ABSTRACTSince Robert D. Putnam first wrote about the causes behind the regional differences in economic and political development in Italy, the theory of social capital has truly flourished in the fields of social science. This days you constantly hear politicians and scholars stressing the important role of the quality of the social fabric to a society?s wellbeing. There all looking at ways to construct policies and institutions that help the spread of social capital.

In this thesis we investigate the level of deliberative democracy in the current implementation of the 24/7 Agency in the local government. We are interested in how the combination of the two seemingly opposing ideals of Demokratiutredningen and the 24/7 Agency is solved. Our analysis is based on interviews with civil servants from three kommuner in Skåne and a schematic overview of their websites. As a theoretical framework we use New Public Management Theory, Deliberative Democracy Theory, and Citizen Theory.We have found that the local 24/7 Agency is initiated and implemented by public servants. Their experiences and worldview is mirrored in both process and result.

Abstract Many researchers in social work believe that in today's society require the interaction between organisations takes place on social problems. This study examined the interaction between the police, social services and schools.The purpose of this study are as follows; the aim is to investigate the interaction between social services, the police and schools about young people aged 12-18 years who are at risk for abuse and crime.My questions are: How do the different professions interact regarding young people at risk for abuse and crime? How do they meet young people in their daily work? What obstacles can the different professions see in interaction? What effects do the different professions see in interaction?The study is a qualitative study conducted with semi-structured interviews. Respondents have been two from each organisation.The theory used in the analysis of empirical data is new-institutionalismen. New-institutionalism is a theory developed from organizational theories.

The aim of this thesis is to study whether social welfare secretaries experience occupational pride and what affects this feeling. Previously made research indicate that occupational pride is essential for performance and work-related health. Research has also shown that social welfare secretaries often experience unhealthiness due to working conditions and a lack of professional self-esteem.This thesis is based on four qualitative interviews which have focused especially on critical incidents, according to the critical incident technique. This study has a hermeneutic, interpretative approach. As a theoretical framework, Pierre Bourdieu? s theory on social space and positions aswell as Aaron Antonovsky´s theory on Sence of coherence have been used. The result shows that the interviewed social welfare secretaries do experience occupational pride.

The purpose of this study was to examine how the needs of social assistance for people with substance abuse are assessed in accordance to The Swedish Social Services Act 4th chapter 1§. The purpose was also to examine how substance abuse is assessed as a social problem by social workers, how the municipal guidelines concerning social assistance for substance abuser were constructed in relation to the Social Service Act and finally how social workers made their assessments of the need of social assistance to people with substance abuse in relation to the legislation. The sample was made among the municipalities in the county of Stockholm. Municipal guidelines were studied in 18 municipalities by content analysis. A sample of 11 social workers was chosen from 5 municipalities.

This study focuses on the use of animals in social work from the perspective of social workers. The purpose of this study is to examine social workers? experiences of animal assisted social work and how social workers view the integration of animals in various fields of social work. The research is based on a qualitative method and four semi-structured interviews were conducted with social workers. The theories incorporated in the study are Attachment Theory and Sense of Coherence (SOC).The following results are presented: Social workers are considered to have a more comprehensive understanding of clients compared to their associates who do not hold a degree in Social Work.

Abstract Many researchers in social work believe that in today's society require the interaction between organisations takes place on social problems. This study examined the interaction between the police, social services and schools.The purpose of this study are as follows; the aim is to investigate the interaction between social services, the police and schools about young people aged 12-18 years who are at risk for abuse and crime.My questions are: How do the different professions interact regarding young people at risk for abuse and crime? How do they meet young people in their daily work? What obstacles can the different professions see in interaction? What effects do the different professions see in interaction?The study is a qualitative study conducted with semi-structured interviews. Respondents have been two from each organisation.The theory used in the analysis of empirical data is new-institutionalismen. New-institutionalism is a theory developed from organizational theories.

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore which inner conceptions about the abused older women the professional social workers had and how they experienced the enconter of an abused old woman in an intimate partner relation. The theoretical background is social construction by Berger and Luckmann. This theory was uset to analyze the transcribed interviews. This study is based on nine interviews with five professionals in social services, three volunteers from the voluntary sector and one social worker who worked in a community based support group for abused older women. The result of this study shows that older women were often abused, by a relative they were dependent on, in their home.

The aim of this qualitative study was to examine six individuals' experiences to talk about the sexual abuse that occurred in their childhood. We interviewed five women and one man, using a phenomenological approach during the work process. The theories emerged as we analyzed our results and appeared to be communication, cognitive theory, validation, trauma theory and taboo. The results showed that the respondents, whom disclosed the abuse as children, were most likely to get a negative response from both formal and informal support systems. While as adults they were confirmed to a greater extent and therefore achieved a better physical and mental wellbeing.

I studien, vilken omfattade 177 svenskfödda studenter, utvecklades och kontrollerades enegenkonstruerad enkät: SAPS. Även könsskillnader i fördomar mot okända personers etnicitetoch kön samt könsskillnader i Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) undersöktes. Fördomarmättes med SAPS och SDO mättes med en svensk översättning av SDO scale (Pratto et al.,1994). SDO scale användes också som validitetskontroll av SAPS. Statistisk prövning medSpearmans Rho visade på en negativ korrelation mellan SAPS och SDO scale.

The aim of this essay was to describe how school social workers can help and support students with parents who abuse alcohol or other drugs. We wanted to see how school social workers room for action is presented and how it affects their work with students living with parents who are abusing. We used a qualitative method to elucidate how school social workers handle this issue in a more profound way. By conducting semistructured interviews with six school social workers in one province in southern Sweden we gained exhaustive and detailed answers. In the analysis we used street level bureaucracy and theory of recognition.

Background: The studies analyzed have shown among other things that ageism appears to be an overlooked category in intersectionality studies, elderly is offered care in worse conditions than non-elderly and stereotypes restrict elderlys social space to act. The gray tsunami is approaching but studies show that large gaps separate different agegroups. Aims: The study discuss how scientists reason about ageism towards elderly in a social science discussion. Method: A literature review was conducted in which fifteen articles were analyzed. The database used, is the librariescatalog Summon, at Malmö University. The articles was compiled in themes to give dilated clarity in ageisms complexity towards elderly. The results are being discussed on the basis of terror management theory, gerotranscendence and social identitity theory. Results: Elderlys relation to society's expectations about aging can affect a self/body-dualism, a split.

Travel literature and especially the ?adventure story? has excited young British boys for over two centuries. However, it has also been a vehicle for the assertion of male dominance and European supremacy. The story of a British man who goes to the colonies, performs some test which is essentially a test of his manliness, and whose compulsory victory marks the end of the book, has been a central myth in colonial masculinity.Through looking at three Anglo-Saxon male travel writers from the 20th century, this essay aims to study the different ways in which Western male identity is shaped against an Indian background. The novels analysed are Topee and Turban or Here and There in India by H.A.

The purpose with this study was to examine six caseworkers and two clients? experiences of interaction in the investigative work of social assistance. Moreover, how the interaction between caseworkers and clients are affected by the structure of the social assistance unit. The study also wanted to show how interaction rituals contribute to the change in assessment procedure in the investigative work. The study even aimed to highlight the ways in which social exclusion occurs in investigative work from caseworkers and client?s capital and gender.

 Background and aim: Media development and digitalization has expanded the PR industry's working area. More participants are on the media market and it is becoming more and more difficult to define what PR really is and what the PR agencies/departments really do. Is PR marketing, information, event marketing or maybe propaganda? We believe that the complexity to define the term PR can lead to a loss of critical approach to the business, especially among young people. Has the PR industry managed to eliminate their negative image among students in upper secondary school and what do they associate with PR today? The aim of this essay is to examine what a selection of students associate with the term PR and if they are critical to the PR industry or not.Method/Material: The method is a quantitative survey.