Social sustainability in rural Sweden
Crime, fear of crime and crime prevention in rural communities
Vânia Ceccato (Project Leader)
Department of Urban Planning and Environment
in co-operation with
Lars Dorlmén
The Swedish National Police Academy
Research financed by FORMAS
Grant 251-2007-1954
2008-2010
Most of us would argue that Swedish rural areas are safe sustainable communities.
But how safe they really are?
New school bus is vandalised by students between Klimpfjäll and Vilhelmina’. After this experience, the bus driver is concerned about his own safety, reported Västerbotten-Kuriren . Another event occurred in Säter, Dalarna, where a serious crime against the environment took place, after four males dumped and burned 200 hundred litres of explosive fluid close to water reservoirs, reported the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter . In a more extreme account, the same newspaper reported the case of a young man who admitted to kill his wife, dumping her body in an oil tank in Teckomatorp, in Southern Sweden. In central Sweden, Dalarnas Tidningar , had an article on a 25 year old male that admitted to assault physically another male in Vansbro, causing facial fractures and bleeding. Not far away, in Strömsund, parents started an association that together with the Police and school is intended to decrease alcohol consumption among local teenagers and young people'
These events took place in 2007 in the heart of the Swedish rural areas. Police records show that a third of sparse populated communities (glesbygd) and nearly a half of other rural municipalities (tätortsnära landsbygdskommuner) recorded an increase of reported crimes (counts) between 2000 and 2006 (BRÅ database, 2007). Despite such an increase, a rise in the number of reported crime does not necessarily mean lack of safety. In Sweden, crime and fear of crime constitute social issues that are attracting an increasing amount of attention (BRÅ, 2007). A recent survey shows that although the actual risk of being a victim of violent crime in rural areas is similar to that in the rest of the country (excluding Stockholm), the perceived risk is significantly lower in rural areas (Swedish National Institute of Public Health, 2006). Statistics show that there are areas that despite having demographic and socio-economic challenges ahead, are coping better than others in preventing crime and disorder as well as ensuring good levels of perceived safety (SCB database, 2007). Since crime prevention in Sweden is not centralised and often adapted to the ‘local realities’ (Gustafsson and Hollari, 2005), there are reasons to believe that differences in crime prevention practices are also responsible for the varied crime levels and perceived safety across the country.
We argue for the inclusion of crime and fear of crime as important aspects of social sustainability in Swedish rural areas. Thus, obtaining detailed knowledge on rural municipalities’ criminogenic conditions and how they relate to actual crime levels is of fundamental importance in the debate of social sustainability. This should also include an assessment of different approaches to prevent crime and ensure safety in rural communities.
Aim of the project and specific objectives
The aim of this project is to assess crime, safety and crime prevention practices as dimensions of social sustainability in Swedish rural communities. This will be achieved by:
- Assessing the levels and patterns of urban crime in rural municipalities in Sweden.
- Looking for patterns of perception of safety and/or fear of crime in rural communities.
Comparing approaches of crime prevention in rural communities.
Expected outcomes
A final seminar in Stockholm is planned to present findings at the end of the project. We will present the project findings in a report in Swedish that will be available on the project’s webpage. We also plan to disseminate findings in academic conferences during the project. At least three published articles in international peer-refereed journals summarise the main project results.
References
BRÅ – Brottsförebyggande rådet (2007) The Swedish Crime Survey 2006 Victimization, fear of crime and public confidence in the criminal justice system. National Council for Crime Prevention, Report 14.
Swedish National Institute of Public Health (2006) Hälsa på lika villkor. Rapport 2007:01.
Gustafsson, C., Hollari, S. (2005) On the right track. A survey of Sweden’s local crime prevention councils. National Council for Crime Prevention, Report 15.
More information, contact Vânia Ceccato, vania@infra.kth.se