Self-employment and disability

In many countries, self-employment has become a common strategy for achieving inclusion in the labour market. Studies show that the occurrence of self-employment depends not only on individual motives, but also on existing policies and support. In Sweden, labour market measures to include people with disabilities are primarily organized to achieve inclusion through traditional forms of employment, though one tool offered by the Swedish Public Employment Service is Support to Start a Business. One part of this support is exclusive to people with disabilities. Although the Swedish Public Employment Service is responsible for this specific support, they collaborate with both external state-funded and non-profit actors who assess applicants’ business ideas. Drawing on the methodological approach of institutional ethnography, this article explores how the in-house frontline workers and external actors describe their professional roles, how they make decisions and what the chain of action looks like at multiple sites. Nine representatives from the various organizations that people can meet with when trying to start and run their own business have taken part in semi-structured interviews. The analysis identifies different institutional practices that overlap when people with disabilities apply for support to start their own business: one focusing on the efficient allocation of resources, and the other on the individual’s social and financial welfare by protecting the individuals these organizations meet with from risks connected to economy and health. These two practices reflect a long-standing conflict between control and support in objectives within both labour market policy and social work. This support of self-employment for people with disabilities is organized by actors who traditionally have not been studied in research on social work

Social representation of hearing aids: Cross-cultural study in India, Iran, Portugal, and the United Kingdom

This article was published in the following Dove Press journal: Clinical Interventions in Aging and available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S86108Background: The current study was aimed at understanding the social representation of hearing aids in India, Iran, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. We also compared these results to explore the cross-cultural differences and similarities among these countries. Methods: The study involved a cross-sectional design, and the data were collected from four different countries using the snowball sampling method. Data were analyzed using a content analysis to identify the most-similar categories of responses reported, a co-occurrences analysis to see which of these categories are reported commonly, and a chi-square analysis to study if there was any association between positive, neutral, and negative connotations among participants in different countries. Results: The current study revealed four different social representations of hearing aids from India, Iran, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, and also a global index. Conclusion: The study results provide very useful insights into how hearing aids are represented in the society. These findings may have important implications for public education and also for manufacturers from the viewpoint of designing and marketing hearing aids in different countries

Social representation of “music” in young adults: a cross-cultural study

Objective: This study was aimed to explore perceptions of and reactions to music in young adults (18–25 years) using the theory of social representations (TSR). Design: The study used a cross-sectional survey design and included participants from India, Iran, Portugal, USA and UK. Data were analysed using various qualitative and quantitative methods. Study sample: The study sample included 534 young adults. Results: The Chi-square analysis showed significant differences between the countries regarding the informants’ perception of music. The most positive connotations about music were found in the responses obtained from Iranian participants (82.2%), followed by Portuguese participants (80.6%), while the most negative connotations about music were found in the responses obtained from Indian participants (18.2%), followed by Iranian participants (7.3%). The participants’ responses fell into 19 main categories based on their meaning; however, not all categories were found in all five countries. The co-occurrence analysis results generally indicate that the category ‘‘positive emotions or actions’’ was the most frequent category occurring in all five countries. Conclusions: The results indicate that music is generally considered to bring positive emotions for people within these societies, although a small percentage of responses indicate some negative consequences of music

Social representation of “loud music” in young adults: A cross-cultural study

Background: Exposure to recreational noise, particularly music exposure, is considered one of the biggest public health hazards of our time. Some important influencing factors such as socioeconomic status, educational background, and cross-cultural perspectives have previously been found to be associated with attitudes toward loud music and the use of hearing protection. Although culture seems to play an important role, there is relatively little known about how it influences perceptions regarding loud music exposure in young adults. Purpose: The present study was aimed to explore cross-cultural perceptions of and reactions to loud music in young adults (18‐25 yr) using the theory of social representations. Research Design:The study used a cross-sectional survey design. Study Sample: The study sample included young adults (n = 534) from five different countries (India, Iran, Portugal, the United States, and the United Kingdom) who were recruited using convenience sampling. Data Collection and Analysis: Data were collected using a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using a content analysis, co-occurrence analysis, and also χ2 analysis. Results: Fairly equal numbers of positive and negative connotations (∼40%) were noted in all countries. However, the χ2 analysis showed significant differences between the countries (most positive connotations were found in India and Iran, whereas the most negative connotations were found in the United Kingdom and Portugal) regarding the informants’ perception of loud music. The co-occurrence analysis results generally indicate that the category “negative emotions and actions” occurred most frequently, immediately followed by the category “positive emotions and actions.” The other most frequently occurring categories included “acoustics,” “physical aliment,” “location,” and “ear and hearing problems.” These six categories formed the central nodes of the social representation of loud music exposure in the global index. Although some similarities and differences were noted among the social representations toward loud music among countries, it is noteworthy that more similarities than differences were noted among countries. Conclusions: The study results suggest that “loud music” is perceived to have both positive and negative aspects within society and culture. We suggest that the health promotion strategies should focus on changing societal norms and regulations to be more effective in decreasing the noise- and/or music-induced auditory symptoms among young adults

Social Representations of Persons with Learning Disability or Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Rehabilitation Professionals in Sweden

Individuals with disabilities are affected by their environment in different ways, and one important factor involves how these individuals are perceived by others. This article focuses on rehabilitation professionals and the social representations of people with learning disability or autism spectrum disorder, as this group’s life situation is largely influenced by the professionals who work with them in their everyday lives. An association study, which is an established method in the theory of social representations, was carried out to gain more insight; in total, 121 rehabilitation professionals were included in the study. The results indicate that, when thinking about the target group, the respondents often associated the individuals in the group with work and the working process. A relational representation emerges where the individual is not perceived as someone with independent agency but rather as a person whose characterization is assigned in relation to the work tasks. Despite this, the respondents were sympathetic to the individuals and this work. The study also shows that the professionals’ social representations of the target group differs depending on what organization they belong to and that the various denominations of the individuals used in the organizations are not appreciated by the professionals.Les individus avec des incapacités sont affectés par leur environnement de plusieurs façons, entre autres par la manière dont ils sont perçus des autres. Cet article se penche sur les représentations des professionnels de la réadaptation envers les gens vivant des difficultés d’apprentissage ou qui vivent avec le spectre de l’autisme, car les situations de vie de ces derniers sont grandement influencées par les professionnels avec lesquels ils travaillent au quotidien. Une étude par association, qui est une méthode établie dans la théorie des représentations sociales, fut entreprise afin d’approfondir les connaissances. Au total, 121 professionnels de la réadaptation ont participé au projet. Les résultats indiquent que, quand les professionnels pensent à leur clientèle, ils associent ce groupe au travail et au processus de travail. Une représentation de type relationnelle émerge où les personnes ne sont pas comme telle autonomes, mais plutôt associées aux tâches qu’elles réalisent. Malgré cela, les répondants avaient des attitudes sympathiques envers les individus et le travail. Cette étude montre aussi que les représentations sociales des professionnels envers les gens qu’ils aident diffèrent selon l’organisme auquel ils appartiennent et que les nombreuses dénominations par ces organismes à l’égard des individus ayant des incapacités ne sont pas appréciées par les professionnels

Forskningsprojekt kring samverkansöverenskommelse mellan kommunförbundet Skåne och Region Skåne om habilitering : slutrapport

Inom ramen för Forskningsplattformen Handikappvetenskap med inriktning mot habilitering har ett forskningsprojekt genomförts kring en samverkansöverenskommelse om habilitering i Skåne. I denna slutrapport tecknas bakgrunden till forskningsprojektet, varefter projektets innehåll och syfte presenteras. Samverkan som begrepp och företeelse i kontexten samverkan i habilitering diskuteras. De genomförda studierna redovisas, varefter resultatredovisning sker. Rapporten avslutas med en diskussion och en kort sammanfattning

Social Representations of Persons with Learning Disability or Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Rehabilitation Professionals in Sweden

Individuals with disabilities are affected by their environment in different ways, and one important factor involves how these individuals are perceived by others. This article focuses on rehabilitation professionals and the social representations of people with learning disability or autism spectrum disorder, as this group’s life situation is largely influenced by the professionals who work with them in their everyday lives. An association study, which is an established method in the theory of social representations, was carried out to gain more insight; in total, 121 rehabilitation professionals were included in the study. The results indicate that, when thinking about the target group, the respondents often associated the individuals in the group with work and the working process. A relational representation emerges where the individual is not perceived as someone with independent agency but rather as a person whose characterization is assigned in relation to the work tasks. Despite this, the respondents were sympathetic to the individuals and this work. The study also shows that the professionals’ social representations of the target group differs depending on what organization they belong to and that the various denominations of the individuals used in the organizations are not appreciated by the professionals