The aim of this thesis is to illustrate the principal problem of the study of national self-images and by questioning the congruent existence of one in the case of Sweden. Through the use of qualitative method and semi-structured interviews the ambition of the study is to compare and to understand the national self-images portrayed in a major Swedish town, Stockholm and to that of a smaller town on the countryside, Sjöbo. A social constructionist approach in co-operation with key temporal and spasial dimensions are used to penetrate the interviews at hand. The main conclusions drawn from this study highlights the difficulties in addressing the concept of a congruent national self-image. Several major discrepancies appear in the analysed material, mainly in the past and the external dimensions, both from a regional approach, but also very much within the local entities themselves..

AbstractThe purpose of this thesis is to examine the professional female members of a board in listed companies. During the 21st century the issue of female quotation into the executive boards was discussed in both the media and politically due to womens underrepresentation in these contexts.The main purpose of this thesis is to examine the professional female members of boards stories of the role models they have, what characteristics have evolved, the views of others, and the self image. In addition, we want to investigate how women perceive themselves in a male-dominated field to identify how the female identity is created at work.Through a qualitative research in the form of personal interviews, we have gathered empirical material that forms the basis of our results. The answers from the interviews have been analyzed with the help of relevant theories and a social constructionist approach throughout the thesis. For our theoretical approach, we primarily chose symbolic interactionism, identity theories, and concepts such as the glass ceiling and gender strategies to analyze the data.The result of the survey shows that there are many elements that play into how women form their identities.

The purpose of this Master's Thesis is to explore the influence of fiction on the identity and self-esteem of young women. The purpose is also to investigate if there are any books that they consider to be of importance for their identity. Furthermore, I investigate what appeals to young women generally in fiction and if it is difficult for them to find books that appeal to them. The primary question posed in this thesis is: How does fiction influence the identity development of young women? The data collection is based on literature on the subject and on interviews with eight young women between 15 and 20 years old.

With a base in Ian Manners? theory about Normative Power Europe ? that the European Union is to be seen as a normative power instead of a civilian or military ? this paper seeks to contribute to the discussion about identity by examine the normative elements of the union?s policies towards Russia between 1997 and 2013. Which norms are most important and how does the diffusion look? The findings show that democracy, rule of law and respect of human rights are among the most diffused norms, and this is more than often done by using the Russian interest in economic progress. Over time the European Union has taken on a more critical approach against Russia, while still appreciating their prosperous relation when it comes to trade and energy.

The aim of this study has been to take part of six ex-alcohol addicts? narratives about their lives with starting-point in which factors that has been significant and/or determining to be able to leave a life in abuse and what change this process has implied for their identity. To achieve the purpose with this study has three questions been formulated. These are what in the person?s life have been important in the process of a life free from alcohol, what were specific and decisive that effected the decision to stop using alcohol and what is the attitude to them self and their new role as an ex-alcohol addict. Alcohol is a drug that is legal and accepted in the society and it´s hard to discover an addiction.

In recent years the arts institutions? role in society have changed. With increased demands on attracting greater number of visitors they use concepts from corporate marketing to communicate with greater success. Theories from museum studies show that the importance of rendering authenticity now has become the new imperative in order to retain the status of a reputable institution. This thesis aims to discuss the development of a new visual identity for the public and non-profit institution Malmö konsthall.

The key purpose of this research has been trying to understand, and study how assyrian/syriac youth create their identity under the influence of two or several different cultures. We have also looked upon how different factors such as history, religion, language, family and school play a role in the youths identity development.We have used a qualitative method in our study where we have interviewed six assyrian/syriac youth. Because of their Christian faith the assyrian/syriac group has been forced to migrate from their countries to different parts around the world. In the new countries the group has been forced to create and live in a diasporaculture. The city Södertälje in Sweden has developed to become a metropole for this ethnic group where they have founded a substantial diasporaculture.

The purpose of this paper has been to study how users experiences and behaviors are influenced by a "like" function, when publication of images in social media with the photo app Instagram as the selected base. In this study respondents has been part of a study regarding their experiences and behavior related to "like" function in Instagram. The results of the question form have then been analyzed to find patterns in their behavior and to exemplify/reinforce different type of user-behavior found in related scientific articles.The study has shown that the behavior of Instagram users is affected by the "like" function, when they believes that the function is a status marker that raises the interest for certain users by the number of likes. Through my results, I have been able to amplify and illustrate several theories of Goffman, Buckingham and Gripsrud which are presented in the report..

There is little knowledge about abuse of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) in Sweden. Thispaper aims to explore, from a discourse psychological angle, how persons with experience ofanabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) construct there identities.The theory and method used as a frame for the paper is discursive psychology, depending on thefocus in the paper of human beings use of language in the construction of identities. Forcollection of data interviews were made. The six respondents al had experience of use of AAS.The interviews illustrated how users of AAS speak about AAS, and create there identity, inrelation to AAS. In the interpretation of data we used two different tools, used by discursivepsychologists, interpretative repertoires and subject positions.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the identity of teenagers is affected by the loss of a parent as well as what coping strategies support identity development. The reactions the teenagers exhibit, in such circumstances, will also be examined. To accomplish this,  a theory package was created, comprising theories in developmental psychology, identity work, coping and theory of grief reactions of children and teenagers. This package provided a broad perspective, which facilitated the analysis. Furthermore, it made it easier to address the purpose and the issue of the analysis.

Youth culture and social problems associated with youth groups have existed for decades. We have chosen an explorative case study design to highlight young people's revolt against parents and society and how society has dealt with social problems of youth and how those were perceived. ?Raggare? were considered a major social problem in society. The material in the study comes from eight qualitative interviews and literature of previous research of the current youth culture.

Title Communicating identity at every level - a study of how consumers perceive the brand identity in the new media landscape.Background The new media landscape has created new opportunities for companies to interact and communicate with the market. Even if this means increased opportunities for relationship-building between companies and consumers it also arise a risk in moving into a new stadium with no real strategy. It is therefore essential to communicate the brand as great as possible in every level of channel.Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether two companies (GANT & H&M) have succeeded in their stated brand identity through the various online platforms: website and facebook page.Method The study is a qualitative study consisting of four focus groups on students at Uppsala university at Ekonomikum.Results The results show that it is possible to convey the identity at every level and on different platforms on the closing of sufficient time and effort. H & M has integrated much of the material on the facebook pages section in a stylistic way which gathers more appreciation then GANT, which according to the informants did not seem to have spend much time at all. .

Purpose of this study is to describe and analyze school social work in rural area and being alone in social work at the school welfare/health team and how this affects the individual, professionally and privately.The theoretical framework highlights the empirical data through Goffman's dramaturgical perspective. The study highlights school social workers role on the scene as Goffman divided as the front and rear arena and how school social worker find strategies to cope with it alone work it takes to be a counselor in rural areas.One way to handle her role involves acting in one of the following three characters: the self-employed, infiltrator and tough guy.The study describes how the social worker harboring the stress in the profession; through recovery - physical and mental, on the back stage, backstage.On stage there are other players such as student health team, which also acts and affect what happens on the front stage.School social workers are working hard to position itself in relation to other professions in student welfare/health team and to have a mandate to act.In the analysis, it appears that the school social workers want a clearer role profession/ occupation profession and mandate to act, which may be complicated by today is the only counselor in student welfare/health team lacking identity. There is also a desire for further/ continuing education, but this is seen as an organizational pitfall when the manager does not have the same educational background as school social worker.Ultimately, it is the peripatetic life as a social worker at the school who is considered the most exhausting part of the work as a school social worker in a rural area. There is a great desire among the interviewed school social workers to have fewer schools to relate to and work on..

This study aims to deepen the understanding of how belonging and community is created in one of the aesir faith communities in Sweden. The study examines the aesir faith communities ability to develop the community members religious identity as well as their understanding of the importance of cultural heritage and how it affects the members in their practices of their aesir faith. The main argument in this study is that cultural heritage creates a sense of community that makes the members want to stay and develop their religious identity together with the other members of the aesir faith community. I have used cultural heritage, symbols and rituals, belonging, community and religious identity as concepts in order to answer my research questions. The methods used in this study are participant observation during the group's public activities, as well as interviews with the members of the aesir faith community in order to confirm the analysis I made during the participant observation.

The construction of an identity among lesbian women during 1950-­?1965 is in focus in this master ?s thesis. My starting point is that identity, such as lesbian or any other identity, is formed in relation to other people and groups, as well as society. This thesis will also examine how lesbian women met and formed bonds with like-­minded, and whether these aspects changed, during the defined time period. The empirics is made up by letters written by women to Riksfo?rbundet fo?r sexuellt likabera?ttigande (a Swedish organisation for lesbian and gays) as well as an interview with two lesbian women who were born in 1938 and 1940.