The discourses on induced abortion in Ugandan daily newspapers: a discourse analysis.

BACKGROUND: Ugandan law prohibits abortion under all circumstances except where there is a risk for the woman's life. However, it has been estimated that over 250 000 illegal abortions are being performed in the country yearly. Many of these abortions are carried out under unsafe conditions, being one of the most common reasons behind the nearly 5000 maternal deaths per year in Uganda. Little research has been conducted in relation to societal views on abortion within the Ugandan society. This study aims to analyze the discourse on abortion as expressed in the two main daily Ugandan newspapers. METHOD: The conceptual content of 59 articles on abortion between years 2006-2012, from the two main daily English-speaking newspapers in Uganda, was studied using principles from critical discourse analysis. RESULTS: A religious discourse and a human rights discourse, together with medical and legal sub discourses frame the subject of abortion in Uganda, with consequences for who is portrayed as a victim and who is to blame for abortions taking place. It shows the strong presence of the Catholic Church within the medial debate on abortion. The results also demonstrate the absence of medial statements related to abortion made by political stakeholders. CONCLUSIONS: The Catholic Church has a strong position within the Ugandan society and their stance on abortion tends to have great influence on the way other actors and their activities are presented within the media, as well as how stakeholders choose to convey their message, or choose not to publicly debate the issue in question at all. To decrease the number of maternal deaths, we highlight the need for a more inclusive and varied debate that problematizes the current situation, especially from a gender perspective.

Healthcare managers' construction of the manager role in relation to the medical profession.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore how healthcare managers construct the manager role in relation to the medical profession in their organisations. Design/methodology/approach - In total, 18 of Sweden's 20 healthcare chief executive officers (CEOs) and 20 clinical department managers (CDMs) were interviewed about their views on management of physicians. Interviews were performed in the context of one aspect of healthcare management; i.e., management of physicians' sickness certification practice. A discourse analysis approach was used for data analysis. Findings - Few managers used a management-based discourse to construct the manager role. Instead, a profession-based discourse dominated and managers frequently used the attributes "physician" or "non-physician" to categorise themselves or other managers in their managerial roles. Some managers, both CEOs and CDMs, shifted between the management- and profession-based discourses, resulting in a kind of "yes, but […]" approach to management in the organisations. The dominating profession-based discourse served to reproduce the power and status of physicians within the organisation, thereby rendering the manager role weaker than the medical profession for both physician and non-physician managers. Research limitations/implications - Further studies are needed to explore the impact of gender, managerial level, and basic profession on how managers construct the manager role in relation to physicians. Practical implications - The results suggest that there is a need to address the organisational conditions for managers' role taking in healthcare organisations. Originality/value - Despite the general strengthening of the manager position in healthcare through political reforms during the last decades, this study shows that a profession-based discourse clearly dominated in how the managers constructed the manager role in relation to the medical profession on the workplace level in their organisations.

Verbal abuse, gender and well-being at school.

UNLABELLED: The purpose was to assess the prevalence of students' experience of verbal abuse and its effects on school satisfaction and well-being from a gender perspective. Attention was paid to age differences. METHODS: The study population consisted of all students in grades 6 and 8 in a Swedish city. A total of 1,006 students, ages 12-15, completed a self-administered questionnaire (response rate 84 percent). RESULTS: Boys reported experiencing insults and threats to a greater extent, whereas girls more frequently experienced sexualized name-calling, specifically "whore". Both genders reported boys as perpetrators of verbal abuse most often. Further, girls generally reported lower levels of school satisfaction and well-being, while verbal abuse had a negative effect on the well-being of both genders. CONCLUSIONS: Verbal abuse between students is a predominantly masculine practice, more pronounced among older students. It impacts negatively on the school satisfaction and well-being of both girls and boys and does not have to be frequent, repeated, or combined with other kinds of harassment to have this effect.