We assess the positional accuracy of address-based geocoding of shooting incidents relative to the location recorded via acoustic gunshot detection technology. This provides a test of the accuracy of typical address-based geocoding methods used in crime analysis, as well as evidence for how much accuracy one gains when using sensors. Examining more than 1,000 shooting incidents in Wilmington, North Carolina, we find that the majority of address-based incidents are quite accurate, on average within 60 feet of the actual location (using a street centerline geocoder) or within 90 feet (using Google rooftop geocoding). Based on the incident narrative, however, we identify a subset of transcription errors in over 10 percent of the cases that increases the distance between the true shooting location and that geocoded using address data. This suggests that mechanisms to prevent human errors might be more frugal than those relying on sensors in geocoding shooting incidents.

The global public health problem of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is typically tied to gender inequality. Contrary to what would be expected, however, a 2012 survey conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) showed lifetime prevalence rates of IPVAW in the Nordic countries which were among the highest of the 28 EU member states, despite these countries being rated as some of the most gender-equal in the world. The aim of this article is to enable a furthered understanding of this Nordic Paradox through providing an overview of knowledge about IPVAW in Sweden in relation to the apparent paradox. It assembles information on IPVAW prevalence, on Sweden's legal and policy framework, on perceived remaining challenges and limitations in responses to IPVAW, and on potential explanations for the Nordic Paradox as expressed in previous research. We conclude that a clear resolution to the Nordic Paradox has not yet been established. Further research is therefore needed.

The business improvement district (BID) model has spread rapidly worldwide and has recently caught the eye of Swedish politicians and practitioners as a feasible approach to reduce crime in urban neighbourhoods. Research on the crime-preventive effects of BIDs is, however, limited to a handful of US studies, and there is a lack of research from European contexts. The aim of the present study is to fill gaps in knowledge by examining the crime-preventive effects of a BID-inspired property owner collaboration (BID-Malmö) implemented in a residential neighbourhood in Malmö, Sweden. Based on the use of a difference-in-difference estimator and weighted displacement quotients, our results demonstrate a significant reduction in crimes reported to the police in the intervention neighbourhood relative to control areas, with signs of spatial diffusion of benefits rather than displacement of crime to adjacent areas. This result is, however, mainly driven by a decrease in reported incidents of vandalism, while no effect is observed in regard to violent crime in public places. Implications of the findings and further research are discussed.

Gender equality is widely accepted as an important explanatory factor for the occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women. However, the relationship is not straightforward, as high country-level gender equality is not always associated with lower IPV prevalence. We apply 'multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy' (MAIHDA) to (i) quantify the extent to which the country of residence determines individual risk of IPV and (ii) investigate the association between country-level gender equality and individual experience of IPV, and to which extent this association explains the observed between-country differences. Using data from the 2012 European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights survey on violence against women we applied MAIHDA to analyse experiences of physical and sexual IPV among 42 000 women living in the EU. We fitted three consecutive models, and calculated specific individual contextual effects (measures of association) as well as the general contextual effects (measures of variance) and the discriminatory accuracy (DA). Our findings show that the relationship between experiences of IPV and country-level gender equality is weak and heterogeneous. The general contextual effect is small and the DA is low, indicating that country boundaries are rather irrelevant for understanding the individual risk of IPV. Findings from the present study do not imply that that gender equality is unimportant in relation to IPV, but rather that information on country of residence or country-level gender equality does not discriminate very well with regards to individual experiences of IPV in cross-national comparisons.

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.

Purpose – Organisations working with children have acknowledged that unaccompanied refugee minors (URM) across Europe are exposed to environments and situations that put them at risk for becoming addicted to drugs or becoming involved in crime. The purpose of this paper is to study an examination of existing international research concerning URM and of whether, and if so how, issues relating to drug use and criminality among these children are discussed in the international literature. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review was conducted using PsycINFO, PubMed, Sociological abstracts and ERIC databases, which together cover the social and behavioural science and also medicine. Findings – Findings from the present review show that the issues of drug abuse and criminality among URM are rarely acknowledged in the international research literature. When the occurrence of substance abuse and/or criminality is discussed, it is often in relation to mental health problems and in terms of self-medication, i.e. that alcohol or drugs are used by the URM to cope with painful experiences or mental health problems, and also with the challenges of integrating into a new society, difficulties finding work, unsuitable living conditions and a lack of social support. Originality/value – This review shows that several researchers have emphasised that untreated mental health problems, stressful living conditions and a lack of support and control might put these children at risk for substance abuse and criminality, and this suggests a need for further research in this area.

Swedish as well as foreign publications have reported a sharp increase in firearm-related violence in Sweden. None of these publications, however, combined official statistics from the Swedish police, the National Council for Crime Prevention (NCCP), and the National Board of Health and Welfare (NBHW), to study firearm-related violence in the last 2 years: 2016-2017. The results of this study show that firearm-related violence in Sweden has greatly increased compared to other Scandinavian countries, especially in recent years. This is probably the reason for the increase in the rate of deadly violence. Further, the increasing number of gangs and criminal networks, as well as the high inflow of illegal firearms to Sweden, is believed to have contributed to the disturbing increase of firearm-related violence in the country. Although Sweden is one of the most democratic and freest countries in the world, and has some of the world's strictest gun laws, the country still faces significant firearm-related violence. This study not only reveals the increasing rate of firearm-related violence in Sweden, but also shows that Sweden is in dire need of additional policies to combat the illegal flow of firearms and to curb gang criminality.

This presentation focuses on irregular migrants´ entitlement to social services in Sweden. According to the European Council (2005) it is vital to incorporate the position of irregular migrants in the principle of social inclusion based on human rights discourse. Furthermore, the Council has pointed out that issues on social rights are unclear in regard of irregular migrants and addresses them in recommendations. This unclarity is confirmed by the case of Sweden. Irregular migrants in Sweden are a heterogeneous group with the common position that they lack required permits to stay in the country. They consist of rejected asylum-seekers, those who violated the terms of visa, other “over-stayers” and persons who entered irregularly. An initial study mapping the situation in Swedish municipalities´ social services showed that the number of irregular migrants varies, but an increasing amount of encounters are taken place. The empirical study shows that such cases are processed in very different ways and concerns a variety of social problems such as housing, social allowance, family law and domestic violence. Special concern seems to be taken to children and families with children in some municipalities. Furthermore, most municipalities lack policies or guidelines. This creates a possible base for arbitrariness and weakens the legal security for the irregular migrants and consequentially leaves a considerable discretionary space to the social worker in their role as street-level bureaucrats. The Swedish Social Services Act (2001:453) is a soft law which implies appreciable need of substantialization and involves legal interpretation and application in practice. In the case of irregular migrants this process is augmented, given the unclarity of the irregular migrants´ social rights. In sum, social rights for irregular migrants stand out as a field in need of further considerations and policymaking on national as well as international level, bearing in mind human rights obligations.

Abstract The life-course career pattern of female criminals is still a neglected dimension in criminology. In the present study we re-analyzed the Project Metropolitan data for 7719 boys and 7398 girls up to age 30 with respect to antisocial career patterns, guided by the Moffitt model of life-course persistent and adolescence-limited crime careers. Females were much less predisposed to offend than males, but when they did they tended to follow a similar set of trajectories as men in the development of crime over time. Six career patterns were identified, which had meaningful and different associations with crime characteristics as well as a set of non-criminal indices of deviant behaviour (school and abuse problems). A new finding was that the recruitment of females into criminal careers, in contrast to males, showed two peaks, one at age 13 and one at age 26 which corresponds to Moffitt’s third career pattern (adult onset – chronic pattern). Key words: Crime career pattern, sex differences, criminal versatility, school problems, drug abuse.