Nina Gunnarsson

Senior Lecturer Social Work
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Department of Social work , School of Health and Welfare
Associate Professor
Presentation Publications

Nina Veetnisha Gunnarsson’s is an associate professor in social work and her research interest centres on mental health and mental health problems. She is theoretically grounded in social work, micro sociology (e.g. symbolic interaction) and the sociology of emotions, with a special focus and interest in the experiences of shame, identity work and discourse, narrative analysis.

Current research projects:

  • Self-harm as a Social Order (Aimee Ekman)
  • Obesity and Shame (Aimee Ekman)
  • Autoethnographic Projects
  • The Mission of Student Health Services
  • School Counselors' Work in Schools with Low Academic Performance (Doctoral Project)
  • Translation and Cultural Adaptation of the Ableist Microaggression Inventory (AMI) together with Cecilia Moberg, Red Cross University College, as well as Ageism and Disability. 
  • Bodily empathy 
  • Research about suicid and mental health 
  • The sociology of emotions 

Biography

Nina Veetnisha Gunnarsson is an associate professor in social work at Jönköping University. She started her research journey in an interdisciplinary doctoral program at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm and received her PhD in humanistic medicine (medical sociology) in December 2011. Her thesis explored the everyday practical and interactional strategies used by parents, particularly mothers, in parenting children with allergies, and in particularly such contexts and relations where their parental self and identity may be at stake (e.g. the interview context). Nina is the program director for the Master's in Social Work and the International Master's in Interventions in Childhood. 

Nina V Gunnarsson serves as a reviewer for a number of international scientific journals and an editorial board member for the journal "Discover Mental Health".

 

Article

Gunnarsson, N. (2025). From surveillance to resistance: two adult women’s accounts about self-injury Qualitative Research Journal. More information
Gunnarsson, N. (2025). “Going Beyond Darkness” — Lingering images and ideation of self-destruction Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 32(3), 605-609. More information
Nordgren, J., Monwell, B., Johnson, B., Gunnarsson, N., Capusan, A. (2024). Healthcare staff’s perspectives on long-acting injectable buprenorphine treatment: a qualitative interview study Addiction science & clinical practice, 19(1). More information
Jansson, P., Gunnarsson, N. (2024). Working with emotions in social work practice: A pride-building model for institutional care of young people Children and youth services review, 161. More information
Gunnarsson, N., Hedman, K. (2024). Navigating suicidality: swedish social workers' approaches to identifying and supporting suicidal clients Nordic Social Work Research. More information
Gunnarsson, N. (2024). Gender disparities and femininity in the third mission: The example of blog writing Journal of Femininities, 1(1), 90-112. More information
Gunnarsson, N. (2023). “Stop acting like a child – you're immature”: The reversed ageism of practicing self-injury as adult women and the reclaiming of our bodies Journal of Aging Studies, 67. More information
Gunnarsson, N. (2022). The scarred body: A personal reflection of self-injury scars Qualitative Social Work, 21(1), 37-52. More information
Gunnarsson, N., Lönnberg, M. (2022). The “good” and the “bad” subject position in self-injury autobiographies Qualitative Social Work, 21(5), 974-994. More information
Golding, M., Batac, A., Gunnarsson, N., Ahlstedt, S., Middelveld, R., Protudjer, J. (2022). The burden of food allergy on children and teens: A systematic review. More information
Golding, M., Gunnarsson, N., Middelveld, R., Ahlstedt, S., Protudjer, J. (2021). A scoping review of the caregiver burden of pediatric food allergy Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 127(5), 536-. More information
Gunnarsson, N. (2021). The Self-perpetuating Cycle of Shame and Self-injury Humanity and Society, 45(3), 313-333. More information
Gunnarsson, N. (2021). The activation and restoration of shame in an intimate relationship: A first-hand account of self-injury Qualitative Sociology Review, XVII(2), 104-121. More information
Middelveld, R., Gunnarsson, N., Ahlstedt, S., Protudjer, J. (2020). Associations between food allergy and perceived life status Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 125(6), P703-P705.E1. More information
Middelveld, R., Gunnarsson, N., Ahlstedt, S., Protudjer, J. (2020). Establishing perceived life status of children with food allergy, and their families by use of a visual analogue scale Allergy. European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 75(Supplement 109), 511. More information
Lindmark, U. Bülow, P. Mårtensson, J. Rönning, H. Ahlstrand, I. Broström, A. , ... Sandgren A. (2019). The use of the concept of transition in different disciplines within health and social welfare: An integrative literature review. More information
Gunnarsson, N., Hemmingsson, H., Hydén, L., Borell, L. (2013). Managing Family Relations and Controlling Information While Supporting an Allergic Child Qualitative Sociology Review, 4(3), 204-219. More information
Gunnarsson, N., Hemmingsson, H., Hydén, L. (2013). Mothers' accounts of healthcare encounters: Negotiating culpability and fulfilling the active mother role Discourse & Society, 24(4), 446-460. More information
Gunnarsson, N., Hydén, L. (2009). Organizing allergy and being a “good” parent: Parents’ narratives about their children’s emerging problems Health, 13(2), 157-174. More information
Gunnarsson, N., Marklund, B., Ahlstedt, S., Borell, L., Nordström, G. (2005). Allergy-like conditions and health-care contacts among children with exclusion diets at school. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 19(1), 46-52. More information

Doctoral thesis

Gunnarsson, N. (2011). Parenting Children with Allergy (Doctoral thesis, Solna: Reproprint). More information

Book chapter

Gunnarsson, N. (2007). Allergins tillblivelse: Föräldrars berättelser om hur barnetskroppsliga besvär identifieras som allergi. In: Sonja Olin Lauritzen (Ed.), Att leva med allergi: Samhällsvetenskapliga och humanistiska perspektiv Stockholm: Carlsson Bokförlag More information

Conference paper

Edström, E., Gunnarsson, N., Möller, S., Sjöqvist, M. (2025). Studentaktivt integrerat lärande och tvärprofessionella lärarteam. Arbetsterapiforum 2025, 6-7 maj 2025. More information

Report

Gunnarsson, N., Ekman, A., Ahlgren, T., Allgurin, M. (2024). Lokala variationer av fattigdom i Jönköpings län bland olika familjekonstellationer. Jönköping: Jönköping University, School of Health and Welfare More information

Licentiate thesis

Gunnarsson, N. (2007). Discovery and Management of Child Allergy from the Parent Perspective (Licentiate thesis, Solna: ReproPrint). More information