Kriminalitetens geografi : vardagsbrottslighetens spatiala fördelning i Borlänge

The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyze the geographical distribution of everyday criminality in the town of Borlänge during the year 2002 and to analyze which measures to be taken in the physical social planning to decrease this everyday criminality there. The term everyday criminality is here to be understood as those categories of crime that appear most frequently in the records of reports to the police every year. Here two kinds of crime have been in focus, thefts from cars and office burglary.In fulfilling this aim two main questions have been answered. The first one is how the everyday criminality was distributed geographically in the town of Borlänge during the year 2002. The second one is which measures to be taken in the physical social planning to decrease this everyday criminality in the town of Borlänge.In order to answer the first question a spatial autocorrelation analysis, Local Moran LISA has been used. This method is based on the measurement Moran´s I and shows the spatial autocorrelation for every single location. To answer the second question three different theories of crime prevention through environmental design have been studied and applied in the analysis. These are Jane Jacobs’ ideas about ”the living city”, Oscar Newman´s ideas about ”defensible space” and Ronald V. Clarke´s theories about crime prevention.The major conclusions that can be drawn from this thesis are that the risk of being exposed to thefts from cars, during the analyzed time period, was highest in Centrum and Hagalund and their surroundings. The lowest risk of being exposed to this type of crime was found in Domnarvet and Islingby, during the year 2002. The highest risk of being a victim of the crime office burglary was found in Hagalund and its surroundings and in the single area of Kvarnsveden. The corresponding lowest risk was found in Lergärdet and its surroundings and in Norra Backa and Kupolen. The measures that should be taken in order to decrease these types of criminality can be divided into overall changes and place-specific changes. When it comes to the crime thefts from cars a more attractive central business district, a better view of parking lots from nearby buildings, dividing of larger parking lot zones into smaller ones, migration of hidden parking lots and stronger access control to parking lots where problems with this kind of crime have occurred have been suggested as overall changes. The corresponding place-specific changes are to remove vegetation that is blocking the view, better lighting and to put up signs with information about increased risk of exposure to crime at parking lots with the most problems. To decrease the amount of office burglaries overall changes as to create a better view of the area from nearby surroundings, move bigger office compartments or divide them into smaller units, rebuild characteristic buildings and increase security by strengthening the access control to offices with these kinds of problems could be useful. Finally there are possibilities to decrease office burglary by using place-specific measures as surveillance cameras combined with signs containing information about these, high fences and better lighting around the buildings where a higher risk of being exposed to this kind of criminality is present.

Förståelse, bedömningar och hjälpinsatser : Socialarbetares arbete med män som våldsoffer

This report outlines the background to, and presents the results from the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority funded project "Social Workers' understanding of men as victims of crime". The project aimed at describing and analyzing how social workers understand and work with male victims of violence. More precisely, the research has focused on how social workers describe men's vulnerability and how they understand men's needs for assistance, what assistance that is provided and the way the constellations of perpetrators and victims of different gender and contexts in which the violence occurs in affect the understanding of male victims of violence. The study has also been devoted to the question of whether the Support Centers for young crime victims in Sweden provide different types of and different amount of help to young men and women afflicted of violence. The project was conducted in three substudies. The results from substudy 1 show that more young men than women seek support from the Support centers studied. Men predominate in number of cases and in the different categories of crime. The results also show that young men on average receive less assistance over a shorter average duration than young women. This applies irrespective of the category of offense that the vulnerability applies to. Furthermore, the young men, compared to the women, proportionally receive fewer interventions characterized as support and a greater proportion of interventions in the form of information. The results also show that the young men are referred on for further action to a lesser extent than is the case for women. The results from substudy 2 show that social workers tend to focus on whether, and to what extent, young men who are victims of violence themselves have behaved provocatively before the violence incident and if they have put themselves in a social situation that could be interpreted as having contributed to an escalation of the violence they have been subjected to. The results from substudy 2 also show that social workers talk about the men as active in the violent situations they have been involved in and dwell on the extent to which the young men's own actions have contributed to the violence. The results also show that young men who are victims of violence are described as "reluctant" victims who are trying to cope with their situation on their own without the involvement of professional or other helper. The young men are also described as reluctant to talk about their feelings. The results of substudy 3 show that social workers believe that young men, when they become victims of violence, risks losing their sense of autonomy, initiative and decisiveness, that is, attributes that are often linked to the dominating cultural image of masculinity. Furthermore, the results show that social workers estimate that men's practicing of their masculinity, but also the response that men who are traumatized get from society, creates difficulties for them to get help. The results from substudy 3 also shows that attributes and actions that can be connected to the masculinity of young men's, as well as a lack of such attributes and actions are considered to be adequate explanations for the violence the men has suffered. When it comes to violence in public places it is the masculinity that explains the violence and its escalation. When it comes to domestic violence it is the lack of expected male attributes and actions that are used as explanations for the violence that have occurred. The discussion is devoted to the question of how the results should be understood based on the concepts of self-performance, interpretation, negotiation and categorizations, and the consequences the results obtained should have for gender sensitive social work given to abused men.

En sociologisk förståelse av förlåtelse och försoning

Forgiveness and reconciliation in a sociological context Are forgiveness and reconciliation left to the theologians to define or can these concepts also be genuine concepts in sociology? In spite of the fact that sociology and social psychology have a lot of research about relationship, interaction and groups, there is not much research about forgiveness and reconciliation. This article presents the understanding of how relations can be revived, if once broken, if using these conceptions. The discussion also includes the concepts of shame and guilt and even confidence, particularly in relations where you find victim and perpetrator. The discussion is developed in a perspective of symbolic interactionism with examples from sociological research about men´s violence against women and adults, especially fathers, abuse to their daughters. In this article the perpetrator feels guilt and the victim shame and the feeling of guilt makes the perpetrator to ask for forgiveness. When hate and hard feelings have come to an end, the reconciliation can occur as a consequence of the forgiveness.

Elitutbildning: en strategi för erkännande? : En studie om anti-diskrimineringsstrategier bland juriststudenter med ursprung i Mellanöstern

Elite Education: a strategy for recognition? A study on anti-discrimination strategies among law-students of Middle Eastern background While research show that individuals of foreign background are being discriminated against and stigmatized in Sweden, an increasing number of them still choose higher education and also show a tendency towards choosing an elite education. In this article, I examine if there is a link between experiences of discrimination and the choice of elite education. The study is based upon semi-structured interviews with five female and five male law students of Middle Eastern background. The findings show that discrimination, either against the students or their parents, has led to a high study motivation where the choice of elite education can be understood as an anti-discrimination strategy. Other anti-discrimination strategies are to resist a victim mentality and to destigmatize by challenging stereotypes. These anti-discrimination strategies can be understood as strategies for recognition, that is, striving for equality by being ascribed a positive status.

Ökat hot och våld i arbetslivet – en följd av förändrade arbetsförhållanden? : En studie utifrån de svenska Arbetsmiljöundersökningarna 1991–2005

Increase in work related violence. A reflection of changes in working conditions? An analysis based on the Swedish Work Environment surveys. Victim surveys from Sweden show that the proportion reporting exposure to work related violence has increased. On the basis of the Swedish Work Environment surveys 1991–2005 this article focuses on the following questions: What kind of situations and working conditions are related to workplace violence? And, has the number of employees exposed to these working conditions increased parallel to the rise of reported workplace violence? Logistic regression analysis shows that some situations and working conditions are indeed related tothe risk of violence. To some extent exposure to these working conditions co-varies with exposure to violence. This result is more prominent for women than for men. Further research is needed to understand how changes in working conditions affect the risk of violence and the development thereof, not least from a gender perspective. Even so, changes in working conditions can not alone explain the increase of reported workplace violence in Sweden during this period. It seems that the influence of changed working conditions offers an interesting complement to criminological theories of broadened definitions and decreasing tolerance against violence in problematizing how an increase in reported workplace violence should and could be understood.

Våld på jobbet : Beskrivningar av våld i arbetslivet 1978–2004 i facklig press

Violence at work as a social problem: a study of the media coverage on workplace violence in Swedish trade union journals 1978–2004 The main purpose of this study was to find out the extent of the unions media coverage on workplace violence and the ways in which the topic was framed. The study shows that the reporting of violence in the workplace described in journals is on a stable level during the period 1978–98. However from the year 2000 and onwards, there is a clear increase in the attention. Four categories of workplace violence were used to identify and recognize different types of violence: intrusive-, consumer-, relationship-and organizational violence. This shows that much of the attention over time has shifted from intrusive violence to organizational violence and consumer violence. What seems to have happened is that workplace violence has become more than just robberies and assaults in the retail business. The stereotypical image of the criminal is challenged by non-traditional criminals like nurses, elderly people and companies. Certain groups, e.g. care workers, come to account for an increasing proportion of attention, both as perpetrators and victims of violence. This study is an important step in understanding the increased reports of workplace violence in Sweden.

Överviktens betydelser

Meanings of overweight In societal discourses overweight is defined as a growing individual and a social problem leading to sickness and disability, mental distress, increased use of health care and reduced economic productivity. A strong normative pressure is directed at the overweight but relatively few succeed in reducing their weight. Therefore, the overweight need to manage a double stigma; the overweight body per se and their inability to conform to norms about bodyweight. This article investigates how individuals present their overweight to their social environment. Empirical data was collected as part of an evaluation study of a keep-fit project directed at home-care staff. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 49 participants and 30 of them had either tried or were trying to reduce their weight. The analysis shows that the informants presented a divided self consisting of a biological body, with its own drives, and a mind that is aware of the body and its social meanings. They portrayed their lives as a battle between these two sides. Their presentations of the divided self can be analysed as a defence of their social selves. The overweight can account for the kilos by blaming the biological drives, which leaves the core of themselves – their minds – unblemished. They can express an intention to loose weight and thereby conform to norms about bodyweight. When they fail to loose weight, the responsibility can be attributed to the unruly body.

The discourses on induced abortion in Ugandan daily newspapers : a discourse analysis

Background: Ugandan law prohibits abortion under all circumstances except where there is a risk for the woman's life. However, it has been estimated that over 250 000 illegal abortions are being performed in the country yearly. Many of these abortions are carried out under unsafe conditions, being one of the most common reasons behind the nearly 5000 maternal deaths per year in Uganda. Little research has been conducted in relation to societal views on abortion within the Ugandan society. This study aims to analyze the discourse on abortion as expressed in the two main daily Ugandan newspapers. Method: The conceptual content of 59 articles on abortion between years 2006-2012, from the two main daily English-speaking newspapers in Uganda, was studied using principles from critical discourse analysis. Results: A religious discourse and a human rights discourse, together with medical and legal sub discourses frame the subject of abortion in Uganda, with consequences for who is portrayed as a victim and who is to blame for abortions taking place. It shows the strong presence of the Catholic Church within the medial debate on abortion. The results also demonstrate the absence of medial statements related to abortion made by political stakeholders. Conclusions: The Catholic Church has a strong position within the Ugandan society and their stance on abortion tends to have great influence on the way other actors and their activities are presented within the media, as well as how stakeholders choose to convey their message, or choose not to publicly debate the issue in question at all. To decrease the number of maternal deaths, we highlight the need for a more inclusive and varied debate that problematizes the current situation, especially from a gender perspective.

Kultur ist mehr als Currywurst Ältere Literatur im Deutschunterricht : Eine Literaturstudie

With regards to the teaching of German in Sweden this literature study looks into the Swedish curriculum and the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) to compare today’s common interpretation of the goals in language learning to the educational goals in the documents. Critics mean that the CEFR and in extension the curricula in the associated countries focus mainly on measurable practical language skills. This leads to impoverishment of the concept of language learning, which should include broad cultural aspects, encourage the students to develop their personalities and curiosity and foster a livelong desire to study. This work will try to show that blaming the CEFR for the kind of lopsided development towards practical, measurable skills in language teaching does not origin in the document or in the national curriculum. It appears to be the interpretation of the documents that oversees some essential requirements, not only for successful language teaching but also for the use of German as a tool for conversation and understanding. The real understanding of a language is, according to the research referred to in this work, connected to the understanding of culture. This literature study will show that reading older literature in language classes will favour the students´ understanding of culture. Furthermore, this work will try to point out other educational benefits besides the gain of cultural knowledge in working with literature. Students learn to argue and gain understanding of their own world by comparing to the new reality they meet in the literature. In addition, students will, with the help of the text, acquire new vocabulary and get an understanding of the structure of the language. In essence the use of literature in teaching German on one hand meets and fulfils the requirements in the curriculum and on the other hand supports the development of language skills and personals skills.