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This explorative article aims to take a step in the direction of a realist-oriented scientific design that extends our knowledge of the requirements of a methodology that improves our ability to uncover the causal mechanisms behind men’s violence against women. Despite the great advances that have been made in individual research disciplines, our understanding of the complex causes is still insufficient and suffers from our inability to grasp the larger whole of the collaborative processes. As a first step towards the objective, an integration attempt is implemented that aims to highlight methodological issues that we have to overcome to explain men's violence against women. The integration of psychological, social-psychological, and sociological theories aims to exemplify how contributing, and counteracting factors interact with each other and form a complex mechanism that influences whether violence against women will take place or not. To leave room for the methodological dimension, the depth of each perspective has been reduced. The results of the integration attempt show both opportunities and difficulties in investigating the mechanisms behind men’s violence against women. However, there is still untapped knowledge potential in the explorative integration of theories and the use of realist-oriented pluralistic research methodologies.

Since Sweden has a reputation for having a pragmatic, technocratic approach to solving social problems, the question arises as to why the country uses different methods at the national and the local level for treating violent men. If studies show that one method is superior to others, we would expect both levels of government to use similar treatment methods. Despite the emphasis on pragmatic solutions, ideology plays an important role, as the Swedish government in recent decades has largely accepted the New Public Management approach to governance. However, because of differences in institutional arrangements, it becomes logically appropriate for the national level to utilize a different type of therapy (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) than the local level (Psycho Dynamic Therapy among others). Thus, a combination of an ideological shift to New Public Management and institutional differences can explain the differences in therapeutic approaches, rather than reliance on scientific studies.

The aim of the present study is to deepen the understanding of over-indebted persons’ ways of describing the causes of their debts and the part they and others played in the emergence of the problematic situation, in their written communications with public authorities with influence over the debt-reconstruction process. The method was a qualitative multiple-case-study design with a purposive, cross-sectional sample consisting of personal letters attached to debt reconstruction applications submitted to the Swedish Enforcement Agency. The results reveal three main ways that applicants present their cases: Attributing responsibility to oneself, Avoiding the question of responsibility, and Attributing responsibility to others. The authors suggest that the results can be used in social work to help over-indebted people to understand and present their problems in a way that restores their vulnerable identity and allows them to counteract interpretations of them as having acted irresponsibly regarding their finances. Syftet med denna studie är att fördjupa förståelsen för överskuldsatta personers sätt att beskriva orsakerna till uppkomsten av deras skulder och till den roll de och andra spelade i uppkomsten av den problematiska situationen, i sin skriftliga kommunikation med myndigheter med inflytande över skuldsaneringsprocessen. Metoden genomfördes med hjälp av en kvalitativ multipel fallstudiedesign med ett målinriktat, tvärsnittsurval bestående av personliga brev bifogade skuldsaneringsansökningar till den svenska Kronofogdemyndigheten. Resultaten påvisar tre huvudsakliga sätt som de sökande presenterar sitt ärende på. I den första, Att tillskriva sig själv ansvar, hänvisar de sökande till sina egna handlingar i relation till skuldernas uppkomst på ett sätt som framställer dem som moraliskt värdiga personer. Det andra sättet att presentera sig själv är att Ge problemet egen agens. Det tredje och sista sättet är att Tillskriva andra ansvar.

We have proposed a planar electronically segmented HPGe detector concept in combination with a multi-slit collimator for gamma emission tomography. In this work, the spatial resolution achievable by using the collimated segmented HPGe detector was evaluated, prior to the manufacture and operation of the detector. The spatial response of a collimated segmented HPGe detector concept was evaluated using simulations performed with Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code MCNP6. The full detector and multi-slit collimator system were modeled and for the quantification of the spatial response, the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) was chosen as a performance metric. The MTF curve was obtained through the calculation of the Line Spread Function (LSF) by analyzing simulated projection data. In addition, tomographic reconstructions of the simulated simplified test objects were made to demonstrate the performance of the segmented HPGe detector in the planned application. For 662 keV photons, the spatial resolution obtained was approximately the same as the collimator slit width for both 100 and 150 mm long collimators. The corresponding spatial resolution at 1596 keV photon energy was almost twice the slit width for 100 mm collimator, due to the partial penetration of the high-energy gamma rays through the collimator bulk. For a 150 mm long collimator, an improved resolution was obtained. VR Bränslediagnostik

A method to determine the absolute activity of 137Cs in irradiated nuclear fuel is presented. Using a well-known point-like calibration source in combination with measurements of the gamma-ray intensity from the nuclear fuel and Monte Carlo calculations based on the nominal measurement geometry, the activity content can be determined without prior knowledge of the intrinsic detection efficiency of the gamma-ray detector. The presented method is tested using measurements of the 137Cs intensity from spent nuclear fuel of the pressurized water type at the central interim storage in Sweden. Using an assumption of homogeneous distribution of 137Cs throughout the fuel, we demonstrate a linear relationship between measured activity and the activity calculated by a state-of-the-art simulation code. For future studies, we suggest some factors that potentially can decrease the uncertainty in the correlation between measured and calculated activity.