Hate crimes have been found to have more severe consequences than other parallel crimes that were not motivated by the offenders’ hostility toward someone because of their real or perceived difference. Many countries today have hate crime laws that make it possible to increase the penalties for such crimes. The main critique against hate crime laws is that they punish thoughts. Instead, proponents of hate crime laws argue that sentence enhancement is justified because hate crimes cause greater harm. This study compares consequences of victimization across groups of victims to test for whom hate crimes hurt more. We analyzed data that were collected through questionnaires distributed to almost 3,000 students at Malmö University, Sweden, during 2013. The survey focused on students’ exposure to, and experiences of, hate crime. A series of separate logistic regression analyses were performed, which analyzed the likelihood for reporting consequences following a crime depending on crime type, perceived motive, repeat victimization, gender, and age. Analyzed as one victim group, victims of hate crime more often reported any of the consequences following a crime compared with victims of parallel non–hate-motivated crimes. And, overall victims of threat more often reported consequences compared with victims of sexual harassment and minor assault. However, all hate crime victim groups did not report more consequences than the non–hate crime victim group. The results provide grounds for questioning that hate crimes hurt the individual victim more. It seems that hate crimes do not hurt all more but hate crimes hurt some victims of some crimes more in some ways.

Despite differences in legislation, culture and societal organization, open use and dealing of drugs is a common problem in societies around the globe. In Open Drug Scenes (ODS), use and dealing of drugs take place in public. This study investigates the spatial nature of ODS in Stockholm, Sweden. The study is an exploratory way to show whether and how ODS influence their surroundings, through an analysis of crime statistics and a citizen safety survey. The study found 48 ODS in the Stockholm region, and just above 50 percent of them showed disrupted symptoms such as crime hotspots in the surrounding areas. The feeling of being unsafe, shootings, and crime concentration at these places is evidence of the impact ODS has on communities. We conclude by making suggestions on how to better understand and respond to the problems of ODS and their local impact. 

The introduction of experience research using smartphone applications has enabled researchers to explore previously uncharted territories within the social science landscape. The use of experience research methodologies may both avoid some of the biases associated with conventional survey methods and enable researchers to gather information on situational dimensions of different outcomes. While existing smartphone-based experience research is found in several scientific disciplines, one outcome that has rarely been studied using this approach is fear of crime. Although fear of crime here only serves as an example of an outcome that may benefit from being examined in situ, the main focus of this article is directed at assessing the feasibility of gathering momentary and daily assessments on fear of crime using an experience sampling research design. A sample of 191 university students participated in a non-incentivized research study by downloading the smartphone application STUNDA, completing a baseline survey and repeatedly answering signal-contingent surveys, event-contingent surveys, and daily assessments across a self-defined study period. The results indicate that it is feasible to conduct research on fear of crime using a smartphone application. However, variations in participation across groups indicate that the methodology is perhaps best suited to dedicated groups of participants with a special interest in the studied outcome. Methodological considerations and implications for future research are discussed.

Hot spot policing is an established concept that is proven to reduce crime. It is mostly done through foot patrol or car patrols. In the present study it is tested whether helicopters can produce a deterrent policing effect to reduce the amount of vehicle arsons in Sweden on larger hot areas. Sweden tends to have elevated levels of vehicle arsons in August, with about 20% of police districts responsible for 50% of the cases. The risk narrative revolves around youth congregating in public places in deprived neighborhoods to generate disturbances, and the disruption of the risk narrative tested here is based on providing deterrence through helicopter police presence. During 6 weeks in August and September of 2019 police helicopters patrolled four police districts in Sweden to attempt to prevent vehicle arsons. Our data comprise police reports of vehicle arson, and time stamped satellite data over the location for police helicopters. The evaluation considers whether there is an intention to treat effect from this project, in addition to whether there is an effect of actual helicopter presence. The study finds no significant effect of intention to treat, nor of actual dosage.

The aim of this article is to outline a theoretical framework for how the concept of trust can be used as analytical tool for a study of the aim, design, output and societal legitimacy of a Swedish welfare programme conducted to reduce disparities in health and social inequities and to give newborn a positive start in life. This programme, labelled Grow Safely, implies that home visits will be conducted at six occasions at first-time parents by different professionals: child health care nurses, midwifes, dental hygienists and counsellors from the social services. Prior to when the intervention is carried out, the involved professionals in the programme will be participating in training in order to increase the possibility that the home visits will be carried out in similar ways and be followed the same manual throughout the programme.

The welfare programme will be based on relationships on different levels: between professionals and parents, between different professionals, between professionals and managers, and between organisations. Trust is believed to be of significance for the development of relationships as well as for the social legitimacy of the implantation of welfare programmes. Therefore, our ambition is to embrace a broad perspective on trust, combining insights from a variety of research traditions and analyses on macro, meso and micro levels in the outline a model for how the concept of trust can be used as an analytical tool for studying welfare programmes like Grow Safely. We argue for that the model can capture the significance of trust at different levels: individual, professional, organisational and societal levels as well as interplays between these levels, and consequently be useful in to analyse implementations of welfare programmes.

This design case describes the creation and implementation of a 4-week, online, and collaborative learning experience between criminology students and faculty at two universities: one in the United States and one in Sweden. Both universities have a diverse student body that includes first-generation college students and underrepresented students. The collaboration gave students an opportunity to explore criminology in an authentic global context and harness similar benefits to a study abroad program without the financial burden. The project was grounded in instructional design theories of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) and best practices for cross-cultural team collaboration. The design involved the creation of an engaging learning environment where learners worked together to accomplish a shared goal and co-create knowledge. The design offered students a unique learning experience that broadened their understanding of criminology theories in two distinct national contexts. We present the case through design decisions, implementation outcomes, a rich description of the context, and a holistic reflective view from the designer, faculty, and learner perspectives.

The principle of proportionality is used in order to reach a resolution of conflicts between a right on the one hand a and a competing right or interest on the other. The core of the principle is the balancing act between these conflicting rights and interests. I will discuss how the balancing act may be used to benefit the Swedish authorities’ handling of suspected cases of female genital mutilation. Investigation of suspected cases may entail involuntary genital examinations and other interventions that infringes upon the right to privacy and family life. How much state invasion of privacy of individuals, is proportionate to the interest of checking for an inadmissible practice? How may officials balance between conflicting laws when they handle cases of suspected female genital mutilation?

In later decades, the principle of proportionality has gained increased critic, e. g. for its assumed moral neutrality, posing as a pure technical way of perform a cost benefit analysis. The principle doesn’t purport to struggle with moral issues. At the same time, it is obvious that the principle itself rests upon assumptions regarding what is good in a society. In Sweden, as well as in many other countries in western Europe, there is a strong perception that female genital mutilation is a severe social problem. The perception remains although it has been refuted in research. How do public ideas about the scope of the problem in Sweden, as in other western countries, affect the choices made when handling specific cases regarding suspected female genital mutilation? Is it even possible to reach a fair and proportionate balance?

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.

One means of advancing police research is to examine the implementation of studies conducted in the field of police practice. The design and implementation of experiments in police practice is complex because they require the two often separate worlds of research and practice to work together. One way to move forward towards evidence-based policing would be to bridge the gap between research and practice, while also bridging the gap between practice and policy. This article analyses how a randomized controlled trial was designed and implemented in the field of drug policing in Sweden. The analysis is done by comparing the drug enforcement trial to the experimental guidelines presented by Sherman (2010) and by exploring survey responses provided by participating police officers. The study identifies three themes with special relevance for the pracademic perspective; frustration, credibility, and officer perspective. The study concludes that the involvement of pracademic researchers may facilitate better communication between practitioners and police management, enhance evaluation, and improve the chances of changing police practice.

Background

In this study we examine whether the association between internet use and drinking could be different for different types of internet activities among adolescents. We also adjust for a number of theoretically relevant factors such as peer influence, unstructured activities, impulsivity and parental monitoring.

Method

The data are drawn from four cross-sectional surveys from the years 2016–2019 in eight municipalities in southern Sweden. The sample consist of 3733 adolescents in year 9 of compulsory education, aged 14–15.

Results

The results show that there is an association between internet activities and drinking and that there are differences depending on what young people do online. Self-presentation and online sociality are both positively associated with drinking, whereas news consumption and playing games are negatively associated with drinking. The results also show that the association between the different internet activities and drinking becomes weaker when adjusting for the control variables.

Conclusion

This study suggests that more research is needed to examine the correlations between different forms of internet activities and drinking among adolescents in more detail.