The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate the participants experiences of a parent Support group and the effect of their participation on their parental role from a learning perspective. As the parent Support group takes place as a group activity, the focus was on the individual learning processes which, in turn, are influenced by both the group itself as well as the leaders of the group. The empirical data was collected from a focus group interview with four mothers, and analyzed using empowerment and coping theories. Based on the participants´ narratives, the result showed that the parent Support group had a great social and pedagogic effect on the participants. As a result of the received knowledge in the group from both leaders as well as from other participants, they felt less stressed and more confident in their parental role.

Research about social support and social networks has mostly concerned the impact on a person?s wellbeing and health. However an aspect largely neglected is how social support within the social networks can affect the process of giving up a drug abuse. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of what role the social support within different relationships can have on the process of giving up drug abuse. Furthermore the aim is to examine how a self-help group can provide social support in the transitional period after leaving a drug abuse.

The aim of this study has been to investigate children and adolescent development in ?The turning point? children´s and adolescent program in Kristianstad. We also wanted to find out the Support group leaders experiences concerning the children´s and the adolescents development in programs and how they apprehended their role as a Support group leader. Our intension was also to study how the adolescent and the children considered their own development in the program. To carry through this study, we used two types of qualitative methods i.e.

In 2007 the Prevention Unit at Södermalm in Stockholm started a group activity for parents and children. The group activity?s intention is to offer families support in their early interaction. This study is a part of providing knowledge about this intervention. The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the stories which are produced by five participants in a Support group for parents and children.

This study aims to examine how adolescents with diabetes describe and value their experience of participating in a Support group and how they describe the issues of being a teenager with diabetes. This is a qualitative study and we have interviewed three young women who have been participating in a Support group. The results of the interviews were analyzed through a phenomenological method and then compared to earlier research and interpreted through symbolic interactionism and Erikson's development-theory, which were our theories of choice. Our findings support earlier research when stating that Support groups are important and necessary for adolescents with chronic illnesses. Our interviewees stated that they think that one of the most important benefits of Support groups is to meet other people in their situation; same age and same chronic illness..

The study's purpose is to describe students' experiences of help and support in mathematics. To investigate this, I adopted the questions: What does it mean, according to the students, to get "help and support in mathematics?" Are there differences in the description of help and support depending on the age of the students? What different kinds of help and support do students feel that they get from their math teachers? What different kinds of help and support would they like to have? The study is based on a qualitative method, group interviews, with three groups of students, one from each stage of primary school in one municipality in Sweden. The students were at the time of the interview in grade 3, 5 and 8. The interviews were analysed from a sociocultural perspective. The results show that what the students primarily consider as the meaning of help and support it is to get individual support from their teacher.

This is a qualitative study designed to investigate how professional Support group leaders talk about their role as supervisor of Support groups for children and adolescents with problematic home situations. We also examine how these supervisors talk about the method they use and how they talk about the individual child. We have chosen critical discourse analysis to help us explore if there are different ways to talk about these territories. Our questions are:How does the Support group leader talk about his role?How does the Support group leader talk about the method?How does the Support group leader talk about the individual child?The theories we have chosen to use in the analysis of our material is Aaron Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence and social constructivism.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the unaccompanied children's experiences of the support offered at group homes intended for this group. The purpose is also to find out if they feel like the stay at the group home has prepared them for an independent life. The study has a qualitative approach and results collection occurred through semi-structured interviews. Seven young men aged 18-20 years were interviewed, all of them have lived for at least one year in a group home and are now living in their own apartment. The results have shown that the adolescents had both positive and negative experiences from their stay at the group home and that they have different views about whether they have received the support they need to cope independently.

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 purpose of this research is to investigate the group constellation that is, what thoughts, feelings and sensations that arise when students and pupils change groups. The study will also affect students and pupils knowledge of why they should work in groups. Their perceived security will also be something that this study is looking for.The main questions of this study are:How does students and pupils experience the phenomenon of "group replacement"?What is considered to work or not work in the new group formations?The method that is used in this study is based on six qualitative interviews with students and pupils from three different levels of education. The target groups are college and high school students.

ABSTRACTBackground: Children and adolescents growing up in families where parents have serious problems are exposed to an increased risk of developing poor mental or physical health themselves. In a Support group work they can meet other children in the same situation, receive help and support to process their emotions and manage their everyday life.Aim: To investigate if Support group work at Trappan can reduce the psychological problems load and increase the experience of life quality, hopefulness and optimism in children and adolescents growing up in families where either addiction or mental illness occur in one of the parents. The purpose was also to investigate if there was any difference between these both child groups regarding psychological problems load, experience of life quality, hopefulness and optimism before and after Support group participation.Method: Questionnaire study on children and adolescents of parents with addiction or mental illness. The children participated in Support group work at Trappan. The measuring?s were conducted before and after Support group participation.Results: In both groups an increased life quality in connection to finished Support group participation was observed.

The aim of this essay was to study how the communities work with groups as a support to children with addictive parents, and to increase my understanding of the groups meaning as a support. My main questions have been: How are the child group sessions formed? What kind of experience does the group leaders have regarding their functions? The study is a qualitative investigation that has been turned to prefessionals in the subject area and  is based on 6 interviews and secondary sources. The material has been analyzed from a narrativ theory as well as a salutogent perspective. Research shows that children growing up in an addictive environment often have decreased psychological health and are overrepresented amongst those who developed a future addiction.

The purpose of this Master Thesis was to study the reader in the informal reading group. To fulfil our purpose we have used the following questions: how did the reader become a reader and what does her reading look like, why do people choose to participate in a reading group, how may the group influence the individual member in her reading and interpretation of a book, does the reading group have a therapeutic function, how does the informant find the group dynamics and different roles in the reading group, and finally how does the informant experience the discussion in the reading group. We have used two studies about reading groups, one by Elizabeth Long and one by Jenny Hartley. Our theory is divided into reading and group psychology. We have interviewed seven women belonging to different reading groups.

The forgotten group: A study of support for relatives of incarcerated individuals. The daily lives of relatives of an incarcerated individual are affected and changed by the fact that their kin has become incarcerated. This made us want to research what kind of support these individuals are in need of and what kind of support the society is offering them today. Because of their kins behaviour, these individuals are also often exposed to feelings of shame and stigma. Therefore we have, with Goffmans theory of stigma in mind, looked into how this affects the relatives daily lives.

Support group activities for children with mentally ill parent´s, without a parallel parent group, is by far the most common form in Sweden. The activities have primarily focused on increasing the frequency of the protective factors around children. Of course, parents and the families are also influenced of children´s participating in these activities. Most studies examining Support group activities for children from the child's perspective. The experiences of parent?s perspective have not been well studied.