Skolsegregation är ett växande samhällsproblem både i Sverige och internationellt som har stora negativa konsekvenser för elevers måluppfyllelse och rätt till likvärdig utbildning och därmed likvärdiga livschanser.

Den här rapporten är en sammanställning av empiriskt material som samlats in inom ramen för ett samverkansprojekt kopplat till Trollhättans Stads arbete med att minska skolsegregation och öka likvärdigheten för kommunens elever. Efter vårterminen 2020 stängdes två skolenheter i Trollhättan och skolornas elever anvisades plats på och erbjöds skolskjuts till fem andra skolor. I samband med beslutet om denna omorganisering påbörjades ett samverkansprojekt mellan utbildningsförvaltningen på Trollhättans Stad och Högskolan Väst. Ett samverkansprojekt är ett tidsbegränsat forskningsprojekt där båda parter gemensamt formulerar syfte och forskningsfrågor. Syftet med detta samverkansprojekt var att skildra hur berörda aktörer – rektorer, lärare, övrig skolpersonal och elever – upplevde kommunens förändringsarbete för att motverka segregation och öka likvärdighet genom skolstängningar. De frågor som undersöktes var:

• Hur arbetar rektorer och lärare för att inkludera de nya eleverna och vilka framgångsfaktorer och utmaningar kan identifieras i arbetet med inkludering?

• Vad betyder den sociala och språkliga miljön för elevers lärande?

• Hur upplever eleverna, både de som flyttar och de som går på de mottagande skolorna, sammanslagningarna utifrån ett psykosocialt perspektiv?

Experiences of discrimination and links to well-being have been examined extensively, but several gaps remain. The current study addresses four of those gaps by (1) examining both aggregated and source-specific forms of discrimination, (2) comparing the experiences of minority and majority group members, (3) expanding the range of outcomes to include socially and developmentally appropriate measures, and (4) conducting the study in Sweden, a context in which discrimination and well-being are not well understood. The sample consisted of 573 adolescents and emerging adults (71% women, Mage = 19.21 years) who completed survey measures of discrimination and psychosocial well-being (self-esteem, life satisfaction, school adjustment, and identity distress). Findings indicated that minority groups reported more frequent discrimination, and more often cited ethnicity as the source of discrimination, whereas majority groups most often cited gender. Experiencing discrimination was related to poorer psychosocial well-being similarly for all groups. Youth experiencing ethnic discrimination were more often subjected to multiple forms of discrimination compared with those subjected to other forms of discrimination. Taken together, this study brings important information on the complexity of discrimination among youth in the multicultural context of migration in Sweden.

In Sweden, as in many other European countries, poor neighborhoods with ethnically diverse inhabitants and high crime rates have grown up around big cities in the last decades. We hypothesized that, compared with adolescents in advantaged neighborhoods, adolescents in disadvantaged neighborhoods would perceive their schools as relatively safe, due to their contrast with the more threatening and dangerous neighborhoods they lived in. Also, they would perceive their schools as relatively more open to their influence, due to the contrast with a lack of influence in their families. More broadly, they would experience their schools as supporting environments to a greater extent than adolescents in advantaged neighborhoods. We tested these ideas using a sample of 1390 adolescents (M age = 14.34, SD = 1.01) in a Swedish city. The hypotheses were supported, and the findings were most salient for immigrant adolescents in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Thus, particularly for immigrant adolescents in disadvantaged neighborhoods, schools can be supporting environments, which should have implications for local policies regarding resource allocation to schools and student influence. Overall, schools seem to be able to play an important role in students€™ lives by functioning as a positive contrast to negative out-of-school experiences in disadvantaged neighborhoods. © The Author(s) 2019.

A Master Narrative Approach to the Negotiation of an "Immigrant Identity" in Sweden

In Sweden, and many European countries, the concepts of race and ethnicity are not as relevant, and a division between immigrants and non-immigrants is more salient as the basis for in-group definitions. This would have consequences for identity work of young people with an immigrant background living in those societies. Master narratives are shared cultural stories of what types of behaviors are normative and valued (McLean & Syed, 2015) and defines the acceptable frameworks for defining the self ( McLean et al., 2017). Personal narratives are then form in alignment or misalignment with the master narratives (McLean & Syed, 2015).

This study aims to understand the interplay between societal expectations and individual identity work in how immigrants negotiate their identities, in relation to the master narrative of being Swedish and the misaligning alternative narratives of being immigrant. Specifically, two research questions guided the work: 1) what narratives of being immigrant are told, and 2) how are identities negotiated their in relation to the master narrative of being Swedish, and the alternative, stereotypical narratives of being immigrant.

Data was from a larger study addressing ethnic identity in Sweden, the Gothenburg Research on Ethnicity-related Experiences and identity Narratives (GREEN) project. The current sample comprised of 251 participants (74% female), age 16-25. Participants wrote stories about a time when they felt that their personal life story diverged from what is considered appropriate, normal or accepted (Alpert, Marsden Szymanowski, & Lilgendahl, 2013). Written narratives were analysed using thematic analyses (Braun & Clark, 2006). Results showed two main types of experiences of being immigrant:1) "Immigrant" as a self-chosen identity, and as an in-group. Feelings of sameness and belonging was based either on a shared immigrant experience or being in a minority (regardless of a shared ethnicity or language), or based on having the same view of life. 2) "Immigrant" as ascribed by others, and not an in-group. Participants described being viewed as immigrants regardless of being born in Sweden, and by being grouped together with other immigrants regardless of culture, language or ethnicity. Thus, the label "immigrant" was described as denying them a Swedish identity and their ethnicity of origin, resulting in a feeling of not belonging anywhere.

Further, results of thematic analyses showed two main themes in how immigrant identities were negotiated in relation to the master narrative of being Swedish and the stereotypical immigrant narrative. The first, the "stereotypical immigrant" was in line with the stereotypical image of the immigrant as inferior to, and in direct contrast to the Swedish identity. The second type, the "successful immigrant" resisted the stereotype by proving it wrong, and being "more Swedish" than Swedes. This included stories of performing and behaving well, having good grades, by dressing neat, speaking impeccable Swedish, and not showing any religious symbols. Findings highlight how individual identity negotiation is affected by societal structures, where personal narratives are formed in adherence and adoption to an alternative narrative, or by resisting and proving the master narrative wrong. 100 words: Using a master narrative framework, the study explored the interplay between societal expectations and individual identity work in how immigrants negotiate their identities, in relation to the master narrative of being Swedish and the misaligning alternative narratives of being immigrant. 251 written narratives were thematically analyzed. Results indicate that "immigrant" can be both a self-chosen in-group, and an ascribed label. Identity negotiation included the "stereotypical immigrant" as inferior to, and in direct contrast to the Swedish narrative, and the "successful immigrant" as resisting and proving the immigrant narrative wrong by exceeding the Swedish narrative.

Under HT20 tog politiker i Trollhättan beslut om att stänga två grundskolor för att minska skolsegregationen och öka likvärdigheten för kommunens elever. Eleverna på stängande skolor anvisades plats på en av fem andra skolor och erbjöds skolskjuts. I ett samverkansprojekt med Utbildningsförvaltningen på Trollhättan stad, följdes processen och elevers och skolpersonals upplevelse av omorganisationen från det att beslutet togs till efter genomförandet.I denna session presenterar jag resultaten från en artikel om elevernas sociala identiteter, både de som bytt skola och de som inte bytt skola, i relation till skolstängningarna. Frågor som undersökts är: Vilka nya ”vi” skapas och hur förhandlas dessa fram, av vilka elever och om vilka elever? Efter presentationen diskuterar vi tillsammans resultatens betydelse och användning, hur skolor kan jobba för att undvika farorna med negativa, tillskrivna identiteter, samt aspekter av hur vi som forskare kan undersöka frågor om identitet utan att bidra till att tillskriva och kategorisera.

The following report has been informed by the observation of Borderline Offensive activities in Sweden, to which Ylva Svensson had direct access to. The activities in Sweden started in an artistic residency that took place between 1st and 10th June 2018. The artistic residency was hosted by the Nordic Watercolour Museum, and produced in cooperation with the municipality of Tjörn. The initial question of the residency was: how can humour and art help us to amuse each other and build relationships?

The artists involved were: Abduljabbar Alsuhili, an actor and cultural activist, living in Sweden, originally from Yemen; the anonymous group Creative Destruction, a street and guerilla artistic collective from Sofia, Bulgaria; Ivana Šáteková, a visual and new media artist from Bratislava, Slovakia; and Omar Abi Azar, a theatre maker and director from Beirut, Lebanon. As part of the artistic residency, a 2-day creative workshop for local youth was organised, targeting both newcomers (asylum seekers or refugees) and native born citizens.The workshop included creative exercises (sometimes ridiculous, sometimes practical) involving drawing and writing, creating stories and acting them out, as well as asking participants to draft a message taken from their experience and share it with society, posted on a memento designed by them: an originalt-shirt.

Later on, between 9th-18th August 2019, the activities continued with an arts exhibition at Röda Sten Konsthall, that included the return of some of the artists who had taken part in the 2018 artistic residency, as well as new artistst hat were part of Borderline Offensive residencies in other countries: Abduljabbar Alsuhili, Ivana Šáteková and Omar Abi Azar, with The Museum of Real History, Petko Dourmana, with Three Migrants on a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Smuggler), Darinka Pop-Mitic with The Long Heavy Road, as well as Škart,with Paper Puppet Poetry.

All the artists gave an artist talk and hosted participatory workshops as apart of the exhibition. Darinka Pop-Mitic and Škart even had the opportunity to mediate creative workshops with local children from Vänersborg – where Sweden’s biggest accomodation centre for asylum seekers and refugees is located.These workshops took place in cooperation with Timjan Youth Culture House, as well as Grupp av Knoppar, a cultural association founded and run by asylumseekers. These workshops invited participants to work together on creating and drawing storyboards to make their own fanzine, and later on to direct their ownpaper puppet play and animated documentary. Due to the ethical concerns of conducting research involving children, Ylva Svensson focused her observations on the project activities of 2018. 

In the present study, we studied young adults who think work and family are equally and highly central – those with dual-centric work/family identities. Using a mixed-method approach, we explored their characteristics, costs, benefits, and strategies of dual-centric work/family identities. The sample consisted of 124 participants, of which 36 participants (50% female) had dual-centric work/family identities. They reported higher levels of work satisfaction compared to those without dual-centric identities. Thematic analyses of interviews showed intra- and inter-individual costs and benefits. Strategies to handle the dual-centric identities included time management, communication approaches, and cognitive tactics. Thus, dual-centric identities are individual, but also relational as others are part of consequences and strategies. Practical and theoretical implications of dual-centric identities are discussed.

I och med att barnkonventionen blivit lag i Sverige har fler yrkesprofessioner ställts inför frågan hur barns röster ska tas i beaktande där det tidigare inte varit gängse. Mot bakgrund av det har denna rapport två syften, dels att ge konkreta exempel på hur professionella arbetar med det som kallas barns och ungas agens, dels att analysera de faktorer som beskrivs hindra eller vara förutsättningar för detta arbete i praktiken. Då vi också vill undersöka vad agens är för de yrkesverksamma, har vi valt ett begrepp som i sig inte påverkar innebörden av agens på samma sätt som formuleringar såsom att ”ge”, ”ta” eller ”ha” agens gör. Vi har i stället valt ”göra” agens – ett begrepp som även är neutralt, i motsats till ”främja” eller ”hämma”.

”Det är lätt att säga men svårt att göra” är en ofta återkommande mening i samtal om barns och ungas agens. De studenter vi möter på de barn- och ungdomsvetenskapliga utbildningarna har ofta stor erfarenhet av att jobba med barn och unga men frågar ändå: Hur gör man då, rent konkret? Det finns inte ett svar på den frågan, och ”hur:et” måste anpassas till respektive verksamhet. Målet med denna rapport är alltså inte att ge ett svar utan att visa på bredden i hur man kan jobba med frågan. Vi vill också uppmana till reflektion kring hur just ditt eller din verksamhets svar ser ut utifrån.

Till grund för undersökningen ligger korta texter skrivna av tio yrkesverksamma studenter på den nationella (magister) respektive internationella (master) barn- och ungdomsvetenskapliga utbildningen på Högskolan Väst. Idén att undersöka hur studenter tillika yrkesverksamma beskriver agens kom från att utbildningarna utgår ifrån att barn och unga ska vara aktörer i sina egna liv och att de som arbetar med barn och unga bör möjliggöra det på olika sätt.

I linje med det första delsyftet presenteras de tio texterna i sin helhet, som inspiration till hur man kan arbeta med barns och ungas agens i olika verksamheter. Därefter följer analysen i det andra delsyftet, vilken visar att agens ses på olika sätt av de yrkesverksamma. Barn och unga beskrivs som delaktiga aktörer, som jämlikar och experter, men det finns även beskrivningar av den vuxna som en möjliggörare av agens. Barns och ungas agens beskrivs ligga till grund för positiv personlig utveckling, men också för demokrati och inflytande genom ansvar för en själv och andra.

De delvis olika beskrivningarna av vad agens är påverkar skildringarna av hur agens görs. De sammanfattas i en modell bestående av fyra delar: den vuxnas roll, barnets/den ungas roll, samspelets roll respektive kontextens roll i görandet av agens. Resultaten presenteras under samma teman, med identifierade framgångsfaktorer och hinder som underteman (se innehållsförteckningen). Utifrån resultaten i de olika delarna har vi formulerat diskussionsfrågor, tänkta att kopplas till läsarens egen verksamhet och hur barns och ungas agens tar sig uttryck där.

I och med att barnkonventionen blivit lag i Sverige har fler yrkesprofessioner ställts inför frågan hur barns röster ska tas i beaktande där det tidigare inte varit gängse. Mot bakgrund av det ville vi i detta projekt dels ge konkreta exempel på hur professionella arbetar med barns och ungas agens, dels undersöka vilka faktorer som beskrivs hindra eller vara förutsättningar för detta arbete i praktiken, dvs. att ”göra” agens.

Undersökningen baseras på texter skrivna av tio yrkesverksamma studenter på barn- och ungdomsvetenskapliga magisterutbildningen på Högskolan Väst där de beskriver sitt praktiska arbete med barns och ungas agens. I den kortrapport som vi skrev presenteras texterna i sin helhet för att visa på konkreta exempel. Texterna analyserades även gällande vad agens beskrivs vara, och hindrande och främjande faktorer. I denna presentation fokuserar vi på ”görandet” av agens och visar på exempel från studenternas texter.

The aim of the present study was to explore how young people negotiate and make meaning of their ethnic identities in two macro-contexts, the U.S and Sweden. The Master Narrative Framework (McLean & Syed, 2015) was used to explore how individual identities were negotiated in interaction with master narratives, which are culturally shared stories of what is expected or normative within a society. Studying how young people experience that their stories deviate from the master narratives, we sought to understand differences between Swedish and American youth in how they a) describe their self-defined ethnic identities and b) negotiate their personal ethnic narratives in relation to master narratives within the two macro-contexts.

Using a qualitative narrative approach, we analyzed narratives written by 59 immigrants (1st and 2nd generation) and nonimmigrants youth (age 16-25) from the U.S. and Sweden. The two samples were matched in terms of age, gender, immigrant status, and countries of origin. Results showed that the U.S. participants were more likely to define themselves using racial and multi-ethnic categories, whereasSwedish participants relied on national labels. U.S. participants showed clear evidence of deviations, but also found belonging insocial groups from those deviations, while Swedish participants showed less deviations and little evidence of group belonging.The results indicate a mismatch between societal level values and individual identities in both countries. While Sweden is a more multicultural society with an official aim of integration, either-or identities were described at the individual level. The U.S., on the other hand, is more of an assimilationist society and the U.S participants expressed being able to define themselves with integrated, multicultural immigrant identities. The findings highlight the contextual nature of identity development within an immigrant context.

The purpose of this study was to compare identity processes associated with the immigrant experience in two macro-contexts, the U.S and Sweden. Using a qualitative narrative approach, we explored how immigrant and non-immigrant youth negotiate their identities in the intersection between individual selves and society, by studying how they experience deviations from societal expectations and whether such deviations were associated with alternative group belonging. The sample consisted of 59 narratives written by 1st and 2nd generation immigrants and non-immigrants (age 16–25). Results indicated that the U.S. participants were more likely to define themselves using racial and multi-ethnic categories, whereas Swedish participants relied on national labels. Additionally, U.S. participants showed clear evidence of deviations from societal norms, but also found belonging in social groups from those deviations. Swedish participants showed some deviations, but little evidence of group belonging. The findings highlight the contextual nature of identity development within an immigrant context. © 2019 Elsevier Inc.

The aim of the present study was to examine how Swedish youth a) experience diversity and b) link those diversity experiences to their identities. Using a mixed-method approach, we coded written narratives for type of diversity experience, meaning-making, and analyzed qualitative differences due to the proximity of the setting and self-defined in- and outgroups. Out of 197 participants (age 15-29), 63 (31.5%) wrote about diversity in their narratives, and of those, 55 (87%) derived meaning about themselves or others. Qualitative differences were found between participants who self-identified with a majority, minority, or mixed ethnic identities. Youth who identified with a majority identity generally experienced being in the majority in the macro-setting while a lack of diversity in their micro-settings, and mainly derived meanings related to the ethnic identities of others. Youth who identified with minority or mixed ethnic identities, experienced being the minority in both micro- and macro-settings, and mainly derived meanings related to their own ethnic identity, such as enhanced identities or issues of belongingness. Results suggest that experiences of diversity trigger ethnic identity development, however, in a segregated society with unequal opportunities and power relations, those experiences and how they inform ethnic identity significantly vary significantly due to background.

The purpose of this conceptual article is to advance theory and research on one critical aspect of the context of ethnic–racial identity (ERI) development: ethnic–racial settings, or the objective and subjective nature of group representationwithin an individual's context. We present a new conceptual framework that consists of four dimensions: (1) perspective(that settings can be understood in both objective and subjective terms); (2) differentiation (how groups are defined in asetting); (3) heterogeneity (the range of groups in a setting); and (4) proximity (the distance between the individual andthe setting). Clarifying this complexity is crucial for advancing a more coherent understanding of how ethnic–racial set-tings are related to ERI development.

Introduction:

Depressive symptoms and non-suicidal self-injury not only increase in prevalenceduring adolescence, but they can also occur together. Both psychological problems seem to have similar precipitating conditions, suggesting they have transdiagnostic conditions—personal or contextual characteristics that contribute to co-occurrence. We sought to understand when these two problems co-occur and what is related to their co-occurrence.

Methods:

Using a pattern-centered approach and two waves of longitudinal data collected an-nually, we examined latent profiles of depressive symptoms and self-injury among a Swedish sample of adolescents aged 12 to 16 (MageT1= 13.65 years,SD= 0.64), 53.7% boys and 47.3% girls. Most of the adolescents were Swedish (89%), with parents who were married or cohabitating (68%). We also examined the transitions between profiles over time.

Results:

Our results suggest that during this time frame, depressive symptoms and self-injury tend to emerge and stabilize or abate together. We also examined a broad array of predictors, including individual characteristics, emotion dysregulation, experiences with friends, parents' negative reactions to behavior, and school stress. The significant unique predictors suggest that adolescents who reported being subjected to relational aggression, having negative experienceswhile drinking, and low self-esteem had a greater probability of moving from moderate to high levels or maintaining high levels of depressive symptoms and self-injury, compared to adolescents classified in the other statuses.

Conclusions:

Focusing on negative interpersonal experiences and selfesteem as transdiagnostic conditions may guide research and aid clinicians in supporting adolescents who feel depressed and engage in self-injury. Symptoms of depression increase during adolescence (Hankin et al., 1998;Lewinsohn, Rohde, Seeley, Klein, & Gotlib, 2000) as doself-injurious behaviors (Hilt, Nock, Lloyd-Richardson, & Prinstein, 2008; Lloyd-Richardson, Perrine, Dierker, & Kelley, 2007; Ross &Heath, 2002). Defined as direct and intentional destruction of one's own body tissue without suicidal intent, non-suicidal self-injury(NSSI) includes cutting, hitting, burning, and scratching (Nock, 2010). Although rates of NSSI are typically lower than those of depressive symptoms, they often covary (Auerbach et al., 2014; Lloyd-Richardson et al., 2007; Nock, Joiner, Gordon, Lloyd-Richardson, & Prinstein, 2006; Zetterqvist, Lundh, Dahlström, & Svedin, 2013). In this study, we focused on the co-occurrence of depressive symptoms and NSSI. We aimed to understand when these problems occurred together, in comparison to when adolescents exhibit only one problem or none and to explore how co-occurrence arises.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.07.013

This study examines the content of family identity among people in Sweden, a country often portrayed as relatively free from traditional family norms. More specifically, we investigated the types of family-related narratives that individuals shared, narratives of deviation from the master narrative of what was expected and accepted in Swedish society. In addition, the identity centrality of the themes was investigated. The data covered 462 participants, 170 of whom–139 women, 30 men, and one non-binary (M age = 20.11, SD = 4.85)–had family-related narratives. We identified six themes of deviating narratives, of which the family-related narratives had significantly higher identity centrality than did the non-family-related narratives. Not only do the present findings emphasize the importance of family for people’s identities, but they also illustrate the complex and multilayered aspects of family identity. The master narrative discernable in the participants’ narratives of deviation portrays ideals of the happy, white, secular, middle-class, heteronormative nuclear family, even though this does not always correspond to the actual lived situations of families in contemporary Sweden. © 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.