Mid Sweden University
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Expectations through retrospective narratives of aging trans women’s encounters with the Swedish welfare state
No full textOlder transgender adults have lived through a period in which theirgender identities have been shamed, criminalised and pathologised.Research has highlighted the connection between previous experiencesof contact with the welfare state and concerns about similarexperiences in the future. Accordingly, this study aimed to examineolder trans women’s narratives of previous experiences with theSwedish welfare state from a life course perspective. The more specificaim was to analyse whether these experiences influence expectationsand concerns regarding future contact with welfare institutions.Interviews were carried out with eight older trans women aged 65–82years. The analysis focused on the narratives that emerged, with atheoretical framing of the life course perspective and trans temporality.The results are presented through three vignettes that illustrate variousexperiences of seeking support from the welfare state, as well as thepositive and negative aspects of this process. Further, the studyillustrates how these previous experiences can contribute toexpectations and concerns regarding potential future encounters withwelfare services. The study has important implications for social work, inthat it reveals the importance of understanding the consequences ofcisnormative history and how trans people have been subjected toinvisibility, shame and stigma
The Policy Entrepreneur as a Crosscutting Concept in Theories of the Policy Process : A Scoping Review of European Empirical Applications
No full textIn this article, we examine concepts that underpin the theories of the policy process. We exemplify the applicability of these concepts in the European policy-making contexts through a systematic scoping review of European applications of the policy entrepreneur. Our findings include that (i) the overwhelming majority of the studies anchored the policy entrepreneur in the Multiple Streams Framework; (ii) more than half of the studies were contextualized at the EU level and in the UK country context; (iii) policy entrepreneurs were identified in a wide range of policy sectors, and (iv) policy entrepreneurs were identified as being individuals as well as organizations but mostly elite actors, often policy-makers. Future avenues for research include policy entrepreneurship in political parties, exploring the interactions of policy entrepreneurs and the role their other identities (public servant, elected official, NGO official, etc.) play in how reactive or proactive they are in seeking opportunities
Bridging the Gaps Within and Between Public Services Through Samverket, a New Co-Working Concept
No full textGaps within and between public actors cause inefficient, incomplete, and inequitable public services. A new co-working concept, Samverket, was designed and tested to address these shortcomings in two Swedish regions. This paper investigated qualitatively how public sector employees perceived the conditions for cross-organizational networking, learning, and collaboration when using Samverket and whether they experienced positive outcomes for society. The results show that this co-working concept can innovate public services and highlight which conditions are optimal when designing and using such a workplace for public sector employees. These new findings are relevant to the public sector, practitioners, policymakers, and researchers.
Perceptions of Conditions that Characterize Projects as a Development Strategy : A Phenomenographical Study of Eleven Swedish Preschool Development Projects
No full textThe present study focuses joint school and university development work in preschool-projects try to increase educational quality. The aim of this study was to explore perceived conditions and perceptions of projects among participants in development projects in eleven preschools. In addition, we were interested in the perceived outcomes of the projects. All projects were aimed at strengthening the preschool principal’s and staff’s competence regarding children’s language and emergent literacy development. The studied projects lasted up to three years. The results are based on phenomenographical analyses of thirteen focus group interviews with principals and staff, including eighty-eight participants, during the project period. Follow-up interviews were conducted with twenty-four representatives from the participating preschools one year after the closure of the projects. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Field notes from visits in the preschools contributed to the empirical material. Our findings indicate that the perceptions of a project, contributed to the understanding of a project as loaded with expectations that the development project is limited in time and that it will add extra-curricular work demanding extra resources, which led to the perception that when the project is over, development work is over. The word project, thus, per se functioned as a limiting factor, if on-going development work, was aimed for. Lack of anchoring the development work in the local context was perceived as problematic, with effects for the participants’ experience of agency. Furthermore, difficulties in managing large staff turnover during the project was perceived to cause the development work to come to a stand-still. Active leadership, and shared responsibility were perceived as favorable factors for the progress of the development work. Our conclusions encompass participants’ perceptions of adjustment to the local context, shared responsibility and seeing development work as exceeding time limits as vital components of successful development work.
What's in it for us? Staff perspectives on the impact of implementing positive behavior support
No full textA social environment conducive to learning is important for students to achieve educational goals. Well-functioning leadership in the classroom creates conditions for teaching, learning, and development. The aim of this study was to investigate how staff perceive and receive a positive behavior support (PBS) program two years after its implementation and how it affects the social environment conducive to learning. The researcher conducted and analyzed three group interviews, one pair interview and one individual interview with teachers and principals (N = 14) through reflexive thematic analysis. The results showed that the staff perceived no visible result concerning the students' behavior after the implementation of PBS. However, the staff experienced positive results in leadership skills, teamwork, their ability to create a culture that favors a social environment conducive to learning, and how to handle students. The findings also showed that the staff had a positive view of PBS; the program gave them concrete strategies that made it easier to create expectations. Some staff were unable to participate, and additional time and resources were required. The study's results help us understand the impact of PBS in Sweden, which has not been researched thoroughly to date.positive behavior suppor
Test–retest reliability of strength, power, agility, and sprint performance in female team handball players
No full textObjectives: This study assessed the test–retest reliability of athletic performance tests in a cohort of trained Norwegian female handball players, as well as a sub-analysis of the test–retest reliability for naturally menstruating players. Design: Eighteen handball players (naturally menstruating: n = 8) completed performance test batteries on three separate occasions. Methods: The performance test battery included: a 1-repetition Smith machine back squat, maximal handgrip strength tests, counter-movement jumps, squat jumps, a modified agility T-test, and 15-m linear sprints. For the naturally menstruating players, the testing sessions were completed at three hormonally-distinct points within a menstrual cycle (i.e., early follicular, ovulation, and mid-luteal phases). Reliability statistics (intraclass correlations, standard error of measurement, minimum difference, and coefficient of variation) were calculated for each performance test. Results: Good-to-excellent test–retest reliability was found for all performance measures (intraclass correlation2,1 point estimates = 0.82 to 0.94), although max squat jumps were somewhat lower (intraclass correlation2,1 = 0.75 [95 % confidence interval = 0.55, 0.88]). Subgroup analysis for naturally menstruating players also revealed consistently high reliability values for all tests (intraclass correlation2,1 point estimate = 0.83 to 0.74). Conclusions: These reliability data support the periodic use of selected athletic tests in routine handball assessments, in order to identify changes in sporting performance and monitor player progress. As test reliability does not appear to be influenced by the menstrual cycle phase, coaches and sports practitioners may schedule testing sessions for all athletes, without concern of a confounding effect from menstrual phases.
Sami perspectives in school leadership? Conspicuous by their absence!
No full text“Why is it so difficult to get the Sami teachers to come to staff meetings?” asked one school leader inNorway. Imbued with frustration and suspicion, this question highlights the difficulties with ongoingreconciliation work with Sami peoples in schools in Norway and Sweden, confirmed by our experiencesas educators of school leaders and by an exploration of existing policy and literature. There is a lack ofunderstanding of the needs and interests of school communities situated in Sami districts. Dominantknowledge about school leadership in Norway and Sweden takes no account of Sami perspectives andschool leaders are not afforded opportunities to develop the necessary culturally sensitiveunderstandings. We propose that researchers should focus more on the vital work of school leaders,seeking to create knowledge and practices which support, rather than hinder, reconciliation
Expanding the Recovery Experience Questionnaire into a 5-factor model by including a factor covering experiences of contrast
No full textFor decades, research on stress recovery has been neglected, as reflected in the underdevelopment of instruments measuring recovery processes. Nevertheless, a notable exception is the Recovery Experience Questionnaire (REQ) developed by Sonnentag and Fritz, which assesses work recovery experiences during leisure time. The REQ has demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity across multiple languages. In this study, we used the Swedish version of the REQ to investigate whether a factor covering experiences of contrast between work time and non-work time could be incorporated as a fifth factor into the established four-factor model of the REQ, which currently includes the factors control, relaxation, mastery, and psychological detachment. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted using a sample of 812 participants recruited through social media. Utilizing four questions as indicators of contrasting experiences, all fit indices suggested a satisfactory model fit, closely resembling those of the four-factor model. Moreover, indices of reliability and validity indicated good composite reliability, internal convergent validity, and discriminant validity for all five factors. Among the five recovery factors, experiences of contrast exhibited the weakest relationship with both burnout and vitality. In conclusion, despite certain limitations in the present study, further examination of experiences of contrast as a recovery factor and the inclusion of this factor in the initial Swedish version of the 5-factor REQ are warranted
Informal strategies in transnational mobilities and their implications for European lifestyle migration
No full textInformality encompasses a wide range of unregulated activities that has usually been associated with the activities of marginalised groups. However, it has been recognised that affluent lifestyle migrants use informal strategies to pursue a good life across borders. How lifestyle migrants resort to informality and how it affects their lives is less well understood. To fill this gap, we present findings from 22 qualitative interviews with Swedish lifestyle migrants in Portugal. Lifestyle migrants can navigate webs of (in)formalities thanks to their privileged position as citizens of the European Union. First, lifestyle migrants gradually appropriate informality, which illustrates their privileged use of informal strategies to establish themselves in a new country. Second, lifestyle migrants never have to settle down in one place because they can employ informal strategies across countries to support their desired life in one of them. Finally, lifestyle migrants end up facing a paradox of immobility because their use of informal strategies to retain connections between countries creates dependency and immobility. Not unlike marginalised groups, lifestyle migrants exploit gaps in formal frameworks of the global mobility regime. Informality is intertwined with the privileged pursuit of a momentarily better life abroad and is thus essential to lifestyle migration
Attachment and socialized religion within the Læstadian revival movement
No full textThe present questionnaire study examined attachment-religion connections among 175 believers within the Læstadian revival movement (Lutheran) in Sweden and Finland. Corroborating previous research findings from other religious populations, our findings strongly supported the idea that attachment security (i.e. positive, non-defensive representations of self and others) facilitates the intergenerational transmission of religion from parents to offspring (the socialized correspondence hypothesis) in families within the Læstadian revival movement. Extending previous research, attachment security was also linked to the adoption and transmission of the congregation’s religious standards and to perceived religious support from the congregation. Results pertaining to religion-as-compensation for attachment-related insecurity (the compensation hypothesis) were generally mixed, perhaps due to particularities of Læstadian faith.