Klas Borell

Central steering and local networks : Old-age care in Sweden

Recently, some European social scientists have claimed that the old legal-bureaucratic model of administration has been replaced by a new paradigm in public administration, characterized by a stron ...

Caring while living apart

Abstract In recent years, researchers have paid increasing attention to die issue of care in die new types of family and partner relationships. The aim of this study is to examine expectations and attitudes concerning care among elderly people in LAT (Living Apart Togetiier)- relationships in Sweden, that is, people who have a long-term intimate relationship, but who do not share a common home. Questionnaires were completed by 116 elderly people in LAT-relationships. Partners are ranked as the main providers of care, especially by men, but mere is considerable variation in die answers. This seems to be principally related to the degree of flexibility in this type of relationship. Some individuals see a LAT-relationship as a marriage-like relationship, while otiiers see it primarily as a type of relationship mat guarantees diem the possibility of maintaining tiieir own independent way of life.

The Repertory Grid Technique in Social Work Research, Practice, and Education

This article provides a brief introduction to the Repertory Grid Technique and aims to demonstrate the use of the technique in different social work contexts. The Repertory Grid Technique draws from an open interview procedure that requires respondents to classify and evaluate elements within the environment on a numerical scale according to their own personal constructs. The result of this interview is a cognitive matrix of elements and constructs that can be explored in both a qualitative and a quantitative manner. Several applications for the practice, education and research of social work are suggested, with the overall purpose to heighten the perception of individuals’ mental construction of their social life.

Family and Household. Family Research and Multi-Household Families

Contemporary family life and intimate relationships are characterised by an increasing diversity. A common feature for several of the new family forms is not just a more open and flexible concept o ...

Neighborhood Reactions Toward Facilities for Residential Care

Abstract Although a substantial body of research on community hostility towards the establishment of human services facilities now exists, researchers as well as community practitioners have identified a need for a more naturalistic and systematic approach to the issue. As a step in that direction, this paper focuses on a nationally representative sample of facilities for residential care in Sweden, with the objective of identifying patterns of hostile NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) reactions and institutional as well as community predictive factors. Approximately 16 percent of these facilities studied experienced NIMBY reactions. In contradiction to many previous studies, which try to explain the neighborhood reactions in terms of attitudes towards special client groups, the findings of this study indicate that the characteristics of the facility itself and of the community in which it is placed seem to be the most significant factors. The study suggests that there is also significant community support for the facilities and that interaction with the community can provide the facilities with positive resources.

Neighbourhood Reactions Toward Facilities for Residential Care : A Swedish Survey Study

Action research is still viewed as a “new” form of inquiry by many researchers, and community practitioners and community members discuss and debate its meaning and use. Yet what is new about action research? Perhaps not much, unless you are writing from the perspective of 1952. We incorporate as our historical piece in this issue a very interesting paper written by Genevieve W. Carter entitled “Action Research in Community Planning.” Action research was a new genre of social research, and Carter outlines its relevance to community planning, anticipating that this form of inquiry would become an important part of the community practitioner’s tool kit. Carter was not interested in differentiating action research but in identifying its overarching principles and how community practitioners would use these ideas within the context of community or social studies. Action research in the early 1950s was nascent–emerging as a new form, stirring excitement, and creating a bridge between traditional positivist forms of research and those inquiries that activists, planners, consultants, and community members, themselves, were undertaking. The eight principles that Carter enunciates do not get to the essence of action research, but nonetheless, she in-

When Is the Time to Hate? A Research Review on the Impact of Dramatic Events on Islamophobia and Islamophobic Hate Crimes in Europe

Social scientists have long been interested in the significance of unexpected, dramatic events for social change. However, when it comes to research on prejudice and hate crimes, the impact of sudden, dramatic events has been little considered. The purpose of this research review is to survey European data to elucidate the temporal links between unexpected events, prejudice, and hate crimes, and also to pinpoint some of the methodological problems faced by scholars studying the impact of unanticipated dramatic events on prejudice and hate crimes; the significance of unexpected events often leaves researchers without access to relevant baseline data. The studies of Islamophobia and Islamophobic hate crimes considered in the present article privilege a dynamic view of time: terrorist attacks instill a sense of uncertainty and risk and Islamophobia and hate crimes are to a large extent event-driven and reactive, and tend to flare up on the heels of dramatic events. The recent attention paid to the role of unexpected, dramatic events represents a new and very promising approach to the study of prejudice and hate crimes; with the earlier, essentially spatial research focus now complemented by a temporal focus, the chances increase of charting the underlying dynamics and causes of prejudice and hate crimes.

Child protection and cultural awareness: Simulation-based learning

ABSTRACT Social work educators have long struggled with the challenge of finding appropriate strategies for fostering cultural awareness among their students. The purpose of this study is to illustrate how a computer-based simulation, SimChild, can be used in teaching about child protection to enhance cultural awareness among students and expand their insight into how personal biases can affect professional practice. In SimChild, individual students can assume the role of social worker and then collectively discuss the patterns emerging after their individual assessments have been aggregated. This study, based primarily on focus group data, reflects testing conducted at three Swedish universities.

Social scientist under threat : Resistance and self-censorship in Turkish academia

ABSTRACT Attacks on academic freedom in Turkey have become increasingly systematic in recent years and thousands of academics have been dismissed. This study reflects on the effects of this worsening repression through interviews with academics in the social sciences, both those dismissed and those still active in their profession. Although the dismissed academics are socially in a very precarious position, they are continuing their scholarly activities in alternative, underground forms. This resistance stands in contrast to the accommodation and self-censorship that seem, according to the interviewees, to prevail in university departments.

Muslims Opposing Violent Radicalism and Extremism: Strategies of Swedish Sufi Communities

Abstract Europe has seen the development of a new research agenda in response to Islamist terror attacks of recent years. Researchers are not only trying to solve the “radicalization puzzle” in order to understand the reasons why young Muslims in Western countries are attracted to extremism, but they are also making proposals for de-radicalizing extremists and creating relationships of trust with Muslim communities. Directly or indirectly, Europe’s Muslim minorities are the objects of the interventions and preventive work under discussion. This study suggests an alternative approach. Rather than regarding Muslims in Europe as more or less passive objects of various anti-extremism interventions, it directs attention toward the strategies developed by European Muslims themselves in fighting Islamist extremism. Using qualitative interviews with leaders of five Sufi communities in Sweden, the study examines a series of strategies for meeting the challenges posed by extremists.