This qualitative and interpretive study of the normalization effort for individuals with mental retardation in Sweden analyzes the cultural context; legislation, jurisdictional considerations, and societal attitudes; potential barriers to integration; and the economics of service provision. Sweden's system of comprehensive service and support…

An investigation of the political and social content of mass media and the manner in which individuals and groups evaluate and use mass media is summarized in this report. The first section provides a brief overview of the development of the mass media system in Sweden, while the second section outlines the theoretical framework for the present…

An exploratory reanalysis is presented of survey results from a random sample of the economically active population in Sweden. Teachers in the sample formed a specific category (n=55). Results showed that the social class orientations of teachers concerning economic and political matters were closest to employers and most distant from workers.…

Three demographic rates and the social reality they measure signify important, continuing changes in the Swedish family. As compared with the rest of the industrial world, the Swedish now have the lowest marriage rate, the highest non-marital cohabitation rate, and possibly the highest family dissolution rate. Contents of this article focus on the…

Ten papers focus on aspects of special education in Britain, Canada and Sweden. "The Meaning of Handicap" by J. Bicknell presents a dynamic view of handicaps and discusses the effects of others' reactions to the disabled child. M. Cooley ("A Study of Parental Response to Pre-School Provision for Handicapped Children") reviews a…

Relationships were studied between educational direction (academic or vocational) and three aspects of the sociopolitical ideology of 532 Swedish high school students. Vocational students were consistently more conservative than academic students on factors linked to social conservatism, whereas differences linked to political-economic…

Many of the educational changes during the last decade are international in respect to both form and content. Behind the global flow of ideas and ideologies, there is an accelerated competition for positions at the marketplace. The role of education in the new liberal rhetoric is explicitly to give direct and substantial economic results.…

The main aim of the present study was to describe children's perceptions and experiences of bullying: the way they define it, their thoughts about why children are bullied and their experiences of the way adults respond to bullying. The study group comprised 960 children in the fourth grade. The most frequent answers concerning why some children…

This report notes that two cultures may view similar childhood behaviors differently, and cites results of studies that compared Swedish and Indian parents' attitudes toward children to support this statement. The report describes a study that examined parental attitudes and behaviors among Lappish families in Northern Sweden, in which data was…

This article describes aspects of the environment for children in Sweden and discusses some of the measures taken or planned for improvement. The significance of the residential environment is explored, and the nature of the child care system in a country where over 80 percent of women with small children work outside the home is described. Also…

This article presents gender perspectives on the formation of the preschool teacher and the formation of a domain for education and child rearing of young children, commenting on the designation of the professional field of education as "female territory." The report uses the results from two Swedish studies: the first dealing with the…

A survey of the socio-political attitudes of Swedish high school students showed that male students were more systematically conservative than female students, except for the religiosity dimension, in almost all political party preference groups. Sex was shown to have a weaker effect on attitudes than political party preference. (Author/RM)

This paper describes the social context for and the provision of child care services in Scandinavia. Particular emphasis is given to Denmark and Sweden. Occasionally, comparisons are made in the paper between Scandinavian countries and the United States, and differing attitudes toward the poor are pointed out. In the Scandinavian countries…

Social changes in Sweden have engendered concrete problems for young people. For example, an extensive government-sponsored day care system has left many youth longing for social contacts with adults. The Swedish society is giving material welfare higher priority than social welfare. Possible solutions are discussed. (RM)