Commensurate measures of alcohol-related consequences across countries and cultures are critical for addressing the global burden of hazardous alcohol use. The Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI), developed and validated in the United States, is a popular measure of alcohol problems. This study examined measurement invariance of the RAPI across samples of U.S. and Swedish high school seniors. Latent mean differences in alcohol problems across countries and differences in associations between alcohol problems with alcohol use and protective behavioral strategies (PBS) were also examined. The RAPI was scalar invariant. Swedish students reported fewer problems than U.S. students (latent mean difference = −0.19, p = .047). In both samples, the RAPI was positively correlated with alcohol use frequency and quantity (ps < .001), and negatively correlated with PBS use (ps < .05). Overall, the RAPI demonstrated measurement invariance, and we found evidence for its validity across samples of U.S. and Swedish high school seniors.

Objectives: Assessing the predictive accuracy of using prior crime, place attributes, ambient population, community structural, and social characteristics, in isolation and combined when forecasting different violent and property crimes. Method: Using multilevel negative binomial regression, crime is forecasted into the subsequent year, in 50-m grid-cells. Incidence rate ratio (IRR), Prediction Accuracy Index (PAI), and Prediction Efficacy Index (PEI*) are interpreted for all combined crime generators and community characteristics. This study is partially a test of a crude version of the Risk Terrain Modeling technique. Results: Where crime has been in the past, the risk for future crime is higher. Where characteristics conducive to crime congregate, the risk for crime is higher. Community structural characteristics and ambient population are important for some crime types. Combining variables increases the accuracy for most crime types, looking at the IRR. Taking the geographical area into account, crime history in combination with both place- and neighborhood characteristics reaches similar accuracy as crime history alone for most crime types and most hotspot cutoffs. Conclusions: Crime history, place-, and neighborhood-level attributes are all important when trying to accurately forecast crime, long-term at the micro-place. Only counting past crimes, however, still does a really good job.

The cryptomarket ecosystem has become increasingly volatile and fragmented with sites shutting down on short notice. Displacement to new marketplaces is tricky when the original location was domestically oriented. We examine the spatial and temporal displacement of 83 Swedish vendors in the aftermath of the Flugsvamp 3.0 shutdown. Vendors rejected the successor Flugsvamp 4.0 and moved to German-run Archetyp Market. Using quantitative cross-sectional data from Archetyp Market we measure bivariate correlations between the temporal displacement and status-related variables. We found moderately strong correlation between vendors' number of sales per day and the order of their relocation to Archetyp. We also examined cryptomarket discussion forums and blogs during the time of the Flugsvamp 3.0 shutdown. This qualitative data supported the finding that migration choices of high-status vendors inspired others to follow.

The study examines whether school-level immigrant concentration is related to students' involvement in violence, and whether students' moral values moderate the relationship between immigrant concentration and violence. The study is based on six nationally representative school surveys conducted by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention between 1999 and 2011, with a combined sample of 38,711 adolescents. We have combined different surveys to create one large pooled data set to evaluate segregation effects at the school level. Multilevel linear probability models are used to examine cross-level interaction effects. This study shows that contextual effects impact students differently, and that the relationship between immigrant concentration and violence is considerably stronger for adolescents with weak personal moral values. The paper provides empirical support for the differential vulnerability hypothesis. Policy and practice would benefit from a focus on the further development of programs and interventions that target personal moral values, not least in schools.

OBJECTIVE: This study used causal inference to estimate the longitudinal effects of contagion in cohabitants and family members on university students' mental health and academic self-efficacy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DESIGN: A prospective longitudinal study including a baseline online measurement in May 2020, and online follow-ups after 5 months and 10 months. Participants were recruited through open-access online advertising.

SETTING: Public universities and university colleges in Sweden.

PARTICIPANTS: The analytical sample included 2796 students.

OUTCOME MEASURES: Contagion in cohabitants and in family members was assessed at baseline and at the 5-month follow-up. Mental health and academic self-efficacy were assessed at the 5-month and 10-month follow-ups.

RESULTS: Mild symptoms reported in cohabitants at baseline resulted in negative mental health effects at follow-up 5 months later, and mild baseline symptoms in family members resulted in negative effects on academic self-efficacy at follow-ups both 5 and 10 months later.

CONCLUSIONS: Notwithstanding the lack of precision in estimated effects, the findings emphasise the importance of social relationships and the challenges of providing students with sufficient support in times of crisis.

Research topic/aim

Students’ degree project could if involving research on people, risk infringing on individual´s privacy, processing sensitivepersonal data and encompassing difficult ethical issues, not least regarding informed consent. If these projects would havebeen performed by researchers, the projects would have required prior approval by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority inaccordance with the Swedish Act (2003:460) concerning the ethical review of research involving humans. However, since theprojects are performed by students, who are not obliged to undergo this review, it is unclear how an ethically acceptableapproach is to be guaranteed. It is well known that such student projects are carried out, but the extent to which this happens has not previously been investigated, neither in Sweden nor in other countries. We thereby present our experiences of a formalized ethical review process at a Higher Institution site in Sweden.

Theoretical framework

Establishing such formalized ethical review can lead to a greater consensus on which materials and methods are suitable forthe students, which in turn leads to increased equal treatment. Also serve as a pedagogical support resource for supervisors, who may experience ambiguities regarding research ethics issues and student projects. By gathering and building up ethics expertise at the university, a specialised support function is also developed that can offer advice and guidance, perspectives, and training. Through interaction and cooperation, the support function can contribute to an active learning environment, where students and supervisors are stimulated to reflect on their own decision-making (Fosnot, 2005). Experimental and experiential learning emphasizes that didactics is best achieved through active participation where participants deal with realproblems (Kolb, 1984). Ethically reflective learning specifically emphasizes the development of the student's ability to reflecton their own values, ethical dilemmas, and decision-making on ethical issues (Gill & Thomson, 2020). Common to these theories is the perspective that a formalized assessment offers students and teachers the opportunity to exchangeperspectives and to deal with ethical issues in a more concrete way.

Methodological design

Essays that have passed examination during the years 2014-2017 were included. A total of 1215 essays were read through,and the presence of ethically sensitive content was coded in a pre-established protocol.Expected conclusions/findings Out of a total of 1215 reviewed essays, 277 (22.8%) contained ethically sensitive content; the most common was sensitivepersonal data relating to health 165 (13.6%). In accordance, one in five undergraduate students completed studies that would have required the approval of the Ethical Review Authority, had they been researchers. Ethically sensitive content was proportionally more common in essays at the advanced level (32.9%) than at the first level (20.4%). Only 191 of the 277 essays (68.9%) that should have undergone a formalized ethical review process did so. The implementation of formalized ethical review of thesis projects seems to work best when the student's supervisor has their own experience of ethical review. Different institutional/disciplinary cultures also seem to have a large impact.

Relevance to Nordic educational research

The implementation of ethically acceptable approaches in student projects is an under-researched area, nationally andinternationally. The relevance is thereby urged. 

Hur vanligt är det att studenter bedriver projekt som inbegriper etiskt känsligt innehåll? I denna artikel redogörs för en undersökning rörande ett högskolepedagogiskt utvecklingsarbete som avser formaliserad etikprövning av studentuppsatser. Undersökningen inbegriper uppsatser som examinerats och godkänts vid fakulteten för hälsa och samhälle vid Malmö universitet under åren 2014–2017. Med etiskt känsligt innehåll avses här känsliga personuppgifter samt intervenerande metoder, som vid forskning kräver etikprövning enligt lag (2003:460) om etikprövning av forskning som avser människor. Av totalt 1215 granskade uppsatser hade 277 (22,8 %) etiskt känsligt innehåll; vanligast var känsliga personuppgifter avseende hälsa. 165 (13.6 %) uppsatser innehöll sådana uppgifter. Etiskt känsligt innehåll var mer vanligt förekommande i uppsatser på avancerad nivå (32,9 %) än på grundnivå (20,4 %). Var femte student på grundnivå genomförde alltså studier som skulle ha krävt Etikprövningsmyndighetens godkännande om de hade varit forskare.

Enligt fakultetens riktlinjer ska samtliga studentarbeten med ett innehåll som skulle ha krävt förhandsprövning vid forskning förhandsprövas av fakultetens etikråd för studentarbeten. Men endast 191 av de 277 uppsatser (68,9%) som borde ha genomgått sådan handläggning passerade etikrådet. Implementeringen av formaliserad etikprövning av uppsatsprojekt tycks fungera bäst då studentens handledare är forskarutbildad och kan antas ha egen erfarenhet av etikprövning. Vår undersökning visade också att etikprövningen implementerats i olika grad vid olika institutioner. I artikeln diskuteras möjliga förklaringar till denna skillnad.

This study adds to knowledge on place-based fear of crime. First, by proposing a method to coordinate and code unsafe locations from an open-ended question in a random sample survey among residents of Uppsala, Sweden. The method is performed through an automated script in R with manual work steps. Second, by identifying types of functional locations, e.g. traffic centres, city parks, green spaces etc., reported by residents as unsafe. Third, by examining whether these unsafe locations spatially cluster. Fourth, by examining whether unsafe locations or clusters of unsafe locations also tend to overlap with hotspots of crime. Fifth, by examining to what extent living conditions are related to the occurrence of unsafe locations and their potential spatial clustering.

Objectives: To explore the extent to which unsafe locations are concentrated to micro-places within the city of Malmö, Sweden, and whether there is a temporal stability in these micro-places over time.

Methods: Information on unsafe locations is obtained from an open-ended item across three waves of a random sample community survey. Reported unsafe locations are geocoded as polygon, polyline, and point features and merged with a 200 by 200-m grid-cell network using both unadjusted and weighted counts.

Results: The results suggest that unsafe locations are concentrated to a small share of grid-cells using different metrics. There are also signs of spatial clustering and a temporal stability of unsafe locations over time.

Conclusions: As unsafe locations are concentrated to a small share of micro-places the results have important implications for both theory and practice. However, further research exploring unsafety and fear of crime at micro-places is highly warranted.

BACKGROUND: Poor self-control is a strong correlate of criminal propensity. It is conceptualized and operationalized differently in criminology than in other scientific traditions.

AIMS: (1) To verify the dimensionality of the criminological Grasmick self-control items, other self-regulation items and morality ones. (2) To re-interpret the dimensions using a clinical perspective, a taxonomic/diagnostic model and references to possible "biological underpinnings." (3) Validate the dimensions by associations with crime.

METHOD: Population: all persons born 1995 in Malmö and living there at age 12. A random sample (N = 525) filled in a comprehensive self-report questionnaire on themes like personality, crime/abuse and social aspects at age 15, 16 and 18. Age 18 data were analysed: 191 men and 220 women.

RESULTS: Self-regulation items were 4-dimensional: ADHD problems (Behavior control and Executive skills) and two Aggression factors. Morality items formed a fifth dimension. Negative Affect and Social interaction factors covered the rest of the variance. The validity of these factors was backed up by correlations with similar items/factors. Self-regulation subscales predicted crimes better than the Grasmick scale; an interaction with morality improved prediction still further. Sex differences were over-all small with three exceptions: Aggression, Morality and Negative affect.

CONCLUSION: We identified four dimensions of the 20-item Grasmick instrument: Cognitive action control (impulsiveness/sensation seeking, response inhibition), Executive skills/future orientation, Affective/aggression reactivity and Aggression control. All should be possible to link to brain functional modules. Much can be gained if we are able to formulate an integrated model of self-regulation including distinct brain functional modules, process-and trait-oriented models, relevant diagnoses and clinical experiences of individual cases.

In this article, we investigate situations involving firearm violence in Sweden. The spatiotemporal distribution of records is assessed in different contexts across the country and linked to land use, demographic, and socio-economic characteristics by area and by street segment. The findings emphasize the prevalence of evening shootings, particularly in economically disadvantaged areas where young people congregate in public places often in residential areas, in parks, in playgrounds, and in transit areas. Although two-thirds of shootings took place in larger urban municipalities, our study sheds light on the non-uniform distribution of gun violence along the rural-urban continuum. We conclude by offering suggestions for future research and practical interventions to address this pressing issue that negatively affects people and communities.

Background: Home oxygen therapy (HOT) improves survival in patients with hypoxaemic chronic respiratory disease. Most patients evaluated for HOT are former or active smokers. Oxygen accelerates combustion and smoking may increase the risk of burn injuries and fire hazards; therefore, it is considered a contraindication for HOT in many countries. However, there is variability in the practices and policies regarding this matter. This multidisciplinary Swedish taskforce aimed to review the potential benefits and risks of smoking in relation to HOT, including medical, practical, legal and ethical considerations.

Methods: The taskforce of the Swedish Respiratory Society comprises 15 members across respiratory medicine, nursing, medical law and ethics. HOT effectiveness and adverse risks related to smoking, as well as practical, legal and ethical considerations, were reviewed, resulting in five general questions and four PICO (population–intervention–comparator–outcome) questions. The strength of each recommendation was rated according to the GRADE (grading of recommendation assessment, development and evaluation) methodology.

Results: General questions about the practical, legal and ethical aspects of HOT were discussed and summarised in the document. The PICO questions resulted in recommendations about assessment, management and follow-up of smoking when considering HOT, if HOT should be offered to people that meet the eligibility criteria but who continue to smoke, if a specific length of time of smoking cessation should be considered before assessing eligibility for HOT, and identification of areas for further research.

Conclusions: Multiple factors need to be considered in the benefit/risk evaluation of HOT in active smokers. A systematic approach is suggested to guide healthcare professionals in evaluating HOT in relation to smoking.

Government action plans on violence against women include a focus on honor-related crimes, but for the past ten years there is limited research, and Swedish authorities receive only few reports. There is a large dark figure. In this study, we focus on the honor-related crimes, as defined by Swedish law, that do not pertain directly to violence, or female circumcision.

In Swedish law, the most important remnant categories pertain to forced marriages, underage marriage, and arranging travels abroad for these purposes. Many of these offenses do not come to the attention of police by victims reporting. Rather, for these offenses, the criminal justice process begins with social workers reporting a suspicion. There is an administrative recommendation for social workers to report suspicion of these offenses, but there is no requirement.

Using a sample of interviews with social workers, we examine arguments for and against reporting suspicion through a qualitative lens. Our theoretical framework derives from prior studies on reporting propensity and the Blackian concept of social distance and access to law. We present findings in relation to perceptions of costs and advantages of reporting, access to potential witnesses, completion of the criminal process, alternatives to criminal sanctioning.

Background 

Home visiting programmes aiming to support parents and promote more equal health amongst youngchildren have grown in Sweden and in other countries. These programmes involve interprofessional teams. Teamworkin interprofessional contexts often requires setting boundaries, but professionals’ boundary work in the home settingis unexplored. Therefore, this article focuses on interprofessional teams comprising child healthcare nurses, midwives,social workers, and dental hygienists in a home visiting programme for first-time parents in Sweden; it aims to explorehow the professionals performed boundary work that enabled collaboration and to investigate important contextualconditions for this kind of boundary work.

Methods

The data were drawn from semi-structured interviews with twelve professionals from the four differentdisciplines. Content analysis was used to explore their boundary work.

Results

The findings show that the professionals performed three forms of collaborative boundary work. They maintained boundaries by clarifying their distinct roles and expertise. However, the differences were viewed ascomplementary, and the professionals worked together humbly to complement each other’s knowledge andperspectives. Lastly, they tended to drop perceptions of prestige and blurred the boundaries to accommodate theiroverlapping knowledge. Important conditions for the success of collaborative boundary work were meetings prior tothe home visits, the opportunities for discussion and reflection after the home visits, and the informal character of thehome setting. Consequently, the professionals were able to jointly contribute to a holistic view of the visited families,which increased the possibilities to meet these families’ needs.

Conclusions 

This study contributes knowledge on boundary work in interprofessional collaborations in thehome setting. The informal character of the home setting seemed to facilitate collaboration and contributed tocreating informal professional roles. The findings suggest that having interprofessional teams in the home settingenabled collaboration as well as reinforced support for first-time parents, which emphasizes the merit of home visitprogrammes

This study examines the association between number of siblings and delinquency, adjusting for family relations and demographic variables. Data is based on a nationally representative school survey in Sweden consisting of approximately 25,000 youths. The results show a positive association for those having five or more siblings (IRR = 1.533, p = < .001), whereas one or two siblings is negatively associated with delinquency compared to those having no siblings. These results remain stable after adjusting for family relations. This study underscores the importance of further exploring the variation and direction of the association between the number of siblings and delinquency, as well as deepening our understanding of the various theoretical mechanisms through which the number of siblings is associated with delinquent behaviour.

In the Swedish Crime Survey, young women (aged 16-24) haveconsistently stated that they are exposed to offences againstthe individual to a greater extent than young men for the lastten years. This trend challenges conventional notions ofcriminal victimization, where the focus has been directed atmen's criminality and victimization, often within the frameworkof a gang- and youth-related crime perspective. A possibleexplanation that is often highlighted is that the increase in selfreported victimization might not be due to an actual increase.Instead, it might be the result of a broader change in women´sperceptions about what victimization in general, and sexualoffences particularly, entails. According to this perspective,more incidents are reported as sexual offences by youngercohorts of women compared to previous cohorts. However,there are no present studies that assess the validity of thisexplanation empirically. Therefore, the aim of the present studyis to examine if there has been a change in measurementequivalence among young female respondents (ages 16-24)who’ve answered the Swedish Crime Survey during the periodof 2006-2021.

BACKGROUND: Emerging adulthood is often associated with mental health problems. About one in three university students report symptoms of depression and anxiety that can negatively affect their developmental trajectory concerning work, intimate relationships, and health. This can interfere with academic performance, as mood and anxiety disorders are key predictors of dropout from higher education. A treatment gap exists, where a considerable proportion of students do not seek help for mood and anxiety symptoms. Offering internet interventions to students with mental health problems could reduce the treatment gap, increase mental health, and improve academic performance. A meta-analysis on internet interventions for university students showed small effects for depression and none for anxiety. Larger trials are recommended to further explore effects of guidance, transdiagnostic approaches, and individual treatment components.

METHODS: This study will offer 1200 university students in Sweden participation in a three-armed randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating a guided or unguided transdiagnostic internet intervention for mild to moderate depression and anxiety, where the waitlist control group accesses the intervention at 6-month follow-up. Students reporting suicidal ideation/behaviors will be excluded and referred to treatment within the existing healthcare system. An embedded study within the trial (SWAT) will assess at week 3 of 8 whether participants in the guided and unguided groups are at higher risk of failing to benefit from treatment. Those at risk will be randomized to an adaptive treatment strategy, or to continue the treatment as originally randomized. Primary outcomes are symptoms of depression and anxiety. Follow-ups will occur at post-treatment and at 6-, 12-, and 24-month post-randomization. Between-group outcome analyses will be reported, and qualitative interviews about treatment experiences are planned.

DISCUSSION: This study investigates the effects of a transdiagnostic internet intervention among university students in Sweden, with an adaptive treatment strategy employed during the course of treatment to minimize the risk of treatment failure. The study will contribute knowledge about longitudinal trajectories of mental health and well-being following treatment, taking into account possible gender differences in responsiveness to treatment. With time, effective internet interventions could make treatment for mental health issues more widely accessible to the student group.

In higher education, students' trust in the university management may affect both mental health and academic self-efficacy. This longitudinal study, conducted during the most challenging course of the COVID-19 pandemic, uses multinomial regression and causal inference to estimate the effects of students' trust in their universities' strategies for managing the pandemic, on students' self-reported changes in mental health and academic self-efficacy. The analyzed sample (N = 2796) was recruited through online advertising and responded to a baseline online survey in the late spring of 2020, with two follow-up surveys five and ten months later. Results show that positive trust in university management of the pandemic protected against experiencing one's mental health and academic self-efficacy as worse rather than unchanged, both five and ten months after the baseline assessment. The findings emphasize the importance of developing and maintaining trust-building measures between academia and students to support students' mental health and academic self-efficacy in times of uncertainty.

The police are involved in almost all phases of a criminal investigation, starting with the crime itself and ending in court. The clearance rate is a core issue. If this rate is low or decreases, perpetrators will not be prosecuted and sentenced, and the police will be criticized. If this is to be rectified it is necessary to understand why it happens (causes).The aim of this study has been to investigate the prerequisites for the investigation of assault crimes and the police's ability to solve these crimes. The objective has been to produce knowledge for a follow-up model that can provide a more multifaceted picture of the police investigation results, beyond just reported preliminary investigation protocols (FUP).The data consist of 384 police reports regarding assaults that were assessed to be non-serious. In line with the aim of the study, the study employs a Swedish equivalent of the Evidence-Based Investigative Tool (EBIT) (McFadzien et al., 2020; Sherman, 2018).Rational decision theory (March, 1994) has been applied, along with theories focused on the way street bureaucracies manage and prioritize among an incessant influx of cases (Lipsky, 2010) and on various mechanisms that influence the approaches employed (Brodkin, 2011a; Jönsson, 2021). As a measure of the prerequisites for police investigations, a number of basic variables have been employed to reflect whether there is an identified victim, who then cooperates with the investigation, and an identifiable perpetrator. Other basic variables reflect whether there are witnesses, or surveillance cameras that may have captured the incident. As a measure of the police's investigative ability, the study employs variables focused on whether victims and witnesses have been interrogated and whether the police have checked/obtained footage from surveillance cameras.The results show that the conditions for investigating assault are not optimal. Only one third of cases meet all the specified requirements. In about 75 percent of these cases, the police had carried out the investigative measures that were possible. In the remaining investigations, the victims had not been interviewed, the police had not questioned witnesses, or they had not checked and retrieve surveillance footage. To some extent this might be explained by the fact that the reported crime was minor, that the case included information about a counter allegation, the crime would be difficult to prove, or a claim of self-defense difficult to disprove.

The study’s results are in several respects neither unexpected nor remarkable. According to the Swedish Police’s national investigative strategy, high priority must be given to cases of domestic violence and only crimes that are expected to lead to prosecution should be investigated. However, there were also some surprising findings: The police succeeded in confirming or disproving assault in 29 percent of all reported non-serious assault crimes. Solving reported crimes is not always equivalent to prosecuting.

Finally, the results indicate that a tool for predicting clearance could be utilized to reduce the workload of Principal Investigators. However, this would require more extensive investigative measures to be undertaken at the time the crime report is initially registered. The results show that the documentation on which decisions are based is in many cases insufficient for an assessment of whether or not a prosecution is likely, since it lacks information on the presence or absence of witnesses or surveillance cameras, and whether these substantiate the crime.

This study examines the psychometric structure and properties of the Swedish version of the Super-Brief Pathological Narcissism Inventory (SB-PNI) among adolescents. In order to ensure the validity and feasibility of the measure, we examined the factor structure, measurement invariance across gender, age and ethnicity, and construct validity in relation to a number of correlates of narcissism in adolescence. Data were drawn from a large cross-sectional survey conducted in 35 schools in southern Sweden. The sample consisted of N = 5313 adolescents (Mage = 16.10 SD = 1.55) with 52.2% girls, 45.9% boys and 1.8% adolescents with unspecified gender, from compulsory and upper secondary schools in southern Sweden. The results showed that the measure holds a two-factor structure, suggesting the use of the subscales grandiosity and vulnerability separately, rather than as a unidimensional measure. The correlated factors grandiosity and vulnerability yielded full configural and metric invariance across gender, age, and ethnicity. Both grandiosity and vulnerability were correlated with externalizing and internalizing symptoms, as well as with low self-esteem. The study provides evidence for the utility of the SB-PNI among Swedish adolescents and indicates that the measure can be used across male and female adolescents of different ages and ethnic groups. 

Drogförsäljning och bruk av narkotika på offentliga platser är ett samhällsproblem som ges stort utrymme i dagens kriminalpolitiska diskussion och medierapportering. Problemet associeras i dag även i hög grad till ungdoms- och våldsbrottslighet. Med det sagt är öppen droghantering inte nytt, redan under 1980-talet när narkotikabruk kriminaliserades i Sverige framhävdes problemet som aktuellt. Det ökade intresset för fenomenet och de platser där det förekommer kan i stället förstås som kopplat till en utökad akademisk diskurs, ett förändrat polisarbete och eventuellt en ökning i omfattning och synlighet (Knutsson, 1997; Magnusson, 2021; Tollin et.al. 2021). 

Det finns ingen enkel förklaring till varför vissa offentliga platser framstår som mer tillåtande för narkotikahantering än andra, men försök att klargöra kopplingar har gjorts. Ofta hittas platserna i centrala delar av städer, runt kyrkoområden och resecentrum samt i bostadsområden med lägre socioekonomisk standard och varierande grad av kriminell påverkan; så kallade utsatta områden (Hennen & Gerell, 2019; Magnusson, 2021; 2023a;). Bruk och försäljning av narkotika på offentliga platser förekommer i såväl små som stora städer, även om problemen tenderar att vara betydligt mildare och omfatta färre personer i mindre orter (Chrysoulakis & Gerell, 2023; Brå, 2022; Magnusson, 2021). Ofta har detta fenomen och de platser där det förekommer beskrivits som öppna drogscener, ett vanligt begrepp även i den internationella forskningslitteraturen.

De senaste åren har olika insatser utförts i Sverige mot öppna drogscener och narkotikarelaterat ungdomshäng, både av polisen (se t.ex. Gerell & Ellberg, 2020; Kronkvist & Ivert, 2019; Magnusson, 2023b) och i olika samverkansinsatser så som exempelvis mellan kommun och polis (Chrysoulakis & Gerell, 2023; Kvillemo et al., 2021). Därutöver har även mer övergripande insatser mot brottslighet i utsatta områden utförts, där drogförsäljning varit en del av den bredare problembilden (Gerell & Ellberg, 2021; Ivert et al., 2023). Dock saknas det en lättillgänglig sammanställning av kunskapsläget för fenomenet och över vilka strategier och åtgärder som är lämpliga för platser som utmärks av öppen drogförsäljning och/eller narkotikarelaterat ungdomshäng

Syftet med denna rapport är att bidra till att fylla denna kunskapslucka för att öka förståelsen och bistå i arbetet mot öppna drogscener och narkotikarelaterat ungdomshäng. Kunskapsöversikten presenterar kortfattat vad som finns skrivet om fenomenet, hur man arbetat med platserna i olika kontexter samt med vilka resultat. Fokus läggs till största del på svensk kunskap samt icke-polisiära insatser, men internationell forskning samt de viktigaste fynden från polisiära insatser kommer också att beröras. 

Metoden för att sammanställa den kunskap som presenteras i rapporten bygger på inhämtning och analys av vetenskaplig litteratur och rapporter från myndigheter, organisationer och andra aktörer angående bruk och handel med narkotika på offentliga platser. Kunskapsinhämtningen har även inneburit samtal med utvalda aktörer som besitter en särskild kunskap inom området; såsom forskare, sakkunniga från Länsstyrelsen i Skåne och tjänstemän inom socialförvaltningen i Göteborgs kommun.

Background and objectives: Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is associated with health, social, and academic problems but whether these are consequences of the disorder rather than precursors or correlates is unclear. We aimed to evaluate whether IGD in the 1st year of university predicts health, academic and social problems 1 year later, controlling for baseline health, academic and social problems, demographics, and mental health symptoms.

Methods: In a prospective cohort study, 1741 university students completed both a baseline online survey in their 1st year and a follow-up survey 1 year later. Log-binomial models examined the strength of prospective associations between baseline predictor variables (IGD, baseline health, academic and social problems, sex, age, and mental health symptoms) and occurrence of health, academic and social problems at follow-up.

Results: When extensively adjusted by the corresponding outcome at baseline, any mental disorder symptoms, sex, and age, baseline IGD was associated only with severe school impairment and poor social life (risk ratio [RR] = 1.77; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.14-2.75, p = .011; RR = 1.22; 95% CI = 1.07-1.38, p = .002, respectively).

Conclusions and scientific significance: University authorities and counselors should consider that incoming 1st-year students that meet criteria for IGD are likely to have increased academic and social impairments during their 1st year for which they may want to intervene. This study adds to the existing literature by longitudinally examining a greater array of negative outcomes of IGD than previously documented.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Domestic violence is a prevalent public health issue. While clinical guidelines and care programs for its identification and handling have been formulated in all administrative regions of Sweden, their degree of implementation is largely unknown. This study aims to assess the implementation of one administrative region's care program, including how it is seen to align with and function in clinical practice, and any perceived barriers to or facilitators of its use.

METHODS: A survey was distributed to first-line managers for healthcare units with patient contact in the region (n = 807). The responses were analysed using descriptive statistics. Open responses were analysed thematically. Group interviews (n = 5) were held with caregivers (n = 15) working primarily with young patients and analysed thematically.

RESULTS: 73% of the survey respondents reported previous awareness of the care program, and 27% reported knowledge of its content. The extent to which their staff knew about and followed the care program was assessed to be relatively low. The survey response rate was 19%. Among interview participants, knowledge of the care program was generally quite low. Survey responses and interview discussions pointed to the importance of developing routines, of collegial and managerial support and of training on domestic violence and the care program.

CONCLUSION: This study indicates that the knowledge and use of the regional care program is limited among healthcare staff, including among those working with young patients. This underscores the importance of information and training for furthering the implementation of clinical guidelines on domestic violence.

In this chapter, we discuss how cultural expertise can be used to neutralize stereotyped images of minority cultures in court in female genital mutilation/cutting–related cases because, wisely employed, it may counteract possible negative effects of typification and judicial stereotyping.

Research and official statistics alike identify women from racial minoritiesas a high-risk group for racial hate crime. Still, the construction of womenin racial hate crime remains largely unstudied and the current knowledgeon racial hate crime against women can at best be described as fragmentary. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to explore the constructions ofrace and gender from the perspective of female victims of racial hatecrime. The study draws on intersectional theory and consists ofa discourse analysis based on nine interviews with women who havebeen targets of racial hate crime. The results show that the constructionof race in hate crimes targeting women differs distinctively from theconstruction of race in hate crimes targeting men. The female victims ofracial hate crime often find themselves entangled in racial power struggles between men: a power struggle in which men may show their statusvis-á-vis out-group men by sexually controlling or abusing women.Thereby, women’s bodies are used as a tool in racial status conflictsbetween groups of men, as identities, scripts, and stereotypes foundprimarily within conservatism and right-wing ideology are enacted onthe bodies of the victims.

Given the strong focus on minor drug offenses in Swedish drug control policy and the risk of disparate drug enforcement that may follow from such policies, this thesis explores drug enforcement and the use of coercive measures (enforced drug tests and body searches) towards youths aged 15-20 years. The first study focuses on the circumstances of the detection of minor drug offenses, the grounds for suspicion and use of coercive measures. The second study explores ethnic disparities in exposure to drug tests, as well as ethnic disparities in relation to hitrates for drug tests and body searches. The results show that about one-third of the minor drug situations were detected in a reactive policing manner, and approximately 30-40 percent were detected in association with other offenses. The findings suggest that the grounds for enforcing drug tests and body searches often were based on subjective cues. Results from the second study show that youths subjected to a drug test were male, born outside Europe, and had unemployed fathers to a significantly greater extent than the drug-using youths in the school survey. Additionally, youths born outside Europe were more likely than youths born in Sweden to be submitted to coercive measures that produced a negative result. This finding was dependent on the definition of ethnic background that was employed. The findings suggest that future research should investigate a number of pre- and post-stop conditions and outcomes. Research on pre-stop conditions should further explore: 1) the distribution of "criminal" signs between different sociodemographic groups and their probability for a hit, 2) the importance of concurrent offending for the detection of drug offenses, and 3) the nature of drug use, transactions, and dealing in association with the risk for suspicion. Research on post-stop conditions and outcomes should explore: 1) ethnic disparities in hitrates of body searches and drug tests with more detailed data on ethnic background (specific region-based vulnerabilities), and 2) neighborhood effects on searches and drug tests, including hit-rates, both on an individual level and a neighborhood level. Research on various forms of police bias in drug enforcement should integrate both neighborhood- and individual-level processes in relation to pre-stop and post-stop conditions and outcomes to understand the mechanisms behind ethnic disparities. Finally, future research should focus on the "gender gap" found in this study and previous studies on drug enforcement.

To combat the increasing incidence of telephone scams targeting the elderly, the Swedish Police initiated an informational campaign in 2023. This campaign involved distributing educational postcards to households with at least one resident aged 70 or older. We assess the effectiveness of the postcard intervention by comparing the change in the outcome variable (number of plaintiffs) among individuals aged 70 and above to those below 70. Despite the campaign’s aim to increase awareness and offer practical advice for avoiding scams, our analysis reveals no impact on the number of plaintiffs exposed to fraud. Our study did not identify any significant effects, adding to the existing body of literature on the effectiveness of information in influencing crime-related behaviors, where findings have been inconclusive.

Situational data have become more frequently used in research on offending and victimization. However, one outcome that has received less attention is fear of crime. The current study uses situational data collected through a smartphone application (STUNDA) to examine fear of crime as it is experienced in daily life among a sample of university students. Roughly 1200 situations reported by 129 students were analysed using generalized estimating equations. The results indicate that experiential fear of crime, in the form of worrying about victimization, is related to features of the immediate settings. More specifically, the odds ratio for experiencing fear of crime is significantly higher in places away from home and after dark, whereas social activities are associated with a significantly lower odds ratio, net of individual-level controls (gender, age, previous victimization and fear propensity). Yet, fear propensity, measured here using items that refer to an individual’s general worry about victimization, has an independent significant effect on fear of crime. As a result of the study’s convenience sample, the generalizability of the findings is limited, but a more general theoretical conclusion can nonetheless be drawn; features of settings and individual characteristics are both of importance. Further, the use of experience methods via a smartphone application provided detailed and unique situational data, which suggests that future research should further employ these methods to study situational phenomena such as fear of crime.

The aim of this article is to explore the circumstances associated with police interventions and the use of enforced drug tests and body searches against youths suspected of minor drug crime in Malmo, Sweden. There is a need for research on police enforcement practices directed at young people as a result of an increased use of coercive measures against youth and young adults suspected of minor drug offences in Sweden. The research questions are addressed on the basis of police documentation covering a period of one year. Approximately 67% of police interventions involved car-stops or police responses to calls for service. The documented grounds for the use of enforced drug tests are of a subjective nature, and detail signs of intoxication. Body searches were less often documented, and provided little insight into suspicion formation. 82% of the drug tests produced positive results for illicit substances. The results highlight the need to evaluate the utility and practice of body searches and enforced drug testing focused on youth.

This study examines whether unstructured and structured activities interact in their association with delinquency and cannabis use. We hypothesize that unstructured activities are more strongly associated with delinquency and cannabis use for those who are less engaged in structured activities. Data are drawn from three nationally representative self-report studies conducted between 2005 and 2011 in Sweden, and include 19,644 adolescents. The results support the hypothesis that unstructured activities interact with structured activities in the association with delinquency and cannabis use. The association between unstructured activities and these outcomes is stronger for those with lower levels of structured activities. Sporting activities constitute the structured activity that most clearly interacts with unstructured activities in the association with delinquency and cannabis use.

While unsupervised and unstructured socialising with peers is associated with delinquency, less is known about to what extent it fits within adolescents’ daily routine activities; that is, their general, structural time use. Furthermore, research informed by the situational action theory shows that unstructured socialising increases the probability of rule-breaking acts more for individuals with higher crime propensity. Hence, structural time use might explain patterns of unstructured socialising, and crime propensity might explain why some are at an increased risk of committing rule-breaking acts during such situations. The present study aims to connect these three aspects and examine: (i) how adolescents tend to structure their time use, (ii) if their structural time use differentially places them in unstructured socialising, and (iii) whether some adolescents during unstructured socialising run an elevated risk of committing rule-breaking acts due to their morality (as part of their crime propensity) while also taking their structural time use into account. Using a sample of 512 adolescents (age 16) in Sweden, time use and morality are analysed using latent class analysis based on space-time budget data and a self-report questionnaire. Multilevel linear probability models are utilised to examine how rule-breaking acts result from an interaction between an individual’s morality and unstructured socialising, also taking structural time use into account. Results show that the likelihood of unstructured socialising in private but not in public is different across identified latent classes. Adolescents, in general, run an elevated risk of rule-breaking acts during unstructured socialising, irrespective of structural time use. In this study, these acts consist mainly of alcohol consumption. However, the risk is higher for adolescents with lower morality. Adolescents’ time use may account for a general pattern of delinquency, but accounting for rule-breaking acts requires knowledge of the interaction between person and setting.

Twenty years ago, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention presented a report that highlighted serious problems with regard to identifying, investigating, and sentencing offenders for hate crimes. The same problems have also been described in international research from several other countries. Since then, several measures have been taken to remedy these problems, but it remains unknown whether these measures have been successful. The aim of the present study is therefore to trace developments over time, using Sweden as a case study, and to evaluate the extent to which the problems identified earlier have been remedied. The results show that the problems identified by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention still remain despite a continuous process of reform. Theoretical links and parallels to international research are discussed throughout the article.

The inclusion of gender in hate crime legislation has been the subject of scholarly debatesince the 1990s, but only a handful of empirical studies have focused on victims’ experiences of gender-bias hate crime. Therefore, misogynistic hate crimes are primarily discussed as a theoretical or legal category of events. In this study, the aim is instead to shedlight on how female victims defne, describe, and are afected by their experiences ofgender-bias hate crime. In doing so, the study contributes insights into misogynistic hatecrimes as lived experiences, rather than as an abstract legal or theoretical concept.

Objectives: A high number of street dealers operate in the Red Light District in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. To displace the dealers, the Municipality of Amsterdam installed text-based light projections in a street attracting a high number of dealers.

Methods: To evaluate the intervention, we did a pre-post analysis of video footage from two CCTV cameras located in the street. In total, we analyzed 765 one-minute segments of footage from before and after the implementation.

Results: The implementation was followed by a four percentage point reduction in street dealers. However, the estimated effect shows fragileness with wide confidence intervals and a p-value just below 0.05, and a Bayesian robustness analysis suggests that the intervention was not associated with the outcome.

Conclusions: Analyzing CCTV-footage offers a unique avenue for evaluating small scale interventions in open-air drug markets. While we observed a decrease in the presence of dealers, the intervention still needs further validation.

Denna kortrapport innehåller beskrivande analyser av nollmätningen som har genomförts inom ramen för projektet ”Öppna drogscener”, vilket är en del av samverkansöverenskommelsen ”Skåne tillsammans mot narkotika” . Representanter från kommun och polis i sex skånska kommuner har tillsammans identifierat en geografiskt avgränsad plats som de bedömer som en öppen drogscen. Det vill säga en plats där narkotika säljs och brukas offentligt och som myndigheter och allmänheten uppfattar som problematisk . Tillsammans ska kommun och polis kartlägga och analysera problembilden, implementera en passande insats vilket sedan ska följas upp. Följande kortrapport är en del av denna process. Analyserna i rapporten baseras på anmälda brott mellan åren 2018-2021 och på intervjuer med nyckelinformanter som genomfördes under perioden november-december 2022. Nollmätningen ligger till grund för en jämförelse som kommer att genomföras efter att insatserna har implementerat för att undersöka om det har skett någon förändring. Utöver att jämföra platserna med sig själva över tid kommer också jämförelser mot andra platser i kommuner som inte varit en del av projektet att genomföras. Detta för att undersöka om kontrollplatserna har haft en liknande förändring som insatsplatserna. 

Objective: Mental wellbeing is a fundamental aspect of the broader notion of quality of life. Little is known about the mental wellbeing of university students in general and Swedish university students in particular. As emerging adults, university students typically experience substantial changes to their living conditions, relationships, and academic stress, and depression and anxiety are prospectively associated with lower academic achievement at the end of the first year.

Methods: Data from five cross-sectional cohorts (n = 7423), collected between spring 2020 and spring 2022, were compared descriptively, regarding sociodemographic factors, lifetime and past 30-day symptoms of mental health problems, experiences of bullying, feeling loved and measures of well-being. Linear regression identified protective factors for wellbeing according to the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS), and risk factors for lower wellbeing.

Results: Participants were > 70% women, 24–27 years old, 75–83% born in Sweden. About one-third had experienced physical bullying at school and about 70% felt loved and cared for. About two-thirds had medium levels of wellbeing, with one-third having low levels and about 5% having high levels. Protective factors for wellbeing included older age, male gender, feeling loved most of the time, and the grit construct. Risk factors included being an international student, non-heterosexual sexual orientation, having symptoms of depression or anxiety most of the time, and experiencing effort/reward imbalance.

Conclusions: A large proportion of students experience less than optimal wellbeing. Interventions to enhance positive, nurturing relationships and reinforce grit-related factors could support students in this challenging period of life.

The current study explores how neighborhood fear of crime ("worry about specific crimes") changes over time in neighborhoods with different levels of disadvantage. With a comparative design, 81 and 123- neighborhoods in two cities in Sweden are followed over a six-year period. Fear of crime trajectories are assessed through growth curve modeling. We consider how differences in neighborhood processes, such as social and physical disorder, might influence fear of crime levels. The results show that fear of crime increased over time in both cities and the increase was related to higher levels of physical disorder in several areas. Furthermore, the change differed depending on the neighborhood type - in highly disadvantaged neighborhoods, the fear was stable at a high level. In contrast, the largest increases in fear could be seen in the areas with the lowest disadvantage in both cities. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Introduction

Experiences of sexual harassment are common among university students. At the same time, research shows that victims and bystanders find it difficult to determine when an incident meets the criteria for sexual harassment. The aim of this study therefore was to obtain a richer and deeper understanding of the obstacles that university students encounter in identifying sexual harassment in the academic environment.

Methods

Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted with a total of 85 students at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral level in five European countries (Belgium, Croatia, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden) between 2020 and 2022. Thematic analysis was used to identify obstacles in identifying sexual harassment.

Results

The obstacles described by participants were found to fall into three main categories: (1) preconceived notions about what constitutes sexual harassment that did not necessarily concur with lived experiences, (2) navigating an often blurred or ambiguous line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and (3) the existence of competing interpretations of what had happened.

Conclusions

The results point to a gap between the participants’ lived experiences and their interpretations of them, which include difficulties positioning their experiences within their theoretical understanding of sexual harassment.

Policy Implications

Measures to counteract the obstacles faced by victims and bystanders in identifying sexual harassment in academia should target this cognitive gap, for instance by addressing the stereotypes that characterize preconceived notions about sexual harassment.

The study aims to provide insight into the lives of parents to adult children with drug addiction. We focus on how the parents' social life and interactions were affected by feelings of guilt and shame, and how they dealt with the stigma that often accompanies drug addiction. 32 semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents (age 46-70) of adult children (age 18-47) with drug addiction in Sweden. Three themes emerged (1) Experiences of guilt, shame, and courtesy stigma, (2) Impact on social life and relationships and, (3) Strategies to reduce guilt and shame. Guilt, shame, and courtesy stigma complicated and restricted the parents' social interactions. Many parents applied a selective openness, carried experiences of alienation and in some cases isolated themselves. At the same time, several parents described that they were open about their child's addiction in certain contexts. For some parents, this meant a relief from guilt and shame and an opportunity for increased social interaction. Both informal and professional support for family members of individuals with drug addiction is vital to reduce experiences of guilt, shame, and courtesy stigma.

Aim: Extensive COVID-19 information can generate information overload and confusion. Denmark and Sweden adopted different COVID-19 management strategies.

Aim: This study aimed to compare search strategies, perceptions and effects of COVID-19 information, in general and specifically in social media, in residents in Denmark and Sweden.

Subject and methods:  = 616) from Denmark and Sweden on an international web-based survey was analysed using descriptive and analytical statistics.

Results: The results showed similarities between the countries regarding preferred and trusted information sources, use of (social) media, and psychosocial and behavioural effects of such information. Traditional media and social media were frequently used for COVID-19 information. Especially health authorities and researchers were trusted sources, representing the dominant medico-political discourse. There were no differences in negative effect and social behaviour. Residents in Denmark experienced significantly more positive effects than residents in Sweden.

Conclusion: Summarily, the study showed similarities and small differences among residents in both countries related to usage patterns, perceptions and effects of COVID-19 information from (social) media, despite diverging strategies.

Den här boken tar sig an frågan om polisens samhällsuppdrag och hur målen för polisen uppfattas av olika parter. Boken handlar om polisen som den som både öppnar och stänger dörren till rättsväsendet, liksom hur polisens auktoritet utövas, vilka maktmedel som brukas och om balansgången mellan legitim kontroll och överkontroll. Sist men inte minst handlar den om hur polisens verksamhet kan eller bör fungera. Polis – vad är det? är en översättning och omarbetning av Liv Finstads bok Hva er politi som gavs ut på norska 2018. Boken vänder sig i första hand till studerande vid polisutbildningen men fungerar även utmärkt som litteratur i andra professionsutbildningar, exempelvis inom kriminologi eller socialt arbete, som leder till yrken som på olika sätt samverkar med polisen. Myndigheter är också en given målgrupp liksom den som bara har ett intresse av att veta mer om polisen i samhället.

A randomised controlled trial was developed and implemented together with police officers working to combat drugcrime at an open drug scene in Stockholm. The aim was to evaluate a method called motivational talks, which areheld by police officers to encourage drug crime suspects to seek help. Relapse into drug crime was compared betweenthe control group and the experimental group to determine whether the treatment, i.e., the motivational talk, had aneffect. The study shows that motivational talks had a small but non-significant impact on relapse into drug crime afternine months, but the effect had disappeared at the second follow-up. Motivational talks might still have other effectson the individual or the police. Studying the use of repeated treatment might be a way of furthering the research onthe effect of motivational talks.

There is a surge in gun violence in Sweden. Prior research has shown how these expressions of violence tend to be concentrated in space. For instance, there is an increased risk of a shooting occurring in close proximity to a prior shooting in the three largest cities in Sweden, especially at open drug scenes (ODS) in socially disadvantaged areas. Furthermore, prior research has found a clear spatial connection between shootings and the presence of ODS in Stockholm. However, less is known about the patterns of gun seizures. How does spatial patterns of gun seizures overlap with shootings and the presence of ODS and how can these be used to advance police practice? Such questions are important to add nuance to the overarching view on “gun violence”. The present study aims to explore the questions by converging three types of data drawn from the Stockholm region: one on gun seizures, one on gun incidents and another on the presence of ODS. With the use of spatial data analyses, we learn whether there are systematic differences in the patterns of gun seizures, gun incidents and the presence of ODS. The importance of nuanced data and how the results can be used by the police in their strategic work is discussed. The results may advance both police activities towards gang criminality and future research on gun violence.