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 study examines how social media can be used in a business-to-business context. To understand the communication conditions, factors has been identified that affects the choice of communication channels for different types of information transferred between parts. Furthermore, the study investigates the underlying reasons for why certain communication channels are chosen before others, in different situations. The study results are based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with employees in a small engineering consulting company. The investigation has focused on employee communication and choice of communication tools primarily in relation to the business relationship.

This essay deals with 18 year old boys´ experience of their usage of pornography. My main focus was the pornography found on Internet, which includes pornographic films and nude pictures.Both developmental and social psychological perspectives were applied in the study. These theoretical perspectives were chosen, because boys´ view of sex, especially during their adolescence, are influenced by the increased supply of porn and that boys understanding of porn are influenced by values present in our society. The methods used were three focusgroups and a short survey with simple questions regarding pornography. The choice of methods was based on my standpoint that an open discussion concerning porn was less offensive of integrity, in comparison of working with individual interviews.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the ongoing changes in German family policy. It explores the issue of whether the German welfare state, in this policy field, can still be regarded as a conservative welfare model or rather approaches a more liberal or social democratic model. A qualitative method is used to analyze the material, especially from the German government, including press releases, other public documents and also articles from the political weekly magazines Der Spiegel and Die Zeit. The changes analyzed are the new parental benefit, the expansion of child care, the concept of whole-day schools and the system of joint taxation. The point of departure is Gösta Esping-Andersen?s categorization of three types of welfare states: the social democratic, the conservative and the liberal.

Because of the situation around the world with war and poorness many people need to leave their homeland and find safeness in other countries. A big amount of this group is children without company of an adult, so called unaccompanied children. The numbers of unaccompanied children who seek safeness in Sweden grow every year. The aim of this study was to investigate how social workers in four municipalities in south of Sweden experience their work with investigating the needs of unaccompanied children. The aim was also to investigate how the social workers experience their opportunities to meet the children?s needs with personalized interventions.

This study investigates how social interaction affects newly arrived pupils? views on their study situation in the Swedish educational system. The aim is to give a contribution to the discussion on the notion of including ?the Other? in educational practice in multicultural schools. Semi-structured group interviews were conducted to explore how the intercultural perspective and the theory of inclusion can be used to explain the dynamics of social interaction.

The purpose of this essay is to explore how social media affect the political orientation and commitment of youths. Three scientific questions highlight the purpose from different angles. The didactic perspective is discussed in the initial and closing discussion, and is analyzed in the corresponding chapter. Two methods are involved in the study; one survey and one interview with a focus group. The survey had a total of 98 respondents from four different classes, all in the first grade of upper secondary school.

Denna studie syftade för det första till att ge en grundlig och bred presentation av self-esteem-begreppet utifrån sociometerteorin, samt för det andra att korsvalidera Leary m.fl. (1995, studie 1 och 5). Vi ville förmedla hur sociometerteorins nya betraktelsesätt har satt self-esteem begreppet i ett nytt ljus, samt har kunnat förklara self-esteem på ett bredare och mer funktionellt sätt. Vi ville också visa vilka kopplingar det finns mellan self-esteem, social oro, uppfattad social exkluderingsstatus och människors förväntningar om huruvida deras beteende kommer att leda till social inkludering. Utifrån sociometerteorin betraktas self-esteem som en sociometer som övervakar en persons relationsvärde och hjälper människor att reglera sina interpersonella relationer.

The results and the analysis of this essay are based on an empirical study of women groups in Babati District in Tanzania from 2005. The study has shown that the reason for women in Babati to organize themselves is to overcome traditional and structural obstacles that restrict women?s economical integration. Through the creation of social networks and a common source of income within the group, women are trying to strengthen their position within the household and in society. The significance of empowerment on an individual level is the sense of abilities in everyday life and the feeling of increased options.Social mobilization means that individuals come together and with united strengths and according to a common interest are trying to fulfil articulated goals.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the degree of discipline in social services may be the reason why more children are evicted in one municipality in Stockholm, compared to another. Since our purpose was to study the degree of discipline in social services work with eviction cases where children are concerned, discipline is therefore a central part of the study. The interest in the subject arose from our prior understanding that social services approach to discipline may affect the extent of evictions. In order to answer the study?s question at issue, a qualitative interview was conducted to create an understanding of the discipline and a vignette study was conducted to compare the social workers assessments in two municipalities in Stockholm, Högstad and Lågby.

The aim of this study is to examine how one can understand the experiences that social workers within the social service's have of children who have committed sexual assault against other children, and the social workers? thoughts about the choice of actions and the family involvement in those actions. The study has a qualitative character. Information was obtained through interviews with social workers within two Swedish counties, and the analysis of the results was based on earlier research findings as well as theoretical aspects, such as systemic theory and salutogenesis.Regarding the actions taken for the target group, the social workers have, in many ways, a systemic perspective as they emphasize elements within the child as well as within the family. It is also shown that the collaboration with other authorities affects the choice of actions, and that it is important to involve the entire family in any interventions, so that the effect of those interventions may last over time.

The purpose of this study is to discuss how journalists think about the interaction with the audience in social media and the fact that it can make the traditional audience feel excluded. The study shows how journalists on P4 Kalmar is experiencing audience interaction in social media and describes how aware the journalists are about the digital divide. The results show that all of our interviewed journalists think that the interaction with the audience through social media works well and that there is awareness among journalists about the digital divide. The results also show that many of the interviewed journalists had not reflected on that parts of the audience can feel excluded by the interaction taking place in social media, but some of them could understand if parts of the audience felt that way. We consider our study as part of a research field on journalist?s interactivity with the audience through different types of media, but also as source of inspiration for future research on how the digital media becomes one with the community..

This essay describes how theatre can be a tool in social work. The essay evaluates the Swed-ish KRAFT-project, a course for unemployed people with the goal to make them grow as in-dividuals by using drama exercises and performing a theatre play in front of an audience. The essay is a quantitative secondary study of the questionnaire used in the KRAFT-project. Through analysing the questionnaire the participants answered this essay tries to explain the results from a social psychological perspective. The essay also discusses how the participants? self-concept and self-esteem could have been affected by the KRAFT-project.

Mitt syfte med denna studie var att beskriva hur man i fritidshemsverksamhet arbetar för att utveckla god social kompetens hos barn i behov av särskilt stöd. För att bryta ner syftet så formulerade jag forskningsfrågor. Frågorna är hur man arbetar för att utveckla god social kompetens hos barn som vistas i fritidshem, hur fritidshemmet arbetar för att inkludera alla barn i verksamheten och hur arbetet kopplas till styrdokumenten. Utifrån detta valde jag att göra en kvalitativ intervjustudie med fyra fritidspedagoger som är verksamma i en kommun i Norrbotten. I resultatet redogör jag inte för någon absolut sanning utan bara fritidspedagogernas svar och mina tolkningar.

The purpose of this study is to gain understanding of how self employed entrepreneurs (hereafter referred to as ?entrepreneurs?) develop their competence based on their perceived learning space. The main question is: How do these entrepreneurs develop their competence based on their perceived learning space? Other questions relevant for the study are: How important is the social environment for these entrepreneurs and how do they interact with their social environment in order to develop their competence. The study has a qualitative approach.