study is to analyse movement patterns and habitat use of reindeers during two winter seasons (2005/2006 and 2006/2007) in areas affected by forestry activities such as clearcutting. This study examines the possibilities of analysing information from Reindeer husbandry plans and forest variable data from kNN and SMD, in relation to GPS collar points from reindeers by using Geographical Information System (GIS). Lack of knowledge and understanding between the reindeer industry and the timber industry has often led to heated debates. The possibilities of using this type of technique are very interesting and could increase knowledge concerning land-use issues to different resource users. The main results from analyses comparing SMD, kNN, data about clearcuts, and GPS collar points from reindeers indicates that clearcut areas, younger forest, coniferous forest on lichen-dominated areas and areas dominated by pine was preferred by reindeers during the winter period.

This is a qualitative study based on two focus group interviews with a total of six social workers who work with assessing financial aid in two municipalities. The study aims to examine how the social workers experience and handle their ambiguous professional role, on the basis that they are expected to support and control the client. The theoretical framework is the theory about discretion and role theory. The results show that social workers find it difficult to combine these different approaches. Two different groups of strategies that social workers use to manage their professional role have been distinguished, the first is used to combine the different approaches (combination strategies), which are: empathy, to be distinct and to "blame" the organization.

The aim of the study was to explore the methods used in horticultural therapy gardens in rehabilitating people suffering from fatigue syndrome. Nine horticultural therapy gardens were contacted of wich three chose to participate. Using case study as method e-mail interviews was carried out with the participants about their establishment and what kind of theories they based their methods upon. The material collected from the interviews was complemented with additional data from the establishments web pages and information pamphlets. Collected data was processed trough content analysis and then formed as background for the development of a program theory for horticultural therapy.

The purpose for this study is to compare two major Swedish daily newspapers ?Dagens Nyheter? and ?Svenska Dagbladet? and their statements regarding the electors of Sweden Democrats attitude regarding immigrants and immigration policy during the autumn of 2013. The scope was to analyze medias interpretation with the electors of the Sweden Democrats statements and opinions regarding their immigration policy. I have used three different ques­tions to fulfill my purpose; the first one is to describe how media chooses to present the elec­tors of Sweden Democrats opinions regarding immigrants. The second question is to reflect and pre­sent the electors own opinions on immigrants and their immigration policies.

This study was made to compare construction companies for gardens way to work with up following, with purpose to see if there was an efficient and not resource demanded system which gave much value. To achieve the purpose a case study was made. The delimitation for the case study was only to compare the work with up following on individual project. The delimitation on the companies in the study was from ten to sixty employees. That because to reach companies were it´s not the same person how calculates on tenders and than perform the projects. The study was delimitated to the west side of Skåne. T o be able to compare the companies and to find trends, an interviewguide was made and was used during the interviews with the companies.

The purpose of this study was to examine how youth useFacebook and how Facebook perceives construct their own identity. Anotherquestion was if the construction of the self-identity is different between thegenders.The study is based on empirical material that has been collected by usingquestionnaires. The questionnaire was handed out in three different classes in3rd grade in secondary school in southern Sweden. The analysis in this studywas based on two different kinds of theories, Erving Goffman?s social theory ofdramaturgical analysis and stigma and Yvonne Hirdman?s gender studies.

Leadership in organizations plays a crucial role in promoting employee motivation. Different leadership styles have been shown to affect motivation in various ways. The purpose of this report is to establish a deeper understanding of the relationship between different leadership styles and motivation according to Self-Determination Theory. The report also aims to highlight potential similarities and differences in the perceptions of leaders and employees in various industries, regarding motivation as defined by Self-Determination Theory. Based on a case study, it includes interviews with eight leaders and eight employees.

This essay examines what happened to soldiers from Urshult in military service of Sweden during the diminished power of the country in the beginning of the eighteen century. Information of interest is taken from the soldiers? age, time of service and other annotations of interest that shows to be helpful when examining their fate.  First off, this study explains Sweden?s situation during this period of time. To get a grasp about the situation, allotment is explained as well as the most important events in the big Nordic war. This study is based on qualitative content analysis and GMRs are used as its main resource of information and consists of empiric analysis.The result of this paper shows that very few soldiers from Urshult were able to return home alive.

The aim of this thesis is to describe the development of profitability and capital structure in Swedish quoted companies during the period of 1990 to 2004. Further, the aim is to determine the relationship between profitability and leverage in order to conclude whether the choice of capital structure supports the pecking order theory or the trade-off theory of capital structure. The findings show that return on assets fluctuates between 3 and 11 percent and that return on equity fluctuates between 3 and 22 percent during the period. Further, the leverage and the cost of debt have decreased. This indicates lowered financial risk in Swedish quoted companies in the period between 1990 and 2004.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there is a difference between the respondent groups preparers and non-preparers position in IASBs question if a reversal of previously impaired goodwill should be prohibited. The background is an exposure draft sent out by the IASB and we examine the answers, in form of comment letters, sent in by the respondents to reach our purpose. Our method is positivistic in the sense that we study already existing theories when we create our hypothesis which gives our assumption about how the result of the respondent?s answers will be. Our data, which we have collected from the comment letters, is qualitative secondary data.

Denna magisteruppsats handlar om vilken betydelse Human Resource arbetet har för kompetensutvecklingen inom två olika organisationer. Under senare år har relativt stora satsningar gjorts på personalutbildning och andra kompetensutvecklingsinsatser i arbetslivet. Forskning har visat att kunskapsproduktionen i samhället ökar ständigt och för att finna en lösning på detta har många företag valt att satsa på kompetensutveckling. Det bakomliggande antagandet har varit att det i allt högre grad är kunskap och kompetens än kapital som växer i framtiden. Därför bör såväl privata som offentliga organisationer satsa på kompetensutveckling både kortsiktligt och långsiktligt för att kunna möta de framtida kraven.