Parental separation and school dropout in adolescence

Aims: To document the association between parental separation and school dropout in adolescence and to examine the factors that may potentially account for this association. Methods: Data stem from the large youth@hordaland study that was linked to the Norwegian National Educational Database to obtain objective measures of educational outcomes and disposable income (N = 8323). Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association between parental separation and school dropout. A Fairlie post-regression decomposition was used to examine the influence of parental education, household income, health complaints, family cohesion, and peer problems in explaining the association between parental separation and school dropout. Results: Parental separation was associated with a higher odds ratio (OR) of school dropout in crude and adjusted (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)) analyses (OR=2.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) =1.90–2.45; AOR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.50–2.00). About 31% of the higher odds of school dropout among adolescents with separated parents was explained by the covariates. The decomposition analysis suggested that parental education (43%) and disposable income (20%) accounted for most of the explained differences in school dropout. Conclusions: Adolescents with separated parents are at higher risk for not completing secondary education. Parental education and disposable income accounted for most of the explained differences in school dropout between the groups. Still, the majority of the difference in school dropout remained unaccounted for, indicating that the link between parental separation and school dropout is complex and likely influenced by multiple factors.publishedVersio

Social capital and well-being in the transitional setting of Ukraine

Background: The military conflict in Ukraine that started in 2014 was accompanied with many changes in the political, economic and social spheres. It brought informal volunteering activities (i.e. one form of social capital) to emerge, function and later to be formalized, in order to support soldiers and their families. This situation is unique given the transitional setting of Ukraine, which has led to comparably low levels of social capital and negative indicators of health and well-being. This thesis aims to explore social capital during military conflict in contemporary Ukraine and to analyze the associations between social capital and well-being, as well as the distribution of social capital among Ukrainian women and men. Methods: The study combines a qualitative and quantitative research design. A case study was conducted using qualitative methodology. Eighteen in-depth interviews were collected with providers and utilizers of volunteering services. Grounded Theory and social action ideal types methodology of Weber were used for the analysis. The quantitative research utilized two secondary datasets. The World Health Survey was utilized to analyze the association between social capital and physical and mental well-being for women (n=1723) and men (n=910) by means of multivariate logistic regression. The European Social Survey (wave 6) was used in order to investigate access to social capital and the determinants of gender inequalities in the access with a sample of 1377 women and 797 men. Multivariate logistic regression and postregression Fairlie’s decomposition analysis were used to analyze the determinants of the inequalities. Results: The key findings of this thesis show that social capital transforms during military conflict and takes particular forms in transitional settings. There are positive and negative effects on well-being connected to crisisrelated volunteering. The associations between social capital and well-being vary for women and men in favour of women. Social capital is unequally distributed between different social groups. Some forms of social capital may have stronger buffering effect on women than men in Ukraine. Access to social capital can be viewed as an indicator for social well-being, and thus social capital can be used both as a determinant and an outcome in social capital and health research. Conclusion: Informal social participation, i.e. volunteering might play an important role in societal crises and needs to be considered in social capital measurements and interventions. Social capital measurements utilized in stable societies do not evidently capture these forms, i.e. it is not taken into account. The associations between social capital and well-being depend on the measurements that are used. Since social capital has both positive and negative effects on well-being, this should be considered in research, policies and practices in order to prevent negative and promote positive outcomes. In Ukraine, as well as in other settings, social capital is an unequal resource for different societal groups. Reducing gender and income inequalities would probably influence the distribution of social capital within the society.Bakgrund: Den militära konflikten i Ukraina som startade 2014 fick många politiska, ekonomiska och sociala konsekvenser. Konfliktsituationen triggade bland annat framväxten av omfattande informella volontärverksamheter (en form av social kapital) som senare formaliserades, för att stödja soldater och deras familjer. Denna situation är relativt unik, med tanke på Ukrainas postsovjetiska historia med jämförelsevis låga nivåer av socialt kapital och negativa indikatorer för hälsa och välbefinnande. Denna avhandling syftar att undersöka betydelsen av socialt kapital under pågående militär konflikt i Ukraina, samt att analysera sambandet mellan social kapital och välbefinnande, såväl som fördelningen av social kapitalt mellan kvinnor och män i Ukraina. Metoder: Studien kombinerar en kvalitativ och kvantitativ forskningsdesign. En fallstudie genomfördes med hjälp av kvalitativa metoder. Arton djupintervjuer med volontärer samt mottagare av volontärstöd genomfördes. Analysen genomfördes med hjälp av Grundad Teori och Webers sociala idealtyper. Den kvantitativa forskningen är baserad på två sekundära datamaterial. Världshälsoorganisationens (WHOs) World Health Survey användes för att analysera sambandet mellan socialt kapital och fysiskt och mentalt välbefinnande för kvinnor (n = 1723) och män (n = 910) med hjälp av multivariabel logistisk regression. European Social Survey (våg 6) användes för att undersöka tillgången till socialt kapital och bestämningsfaktorer för ojämlikhet i tillgången till socialt kapital mellan kvinnor (n = 1377) och män ( n = 797). Analysen genomfördes med hjälp av multivariabel logistisk regression och post-regression Fairlie decomposition analys. Resultat: Resultaten i denna avhandling visar att social kapital transformeras under pågående militär konflikt och antar särskilda former i övergångssamhällen som Ukraina. Det finns både positiva och negativa effekter på välbefinnande relaterat till volontärarbete under pågående samhällskris. Sambanden mellan social kapital och välbefinnande varierar för kvinnor och män till förmån för kvinnor. Vissa former av socialt kapital kan ha en starkare skyddande effekt för kvinnor än män i Ukraina. Resultaten visar också att socialt kapital fördelas ojämnt mellan män och kvinnor. Tillgången till socialt kapital kan betraktas som en indikator för socialt välbefinnande och socialt kapital kan därmed användas både som determinant och ett utfall i studier om socialt kapital, hälsa och välbefinnande. Slutsats: Informellt socialt deltagande, dvs volontärarbete, kan spela en viktig roll i samhällskriser och behöver beaktas i såväl mätningar som interventioner av socialt kapital. Mätningar av socialt kapital i ”stabila” samhällen fångar nödvändigtvis inte dessa former av socialt kapital. Sambandet mellan social kapital och välbefinnande beror till stor det på vilka mått för socialt kapital som används. Eftersom socialt kapital har både positiva och negativa effekter på välbefinnande bör det tas i beaktande i forskning, policy och praxis för att kunna förhindra negativa effekter och främja de positiva effekterna. I Ukraina, liksom i andra samhällen, är socialt kapital en ojämn resurs för olika samhällsgrupper. Att minska klyftor mellan könen och inkomstgrupper skulle troligen påverka fördelningen av socialt kapital i samhället

School-to-work Transitions for Students with Intellectual Disabilities : Teachers' Perceptions and Experiences of a Recent Workplace-Based Reform in Sweden

Having a job, or being employed, is associated with a number of positive effects. Although policies in Sweden support the right of people with disabilities to work and highlight access to employment as a priority, this group of people continues to lose out in employment against other citizens. However, little is known about actions or initiatives implemented to enhance labor market participation among people with disabilities. This study contributes useful findings on a promising implementation of a school-to-work transition initiative, workplace based learning (WBL), in special needs upper-secondary schools in Sweden. The aim of the study was to identify how teachers, having a key role in the implementation process, view and experience WBL and its actual functioning to enhance school-to-work transitions for students with intellectual disabilities. Drawing on 13 interviews with teachers working as supervisors and coordinators in the WBL training, our findings lead to three main conclusions. First, the teachers had significant reliance on WBL and its potential to prepare students for the labor market. Second, the teachers hesitated with regard to whether and to what extent WBL actually enhances school-to-work transitions. Third, the WBL reform has had significant negative effects on the working conditions of the supervising teachers involved. Our study uncovers a number of barriers for WBL to function as an actual bridge to work for students with intellectual disabilities, which we argue have important messages to bring for both policy and practice.

Two centuries of disability disadvantages in Swedish partnerships

Partnership signifies a key transition for social recognition in society. This study identifies long-term trends of disability and partnership in Sweden evidenced by the chances to marry or cohabit during two centuries (1800s–2010s). We compare results from studies within one comprehensive disability project, making use of quantitative life-course analysis and population records. Our findings uncover a remarkably persistent trend from the 1800s until the 2010s. Disability impeded both men and women’s partnership chances significantly (by about 60%), with some variations across disability types, genders, and periods. That disabled people did not enjoy greater access to a partner relative to others while Sweden moved from a poor country to a wealthy welfare state, suggests that disability persistently affords fewer possibilities to participate in social life and society. Our study is exceptional by combining disability with partnership and comparing recent results with the past

Two Centuries of Disability Disadvantages in Swedish Partnerships

Partnership signifies a key transition for social recognition in society. This study identifies long-term trends of disability and partnership in Sweden evidenced by the chances to marry or cohabit during two centuries(1800s–2010s). We compare results from studies within one comprehensive disability project, making use of quantitative life-course analysis and population records. Our findings uncover a remarkably persistent trendfrom the 1800s until the 2010s. Disability impeded both men and women’s partnership chances significantly (by about 60%), with some variations across disability types, genders, and periods. That disabled people did not enjoy greater access to a partner relative to others while Sweden moved from a poor country to a wealthy welfare state, suggests that disability persistently affords fewer possibilities to participate in social life and society. Our study is exceptional by combining disability with partnership and comparing recent results with the past

Two Centuries of Inequalities : Disability and Partnership in Sweden

This study brings together a unique selection of results that reveal how disabilities shaped the marriage/cohabitation chances in Swedish populations from the 1800s until recent decades. Using longitudinal population registers and a life-course approach, multivariate statistical analysis helps to estimate the impact of disability on partnership relative to other individual-level attributes in different temporal contexts of Swedish society. While there were some differences by type of disability and gender, the overall finding is that disabilities kept weakening people’s partnership chances to a similarly high extent (with about 60% or even more), as Sweden moved from being a poor country in the 1800s to a modern welfare state. We discuss the findings from social inequalities perspectives arguing that disabled people’s partnership chances not only represent how potential partners perceive disability; these chances also reflect general attitudes in society towards disability that work to compromise disabled people’s participation in social life and society. Our long-term results uncover a remarkable persistence in the relationship between disability and partnership in turn suggesting that social inequalities persist being associated with disability in spite of profound structural changes and extensive welfare measures in Sweden to create a more equal society for all

Stakeholder views on young adults with intellectual disabilities as a workforce : a qualitative study on students' performance in upper secondary education and their employment potential

People with intellectual disabilities are the most disadvantaged group among all disability types when it comes to employment. In Sweden, special needs upper secondary schools prepare students with intellectual disabilities for the labour market using practice periods at workplaces. This study targets stakeholder involved in their school-to-work transition (i.e. teachers, employers, employment agency officials). The aim is to identify how they view: (1) the working capabilities of students during practice periods and (2) their employment potential. We base the analysis on interview data with the stakeholders using Grounded Theory. Our results identify three student types whose preparedness for the labour market differs considerably. One student type performs well during the practice period and represents a high potential to enter the workforce. The other two student types have the lower working capability and employment potential. Our study highlights stakeholders as resources to improve the labour market preparations of students with intellectual disabilities

What determines gender inequalities in social capital in Ukraine?

Background: Social capital is a social determinant of health that has an impact on equity and well-being. It may be unequally distributed among any population. The aims of this study are to investigate the distribution of different forms of social capital between men and women in Ukraine and analyse how potential gender inequalities in social capital might be explained and understood in the Ukrainian context. Method: The national representative cross-sectional data from the European Social Survey (wave 6) was used with a sample of 1377 women and 797 men. Seven outcomes that represent cognitive and structural social capital were constructed i.e. institutional trust, generalised trust, reciprocity, safety, as well as bonding, bridging and linking forms. Multivariate logistic regression and post-regression Fairlies decompositions were used for the analyses. Results: There are several findings that resulted from the analyses i), access to institutional trust, linking and bridging social capital is very limited; ii), the odds for almost all forms of social capital (besides safety) are lower for men; iii), feeling about income and age explain most of the gender differences and act positively, as well as offsetting the differences. Conclusion: Social capital is unequally distributed between different population groups. Some forms of social capital have a stronger buffering effect on women than on men in Ukraine. Reducing gender and income inequalities would probably influence the distribution of social capital within the society

Voluntary work during times of military crisis : what motivates people to be involved and what are the effects on well-being?

The positive health effects of volunteering are quite well described in the lite- rature; however, potential negative effects of volunteering are less explored. Volunteering got attention in Ukraine because of the recent political crisis that brought military conflict to the Eastern part of the country in 2014. In- formal volunteering has transformed into a formal one. In order to be able to organize volunteering that promotes well-being, it is important to have more in-depth knowledge about motives behind volunteering as well as the positive and potential negative effects of it. We explore the case voluntary work in of one of the cities in Ukraine. Military conflict context has its own specifics and different motives make people act voluntarily. There are goal-oriented, val- ue-oriented, affectual and traditional motives present in our data. The data shows that involvement in volunteering brings positive returns on well-being of the providers such as enlarging the circles of friendship and expanding the networks volunteers involved in; brings positive emotions into life; compen- sates the efforts and gives meaning to life. However, the negative effects of volunteering are also present. They are physical tiredness and a lot of time spent on volunteering activities; becoming disconnected from the ordinary (non-volunteering) world; unsafety; neglect of own needs and experiences of negative emotions out of the involvement in volunteering activities.