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The purpose of this thesis is to develop knowledge about what responsible leadership is, as well as develop a theoretical model for responsible leadership in the perspective of caring science. The study takes as its point of departure the research tradition in caring science developed by Katie Eriksson and her colleagues at Åbo Akademi University in Vasa. The overarching methodological approach is Gadamer's (2004) hermeneutic philosophy. The scientific interest is mainly theoretical. The theory model is 'tested' in a clinical context in two hospitals. This implied that leaders were taught about the developed model. Thereafter the leaders 'translated' it into their own language and gave it meaning in their clinical context. The clinical part of the study can be regarded as a moment of application research in the sense of hermeneutic. Responsible leadership is treated in this thesis as aas a part of human existence and the model is not explicitly associated with leadership in organizations.