Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine changes in disorder and fear of crime in a disadvantaged neighbourhood following the implementation of a Business Improvement District (BID) organisation, a collaborative initiative designated to improve a defined geographical area.

Design/methodology/approach: A mixed-method design was used. The quantitative data was collected through an annual community survey with four pre-implementation and five post-implementation waves. Also a comparison area was included. The qualitative data was comprised of interviews with key informants in the community, which were completed before the organisation commenced its work and then again six years later.

Findings: Survey results revealed a reduction in disorder and fear of crime. This trend, albeit smaller, could be seen in the comparison area as well. Key informants further corroborated the reduction in disorder and fear of crime, attributing many of the neighbourhood changes to the organisation’s work.

Originality/value: This study is the first to evaluate whether BIDs can affect perceived disorder and fear of crime, relevant factors affecting crime levels and community well-being. Furthermore, it illustrates the benefits of using a comprehensive study design suitable for accounting for changes in a setting where it is difficult to isolate effects.

Background: Mental health problems (MHPs) have been seen to be associated with crime involvement among adolescents, especially externalising problems. Previous studies have often been made internationally and less research has been conducted within the Nordic countries, especially using self-reported data. Aims: To explore how differences in MHPs are associated with differences in crime involvement between adolescents, and how an individual’s change in mental health is associated with a change in crime involvement over time.

Methods: Data were drawn from the research project Malmö Individual and Neighborhood Development study (MINDS) and include 386 adolescents (53% girls; 47% boys). Longitudinal multilevel analysis was applied to assess the association between MHP and crime involvement.

Result: Overall, MHPs, particularly externalising problems, were associated with crime involvement. Also, changes in MHPs were related to changes in crime involvement over time. Fitting separate models for girls and boys yielded partly different results.

Conclusion: The results support previous findings that externalising problems are associated with crime involvement and show that an increase in externalising MHPs over time is associated with increased crime involvement. This underscores the importance of identifying and addressing externalising MHPs at an early stage to prevent a negative development.

The current study explores the association between place features (e.g., schools, public transportation nodes, bars and restaurants) and perceived unsafe locations using data from two open-ended items in a cross sectional random sample community survey in Malmö, Sweden. Perceived unsafe locations in respondents’ own neighborhood and in other parts of the city are geocoded and merged with a 200 by 200-m grid-cell network. The data are analyzed using logistic regressions inspired by the Risk Terrain Modeling approach, where geographical representations of place features are used as predictors and geographical representations of unsafe locations used as outcomes. The results show that several place features are associated with unsafe locations, but the importance of different features seem to vary between outcomes. While grid-cells being near an elementary school, convenience store or park demonstrates significant associations with unsafety when respondent’s report locations in their own neighborhood, these patterns are weaker when considering unsafe locations in other parts of the city, where the most important variable is whether a grid-cell is located within a neighborhood defined as vulnerable by the national police agency. This indicates a qualitative difference in what types of locations are being reported as unsafe when respondents are asked about locations in their own neighborhood versus other parts of the city. These results contribute to the current body of research on place-based fear of crime, and the findings may offer guidance in better understanding why some places are perceived as unsafe and how public perceptions of safety may be improved.

This study reports from the implementation and effects of the first attempt to implement a focused deterrence-based strategy to combat gun violence in a Swedish as well as a Nordic setting. The planning of what would later be called Ceasefire Malmö began in 2017 after an upsurge of gun violence that peaked in 2016-2017. 

Results and conclusion

The results show that, in line with much of previous, mainly American, implementation studies, gun violence went down following implementation and results hold in comparison to other cities and the surrounding region. Results from this evaluation are, however, not fully conclusive and should be interpreted with some care. The evidence base for interventions to counteract group- or gang-related violence and involvement is limited and, without more knowledge, authorities risk implementing strategies with no proven effect, risking lives and wasting resources. As such, this evaluation makes a valuable contribution to policy makers, providing them with guidance on how to implement focused, deterrence-based strategies in a European context and the effect of such strategies.  

BACKGROUND: Mental health problems (MHPs) are associated with youth offending, but research on MHPs among specifically offending girls, particularly in community settings, is limited.

AIMS: To explore if MHPs were more common among adolescent girls who reported committing crimes compared to those who did not, as well as to investigate how different MHPs were associated with offending, and examine the potential effects of parental relationships, parental monitoring, and association with deviant peers.

METHODS: Data were drawn from the Malmö Individual and Neighbourhood Development Study (MINDS), a longitudinal study which comprises a random sample of 525 adolescents (~ 20%) born in 1995 and living in Malmö, Sweden, in 2007. The current study included the 240 girls that participated in wave two (age 16) and three (age 17) of data collection. Data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire. Independent samples T-tests analysed differences in MHPs between offending and non-offending girls. Pearson's correlation test and logistic regressions examined the association between MHPs and offending and how these associations were affected by parental relationship, parental monitoring, and deviant peers.

RESULTS: Offending girls had higher levels of MHPs than non-offending girls, with the most significant differences in hyperactivity and externalising problems. Logistic regressions partly confirmed these findings, showing strong associations between externalising problems and offending. Internalising problems showed mixed results in their association with offending.

CONCLUSION: Girls who had offended had higher levels of both internalising and externalising MHPs compared to those who had not offended. This indicates that measures to prevent youth crime should acknowledge MHPs. Overall, more research is needed on girls' MHPs and offending, particularly on the association between internalising problems and offending.

Focused deterrence-based strategies have been implemented in the United States since the mid-1990s, and the evidence base of their effect on serious crime is growing. Focused deterrence, also referred to as pulling levers, directs attention to the most violent members of a community, and conveys a clear message that violence will be met by swift and severe consequences and that those who want to leave criminality will receive help and support to do so. The strategy shifts focus from the victim to the perpetrator. The most violent, or those at risk of committing repeated crimes in a close relationship are identified and divided into groups (A–D) based on the severity of their crime. These individuals are informed that they are identified as (potential) perpetrators of violence in an intimate relationship and that future incidents of violence will be met with different types of sanctions. At the same time, support is offered to stop the violence, while support is also offered to the victim. This approach has been tried to prevent intimate partner violence to a limited extent before and is now being implemented in Malmö, Sweden. This paper will describe the initial phases of the process of implementing the strategy.

Denna kvalitativa studie undersöker hur Gruppvåldsintervention (eng. Group Violence Intervention, GVI), en strategi som syftar till att minska grovt våld kopplat till kriminella grupper, upplevs av individer som identifierats som gruppmedlemmar. Studien bygger på intervjuer med både mottagare av strategin och yrkesverksamma, och belyser erfarenheter av kartläggning, kommunikation, sanktioner och erbjudanden om stöd. Resultaten visar på varierade uppfattningar om strategins olika delar, där legitimitet och tillit framträder som centrala teman. Studien diskuterar hur processuell rättvisa, tydlig och respektfull kommunikation samt individuellt anpassat stöd påverkar hur GVI tas emot. Vidare lyfter studien utmaningar med att i arbetet med strategin förmedla grunderna för kartläggning och åtgärder, betonar vikten av timing, relevans och kontinuitet i stödinsatser, samt betydelsen av att balansera incitament för att avstå våld och avskräckande åtgärder mot våld. Sammantaget bidrar studien med nyanserade insikter om hur GVI fungerar i praktiken och erbjuder reflektioner kring hur strategin kan vidareutvecklas och förankras i både svensk och internationell kontext.

This qualitative study explores how Group Violence Intervention (GVI), a strategy aimed at reducing serious violence linked to criminal groups, is perceived and experienced by individuals identified as members of a such groups. Based on interviews with both recipients of the strategy and practitioners, the study examines experiences of identification, communication, enforcement, and offers of social support. Findings reveal varied perceptions of the strategy’s components, with legitimacy and trust emerging as central themes. The study discusses how procedural justice, clear and respectful communication, and individually tailored support influence how GVI is received and interpreted. Furthermore, it highlights challenges in communicating the rationale behind identification and enforcement actions, emphasizes the importance of timing, relevance, and continuity in support efforts, and underlines the need to balance incentives to abstain from violence with deterrent measures against violent behavior. Overall, the study contributes nuanced insights into how GVI functions in practice and offers reflections on how the strategy can be further developed and embedded in both Swedish and international contexts.