Lennart Nygren

Analysis of short reflective narratives : a method for the study of knowledge in social workers' actions

This article describes and discusses a method for analysing and working with short reflective narratives. The method is inspired by the interpretation theory of Paul Ricoeur, and applied to short written stories where social work students reflect on situations from their field studies - situations they experienced as critical or problematic. The article starts with a discussion about the need to develop complementary methods in narrative research. This is followed by an argument for written narratives as an alternative research approach. A pilot study of 14 narratives from social work students containing critical or problematic events is then presented with a focus on the analysing process. The analysis is evaluated as focused and manageable, easy to combine with quantitative analyses and it appears to generate findings in a form that is easy to publish. It provides a shortcut to a deeper understanding of both the narrative and the narrator. On the negative side, the method using written narratives has potential risks of ‘over-interpretation’, and the loss of the ‘midwife’ effect that can appear in an oral interview.

Child Welfare or Child Protection Uncovering Swedish and Canadian Orientations to Social Intervention in Child Maltreatment

This article details our findings from focus groups with social workers in Sweden and Canada illuminating similarities and differences in the process of social intervention in child mal-treatment. We identified six categories that form the bases for hypothesizing different orientations of child welfare and child protection: Gate Keeping; Skills in Context; Client Identity; Decision Points; Compulsion; and Measures. We analysed participants’ descriptions and uncovered how these descriptions of social intervention in child maltreatment connect to model orientations in both countries. In Swedish child welfare, there is a greater readiness to intervene with more resources and measures, intervention is assessment driven and focuses on family preservation. In Canadian child protection, only the most needy children are eligible for a limited range of services, intervention is structure driven and more narrowly focused on protection and permanency planning. The implications of these findings to social work are discussed.

Psoriasis care consumption and expectations from a gender perspective in a psoriasis population in northern Sweden

The aim was to analyse use of psoriasis care and expectations from a gender perspective in a psoriasis population. The study is based on questionnaire data from 1,060 subjects. The response rate was 74%. The relation between care consumption and studied variables was measured using regression and chi-square analysis. Care consumption was strongly influenced by age, quality of life, income and joint symptoms. Men visited a dermatologist more often, while women visited a general practitioner and treated themselves topically more frequently. Important expectations among both women and men concerned the receiving of professional care and amelioration, while more women wanted to be treated politely. Expectations were fulfilled, except those regarding amelioration, especially among men. Awareness of gender differences is important among professionals. In order to decrease such differences decision-makers should provide for a maintained specialized care as well as a local health care system of high standard.

Marked by Visibility of Psoriasis in Everyday Life

In this study, the authors aimed at a sociological approach to the individual’s everyday life with psoriasis and to this end conducted qualitative interviews with 18 persons from a county in northern Sweden. The most difficult aspects of living with psoriasis were being marked by the visibility of psoriasis, especially in the younger ages, and the visibility of joint changes. Therefore, those with both rashes and joint changes felt marked and discredited in a twofold way. Commonly used coping strategies were routinization of both the treatment and the adjustment to the marking process, and acceptance, and these strategies developed with age. Most participants experienced a good quality of life but still could find nothing positive about psoriasis. The authors suggest efforts toward increased awareness among health care professionals of the marking process and future qualitative studies about experiences of psoriasis during adolescence.

Birth weight, domestic violence, coping, social support, and mental health of young Iranian mothers in Tehran

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate associations of birth weight with sociodemographic variables, domestic violence, ways of coping, social support, and general mental health of Iranian mothers. Six hundred mothers aged 15 to 29 years participated between June 2009 and November 2010. t-Test, analysis of variance, Spearman’s correlation, and multiple regression were used. The results showed that there was no significant association between birth weight and general mental health of the mothers. Prenatal care visits, the mothers’ history of having children with low birth weight (LBW), and weight gain during pregnancy were significantly associated with birth weight. The women who reported physical abuse during pregnancy had infants with lower birth weight. Satisfaction with social support and use of positive reappraisal were significantly associated with higher birth weight. In conclusion, a high quality of prenatal care and screening of pregnant women are recommended. Social environments good enough during pregnancy have protective effects against LBW.

Adolescent Self-Reported Health in Relation to School Factors: A Multilevel Analysis.

The aim of the study was to examine school-related determinants of self-reported health among adolescents. Questionnaire survey data comprising 4,972 students, Grades 7 through 9, from 20 schools in northern Sweden were used. Also, complimentary data about each school were collected from the Swedish National Agency for Education. Using multilevel logistic regression analyses, results showed that most variation in self-reported health was explained by individual-level differences. Truancy, bullying, and poor relations with teachers significantly increased the odds ratio of reporting poor general health, for boys and for girls. Most variables at the school level, for example, school size and student–teacher ratio, did not render significant associations with students’ self-reported health. In conclusion, this study indicates that health promotion at school, including school health services, may benefit from focusing primarily on individual-level determinants of health, that is, students’ relations to peers and teachers, without ignoring that bullying and weak student–teacher relationships also may induce school-level interventions.

Thai‐Swedish Couples in the Swedish Daily Press—Discursive Constitutions of “the Other”

This study examines discursive representations of Thai‐Swedish couples in the Swedish daily press. The sample studied includes 17 articles. The study shows that the couples are constituted as inherently “different” through interweaving discourses such as a romantic love discourse, a sex tourism discourse, and a normalizing discourse, and through intersecting power relations such as those of gender, “race”/ethnicity, class, and sexuality. The normalized position representing “Swedishness” is not usually made explicit but is nevertheless constantly reproduced, and hierarchies are formed within as well as between the “normal” couple and “the Other”.

Marital Satisfaction With a Special Focus on Gender Differences in Medical Staff in Tehran, Iran

The family is a fundamental component of society, and marital satisfaction is the main characteristic of a healthy family. The aim of this cross-sectional research was to assess marital satisfaction in medical staff in Tehran, with a special focus on gender differences. Data were collected from 653 medical staff using sociodemographic questions and the ENRICH marital satisfaction questionnaire. The results indicated that marital satisfaction was significantly higher in men than in women. There was a negative correlation between age and marital satisfaction in women. Educational level was associated with marital satisfaction in both genders. Number of children was correlated with marital satisfaction in both men and women. Gender differences in marital satisfaction were revealed, and all sociodemographic factors showed significant relationships, with at least one subscale of marital satisfaction. This study provides a general view of marital satisfaction in Iranian medical professionals as a group with a stressful job.

Parents matter – but relations to parents do not explain gender differences in self‐reported health in adolescents

The aim of the study was to explore whether parent-adolescent relations are associated to self-reported health of adolescents. Logistic regression analyses were performed on a cross-sectional data set consisting of 5060 adolescents, grades 7-9, from six municipalities in the northern part of Sweden. The study was approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board in Umeå, Sweden. Results showed that, in both boys and girls, experiencing low parental demands as well as perceiving the relationship quality and the communication with parents as poor were significantly associated with having poor general health, somatic complaints and feelings of stress. In general, girls scored lower on self-reported health than boys, but our findings indicate that these gender differences could not be explained by relations to parents. In conclusion, relations to parents play an important role for self-reported health of adolescents. Although no causal-effect statements can be determined in this study, it is implied that there is a need for health professionals, such as school nurses, school welfare officers, etc., to pay special attention to parent-adolescent relations in their work with adolescents.

Norm compliance and self-reported health among Swedish adolescents

Aims: This study examines the relationship between norm compliance and self-reported health in adolescents, and how this differs between genders. Our specific aim was to investigate if extremely high norm compliance revealed any particular health patterns. Methods: This empirical study used a web-based survey from 2005, which was distributed to all students (n = 5,066) in years 7—9 of compulsory school within six municipalities in northern Sweden. The respondents answered questions about their general health as well as specific health problems such as headaches, stomach ache, sleeping difficulties and stress. Compliance was measured according to different norm-related behaviour, such as truancy, crime and use of tobacco, alcohol and narcotics. Results: The majority of respondents reported good health and norm-compliant behaviour. Girls reported more health problems than boys, a difference that increased with age. Those who were more norm compliant reported better health, fewer somatic complaints and less stress, which goes against our initial hypothesis that extremely high norm compliance and self-reported ill-health are related. There seemed to be a stronger relationship between self-reported health and norm compliance for girls than boys, in absolute terms. Conclusions: The results clearly show a relationship between norm compliance and health, and suggest inequalities between genders.