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Health and Welfare


Sociology

Sociology is a Social science subject at the School of Health, Care and Social Welfare (HVV) and focuses on how society, its structures, rules, norms, roles and processes, affects people as social beings and involves the understanding of global relations, societal changes, people's living conditions, identities and meetings. The Division of Sociology comprises around 16 employees. All are recent doctoral graduates, six are Associate Professors (Docents) and they all work as Senior Lecturers and are active researchers. We provide instruction at first-cycle and second-cycle levels and are responsible for the Behavioural Science programme jointly with the Division for Psychology and participate in doctoral education in Health and Welfare, primarily in the Work Life Studies specialisation, one of the School's third-cycle subject areas.

Contact

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Affiliate members

Charlotte Petersson Troije, Affiliate Researcher
Dana Sofi, Affiliate Researcher

 

Areas of focus

  • Identity and culture
  • Sustainable working life
  • Equal opportunities and gender
  • Well-being and unhealth

Knowledge environments in which we operate

Our knowledge environments (in Swedish)

Sociology in the media

https://www.mdu.se/om-mdu/kontakta-oss/hitta-experter/mdu-forskare-skriver-kronikor-i-vlt/mellan-sprickorna-att-bygga-broar-eller-bottenlosa-avgrunder External link.

https://www.mdu.se/om-mdu/kontakta-oss/hitta-experter/mdu-forskare-skriver-kronikor-i-vlt/hallbar-utveckling-ar-oforenlig-med-ekonomisk-tillvaxt External link.

https://www.mdu.se/om-mdu/kontakta-oss/hitta-experter/mdu-forskare-skriver-kronikor-i-vlt/fragan-om-biologiskt-kon-ar-komplex External link.

https://www.mdu.se/om-mdu/kontakta-oss/hitta-experter/mdu-forskare-skriver-kronikor-i-vlt/spraklarning-och-integration---en-vag-dar-malet-alltid-andrar-sig External link.

https://www.mdu.se/om-mdu/kontakta-oss/hitta-experter/mdu-forskare-skriver-kronikor-i-vlt/nej-metoo-har-verkligen-inte-gatt-for-langt External link.

https://www.mdu.se/om-mdu/kontakta-oss/hitta-experter/mdu-forskare-skriver-kronikor-i-vlt/hur-ska-vi-forsta-skillnaden-mellan-generationerna External link.

https://www.mdu.se/om-mdu/kontakta-oss/hitta-experter/mdu-forskare-skriver-kronikor-i-vlt/raddningstjanstens-roll-i-utsatta-omraden---tillit-avgor External link.

Räddningstjänstens roll i utsatta områden – tillit avgör External link.

Tiotals miljoner till MDU – för forskning om ohälsa på arbetet - P4 Västmanland | Sveriges Radio External link.

https://www.afaforsakring.se/om-oss/evenemang/digitaliseringens-effekter-pa-arbetsmiljon-kommun-och-region External link.

420 forskare: Regeringens klimatpolitik är katastrofal (aftonbladet.se) External link.

https://www.arvsfonden.se/projekt/utvardering-av-projekt/utvarderingsrapporter/strava-efter-jamstalldhet---att-skapa-samhorighet-och-utmana-normer External link.

Publications

Ferlander, S. & Mäkinen, I.H. (2025). The value of quality in social relationships: Effects of different dimensions of social capital on self-reported depression. Social Sciences, 14: 568 External link.

Sofi, Dana et al. Hyperreality, Polarization and Prejudice: Social Media Descriptions of Swedish Child Welfare Services (2025) In: Child & Family Social Work, ISSN 1356-7500, E-ISSN 1365-2206, p. 1-10 Article in journal (Refereed) External link.

Sofi, Dana et al. (Om)formandet av socialtjänsten i sociala medier - diskurser och desinformation i ”LVU-kampanjen” (2025) In: Vägskäl för inkludering: Tvärvetenskapliga perspektiv på migration, nationella minoriteter och utbildning / [ed] David Gunnarsson; Anna Lund; Niclas Månsson, Huddinge: Södertörns högskola, 2025, p. 265-275

Sofi, Dana. Diasporans dubbla världar: Identitet, tillhörighet och hybriditet 2025 In: Vägskäl för inkludering: Tvärvetenskapliga perspektiv på migration, nationella minoriteter och utbildning / [ed] David Gunnarsson; Anna Lund; Niclas Månsson, Huddinge: Södertörns högskola, 2025, p. 239-251

D’Oliveira, C. A. F. B., Paula, D., Silva-Costa, A., Toivanen, S., Giatti, L., Aguiar, O. B. de, … Griep, R. H. (2024). Work-family conflict and self-rated health trajectories among ELSA-Brasil workers: the moderating role of education. Revista Brasileira de Medicina Do Trabalho, 22(4), 1–10 External link..

Johansson, A., Fadulelmula, N., Sandell, A., Höjer, F., Sandberg Baraona, T., Tideman, E., … Ferlander, S. (2025). Räddningstjänstens bemötande av den enskilde : Redovisning av fyra empiriska studier:en registerstudie, en enkätundersökning, sex fokusgruppsintervjuer och tolv enskilda intervjuer. External link.

Mensah, A., Nyberg, A., Wennberg, P., & Toivanen, S. (2025). Effort-reward imbalance and problem drinking among workers : Differences in gender and the gender composition of industries and main job activities in a prospective cohort study from Sweden. Social Science and Medicine, 372. Published. External link.

Monti, A., & Saarela, J. (2023). Geographical immobility and local ancestral ties: a study of three generations of natives in Finland. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 107(2), 117–134 External link..

Persson, M., Iversen, I. and Redmalm, D. "Robot Animals and the Emotional Labor of Caregivers",in Johnson, E. (Red.). (2025). How That Robot Made Me Feel. External link.

Salmonsson, L., & Hedlund, D. (2025). Social selektiv glömska i fallet ensamkommande barn. I Vägskäl för inkludering : Tvärvetenskapliga perspektivpå migration, nationellaminoriteter och utbildning (s. 31–38) External link..

von Essen, E., & Redmalm, D. (2023). License to Cull : A Research Agenda for Investigating the Necropolitics of Countryside Culling and Urban Pest Control. Society and Animals, 26(3). External link.

Andrea Monti and Marianne Tønnessen (2024) Party penalty or party premium? ‘Party Swedes’ inNorway and their income before, during, and aftermigration. External link.

Anneroth, Ferlander & Jukkala (2024) Public Space is Failing Girls and Women. How Feminist Planning can Learn from Social Innovation. The Journal of Public Space. External link.

Mensah, Toivanen & Björklund (2024). Incivility, bullying, and poor health and well-being among students: a Swedish national study in higher education institutions. External link.Frontiers. External link.

Tareq, H., Nyberg, A., Wennberg, P. et al. Prevalence of problem drinking in the Swedish workforce: differences between labour market industries based on gender composition and main job activity. BMC Public Health 24, 2683 (2024) External link.

Moa Bursell (2024): The scope and limits of implicit bias training: An experimental study with Swedish social workers. External link.

Moa Bursell and Lambros Roumbanis (2024): After the algorithms: A study of meta-algorithmic judgments and diversity in the hiring process at a large multisite company. External link.

Bahner, J., Gäddman Johansson, R. & Svanelöv, E. Who Counts as a Sexual Subject? The Impact of Ableist Rhetoric for People with Intellectual Disability in Sweden. Sex Res Soc Policy (2023). External link.

von Essen, E., & Redmalm, D. (2023). License to Cull : A Research Agenda for Investigating the Necropolitics of Countryside Culling and Urban Pest Control. Society and Animals, 26(3), 1–16. External link.

von Essen, E., & Redmalm, D. (2023). Social licence to cull : Examining scepticism toward lethal wildlife removal in cities. People and Nature. Published. External link.

Ferlander, S., & Karlberg, E. (2023). Social hållbarhet i Flemingsbergs fysiska miljö: Sammanställning och analys av medborgardialoger i Flemingsberg, 2010–2022. Retrieved from Södertörns högskola website. External link.

Gäddman Johansson, R. (2023). What do we do? What can we do? : Preliminary findings from a research project on digitally facilitating meaningful activities for adults with ID during the pandemic. 16th Nordic Network on Disability Research Conference, Reykjavik, May 10-12, 2023. Presented at the 16th Nordic Network on Disability Research Conference, Reykjavik, May 10-12, 2023. External link.

Halling Ullberg, O., Toivanen, S., Tillander, A., & Bälter, K. (2023). Workplace health promotion to facilitate physical activity among office workers in Sweden. Frontiers In Public Health, 11. Published. External link.

Johansson, C. (2023). The quest for cultural sensitivity : how cultural sensitivity can be practised while mitigating othering in Swedish eldercare (PhD dissertation, Mälardalens universitet). External link.

Qaderi, J., & Lindblom, J. (2023). Media portrayals of psychotropic agents in AD/HD treatment : A social constructionist approach. Health. Epub ahead of print. External link.

Lindblom, J. (2023). Psykiatrins kris : Ett sociologiskt perspektiv (1st ed.). External link.

Schuurman, Dirke, Redmalm & Holmberg (2023): Interspecies care, knowledge and ownership: children’s equestrian cultures in Sweden and Finland External link.

Ongoing research projects

Is the state subsidy for outsourcing of domestic services associated with increased labour market integration and mobility of immigrants?

The project addresses the link between the RUT subsidy and immigrants’ labour market entries, as well as the ensuing mobility in terms of wages, earnings, and mobility between industries.


Project manager at MDU: Karin Halldén

Main financing: Vetenskapsrådet

Suicidal behavior in working life - risk and protective factors from a gender perspective

From a gender perspective, the aim is to develop new knowledge about suicidal behavior among women and men in different occupations in the labor market in Sweden, to investigate risk and protective factors in the work environment for suicidal behavior, and to increase knowledge about preventive measures against suicidal behavior in the workplace.


Project manager at MDU: Susanna Toivanen

Main financing: Afa Försäkring

Workplace structure and work-related ill-health: female dominance, organizational factors, initiatives and political decisions in municipal administration

This research program aims at addressing sickness absence in the female dominated municipal sector by mapping the ill-health in occupations and at workplaces and by exploring organizational efforts intended to address the root causes of work-related ill-health.


Project manager at MDU: Karin Halldén

Main financing: FORTE

See completed projects (4)