From consensus to confrontation - Studying strategies for states to negotiate with challenging partners in multilateral negotiations

The purpose of this thesis is to explicate different strategies that states can, and do, use to negotiate with challenging partners in conflict situations. A challenging partner, as defined in this thesis, refers to a key player in minority position who is blocking negotiations from reaching consensus agreements. A theoretical model containing five different strategies is developed using theories gathered from both political science and organizational theory. The theoretical model originates from Kilmann and Thomas (1976) but is adapted to fit new aspects of multilateral negotiations and conflict management in situations of deadlock. The study is a qualitative case study of negotiations taken place in Council of Europe surrounding the situation in Ukraine during 2014, depicting Russia as the challenging partner. Semi-structured interviews are used as the main data collecting method. The empirical analysis shows that three out of five strategies in the model are used by member states in practice and a comprehensive discussion is held regarding this result and its implications for theory. The question ‘why’ states choose one strategy over another and which factors have an impact on this choice is discussed with the aim of opening up for future research. The study has proven the adequacy of combining theories as done when exploring obstacles to multilateral negotiations and has laid a foundation for studying challenging partners as a phenomenon in the multilateral context

Från Maastricht till Lissabon - Förändringar i EU:s demokratitillstånd

EU:s överstatliga roll har med tiden blivit allt mer omfattande och EU:s medlemsländer utvecklar ständigt sina demokratiska strukturer, men blir EU som organisation mer demokratiskt över tid? Vi besvarar denna fråga genom att utföra en jämförande studie av demokratitillståndet i EU under Maastrichtfördraget och under Lissabonfördraget med hjälp av Robert Dahls utopiska demokratiteori. För att avgöra demokratitillståndet undersökte vi fem demokratikriterier som i sin tur baseras på sju operationaliserade polyarkiprinciper. Vi applicerade de sju principerna på fördragstexterna för att utifrån resultatet kunna analysera hur uppfyllandet av de fem demokratikriterierna förändrats mellan fördragen. Vi fann att EU blir mer demokratiskt och att de största förändringarna rör Europaparlamentets roll och genomgående transparens i EU:s institutioner

"Jag är mycket beroende av den här servicen. Den är väldigt viktig för oss eftersom jag inte hinner eller kan allting själv" : en kvalitativ studie om erfarenheter och utvecklingsförslag av rehabiliteringshandledningen vid Vasa centralsjukhus

Syftet med detta examensarbete är att bidra till utvecklandet av rehabiliteringshandledningsprocessen vid Vasa centralsjukhus. Examensarbetet är ett beställningsarbete av rehabiliteringshandledarna vid Vasa centralsjukhus. För att nå syftet med examensarbetet valdes en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod. Fem föräldrar till långtidssjuka barn under skolåldern intervjuades. Med hjälp av föräldrarnas åsikter och erfarenheter kan man utveckla rehabiliteringshandledningsprocessen efter klienternas behov och önskemål. Teoridelen i mitt examensarbete omfattar vad det kan innebära att ha en långtidssjukdom och hur det kan påverka familjen och hela familjens livssituation. I teoridelen behandlas även rehabilitering och betydelsen av rehabiliteringshandledning vid en långtidssjukdom. Genom undersökningen kan man bland annat konstatera att rehabiliteringshandledning är relativt okänd och att kunskap om rehabiliteringshandledningen och dess betydelse kunde öka både för yrkesutbildade personer men också för andra personer. Familjerna i undersökningen har haft nytta av rehabiliteringshandledningen som de har fått och genom att öka kunskapen om rehabiliteringshandledning kan man bidra till att flera familjer och klienter får den hjälp och det stöd som de behöver.The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the development of the rehabilitation guidance process at Vaasa Central Hospital. The thesis was commissioned by the rehabilitation coaches at Vaasa Central Hospital. In order to achieve the purpose of the thesis a qualitative research method was chosen. Five parents with long-term ill children under school age were interviewed. With the help of the opinions and experiences of the parents it becomes possible to develop the rehabilitation guidance process according to the needs and wishes of the clients. The theory part in my thesis includes what it can be like to live with a long-term illness and how it may affect the family and the life situation of the entire family. The theory part also covers rehabilitation and the importance of rehabilitation guidance when a long-term illness is present. With this research one can conclude that rehabilitation guidance is relatively unknown and that the knowledge about rehabilitation guidance and its importance could be greater when it comes to both trained professional and others. The families participating in the study have gained from the rehabilitation guidance they have received and by increasing the knowledge about rehabilitation guidance one can contribute to giving more families and clients the help and support they need

"Tåget går och jag sitter på" - En kvalitativ studie om unga cancersjuka kvinnor som bloggar om sin sjukdom. Utvecklingsarbete: Sociala medier som arbetsmetod i öppna vården.

Examensarbete: Syftet med lärdomsprovet är att öka förståelsen för hur det är att vara ung kvinna och leva med en cancersjukdom. Våra frågeställningar är: På vilket sätt ändras personliga värderingar när man drabbas av en cancersjukdom? Hur vill den sjuka bli bemött av vården och omgivningen? Varför väljer man att skriva öppet om sin sjukdom i bloggar? Som teoretiska utgångspunkter har vi använt oss av Erikssons syn på hälsa och lidande, Orlandos interaktionsteori samt Antonovskys begrepp KASAM. Tidigare forskning och litteratur inom berörda ämnesområde har använts som teoretisk bakgrund. Studien är kvalitativ och datasamlingen har skett genom att vi tagit del av berättelser i dagboksformat på internet, det vill säga bloggar. Datamaterialet, sex stycken bloggar skrivna av unga cancerdrabbade kvinnor, analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultaten tolkades mot våra teoretiska utgångspunkter och den teoretiska bakgrunden. Att som ung kvinna drabbas av cancer är, enligt studiens resultat, känslosamt och innebär stora förändringar. Olika drivkrafter är viktiga i kampen mot cancer. Ett bra bemötande innebär bl.a. förståelse och stöd av vårdpersonal och omgivning, medan väntan och ovisshet upplevs negativt. Att leva med cancer leder till ett nytt perspektiv på livet och en personlig förändring. Bloggandet fungerar som terapi, ger möjlighet att påverka andra och utgör en källa till socialt stöd. Utvecklingsarbete: Syftet med detta utvecklingsarbete är att presentera sociala medier som en möjlig arbetsmetod i öppna vården utgående från resultatet i vårt examensarbete. Utvecklingsarbetet består av en artikel för tidskriften Vård i fokus, samt en föreläsning för vårdpersonal om hur man kan använda sociala medier i öppna vården. Detta utvecklingsarbete har gjorts eftersom det är viktigt att man även inom vården känner till, och använder sig av, moderna arbetsmetoder som tilltalar den moderna människan. Trots att sociala medier utgör ett relativt nytt fenomen, finns det redan en del forskning som behandlar sociala medier i öppna vården. I studier har det konstaterats att man i vården kan dra nytta av de fördelar som sociala medier erbjuder gällande bl.a. ökad tillgänglighet och säker informationsspridning. I utvecklingsarbetet har sju vetenskapliga artiklar analyserats med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Användningen av sociala medier är ett nytt sätt att förbättra vården, trots att de inte kan ersätta den direkta vården, ansikte mot ansikte. Den effektiverar snarare kommunikationen och informationen mellan vårdare och patient och erbjuder ökad tillgänglighet. Vårdare kunde även sinsemellan ha nytta av snabb kommunikation genom sociala medier. En annan fördel är att kommunikationen arkiveras, vilket gör att arbetsbördan kan mätas samt att arbetet dokumenteras. Vid användningen av sociala medier är det möjligt för patienten att kontakta samma vårdare och på så sätt få en återkommande vårdrelation. Vårdpersonalens närvaro på sociala medier gynnar spridningen av säkra informationskällor eftersom sakkunniga granskat materialet som erbjuds. För att sociala medier ska kunna användas till sin fulla potential bör det finnas riktlinjer för dess användning samt utbildningsmöjligheter för personalen. Våra produkter - artikeln och föreläsningen - utgör en bra helhet och kompletterar varandra. Genom artikeln når vi ut med vår information till många människor, och föreläsningen gav oss möjlighet till diskussion med personer verksamma i arbetslivet. Med tanke på de sociala mediernas popularitet och utveckling kommer de i framtiden, vare sig vi vill eller inte, troligen vara en del av vården. Beroende på den personliga inställningen kan sociala medier i öppna vården ses som ett hot eller en möjlighet.Bachelor´s thesis: The aim of this study is to improve the understanding of how it is to be a young woman living with a cancer disease. Our questions are: How do personal values change when one suffers from cancer? In what way does the patient wish to be treated by caregivers and the people close to them? Why do people choose to write openly about their illness in a blog? The theoretical framework consists of Eriksson’s thoughts about health and suffering, Orlando’s theory of interaction and Antonovsky’s conception SOC. Previous research and literature on the subject has been used as theoretical background. The study is qualitative and data was collected from blogs. The data, six blogs written by young women suffering from cancer, was analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The results were interpreted within our theoretical framework and background. The results from this study show that being a young woman suffering from cancer is emotional and involves substantial changes. Different coping strategies are important in the fight against cancer. Good treatment involves, among other things, the understanding and support from caregivers and the people close to them, while waiting and uncertain is experienced as something negative. Suffering from cancer leads to a new perspective on life and a personal change. Writing a blog works as therapy, gives the possibility to influence others and constitutes a source of social support. Development work: The purpose of this study is to present social media as a possible working method in outpatient care. The results from our thesis have been used as a framework for this study, which consists of an article for the journal Vård i Fokus as well as a lecture for health professionals about how to use social media in outpatient care. This study has been carried out due to its importance for healthcare: the field needs to integrate modern methods that appeal to the modern people. Despite the fact that the social media is a relatively new phenomenon, some research has already dealt with the subject. Studies have proven that outpatient care can take advantage of the benefits that the social media offers; mainly the improved accessibility and secure dissemination of information. Seven scientific articles were analyzed using qualitative content analysis in this study. The use of social media is a new way of improving health care, even though it cannot replace face-to-face care situations. It enhances the ability for communication and information exchange between care provider and patient; offering increased accessibility. Caregivers could also mutually benefit from instant communication through the social media. Another advantage is that the communication is filed, which means that the workload can be measured, and the work can be documented. The social media allows the patient to consistently contact the same caregiver, and, thus, obtain a current relationship. This type of communication also increases the spread of secure sources, as professionals are controlling the output. The development of guidelines for social media use and staff training opportunities would enable the full potential of these platforms. Our products, the article and the lecture, represent good entity and complement each other. The article allows us to transmit our information to many people and the lecture gave us the opportunity to talk to people who can relate to the use of the social media in their work. Considering the popularity and development of the social media, it will, whether we like it or not, most likely be a part of health care in the future. Depending on personal attitude, social media used in outpatient care can be seen as a threat or an opportunity

Vad gäller för barn? En studie om barns politiska deltagande i Sverige

The following essay examines the view of children as political participants is expressed in Swedish governmental investigations supporting decision making concerning children’s issues and matters of interest for children. The aim is to investigate, through an analysis of ideas, which view of children as political participants is dominating and where it has received its influences. Ideal types of children as political participants are formed as tools for analysis primarily focusing on the three aspects of ‘cognitive ability’, ‘the view of childhood’ and ‘children’s citizenship and politics’. The material is then processed to see which of the ideal types is dominating and weather children are viewed as “incomplete participants”, “maturing participants” or “complete participants”. The result of the study shows that children are predominantly viewed as “incomplete participants” and that there is a will to change towards the other two ideal types. There is a problematic relationship between the will of taking into account what’s best for the child and the general definition of- and who actually decides what is in the best interest of the child

Målmedveten krigsföring : 'Targeted killings' i en tvärvetenskaplig debatt

In this essay the notion of targeted killings is reviewed through arguments about law and philosophy based on two different newspaper articles written by Daniel Byman and Richard A. Wiley. Targeted killings in the articles context of the Israel-Palestine conflict are categorized in too three argument concepts in my analysis, the three concepts are effectiveness, legality and morality. Targeted killing is a method used by governments around the world when wanting to eliminate an individual who is posing a threat to the security of the nation. The intention of the attack is to kill the individual and there by eliminate the security threat. The essay also describes the conflict between Israel and Palestine relating it to the use of targeted killing. To create an understanding for the legal issues regarding targeted killing I’ve given a brief description of what legal doctrines, International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights have to say on the topic of targeted killing. After analyzing the three categorized concepts from the newspaper articles I make an argumentation analysis to try to find some of the underlying arguments that the authors of the articles knowingly or not present it their argumentation. At the end of the essay I present criticism towards the plausibility of the arguments presented in the articles, this I do in the same three categories displayed above. The plausibility of the arguments is tested out from the principle of human dignity. I reach the conclusion that these arguments about law and those of philosophy tend to work more against then with each other but that they both are equally important taking under consideration whether discussion or implementing a method of targeted killing. To in the future try to avoid an undemocratic rule of law where the big powers with military force try to rule over who gets to live or die the rules of Humanitarian Law and Human Rights will hopefully bridge the zone between law and moral philosophy to get us to end up with commonly expressed principles on warfare and targeted killings

Right support at the right time? : - A study about teachers’ and special needs teachers’ views on writing for younger students with writing difficulties

Today´s society demands that every individual is able to communicate in writing. It is the school's responsibility to provide the students with the conditions to succeed. Teachers and special needs teachers need to identify students in need of support as early as possible and provide them with the appropriate instruction to become proficient writers. The purpose of this study is to investigate several teachers' and special needs teachers' perceptions on teaching writing for younger pupils who are at risk of not attaining the goals of writing for grade 3. We interviewed 3 teachers and 3 special needs teachers about their writing knowledge, what instructional methods they use, what efforts are being made in regards to pupils with writing difficulties and what challenges and opportunities they see. The results show that teachers and special needs teachers can detect struggling students early, however, the origin of the difficulties and the right support are often difficult to determine. The support these students receive are mainly extra adaptations in the classroom. Both teachers and special needs teachers use many different working methods in their teaching for these students, but express that there is a lack of knowledge and research on writing and that time and group size are challenges in providing a good writing instruction.

Right support at the right time? : - A study about teachers’ and special needs teachers’ views on writing for younger students with writing difficulties

Today´s society demands that every individual is able to communicate in writing. It is the school's responsibility to provide the students with the conditions to succeed. Teachers and special needs teachers need to identify students in need of support as early as possible and provide them with the appropriate instruction to become proficient writers. The purpose of this study is to investigate several teachers' and special needs teachers' perceptions on teaching writing for younger pupils who are at risk of not attaining the goals of writing for grade 3. We interviewed 3 teachers and 3 special needs teachers about their writing knowledge, what instructional methods they use, what efforts are being made in regards to pupils with writing difficulties and what challenges and opportunities they see. The results show that teachers and special needs teachers can detect struggling students early, however, the origin of the difficulties and the right support are often difficult to determine. The support these students receive are mainly extra adaptations in the classroom. Both teachers and special needs teachers use many different working methods in their teaching for these students, but express that there is a lack of knowledge and research on writing and that time and group size are challenges in providing a good writing instruction.

Det lilla företaget med de många cheferna : En studie i cherfslöst medarbetarskap

Denna uppsats behandlar fenomenet chefslöst medarbetarskap. Ett teoretiskt område som går att relatera till självstyrande team, delat ledarskap och informellt ledarskap. Alla är företeelser som kan kopplas till platta organisationer, vilket är en organisationsform som under 2000-talet blivit allt vanligare. Detta väckte ett intresse hos undersökningsgruppen där frågor angående vilka effekter ett chefslöst medarbetarskap kan ha i en organisation uppstod. I uppsatsen redogör därför författarna, med hjälp av fallföretaget Fresh AB, för dessa effekter. Undersökningen i fallföretaget genomfördes med fem fokusgrupper med deltagare från olika delar och team i fallföretaget. Frågorna under fokusgruppintervjuerna skulle ge svar på hur de anställda upplever det vara att arbeta i en organisation utan mellanchefer. Resultatet pekade på att effekterna av ett chefslöst medarbetarskap bland annat visade på högre motivation hos de anställda, skepticism mot annan typ av organisationsstruktur, att de anställda bildar egna normer, och att de anställda delar på ledarskapet genom att vara ansvariga för olika områden. Studiens teoretiska implikationer tar upp författarnas kritik mot tidigare forskning som gjorts om chefslöst medarbetarskap. Kritiken rör den ofta onyanserade forskningen om chefslöst medarbetarskap i allmänhet och informellt ledarskap i synnerhet