The aim of this study was to analyze how discourses about domestic violence emerges in policy and practice, and to investigate how those discourses may change from a structural, political level to a local, practical level. The research questions focused how the problem of domestic violence is formulated at national and local level, scrutinizing the different discourses framing and reproducing the causes and solutions of the problem, and also to deduce how different context affects formulations. The empirical material consists of policy plans and interviews with social workers. The findings indicates that the issue of domestic violence is articulated differently on different levels. In action plans on the national level, the domestic violence is formulated within a structural discourse, being a problem on a (gender-) political level, whereas professional social workers recognizes domestic violence as a personal problem within an individual oriented discourse.

In this thesis, the impact of collective ratings on customers? perception of a product is examined. The empirical data comes from an experimentally designed survey where the effect of collective ratings is measured in the setting of a traditional advertisement for a feature film. In contrast to what previous research would suggest be to the expected outcome, the authors of this paper concludes that in comparison with alternative designs of advertisements, there are no measurable advantages of including collective ratings in advertisements from the marketers point of view. We find two explanations to the result: (1) people tend to self-report that they are more influenced by collective ratings than they actually are, and (2) the advertisement which lacked a rating could be as attractive due to cultural interpretations of white spaces..

The aim of this study was to evaluate different types of volume and taper equations that can be used to predict single-tree stem volume and stem diameter at any given height along the tree stem for plantation grown Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.), Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) and White spruce (Picea glauca (Mounch) Voss) in Iceland. A number of published tree volume equations were tested and modified to predict the total stem volumes over bark but three logarithmic equations were taken for more in-depth analysis. Three taper equations were tested. Two variable-exponent equations (Kozak 1997, Kozak 2004) and one exponential equation described by Biging (1984). Data from a total of 617 sample trees were used in this study, collected from stands in various parts of the country and present different types of stands growing in different soil types and cover most of the site conditions suitable for forestry in Iceland.

Abstract The subject of this thesis is the priority rules that apply in connection with mining activity. Already back in the 1800s, there were rules in the so-called Lego Charter concerning protection of workers, mainly servants. When the first modern trade union was founded in the 1870s, also developed a collective agreement. These agreements were the order of priority clauses had to intend to ensure employees' working lives. Exceptions had to be done by ensuring that individual employees' dependents. In 1974 the Act on employment entry and had intended to protect older workers.

In recent years, the demands for effectiveness and evidence in social work have increased in all work areas, including that of healthcare. This has sparked the discussion on concepts such as practical- and theoretical knowledge and their respective roles in social work. In the light of this, the purpose of this candidate thesis is to investigate healthcare social workers understanding of practical- and theoretical knowledge in the working process as well as their respective influence and importance. This candidate thesis is based on three interviews with social workers from different departments in Norrlands Universitetssjukhus in Umeå, Sweden. To provide range to the thesis, the interviewees were chosen from a purposeful sampling.

The purpose of this study was to examine work related stressors and related coping strategies among case managers at a domestic violence shelter in the United States. We further wanted to examine whether locus of control among the participants could be related to work related stress and coping strategies. Qualitative interviews were performed with eight case managers to gain knowledge about the stressors and coping strategies they used by examining their thoughts, feelings and experiences. The result showed that the case managers experience a number of stressors in their work environment such as system problems (e.g., lack of re¬sources and time pressure) and emotional stress. Coping responses among the case managers included efforts to alter the problem, so called problem focused coping, efforts to control emo¬tions, so called emotions focused coping and social support from colleagues.

Internal communication is very important for the success of an organization. The county council Landstinget i Värmland is a large organization with many managers on different positions. Every one of these managers gets an email every week, with the message that a new manager letter, called Chef, is published on the intranet. With my paper I am examining what the managers think of this letter, how they use it and if managers on different positions differ from each other in opinions about and use of the letter. I want to find out if there is a need of Chef as a part of the internal communication of Landstinget i Värmland.To answer these questions, I have chosen a quantitative method in the form of a questionnaire which is send to all the receivers of the manager letter.

Plant Protection Products (PPP) used in the horticulture industry can be both chemical and biological. They are used for weeds (herbicides), insects (insecticides), and fungi (fungicides) and as growth retarders.Many horticulture workers get in touch with plants, treated with PPPs and many of these don?t use any protective equipment.The aim of this project is to illustrate the work environment hazards for staff working with greenhouse pot plants, after they have been sprayed.The method used was observations of the operations for packing plants. I studied the operations and took notes of how operations were performed and what protective equipment they used. I also took photos and asked questions.A literature study completed the observations.

På våren 2014 invigs Litteraturhuset för barn och unga ? I Sandviken för hela regionen. Målgruppen ärbarn och unga, 0-18 år. Litteraturhuset kommer att fokusera på tre delar som ska utgöra helheten; denförsta är den lär- och språkstimulerande miljön, den andra är ett kunskapscenter och den tredje är attLitteraturhuset ska utgöra en forskningsresurs. Under tre års tid har arbetet pågått som ett projekt, imaj 2013 beslutades att Litteraturhuset ska övergå i fast verksamhet.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att redogöra för hälso- och sjukvårdspersonalens följsamhet till hygienföreskrifter avseende handhygien och de faktorer som påverkar detta. Metod: Artiklar söktes via CINAHL, Pubmed och Scopus. Sökord som användes i olika kombinationer var: hand hygiene, adherence, hygiene guidelines, health care workers, compliance, hand disinfection, infection control, nursing, nurse och hand cleansing. Tretton vetenskapliga artiklar erhölls. Vidare gjordes en manuell sökning ifrån inkluderade artiklars referenslistor och genererade två artiklar som ingick i resultatet.

The purpose of this study has been to investigate how psychosocial support for families where a parent suffers from a life threatening illness can be constructed. The intent was also to explore how the child's perspective is protected and what barriers and opportunities there are for family oriented support. The study has a qualitative approach and includes interviews with four social workers. The interviews were analyzed with a systems theory and attachment theory. The conclusions are that the whole family suffers psychological and social pressures when a parent is sick.

Numerous dogs are stressed during a stay at a veterinary clinic. Stress has an impact physically as well as mentally, and may influence animal care. There are different ways to prevent and handle animal stress. Dog Appeasing Pheromones (DAP) is sometimes used to reduce stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential need for stressreducers, explore the use of DAP and evaluate pheromonatherapy for dogs as a potential stressreducer within veterinary health care.

Motivation: The aim of this study has been to conduct a comparative study concerning how race, ethnicity and class is represented in American contrary to Swedish daily press and from there on to explore and explain similarities and differences that have been found in the material.Problem statement:? How is race, ethnicity and class represented in American contrary Swedish daily press?? What are the similarities and differences between the countries? daily news flow?? What causes the similiarities and differences to achieve their current form?Material: The material which has been the subject of this study consists of eight articles ? four American articles (USA Today) and four Swedish articles (Dagens Nyheter). The material has been elected to meet certain criterias and mainly discusses the effects the health care reform will have on the American population.Approach: The material has been approached by using theories concerned with race, ethnicity, class and framing. The method used to analyze the material was Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA).Results: The results shows significant similarities, although mainly differences, between the countries? daily news flow.

The purpose of this study is to highlight the situation for youths leaving foster care and entering adult life. The study examines the services provided by the social service in the Stockholm area when a youth is leaving foster care, and if a recent change in the legislation has had any impact on the operating procedures of the social service. The study includes interviews with youths who recently left foster care, as well as information collected from social service offices through a survey, supplemented by interviews with practicing social workers. All the assembled data have been analyzed using Ecological Systems theory with focus on the child perspective and the term significant others. The study shows that the respondent youth have trouble identifying the formal ending with social services, as well as the support they received or were offered.

Trade is the driving force for economic development. A greater equity in international trade can improve the livelihoods and the well being of producers in developing countries. The small-scale farmers have limited resources and have difficulties to get access to the international market. As a result of this, the Fair Trade movement has been developed and has now formed a trading partnership between the producer and the consumer. This study analyses if the Fair Trade movement can be a way for the workers in developing countries to achieve more justice in their production manner in the international trade of cut flowers and continue to be an important competitor of these products, but with better livelihood conditions. My method has been to do a comprehensive literature study of the Fair Trade movement, in which I describe the certification process, and the market of Fair Trade in Sweden.