Mot alla odds - hur maskrosbarn framställs i media

Author: Caroline Lundström Title: Against all odds – how media describes ”maskrosbarn”. [translated title] Supervisor: Maria Bangura Arvidsson Assessor: Christina Erneling The purpose of this study was to examine how the term ”maskrosbarn” is used and described in Swedish newspaper articles, and how these descriptions relate to the social context. The aim was to define the term ”maskrosbarn” and to examine how the problems of childhood of ”maskrosbarn” are described. Furthermore, the aim was to examine the way the authors of the articles describe how these children manage life. The questions were formulated with inspiration from different well-known definitions of ”maskrosbarn” and the theoretical term resilience. The study had a discourse analytic approach. More specifically three versions of discourse analysis were used. These were critical discourse analysis, discourse and social psychology, and discourse theory. Common to all these three perspectives are that they see the descriptions of reality as important for our understanding of the world and ourselves. It is in the social interaction that we create the versions of reality by means of the language. Media has an important role in this process, thereby having a great influence in people’s lives. Media exist in a society characterized by the complexity between individualism and belonging. To get access to the collectives you have to have a social competence. Eight articles on ”maskrosbarn” were analyzed and the result showed an agreement between the scientific discourse and the media discourse. ”Maskrosbarn” were described as strong and independent individuals, but with a belonging to the collective identity ”maskrosbarn”. They were described as responsible persons, both as children and as adults, resulting in a successful career and a happy family life. They came from a dysfunctional family, but somehow they managed life well and got what they did not have during childhood. ”Maskrosbarn” were described in Swedish newspaper articles by their achievements and not by their mental health