Psychological research concerning correction of stereotypes has mainly focused on how individuals adjust their negative attitude towards the out-group due to the apprehension of appearing prejudiced in front of out-grouprepresentatives. This study though, does not deal with estimations of the qualities of the out-group; it deals with estimations of the qualities of the in-group. Does Swedes correct their estimations of their own group when the experiment leader is of another ethnicity and has a different colour of skin? The participants were students at Halmstad Högskola and they were all born and raised in Sweden. Half the participants got to meet a Swedish born, white skinned experiment leader, whereas the other group got to meet an African born, dark skinned experiment leader.

The purpose of this essay is to examine Prostitutionsgruppens ("Prostitution group") concrete operation, its organisation and how the group have changed since sexköpslagens ("sexbuy law") incorporated.Prostitutionsgruppen was founded in 1981 and have been working against prostitution. Their main goal is to reduce the damage of prostitution. Their work consists of treatment and reaching out to help prostitutes. Another part of their work is to change the public attitude towards prostitution. They act as intermediary of the knowledge they have gained through meeting people in prostitution.I have interviewed one social worker in the group and researched earlier literature.

This research is about six pedagogue´s and their reflections about the size of the children´s group in the preschools. Then I will discuss the pedagogue?s recommendation on the significance of the size of a children´s group learning and development and it´s practical significance for the preschool function. The pedagogue?s statements will be discussed in relation to The Swedish National Agency for Education (TSNAE) guidelines on group size.The theoretical framework of this essay will take an overview of the social cultural perspective, the group size and its significance for both the children´s learning and development, for interaction and communication and TSNAE advice and guidelines.

In Sweden approximately ten percent of all children grows up in a family where at least one parent is having an alcohol related addiction. Since 1998 the development of group activities for children in this situation has been immense. The aim of group activities is to break the child's isolation and make them feel that they are not lonely in their experiences, give them knowledge about addiction and relive the pressure of guilt and responsibility.In a comparative study we examined studied how two different group activity models one with the conception of illness and one without, use the children's network to support the group process. The aim was also to find each models definition of the "normal family", since we understood the groupactivity as a part in the normalization process. We reached our aim through interviews with group leaders and by literature studies.

Homeless adolescents are in Sweden rather invisible, as a group. There is no established definition or description of the problem, nor any uniform terms regarding it. The purpose of this study is to investigate how four different organizations, based on their basic principles, describe the group homeless adolescents. We discuss why the organizations reason as they do, and what it leads to. In order to do so we have performed qualitative interviews with representatives from each organization.

In August 2007 we went to New Zealand for a placement at Child Youth and Family Services. There our interest in Family Group Conferences (FGC) took off. FGC is not near as common in Sweden as in New Zealand. Therefore the purpose of this study was to examine how the Social Services in Helsingborg and Höör in Sweden and Belfast in Northern Ireland work with FGC. We had the privilege to go to Belfast in Northern Ireland as part of the project Insight Europe.

The purpose of this essay was to describe how individual members of the self-help group Al-Anon discuss the importance and the influence the group has/have concerning their own lifestyle and self-image. To find answer to this I carried out qualitative interviews with five female members of a local Al-Anon group and later on analyzed the interviews using various concepts based upon the symbolic interactionism. I have mainly used concepts as; role-taking, significant symbols and referencegroup. Through the analysis of the interviews I have seen that the respondents self-image and thereby also their self-esteem has changed since they became a part of their local Al-Anon group. I have also noticed changes in their behaviors in their way of life.

The DISA method is a universal program developed for teenage girls to prevent depression. The program includes cognitive behavioral techniques are suppose to change negative pattern of thinking, give practice of communication, strategies of problem solution and exercises to strengthen the social network. The purpose of this study is to find out how a group of teenage boys were affected by the DISA program and what factors that may have impacted the outcome. Material from three different studies have been used, a quantitative study in terms of data from self-assessment form CES-D, materials from two semi-structured focus group interviews with the boys and material from a questionnaire filled out by the boys on two occasions during the DISA method. The result of the CES-D indicates that the boys had less depressive symptoms after the final group meeting compared to the first group meeting and also a year later. Analysis of the material from focus group interviews and questionnaire have been made from a communication theory and systems theory perspective and indicate a shift to greater cohesion in the group and demonstrates that communication between the boy-group and group leaders had importance for the outcome.

The purpose of this work is to create more knowledge about the teacher's perceptions of group dynamics and its impact on school activities. How do teachers opportunities and obstacles in order to influence group dynamics among students. The questions I have answered is how the teachers see the importance of a functioning group dynamics in school, how teachers work with group dynamics and how teachers describe the opportunities and obstacles for effective group dynamics. The method I am using at work is a qualitative research method that involves obtaining the teachers' own thoughts, feelings and experiences around the right questions. I have interviewed three teachers in primary schools in the county of Stockholm to find out their particular approach.

The existence of social networks on the Internet is today seen as broad, and the number of users of the network is increasing. There seems to be many reasons to which people are using the social networks. Within the network, users can for various reasons create groups with different objectives. One of the reasons is that groups are created in order to influence a company. With a perceived feeling that companies handle the problem differently, we assume the source is the uncertainty about what the groups really are.

Life is for us humans a social life. We are constantly in different social communities with various purposes. Throughout life we are part of different groups, for better or worse. The basic social communities, in our society, are the groups we live, work, learn and grow in. This essay deals with the groups children develop and learn in, in school and leisure time center.

There are many children in Sweden today, approximately 200 000, who have parents or a parent that abuses alcohol or other drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate how group leaders in support groups for children with addicted parents relate to this sort of support groups. What are their advantages and disadvantages, according to the group leaders?The method used was qualitative and the empirical material was collected through group interviews. We have interviewed eight persons who are social workers and the interviews were carried out at three work places.

The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the social identity of students at upper secondary school for physically disabled students. The youths I drew my attention to suffered from severe physical disabilities and therefore received specially adapted education in small classes, but integrated at an ordinary upper secondary school.By "social identity" I mean how the students view themselves as a group, how they value their membership of the group and how they relate to non-disabled students at school. I wanted to investigate the connections between these students' social identity and the problems of marginalization of disabled people in society.According to qualitative methods I interviewed five physically disabled students, aged 18-19, at upper secondary school level taking part of especially adapted education. The study showed that these students regarded themselves as a segregated group at school. None of them associated with non-disabled students at school.

The purpose of this Bachelor Thesis is to examine what happens when the solitary reading experience becomes a social activity. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with three women belonging to the same reading group. I have used Sten Furhammar?s reading dimensions and categories to explain their reading experience, and Jenny Hartley, Elizabeth Long and Immi Lundin to explain the function that the reading group has for them, and the relationship between reading experiences in a book-discussion.My result shows that they started the reading group because they lacked an opportunity to discuss their readings with people that had the same interest in books. They do all have different ways to read, which is displayed by Furhammar?s categories personal and impersonal reading for experience.

What Places Adolescents and Adults, Respectively, in Need of Social Assistance? A Qualitative Study of How Social Workers Whom Administrate Financial Assistance for Adolescents and Adults, Respectively, Describe Reasons Behind the Need of Social Assistance Amongst Their ClientsThe purpose of this essay was to study and compare how social workers whom administrate social assistance for adolescents and adults, respectively, describe reasons behind the need of social assistance amongst their clients. This was done due to the use of qualitative interviews with a total of six social workers. Of these six, three administrated social assistance for adolescents while the other three did the same for adults. Prior research of poverty attribution greatly inspired this essay.