Crime In Sweden Research Articles

Mobile spaces of control and moral geographies: places of internal bordering, immorality and crime in Sweden

ABSTRACT This paper – based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2017 with the Swedish border police force in charge of detecting and deporting irregularised migrants – analyses bordered urban space. It contributes to discussions about moral geographies that are produced through bordering work of border police officers, which sometimes blurs the distinction between external and internal border controls, based on an analysis of three spaces: the port as an “in-between” space of bordering; workplace inspections; and searches of private homes and other types of accommodation, conducted with the aim of detecting morally censured sex work. As I find, officers function as gatekeepers of the nation and its moral values in relation to space and thus map the area of their jurisdiction according to potentially “illicit” conduct of noncitizens. This, in turn, legitimises their gendered, classed and racialised inspection practices even as these practices entrench the perceived “otherness” of such spaces and manifest moral judgements.

Minor covid-19 association with crime in Sweden

The covid-19 disease has a large impact on life across the globe, and this could potentially include impacts on crime. The present study describes how crime has changed in Sweden during ten weeks after the government started to implement interventions to reduce spread of the disease. Sweden has undertaken smaller interventions than many other countries and is therefore a particularly interesting case to study. The first major interventions in Sweden were implemented in the end of week 11 (March 12th) in the year 2020, and we analyze police reported crimes through week 21 (ending May 24th). Descriptive statistics are provided relative to expected levels with 95% confidence intervals for eight crime types. We find that total crime, assaults, pickpocketing and burglary have decreased significantly, personal robberies and narcotics crime are unchanged. Vandalism possibly increased somewhat but is hard to draw any firm conclusions on. The reductions are fairly small for most crime types, in the 5–20% range, with pickpocketing being the biggest exception noting a 59% drop relative to expected levels.

Environmental and Wildlife Crime in Sweden from 2000 to 2017

This study combines police records with newspaper articles (media archives) to report the nature and trends of environmental and wildlife crime (EWC) in Sweden from 2000 to 2017. Geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial statistical techniques are used to implement a temporal and spatial analysis of EWC in Swedish municipalities, which are split into three types: urban, accessible rural, and remote rural. Findings show that following the 2006 legal reform that increased possibilities for prosecuting EWC, the number of both police-recorded cases and newspaper articles increased and eventually stabilized. They also show that although the majority of EWCs are minor crimes, particularly in urban municipalities, many of the more serious crimes show chronic temporal and spatial patterns in more rural and remote areas. The persistence of certain serious crimes over time is interpreted as an indication that the costs of breaking environmental law are low relative to economic gains. Then, drawing from criminological theory, the article finishes by discussing implications to research and policy.

Migrants and Crime in Sweden in the Twenty-First Century

In 2005, the Swedish Crime Prevention Agency published a report about the link between immigration and crime. Since then, no comprehensive study has been conducted even though Sweden has experienced a large influx of migrants in combination with a rising crime rate. This study conducted by Göran Adamson and Tino Sanandaji is the first purely descriptive scientific investigation on the matter in fifteen years. The investigation (from 2002 to 2017) covers seven distinct categories of crime, and distinguishes between seven regions of origin. Based on 33 per cent of the population (2017), 58 per cent of those suspect for total crime on reasonable grounds are migrants. Regarding murder, manslaughter and attempted murder, the figures are 73 per cent, while the proportion of robbery is 70 per cent. Non-registered migrants are linked to about 13 per cent of total crime. Given the fact that this group is small, crime propensity among non-registered migrants is significant.

Immigration and crime: a time-trend analysis of self-reported crime in Sweden, 1999–2017

ABSTRACT This study investigates the direction and rate of change in self-reported crime over time, based on immigrant status and region of origin. The study is based on eight nationally representive school surveys conducted by the National Council for Crime Prevention between 1999 and 2017, with a sample of 50,657 adolescents. Results in this study showed a decreasing trend in self-reported offending among both first and second generation immigrant youth, and also among immigrant youths from different regions of origin. The results also show that offending has declined at a faster rate among first generation immigrants by comparison with native Swedes.

Firearm-related violence in Sweden – A systematic review

Abstract Recent reports state that firearm-related violence is increasing in Sweden. In order to understand the trend of firearm-related violence in Sweden with regard to rate, modus operandi (MO) and homicide typology, and for which injuries and causes of death firearm-related violence is responsible, a systematic literature review was conducted. After a thorough search in different databases, a total of 25 studies published in Swedish and English peer-review journals were identified and thus analyzed. The results show that even though knives/sharp weapons continue to be the most common MO in a violent crime in Sweden, firearm-related violence is significantly increasing in the country and foremost when discussing gang-related crimes. Moreover, firearm-related homicides and attempted homicides are increasing in the country. The studies also show that a firearm is much more lethal than a knife/sharp weapon, and that the head, thorax and the abdomen are the most lethal and serious anatomical locations in which to be hit. It is principally the three largest cities of Sweden which are affected by the many shootings in recent years. The police have severe difficulties in solving firearm-related crimes such as homicide and attempted homicide, which is why the confidence and trust for the Swedish judicial system may be decreasing among the citizens. Several reforms have taken place in Sweden in the last few years, but their effect on firearm-related violence remains to be studied.

Does Eligibility for Tertiary Education Affect Crime Rates? Quasi-Experimental Evidence

ObjectivesThis paper estimates the effect of tertiary education eligibility on crime in Sweden. The hypothesis tested is that continuing to higher education decreases crime rates since it allows young people to escape inactivity and idleness, which are known to trigger crime. However, to qualify for tertiary education, individuals have to meet the eligibility requirements in upper-secondary school. Tertiary education eligibility may therefore affect crime rates.MethodsThis paper uses a panel data set of 287 Swedish municipalities over the period 1998–2010 to estimate the tertiary education eligibility effect on crime. However, estimating educational effects on crime is challenging, because investment in education is an endogenous decision. In Sweden, substantial grade inflation, increased tertiary education eligibility by more than 6% points between 1998 and 2003. Thus, since the eligibility increase is exogenous to the educational achievements of a student cohort, i.e. not accompanied by a corresponding knowledge increase, we can use the increase to identify the effect of tertiary education eligibility on crime.ResultsIt is found that increasing the tertiary education eligibility rate decreases both property and violent crime substantially.ConclusionsThe results show that when young people have the opportunity to attend tertiary education, and thus escape unemployment or inactivity, their propensity to commit crime decreases.

Уголовно-правовая защита жертв преступлений по законодательству Швеции XX–XXI вв. (историко-правовой анализ)

The present article analyzes the historical and legal issues of victims of crimes in Sweden. At the present stage of development of Swedish criminal law, the Institute of the rights of victims of crime in Sweden is one of the most developed. Criminal protection of victims of crimes in the Russian Federation attends relatively little attention. The history of formation of Institute of the rights of victims is a necessary foundation for the development of it in a modern Russian theory of law and legislation. The historical background of the Institute the rights of victims which has determined the contours of a modern understanding of the rights of victims, for example, was reflected in a Swedish law. Some elements of the criminal law concept of crime victims in Sweden, such as free legal assistance, certain elements of compensation (e.g., compensation for physical and moral damages) may be implemented in the domestic theory of law and legislation. International studies indicate that the level of victimization of the population of European countries, which show the number of actual victims of crimes, is at average of 16% of the total population. In this regard, the possibility of the reception of the Swedish legal doctrine devoted to the protection of victims of crime is of particular importance for the Russian theory of law.

Duties to Distrust: The Decentring of Economic and White-collar Crime Policing in Sweden

This article examines a general trend towards the ‘decentring’ of the policing of economic and white-collar crime in Sweden in recent decades. As a theoretical point of departure, we discuss how th ...

What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Abstract: Sweden is known for its tolerance and liberal policies. Yet, sixty percent of Sweden’s mosques and Islamic centres had been subjected to threats, vandal­ism, or arson. Muslim women, in particular, seem to be targets of hate crimes, but rarely report incidents to the police. In 2014, the Sweden Democrats, a proto-fascist nationalist party, gained close to 13 percent of the national vote after a fervent anti-Muslim campaign supported by a network of social media outlets in which incitements to violence against Muslim-Swedes proliferated. Based on fieldwork, surveys, and open-ended interviews with 100 Muslim citizens and 40 anti-Muslim activist, as well as a review of anti-Muslim online calls to arms, this essay addresses the surge of anti-Muslim hate crime in Sweden, exploring the role of violence in the proto-fascist attempt to ‘recreate’ a homogenous nation that never existed. While the literature on ultranationalist-inspired hate crime typically sees the perpetrators as angry white men, the nationalists interviewed in this study claimed to act out of love, not hate. By examining how love and hate may reinforce each other, this essay argues that anti-Muslim hate crime is a form of political violence that patrols the borders and identities it produces, and shows the extent to which victims may adopt the perpetrator’s gaze and experience their own bodies as deviant, and out of place in their own home country.

Environmental and Wildlife Crime in Sweden

This article discusses the nature of environmental and wildlife crime (EWC) in Sweden. A review of the international literature helps to fra me the Swedish case study. The novelty of this study lies in using 11 years of police records as well as newspaper articles (Media archives) as a basis for analysis. Geographical Inf ormation System (GIS) supports the spatial analysis of EWC at municipal and coordinate levels. Since most EWCs take place outside large urban areas, this study looks closely at the cases of EWC in the rural county of Vasternorrland. Findings show an increase in both E WCs recorded by the police and covered by the media in the last decade. EWC-geography varies by crime type: rural areas are in general more prone to unlawful handling of chemicals and to nature and wildlife crimes than are urban areas, where dumping and other minor EWCs are more common. Detection of EWCs is highly dependent on people’s routine activi ties and accessibility. Drawing upon the Swedish evidence, the article closes with suggestio ns for improvements in research on environmental and wildlife crimes.

Predicting fear of crime

Criminologists have indicated that gender is one of the strongest predictors of fear of crime. The leading explanation for gender differences in fear of crime levels is the shadow of sexual assault hypothesis, claiming that women’s fear of sexual assault is one of the most salient factors influencing their fear of other crimes. Using a sample of 1,051 university students, this study examines the predictors of fear of crime in Sweden by testing the shadow of sexual assault hypothesis. Like the work of Ferraro, the current study suggests that the fear of sexual assault shadows the fear of other offenses, especially crimes that involve face-to-face contact between victims and offenders. Across all models, perceived risk is a consistent predictor of fear of crime among university students.

Bipolar Disorder and Violent Crime

Although bipolar disorder is associated with various adverse health outcomes, the relationship with violent crime is uncertain. To determine the risk of violent crime in bipolar disorder and to contextualize the findings with a systematic review. Longitudinal investigations using general population and unaffected sibling control individuals. Population-based registers of hospital discharge diagnoses, sociodemographic information, and violent crime in Sweden from January 1, 1973, through December 31, 2004. Individuals with 2 or more discharge diagnoses of bipolar disorder (n = 3743), general population controls (n = 37 429), and unaffected full siblings of individuals with bipolar disorder (n = 4059). Violent crime (actions resulting in convictions for homicide, assault, robbery, arson, any sexual offense, illegal threats, or intimidation). During follow-up, 314 individuals with bipolar disorder (8.4%) committed violent crime compared with 1312 general population controls (3.5%) (adjusted odds ratio, 2.3; 95% confidence interval, 2.0-2.6). The risk was mostly confined to patients with substance abuse comorbidity (adjusted odds ratio, 6.4; 95% confidence interval, 5.1-8.1). The risk increase was minimal in patients without substance abuse comorbidity (adjusted odds ratio, 1.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.0-1.5), which was further attenuated when unaffected full siblings of individuals with bipolar disorder were used as controls (1.1; 0.7-1.6). We found no differences in rates of violent crime by clinical subgroups (manic vs depressive or psychotic vs nonpsychotic). The systematic review identified 8 previous studies (n = 6383), with high heterogeneity between studies. Odds ratio for violence risk ranged from 2 to 9. Although current guidelines for the management of individuals with bipolar disorder do not recommend routine risk assessment for violence, this assertion may need review in patients with comorbid substance abuse.

Violent crime runs in families: a total population study of 12.5 million individuals

Etiological theory and prior research with small or selected samples suggest that interpersonal violence clusters in families. However, the strength and pattern of this aggregation remains mostly unknown. We investigated all convictions for violent crime in Sweden 1973-2004 among more than 12.5 million individuals in the nationwide Multi-Generation Register, and compared rates of violent convictions among relatives of violent individuals with relatives of matched, non-violent controls, using a nested case-control design. We found strong familial aggregation of interpersonal violence among first-degree relatives [e.g. odds ratio (OR)sibling 4.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.2-4.3], lower for more distant relatives (e.g. OR cousin 1.9, 95% CI 1.9-1.9). Risk patterns across biological and adoptive relations provided evidence for both genetic and environmental influences on the development of violent behavior. Familial risks were stronger among women, in higher socio-economic strata, and for early onset interpersonal violence. There were crime-specific effects (e.g. OR sibling for arson 22.4, 95% CI 12.2-41.2), suggesting both general and subtype-specific familial risk factors for violent behavior. The observed familiality should be accounted for in criminological research, applied violence risk assessment, and prevention efforts.

Hell on Earth

A number of security scholars and policy-makers now approach the fictional narratives of popular culture as both a source of and a tool for imagining current and future threats and risks following the ‘failure of imagination’ that was 9/11. Building on this line of thought, this article assumes that contemporary popular fiction may be important to explorations of national and global security not only because elements of the security community have begun to turn to popular fiction in security scenario thinking and planning, but because people themselves have long turned to the popular cultural works that surround them as a particularly accessible source of security scenarios, thinking and even security practices. With the help of critical literary and cultural theories around the supernatural and crime narratology, as well as existing critical security studies scholarship, this article examines two contemporary popular cultural narratives, ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ from the United States and the Martin Beck series from Sweden, and asks how each narrative can be said to depict the new global security environment and the notion of borderless threats. How does a popular cultural fantasy narrative about energetic teens and demons in America’s low-welfare ‘Ownership Society’ represent the internal—external security boundary as compared with a long-standing popular realist narrative about tired cops and crime in Sweden’s high-welfare ‘People’s Home’? Although such a comparison may at first seem far-fetched, in this article I argue that comparing apples and oranges in this instance proves valuable, since the differing fictional modes at work in ‘Buffy’ and ‘Beck’ not only have much to say about the kinds of internal—external security images and actors that are presented in each, but also the kind of ‘security imagination’ that each narrative makes possible.

Fear of Crime Among the Poor in Britain and Sweden

This paper investigates whether and why the poor are more afraid of crime than are the non-poor in Britain and Sweden. The purpose is to describe and interpret fear of crime as a consequence of poverty, emphasizing contextual and institutional differences. The results show that the poor are more afraid of crime than are the non-poor in both countries. In Britain, the poor are more afraid than are the non-poor as a consequence of their vulnerability in the labour market. In Sweden, no explanation could be found as to why the poor are more afraid. Thus far, it seems that it is the very situation of poverty that is related to fear of crime in Sweden. Furthermore, the results show that in Sweden fear of crime is generally more related to experience of crime, while in Britain fear of crime is generally more related to vulnerability in the labour market.

Patrolling the corporation—the auditors’ duty to report crime in Sweden

This paper analyzes the duty of external auditors in Swedish joint stock corporations to report suspicions of crime to the public prosecutor. The focus is on the auditors’ experiences since the enactment in 1999. First the background, purpose and critique of the legislation are described, and analyzed with regulation theory. Thereafter follows an investigation of the effects of the legislation. Empirically, the analyses are based on official documents as well as primary data from a postal inquiry survey and secondary data from previous interview studies. The analyses show that the consequences of the legislation concern the auditors’ professional self-identity rather than their client relations. The decrease in client trust feared by the profession did not come about. The legal effect of the reform is ambiguous. On the one hand, there are indications that the legislation is disarmed by some auditors through a “creative compliance”. On the other hand the survey demonstrates a widespread “responsive” utilization of the duty, making it a useful complement to other crime control.

Economic crime in Sweden

This article describes and explains the conflicts surrounding economic crime in Sweden between 1975 and 1997. A theoretical approach is employed that views social problems as collective outcomes arising from a clash of interests between different actors. The empirical material comprises public documents and the method employed is a form of qualitative content analysis. The study focuses on the views and positions of the actors concerned in relation to central themes of conflict, such as the phenomenon's definition, extent, victims and harm, causes and countermeasures. Major changes over time have seen the welfare state experiencing competition from the market system as the most prominent category of victimization, and the regulation/control strategy giving way to a strategy of deregulation and self-regulation. The two dominant constellations of actors are an offensive leftist bloc and a more conservative centre-right bloc. These groups represent dominant frames—the social justice/solidarity frame and the deregulation/tax-cut frame—that have served as an ideological infrastructure giving meaning to the economic crime discourse. A clear politicization and polarization have incorporated the economic crime issue into one of 20th-century politics' most well-established conflict patterns. The article concludes with a few comparative impressions based on the limited international literature available in this area.

Ethnicity, Crime, and Immigration

Members of some disadvantaged minority groups in every Western country are disproportionately likely to be arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for violent, property, and drug crimes. This is true whether the minority groups are members of different "racial" groups from the majority population, for example, blacks or Afro-Caribbeans in Canada, England, or the United States, or of different ethnic backgrounds, for example, North African Arabs in France or the Netherlands, orirrespective of race or ethnicity-are recent migrants from other countries, for example, Yugoslavs or Eastern Europeans in Germany and Finns in Sweden. Important social policy dilemmas that are seen in individual countries to be uniquely their own, such as race relations in the United States or assimilation of Maghreb-derived guest workers in France or the experience of Aborigines in Australia, are not unique at all but are instead variations on common themes of social structure

Combating business crime in Sweden: A performance audit

This article describes an extensive audit of the work of government agencies against business crime in Sweden, as an example of a performance evaluation by an auditing institution. Business crime was shown to be a major and growing social problem. Manifold measures are required, and these must be directed and coordinated by the Government and the Riksdag. The cooperation of the commercial sector is also needed. The investigation was made by the Parliamentary Auditors of Sweden, which is the smaller of the two auditing institutions in the country. The method used in the investigation can be described as an “interactive” one. The intention was to create a thorough understanding of the issue and a shared approach to the problem. This aim seems to have been achieved to a great extent.