We seek to expand the knowledge on gender identity and gender roles in young females with limited delinquency. Our thematic analysis of identity-status interviews and narratives from 10 female adolescents (aged 15-18 years) sentenced to youth service showed that they viewed being a girl as important, but also generally inflected by aspects of hardship and violence. We interpreted three types of femininity in the girls' reasoning about their gender identity in relation to delinquency. These were used to both overcome and sustain gender hegemony. Findings also showed how these young women were both victims and social agents, whose experimentation and defense of self and others were embedded in their rationales for their offenses.

Agency (i.e., the ability to act intentionally within the constraints of a given social context) is an important aspect of constructing a narrative identity. For young people in secure care, their freedom is highly restricted, which may hinder their abilities to act and feel agentic. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine how agency was expressed in stories written by young people in secure care in Sweden. A thematic narrative analysis of 53 narratives resulted in three main themes—change in perspective, engagement with the outer world and resistance—indicating that agency can be expressed despite a constrained environment and may include both adaptive and harmful behaviours. Based on the findings, it is suggested that key elements of adaptive agency in young people are social relationships and trust, as well as support of their achievement and competence.

This study examined narrative identity development in 503 personal stories written by youth in secure care in Sweden. Its results showed variations in story content, with the dominant themes involving secure care and the youths’ own destructive behavior. Positive, negative, neutral/vague, and combined emotional sequences (i.e. framing of experiences) were all represented. A hopeful sequence was the most common, and a redemptive sequence the least common. Elements of meaning making (of mixed, negative, or positive valence) were found in about half of the narratives, of which half were of positive valence. Together, the results suggest that young people in secure care are competent storytellers who reflect on what they have been through. However, the fact that the narratives involved negative meaning making and less positive framing of experiences suggests that making meaning from past experiences should not automatically be interpreted as adaptive identity development among young people in secure care.

Return-to-work coordinators (RTWC) support people on sickness absence and is a new healthcare occupation in Sweden. Its practitioners represent a variety of professions, there is no common undergraduate training and vague role and competence descriptions. The aim was to explore differences in training and competence according to original professions (occupational therapists, physiotherapists, counselling, and other professions) and coordinators' views on which professions they believe provide the best competence for the role. All RTWCs (82) in one region were invited to answer a questionnaire (89% response rate). Mixed-methods analyses were applied. The results showed that counselling professions were more likely than other professional groups to have further training, particularly in conversation methods, and a lower proportion of them stated needing more knowledge about gender equality, social problems, insurance/benefit and conversation methods. The analysis of free-text answers identified three competence areas of importance: advice and guidance, a holistic view, and personality over profession. Occupational therapists and social workers were seen as having the best competence for the coordinating role. The results outline some common values, norms and important competences for RTWCs that could help develop the RTW coordination training and pave the way for RTWCs professionalisation process.

Rehabiliteringskoordinatorer är en ny yrkesroll inom hälso – och sjukvården som stödjer sjukskrivna patienter i rehabiliteringsprocessen. Koordinatorerna saknar dock en tydlig roll – och kompetensbeskrivning, och det faktum att yrkesrollen saknar en gemensam yrkesutbildning och innehas och utvecklas av olika professioner gör den unik. Syftet med studien var att undersöka skillnader i kompetens baserat på rehabiliteringskoordinatorers olika grundprofessioner, samt vilka professioner de menade hade bäst kompetens för att arbeta som rehabiliteringskoordinator. Alla rehabiliteringskoordinatorer i en region bjöds in att svara på en enkät (89% svarsfrekvens). Både kvantitativa och kvalitativa analysmetoder användes. Resultaten visade att kuratorer hade mer vidareutbildning än övriga professioner, särskilt inom samtalsmetoder, och kuratorerna uppgav mindre behov av ytterligare kompetens inom områdena jämställdhet, sociala problem, försäkringar/bidrag och samtalsmetoder. Analysen av fritextsvaren visade att holistisk syn, personlighet framför profession samt rådgivning och vägledning ansågs vara tre viktiga kompetensområden för rehabiliteringskoordinatorer. Arbetsterapeuter och socionomer ansågs ha mest passande kompetens för att arbeta som rehabiliteringskoordinator. Resultaten adresserar några gemensamma grundvärden, normer och viktiga kompetensområden för rehabiliteringskoordinatorer som kan bidra i utvecklingen av utbildning för rehabiliteringskoordinatorer och bana väg för deras professionaliseringsprocess.

Introduction Adolescent delinquency has been suggested to evolve from a normative motivation to establish independence and identity. However, few studies have examined this in detail, especially in young women. The aim was, therefore, to investigate identity formation in adolescent females with limited delinquency by focusing on identity status and identity processes in narratives about committing crimes and being convicted. Methods Interviews with 10 females, 15-18 years old, sentenced to youth service in three Swedish cities were conducted on Zoom. Results The results showed an equal distribution of all identity statuses within the group. Thematic analysis of their stories about crime and conviction showed that delinquency was described in terms of exploration and commitment, although commitment appeared more clearly. Social relations, in particular peers, played an important role in both committing as well as desisting from delinquency. In terms of narrative processes, the stories contained elements of agency, although diminishing of one's own capability and/or responsibility was common, and meaning making, mostly lesson learning, usually pertained to behaviors, interactional rules, or norms. Conclusion These findings point to the importance of viewing delinquency among young women in a social and developmental context, where delinquency may be a part of the process of identity formation. Interventions focusing on expressing needs of belonging as well as finding oneself in more adaptive ways are warranted, where supporting pro-social relations and contexts is a suggested focus.

We investigated how young people comprehend stories of trauma through their immediate expressions after listening to personal testimonies of Holocaust survivors. The material included 747 drawings and 182 texts by 10–16-year-old Swedish pupils from 14 schools. Qualitative analyses and cross-tabulations showed that the testimonies elicited complex patterns of emotions and cognitive processing. Personal testimonies can thus be a powerful way of teaching about historical trauma, although complex cognitive meaning making might often require additional time and adult-facilitated conversation. Also, as the testimonies aroused strong emotions, they should be used in a well-informed way.

Gender differences in earnings exist worldwide. Gender segregation or familial status have been previously stated as possible explanations for these differences as well as health differences between women and men. Women are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) as twice much as men. Moreover, MS limitations may affect the work capacity of people with MS (PwMS) implying a reduction in their earnings. We aimed to explore gender differences in earnings among people with MS and without MS and between groups of those diagnosed while also considering types of occupation and family composition, and how these possible differences relate to sickness absence (SA) and disability pension (DP). We conducted a population-based cohort study in Sweden with microdata from several nationwide registers. PwMS aged 19-57 years (n = 5128) living in Sweden and 31,767 matched references from the population without MS. Outcome measures included earnings, number of SA and DP days combined (SA/DP). A four-way weighted least-squares analysis of covariance was performed to explore the associations of gender, MS, type of occupation, and family composition with earnings. Risk of SA and DP days was assessed with logistic regression. Overall, and across all occupations, women earned less than men, although less so among managers with MS. Annual gender differences in earnings were larger if living with children at home compared to not living with children. Nevertheless, these gender differences decreased after adjusting for SA/DP, both among PwMS and references. PwMS had considerably more SA/DP days than references. Women also had more SA/DP days than men. We observed that working women earned less than working men, and that gender differences in earnings were present in all occupations, although less evident among PwMS in managerial positions. The combination of gender, occupation, family composition, and MS, was associated with earnings, even when adjusting for the number of SA and DP days.

Qualitative interviews are generally conducted in person. As the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) prevents in-person interviews, methodological studies which investigate the use of the telephone for persons with different illness experiences are needed. The aim was to explore experiences of the use of telephone during semi-structured research interviews, from the perspective of participants and researchers. Data were collected from mobile phone interviews with 32 individuals who had common mental disorders or multimorbidity which were analyzed thematically, as well as field notes reflecting researchers' experiences. The findings reveal several advantages of conducting interviews using mobile phones: flexibility, balanced anonymity and power relations, as well as a positive effect on self-disclosure and emotional display (leading to less emotional work and social responsibility). Challenges included the loss of human encounter, intense listening, and worries about technology, as well as sounds or disturbances in the environment. However, the positive aspects of not seeing each other were regarded as more important. In addition, we present some strategies before, during, and after conducting telephone interviews. Telephone interviews can be a valuable first option for data collection, allowing more individuals to be given a fair opportunity to share their experiences.

Purpose: People with multimorbidity face a range of barriers in healthcare, and there is little knowledge about their challenges with regard to return-to-work (RTW). Rehabilitation coordinators, a new function in Swedish healthcare, support people in the RTW process. The present study had two aims: to explore what problems and barriers people with multimorbidity experience during their rehabilitation and RTW process and to explore in which domains the coordinators' support is perceived to be of importance.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with 12 persons with multimorbidity who had contact with a rehabilitation coordinator during their sickness absence. Thematic analysis was guided by the case-management ecological model; this analysis was revised and adapted to the Swedish context.

Results: The participants experienced problems in all domains of the model, namely: the healthcare system, the labor market and the workplace system, the sickness insurance system, and the personal system. Rehabilitation programs that did not accommodate combinations of diseases, social complexities and needs were felt to lead to worse symptoms, thus hindering rather than promoting RTW. An overall finding regarding support by coordinators is that interventions, regardless of domain, were felt to be valuable for people with multimorbidity. The coordinator was perceived to give most support by providing advice about and coordination with healthcare and employers. Sometimes the coordinator gave advice and coordination regarding the Social Insurance Agency, very occasionally the Public Employment Services. The coordinator gave least advice and coordination about social difficulties that hindered rehabilitation and RTW processes.

Conclusion: People with multimorbidity perceive rehabilitation coordinator interventions as important in all domains investigated. Lack of advice and coordination, or rehabilitation programs that were not modified to the complexities of individual's circumstances, were associated with prolonged sickness absence, worse health, or social risk factors not being recognized.

Coordinators may play a key role during the return-to-work (RTW) process for people on sickness absence. There are still few studies on the newly implemented rehabilitation coordinators (RECO) within Swedish healthcare, and none focus on their competence. The aim of this study was to explore how persons with multimorbidity and psychosocial difficulties describe the professional competence of the RECO they encountered during their RTW process. The study takes a relational and practical approach in defining professional competence, including both what professionals do and what they possess. Interviews with 12 people with multimorbidity and psychosocial difficulties who had encountered a RECO during their RTW process were analysed using thematic analysis. Six different themes were found: communicative and coordinating skills; advisory and guidance skills; engagement and advocacy skills; being persistent and flexible; being empathic and therapeutic; being professional and trustworthy. Most of these are found in research on RTW coordinators, but being persistent, and having advisory, guidance, advocacy and therapeutic skills have not been recognised as important competences previously. This study adds patients' views on important professional competence that support the RTW process, which should be regarded in further developments of RECOs' functions and their competence descriptions.