The purpose of this study was to examine knowledge within the social services. We narrowed the study down from general knowledge to scientifically produced knowledge and how the social workers relate to such knowledge. We aimed to see how the social workers perceive different knowledge and how they relate to the different sources of knowledge. We also examined the different factors that will enable and motivate social workers to stay updated with scientifically produced knowledge that is relevant to their work. We also examined what limits the ability or motivation for renewing ones knowledge.

The aim of this paper is to make an investigation of how authoritative conceptual framework about immigrants as a group is being constituted in the discourse regarding Swedish language for immigrants. I will also examine what connections there are to the overarching integration discourse. While doing this I try to establish the contrasting relationship between the ?Swedishness? and ?the Other?. My theoretical framework consists of discussions regarding groups and the relation to homogeneity or heterogeneity in various ways and how We tend to construct the discourse in relation to the Other.

Arbetet handlar om Sveriges roll som normentreprenör i den internationella biståndspolitiken. Vi utgår från Sveriges utvecklingssamarbete med Tanzania som ett exempel på svensk biståndspolitik. Utifrån detta försöker vi bedöma huruvida Sverige har utövat inflytande som normentreprenör vid tillkomsten av det internationella fördraget Parisdeklarationen. Till vår hjälp tar vi socialkonstruktivistisk teori, i synnerhet normforskningen.Våra resultat tyder på att Sverige kan ha fungerat som normentreprenör i samanhanget. Motsatsen kan inte bestyrkas..

The prospect of Turkish accession to the EU has sparked controversy in many of the member countries. It has highlighted the different ways in which European as well as Turkish identity is being defined in the debate, with some politicians seemingly trying to draw on old prejudices in order to make the case against membership. By utilising discourse analysis as advocated by Thomas Diez, this thesis seeks to explore the debates regarding the Turkish accession bid in the British House of Commons. Its purpose is to analyse how ?EU? and ?Turkey?, understood as contested concepts, gets described in different ways.

The purpose of this study was to analyse the concept of empowerment and its meaning in the political document "En Förnyad Folkhälsopolitik" from the present Swedish government, containing guidelines and politics in the area of public health. The underlying question was if it could be considered as representative for some kind of general "empowerment approach" since the concept is central to the very definition of social work by the International Federation of Social Workers IFSW and International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW).By comparing its definition and consequences in the document with a historical review of different contexts of empowerment the conclusion was made that such a common approach doesn´t exist at all. The meaning of empowerment in the central document showed some similarities with the "northamerican" version of the concept represented by the social scientist Charles Murray, which is just one of the political meanings of empowerment. Alternative ways of understanding the concept was also presented such as being a tool of a constant conflict between central political principles or as a fashionable but not important word. Another alternative was to consider it a means of power through witch different political discourses tries to dominate the world..

This Master's thesis concerns the public library as a public meeting place. Our aim has been to find out why and how the library as a social meeting place has been discussed within the Swedish library community and if there has been a constant core in the discussions from the mid 70's and up to the present day. In order to do this we apply a place and space-perspective. The result of the study is that the core of the said discussions concerning the library as a meeting place is to create belongingness. This is the reason why the library community has an interest in the public library's function as a meeting place with the idea that people, by using the public library in that aspect, may experience a feeling of belonging to the society.

Den statsvetenskapliga forskningen har påvisat ett ansvarsskifte från offentliga aktörer till privata. I samhällen där gränsen mellan offentligt och privat luckrats upp har frågor som tidigare riktades enbart mot offentlig sektor numera även adresserats gentemot privat sektor. Sedan 2000-talets början har frågan om vem som bör bära ansvaret för de mänskliga rättigheterna blivit viktigt på den internationella dagordningen. År 2000 lanserade FN ett initiativ om Global Compact som baseras på ?corporate social responsibility? med mjuk reglering.Denna uppsats belyser frågan kring detta ansvarsskifte utifrån de teorier som utvecklats om corporate social responsibility och mjuk reglering.

Ända sedan det kalla krigets slut har diskursen om den liberala demokratin varit hegemonisk. Det, menar vi, har skapat en osund situation där demokratins utformning och innehåll inte längre diskuteras. Därför har vi valt att undersöka den globala rättviserörelsens demokrativision, den enda som idag skulle kunna representera ett legitimt alternativ till den liberala demokratin. Eftersom det är en ostrukturerad grupp av diverse organisationer, rörelser och aktivister är det svårt att nå fram till en samlad vision. Vår analys bygger huvudsakligen på World Social Forums ?Charter of Principles?, en samling grundläggande principer som bildar en gemensam grund för alternativa politiska forum.

Fenomenet med kvinnliga självmordsbombare är en relativt ny företeelse. De senaste åren har det dock visat sig bli allt vanligare i till exempel Ryssland och mellanöstern. Media utformar rapporteringen kring kvinnliga respektive manliga självmordsbombare olika. Diskursen är låst till uppfattningen om att mannen är norm och att det finns olika anledningar till varför kvinnor jämfört med män väljer att använda sina liv som vapen. Till exempel framhålls ofta en kvinnliga självmordsbombares skäl till handlingen som personliga.

Många av världens ursprungsbefolkningar lever i nybyggarsamhällen, där deras situation präglas av en social marginalisering och tyngs av sociala problem. För att kunna ge ett bidrag och ökad förståelse kring denna problematik är studien utformad som en kritisk diskussion kring medborgarskapet. Det statliga medborgarskapet är centralt, eftersom det definierar vilka individer och kollektiv som inkluderas respektive exkluderas i en politisk gemenskaps specifika rättigheter och skyldigheter. Trots ett inkluderande i det formella medborgarskapet, har ursprungsbefolkningarna dock haft svårigheter att ta del utav dessa rättigheter. Medborgarskapet vilar på en konstruktion som utformats efter det hegemoniska nybyggar-kollektivets värderingar.

Uppsatsens syfte är att besvara vad som föranleder våldsamma yttringar, likt upploppen i Paris 2005 och Rosengård 2005. Jämförelsen mellan Paris och Rosengård medför en följdfråga om det finns liknande tendenser i Rosengård att fullskaliga upplopp likt de i Paris kan äga rum.Vi använder oss av en teori som bygger på att det saknas tillit mellan etniska grupper och majoritetsbefolkningen som kombinerat med en social utsatthet bildar en problematisk bild. Dessa två faktorer, brist av tillit och utsatthet, skapar ett spelrum för missnöje vilket kan yttra sig i våldsamheter. Det förefaller för oss vara faktorer vilka livnär sig av varandra, likt en ond cirkel. Variation finns emellertid mellan olika områden, där skillnader i graden av misstro och utsatthet visar på två olika situationer.

The purpose of this essay was to investigate socialworker's perception of threats and violence in their daily work from the perspective of power. In order to obtain as clear and distinct responses as possible, I used qualitative interviews for this study. The respondents represent a "socialförvaltning" that handles financial assistance in a medium-sized city. This department was chosen because the socialworkers that handle financial assistance at this department have been identified by the media as particularly vulnerable. The study showed that verbal threats are commonplace but physical violence is rare.

This is an interview based qualitative case study on two Women's Migrant Associations in Malmoe, which I interpret as being part of a women's movement, with characteristics of a new social movement. The aim of this study is to get a deeper understanding on how the collective identity is being constructed, in this women's movement where the membership is not based on an exclusive ethnic identity.I make a two dimensional analysis that departs from a social constructivist underpinning, including the theories Transversial Politics, Postcolonial feminism and New Social Movement Theory.First I analyze the construction of collective identity from the external social and cultural context, and get confirmed that the collective identity of the movement is based on a common experience of social exclusion and a plurality of actions that aims to fight the structural injustices based on gender and ethnic discrimination. Secondly I analyze how the collective identity is being constructed and maintained from the interactions between the members of the movement, from an understanding of Transversial Politics. My findings show that the members of the movement interact in a participatory democratic way which generally corresponds to Transversial Politics. According to Transversial Politics this can lead to a construction of an empowered inclusive collective identity for the members and as my empirical study confirms it also means possibilities for deconstruction of boundaries between social groups..

The violence against women is an important matter. In Sweden there are several organisations that takes care of the women and children in need.One of the many organizations you can turn to is women's shelter organizations. They are nonprofit organizations. They depend on the contribution of peoples free time and on the government's awareness of the work that the organization do. The social services has the main responsibility to take care of women and children in need.

In the 1920s the law against vagrancy had been unaltered since it?s introduction in 1885. During that period, Sweden had undergone great social and political transformation in the wake of industrialisation, urbanisation and democratisation. The political landscape had changed and the Social Sciences were organising knowledge in new ways. The public opinion realised the need for a review of the vagrant law that better corresponded to the modern times.