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This qualitative research study examines how investigators at one of many domestic violence departments in Sweden uses the cognitive interview technique during their interviews. This technique has in previous studies proven to give 47% more information to the investigator when using it in relation to not be using it. Furthermore this result comes without taking away any important information since it improves the ability of the interviewed witness or plaintiff to remember. The technique is based on several different steps for the investigators to use such as “Empty all the key sequences” but the investigator can pick how he or she uses the steps to benefit the interview in the best way. You do not need to use every step in the correct order which is a common misunderstanding regarding the cognitive interview technique.In my study six investigators were interviewed one at the time with semistructured interviews and each of them were then analyzed on a deductive manner. The results showed that many of the investigators uses fragments of the cognitive interview in a good way but without knowing how those fragments connects to the technique. The investigators had many thoughts of how they plan and perform their interviews to get as much information as possible from the witness or plaintiff. However the lack of intentionally use of research based techniques such as the cognitive interview technique were obvious. I therefore see an opportunity to educate experienced investigators with the cognitive interview technique as a part of the goal to make the investigations more efficient. This connects to one of the goals from Polismyndigheten, which is to work towards being more efficient in its investigations.

Swedish Police Air Support Unit (SPASU) is a flying unit within the Police whose mainmission is law enforcement and lifesaving missions. The unit has nine helicopters based onone of the five bases in Sweden. The crews usually consist of a pilot and a tactical flightoperator who together carry out the missions in a single-pilot system. They work day andnight 365 days a year. A high proportion of the accidents that occur in aviation havefatigue as a significant contributing or causal factor. In commercial and military aviationoperations, sleep and fatigue-related problems are well documented and several studieshave examined the prevalence of this. Corresponding investigations on other Police AirSupport Units has not been found. This study has examined the prevalence of sleep andfatigue-related problems in the crews within the SPASU. A quantitative focus with surveyswas chosen as method. A high response rate in the questionnaires has almost made this atotal survey (N = 49, 92 % of total population). The results have shown that there arecertain problems in the SPASU with staff flying under the influence of fatigue. Many alsosleep less than they need to feel totally rested and these have been overrepresented in thepresence of fatigue during flight. There is a great consensus among the respondents thatfatigue has a negative effect on performance during flight and that the risks increase. Theresults have shown differences between pilots and tactical flight operators, two shift andthree shift workers as well as between the different age categories in the study.

BACKGROUND: Less-­lethal weapons are often used when police officers deal with uncooperative and potentially dan­gerous persons. In recent years there has been growing international consensus regarding the useful­ness of less lethal weapons, such as conducted electrical weapons (CEWs). In 2018 the Swedish Police Authority launched a two­year trial of CEWs in Sweden.

AIM: The current study aims to evaluate the Police Authority's CEW trial, and to explore the public's point of view about the legitimacy of the police’s use of CEW.

METHODS: The study includes a quantitative survey and qualitative data. The survey data was collected at three time points; before, during, and at the end of the trial. Survey data was collected from two groups of police officers; one group that participated in the CEW trial and one control group that was not part of the trial. To increase the understanding of the survey results, in­depth interviews and focus group in­terviews were conducted with police officers who had experience of using CEW during the trial. To understand more about the citizens' perspective on different aspects of CEW legitimacy, focus group interviews were conducted with a convenient sample of the public. Data from the Police work injury system (LISA) was also collected to investigate the CEW’s impact on police officers' injuries.

RESULTS: Results from the survey showed no differences between CEW and the control group in experiencing stress in certain given situations. Compared to the control group, the police officers in the CEW group experienced a greater sense of safety in situations that involve a high degree of resistance and/or phys­ical attacks. Similarly, the findings from the interviews showed that having access to CEW reduced stress in violent situations by boosting police officers' sense of safety. The interview results revealed that CEW contributes to police officers limiting the use of other potentially harmful means of violence, such as physical methods and firearms. In the survey, no difference was found between the CEW group and the control group in exposure to threat, violence, and resistance, as well as injuries to police officers or counterpart. The interviewees considered the CEW to be an important tool and saw only benefits with it. They believed it could save lives, reduce injuries to both police officers and counterparts, and improve their working environment. Findings from both quantitative and qualitative data confirm the positive effect of CEW through its contribution to lesser use of violence, for example in the reduction in the use of baton and pepper spray, which often cause more injuries. Participants from the public express that CEW is an effective and useful tool for the police, but emphasizes the importance of an awareness regarding the situations in which it is used in and towards whom.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on the survey results, it is difficult to draw any definite conclusions about how and to what extent using CEW is associated with less injuries among police officers and counterparts. However, the inter­view results indicate that police officers experience a decreased risk of violence and thus, injuries. Ac­cess to CEW can increase the sense of safety in situations involving violence and strong resistance, which consequently reduces stress. CEW can also reduce the use of pepper spray, baton, and to some extent firearms. The CEW is perceived to have a de­escalating effect and can facilitate the process of decision making in relation to which tool to be used in police interventions with a high degree of threat and violence. Participants from the public perceived that the use of violence by the police, including the use of CEW, is in general justifiable. 

Aim: The Swedish Sports Confederation is performing a large organisational change. This involves closing the Parasport Federation, one of their 73 national sports organisations (NSO) which today sponsors 14 sports for athletes with disabilities. These athletes will be included in other NSOs offering the same or similar sports, mainly for athletes without disabilities. This ongoing project follows this change within one of the NSOs, the Swedish Floorball Federation (SFF). The project investigates on individual and organisational levels the knowledge of, preparedness for, and experienced opportunities and obstacles to a process of change toward equal conditions for the participation of athletes with disabilities.

Methods: Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods have been used. Questionnaires were sent to the board and administrative staff of the SFF as well as to administrative staff in the 21 district associations with a total of 55 responses. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among 35 chosen stakeholders within the board and staff of the federation, chairpersons of the districts and representatives from five clubs with floorball for people with and without disabilities. In these clubs, 15 additional interviews were carried out among athletes with and without disabilities and their relatives.

Results: Preliminary results from questionnaires indicate that there is a lack of knowledge regarding the process among some key stakeholders within SFF. For example, only about one third of the respondents at federation and district level claim to know enough about the process to be able to tell another person about it. The results from the interviews also indicate a concern, mainly among stakeholders, that the needs of athletes with disabilities might not become a priority in the same way as it is today in the Parasport Federation, with specific knowledge and experience in disability sports. However, based on the interviews, the general opinion seems to be that athletes with disabilities will gain a deeper sense of belonging by joining the same federation and club as athletes without disabilities, who in return will gain an understanding of disability sports and their athletes.

Discussion/Conclusions: Overall, there is a clear will to develop disability sports within the SFF. However, for reaching equal conditions an obstacle that must be dealt with in the further process is the risk that athletes with disabilities will become less of a priority. Furthermore, there seems to be a lack of knowledge and preparedness for the change on some key levels, and this calls for communicative strategies about what should be achieved through the organisational change. With a successful change, there is an opportunity for understanding about people with disabilities to spread outside the sports context and thus create awareness in a wider sense.

Polisutbildningen vid Umeå universitet är en professionsutbildning som erbjuder utbildningar på campus och distans. Förutom polisprogrammet erbjuds fristående kurser och vidareutbildning för yrkesverksamma. Alla utbildningar karakteriseras av en stor mängd praktiska inslag, vilket skapar pedagogiska och logistiska utmaningar, framför allt för distansutbildningen. Lärarna på polisutbildningen har olika bakgrund, ungefär hälften är poliser medan andra hälften kommer från olika institutioner vid Umeå universitet. En central tanke i utbildningen är att ha en tät integration av teoretiska och praktiska utbildningsinslag, viket också innebär att många lärarlag består av både akademiker och polislärare. För att säkerställa utbildningarnas kvalité samt höja lärarnas kompetens genomförs en satsning på kurs- och programutveckling under våren 2020. Syftet är att utveckla nya studerandeaktiva inslag på polisutbildningen, utveckla digitalt undervisningsmaterial samt höja undervisande personals pedagogiska och digitala kompetens. Satsningen riktar sig till de olika lärarlagen i syfte att skapa ett kollaborativ lärande, göra alla lärare delaktiga samt integrera den praktiska och teoretiska kompentens som finns.

Grunden i satsningen är en utbildningsinsats utformad utifrån en modell av Scholarship of Teaching and Learning där ett problem definieras, en lösning planeras och genomförs för att slutligen utvärderas och presenteras (Dietz-Uhler och BishopClark, 2012). Insatsen startar med en verkstad för att ringa in ett utvecklingsområde inom lärarlagens ämnesområden. Upplägget bygger på ABC-metoden där lärarlagen under en verkstad på 90 minuter kartlägger sin undervisning (Young, C., & Perovic, N. 2016). Fokus MO4 ligger på vilka olika lärsituationer studenterna möter (Laurillard 2012). Under verkstaden synliggörs nuläge och utvecklingsområden. En viktig del är sedan att lärarlagen tillsammans utformar en gemensam aktionsplan som slutligen omvandlas till ett konkret undervisningsinslag. Som stöd för lärarlagen erbjuds olika verkstäder och utbildningsinsatser utifrån de pedagogiska och tekniska behov lärarlagen ringat in under inledande ABC-verkstaden. Dessutom erbjuds ytterligare stöd i form av två studierektorer och en pedagogisk utvecklare som bollplank.

De resultat lärarlagen kommit fram under satsningen kommer att presenteras för övriga lärare på Polisutbildningen. Detta för att sprida ”best practice” och pedagogiska erfarenheter från arbetet. Lärarlagens arbete dokumenteras också skriftligt med tanken att arbetet ska kunna läggas in i lärarnas pedagogiska portföljer och visa ett systematiskt pedagogiskt utvecklingsarbete.

Satsningen är i gång med sju lärarlag och totalt 28 lärare. En första utvärdering av upplägget har tagits emot positivt av lärarna och ett antal utvecklingsprojekt är uppstartade. Några exempel är ”Studentgenererad kunskapskontroll i kriminalteknik” och ”Planspel Demonstration”. Ett färdigt resultat kommer att finnas i juni 2020 då insatsen är slutförd och utvärderad.

This is a qualitative research study that examines the reasoning concerning the applying of handcuffs from police and students at the police academy. In Sweden there´s an absence of an exact saying in the law that the police are allowed to restrain a person who poses a flight risk with handcuffs. As a representant of the state it is key that every police officer follows the ruling law. At the same time police experience a necessity to restrain some people to eliminate or minimize the flight risk. The result of this study shows that students experience a deficiency in the basic training when it comes to the usage of handcuffs. At the same time police testify about the lack of continuing education which leads to relying on experience instead. The study also shows big differences in the views concerning the need to use handcuffs in flight situations then you compare police and students at the police academy. It´s apparent that the legislation at the time of writing is considered unclear and hard to interpret amongst police and students at the police academy. The conclusion is that the views of using handcuffs in situations involving flight risk in context to the legislation varies greatly. The general view in the police-organization seems to be that there´s a need for reformation in the legislation as a development when it comes to education concerning the matter at the police academy as well as further training when you graduate.

After pregnancy and maternity leave some women choose to quit their jobs as police officers out on the streets. In this study ten women from the same police district has been interviewed about their experiences of as a woman and police officer becoming a mum. The study includes the period from when the woman tells her boss that she´s pregnant, trough the temporary work assignment during pregnancy, maternity leave, the return to work and to the time when she´s back in original duty. The study clearly shows that the experiences is both positive and negative. Some experienced the period at work during pregnancy as meaningful and developing for their competence, some experienced the opposite. The study shows that influence of desicions about the temporary duty and the welcoming to the new group are important factors for making it a positive experience. During maternity leave some of the women felt forgotten and experienced loss of membership to their original work group. The study shows that it is important to be offered educations and being informed about vacant jobs even during pregnancy and maternity leave. The interviewed women pointed out a number of factors they see as most important for a positive experience being a mum and a police officer out in the streets. They rank understanding from bosses and colleagues high. When you become a parent you need to get the family life and work life to work together to be able to keep your original job. If the Police department work for these women the experience of being back in duty has a good chance to be positive. It´s important to make sure they don´t loose the membership in their original work group during pregnancy and maternity leave, that they don´t miss out om education and vacant jobs and that they get a good introduction when coming back to duty. In that way maybe the chanses increases that she´s not necessarily the one who changes her work situation if the family life doesn´t work out.  

This essay is the result of a study of the strategies that investigators/interrogators at the Police's felony department use in interrogations with suspects who use their statutory right not to have to make a statement or participate in an investigation about their own guilt.

The questions that the study was based on are, what strategies do criminal investigators use when questioning people who use their right not to speak during interrogation? What importance does the interrogator feel the defense attorney has in the interrogation room? How does the interrogator experience the silence from the suspect?

It is a qualitative study, where the material was collected through interviews with five investigators/interrogators, four police officers and one civilian investigator, with five to thirteen years of experience as an investigator at the Police Agency's Serious Crimes departments, in various locations in Bergslagen and the Stockholm area. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed in thematic analysis, where the study's questions guided the coding of the material.

The theoretical frame of reference contains Lipsky's theory of Street-Level Bureaucrats, Asplund's concept of social responsibility, Goffman's dramaturgical perspective and Foucault's theory of power and resistance.

 In the thematic analysis, two main categories emerge in the interrogators' strategies, questioning strategies, and contact-making strategies. With subcategories informative/information gathering, neutral/objective, professional and flexible/empathic, interested. As an interrogator, you continue to ask your planned questions even though the suspect does not answer them. Emphasis is placed on being clear and informing the suspect in an objective and professional manner about their statutory rights, they also want to ensure that the information is comprehensible and that the suspect understands. Continuing to ask questions is also seen to inform the suspect and defense attorney about what information is available in the investigation. They try to establish some form of contact with the suspect to get him/her to answer questions, but also have an understanding and awareness of the risk of speaking in interrogation.

An active shooter event is one of the most complicated situations a police officer could face. Today the standard procedure for an active shooter event is to enter the scene and try to prevent casualties. This involves taking great risks and puts the police officers in a situation they have not been trained for. This is a work in progress paper where the long-term goal is to develop modern technology that could increase the chance of saving lives and decrease the risk of being injured or killed during an active shooter event. Six active shooter event exercises taking place in Sweden have been studied using an ethnographic field study approach. Four themes have been identified where we argue that technology could enhance the police mission: A) Situational awareness; B) Decision making/prioritization; C) Localization of both sound and people; D) Decreasing time of intervention.

Police officers’ situational awareness during tactical intervention can be crucial for how they act and whether they use the correct level of force in extreme situations. This paper presents preliminary findings in ongoing research focusing on police tactical interventions and situational awareness. Twenty-one police officers were interviewed, and a video sequence of a shorter car chase was used to set the scene in the interviews. The interviewed police officers described their tactical decisions applying the standardized tactical approach applied in the Swedish police. In the analysis, a focus on how situational awareness is gained and how situational awareness is affected by tactical decisions is presented. The study indicates that the situational awareness process begins before the actual intervention (pre-intervention phase). During the actual intervention, situational awareness is very complex. Technology supporting police officers’ cognition, as well as management and control of one or many risk areas, is identified.

The issue of sexual violence has in recent years gained increased attention in Sápmi. Based on the population-basedstudy «Sámi Health on Equal Terms» (SámiHET) 2021, this paper examines exposure to sexual violence among Sámiwomen and men in Sweden, compared to women and men in the Swedish population. The analysis shows that sexualviolence against women constitutes a significant problem in the Sámi society, to at least the same extent as in the restof Sweden. Sámiwomen report a significantly higher exposure to several forms of sexual violence compared towomenin Sweden, including exposure to rape and attempted rape. The analysis also shows that Sámi women are more likelyto seek healthcare and report to the police after sexual abuse, which nuances the image of a passive silence surroundingsexual violence in Sápmi. Drawing on Indigenous feminist perspectives, the article highlights how gendered andcolonial power relations interact in terms of vulnerability to sexual violence in Sweden and that the position of beinga Sámi woman increases exposure to sexual violence, while being a Sámi man does not. In sum, the results show thatboth gender and Sámi Indigeneity affect exposure to sexual violence, which points to the need to include Sámi perspectivesin future research on, and political efforts against, sexual violence.

Too many women die around the world as a result of being murdered by their husbands and partners in their homes. In Sweden, around 15 women die every year when they are subjected to deadly violence by someone in intimate partnership. This study is about how the Swedish Police in a local police district in Stockholm, and the Police regional command center (RCC) in Stockholm have been affected by the introduction of two projects linked to intimate partnership violence (IPV), Intitative Gryning and IGOR. This study aims to identify changes in the police's working methods in relation to Initiative Gryning and IGOR, and to increase the understanding of the relationship between the working methods in Initiative Gryning, IGOR and the Swedish Police’s new crime prevention strategy. In this qualitative study, 11 police employees within the Police in Stockholm have been interviewed. The informants were active in different police units. The findings show that informants in recent years the police have focused more on IPV. A change in the way IPV cases are handled have been introduced at the RCC in Region Stockholm. The introduction of IGOR in the local police has led to an increase in crime prevention work against IPV. Increase in knowledge regarding which information is important for risk assessment to be carried out is likely to be beneficial for further developing crime prevention work. 

Detta kapitel innehåller en berättelse om och våra reflektioner kring erfarenheter av en påtvingad nedläggning under 2018 av forsknings- och utbildningsmiljön Juridiskt forum (Umeå Forum for Studies on Law and Society). Vi börjar i en meta-berättelse om utveckling, framgång, motstånd och fall. Ur denna berättelse har två teman utkristalliserats: Exkludering av genusrättsvetenskap från utbildning och forskning samt Genusrättsvetenskap och genusrättsvetenskapare som arbetsmiljöproblem(et). Dessa kontextualiseras som uttryck för den rättsdogmatiska traditionens motstånd mot de kritiska ontologiska och epistemologiska utmaningar som den nordiska genusrättsvetenskapliga traditionen och socio-rättsliga studier representerar. Vi hävdar att motståndet på institutionell, akademisk och personlig nivå i grunden handlar om en djup oförmåga och ovilja att hantera mångfald, kritik och utveckling. När nu denna kamp är över, och vår gränsöverskridande, kritiska miljö har eliminerats så finns det ändå inga vinnare. Istället anser vi att utvecklingspotentialen för den snäva rättsvetenskap som produceras i Umeå idag är låg, vilket underminerar möjligheterna till att uppfylla förändringsbehov i juristutbildningen. Motstånd har ständigt varit närvarande under genusrättsvetenskapens nära 40-åriga nordiska historia och andra starka genusrättsvetenskapliga miljöer och enskilda forskare har gått liknande öden till mötes som vårt. Ändå slutar inte vår berättelse i pessimism. Nedläggningen av Juridiskt forum kan inte hindra utvecklingen. Genusrättsvetenskapen i Norden har satt sig och utvecklas starkt som akademiskt ämne. Efterfrågan är stor från juriststudenter och volymen på expertuppdrag, forskning och publikationer är omfattande. Viktiga samhällsutmaningar ställer nya kunskapskrav på framtidens jurister. Genus och rätt är utan tvekan en del av denna kunskapsutveckling i Norden.

Previous studies show a lack of deference and activities when it comes to women's human rights and gender equality in the multi-level governance of the Arctic. According to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, women in the Arctic are vulnerable, in particular indigenous and rural women. Their rights are not upheld in the Arctic states for example when it comes to exposure to violence, equal participation in governing bodies, and economic self-support. The public governing bodies have almost no focus on gender equality at all, despite far-reaching international obligations and, for several of the states, national ambitious agendas for gender equality politics. International instruments with obligations to strive for gender equality, such as the CEDAW, the ILO Convention 169 and UNDRIP, are scarcely referred to and not sufficiently implemented by the public governance bodies. The aim of this article is to raise awareness of the obligations set up by human rights documents to promote women' rights in the governance of the Arctic, in order to put pressure on the states to develop strategies for a future gender equal governance. We have a special focus on the general lack of awareness within public governance, and on men's intimate partner violence against indigenous women.

Schools are an important arena to curb the decline in physical activity (PA) in youth. School-based interventions with accelerometer-measured PA are warranted. This study aimed to increase accelerometer-measured PA in adolescents following a 12-month school-based intervention. Two school-classes of 16–18-year-old Swedish students were allocated to intervention group and control group. Accelerometer-measured PA was gathered at baseline, 6-and 12-month follow-up. Mixed-effects linear regression was used to investigate between-group and within-group differences in mean minutes per day (min/day) of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA), light PA (LPA) and sedentary time (ST). Fifty-seven students participated (intervention group = 31, control group = 26). At 12-month follow-up, the intervention group performed 5.9 (95% CI: −4.3, 16.2) min/day more in MVPA, 1.8 (95% CI: −17.9, 14.2) min/day less in LPA, and 4.1 (95% CI: −27.3, 19.2) min/day less in ST compared to the control group. Within the intervention group, there was no significant change in PA. Within the control group, LPA decreased (95% CI: −19.6, −0.2; p = 0.044) and ST increased (95% CI: 1.8, 30.8; p = 0.028). Although no between-group differences in PA were statistically significant, the within-group changes may suggest a preventive impact on the decline in PA during adolescence.

This qualitative research study examines police officers from local police district (LPO) Järva in northwestern Stockholm Sweden experiences and opinions regarding the effects of police presence on crime prevention and perceived safety of the public. The purpose of this study is also to examine if the establishment of the police station in central Rinkeby has helped to increase the police presence in the socially vulnerable areas Rinkeby, Tensta and Husby included in LPO Järva. In recent years there has been an increasement of research studies and reports on Sweden´s socially vulnerable areas, this study is a contribution to that field and meant to shed light to the police officer’s own experiences and opinions. According to the police officers that participated as respondents, the establishment of Rinkeby police station had little impact on the police presence. Instead, the police officers considered that an actual increasement of police presence in LPO Järva depends on more active police officers on duty and change of priorities set by the conduction, by shifting the focus from covering work gaps and instead prioritize letting the community policing officers work with problem-oriented police work in the socially vulnerable areas. The study also found that most of the police officers considered to a large extent, that an increased police presence in LPO Järva would contribute to crime prevention and help increasing the perceived safety of the inhabitants in the local police district. The findings of this study might be valuable for further research and improvements to the implementation of evidence-based policing in LPO Järva.

Mass casualty incidents (MCI) in tunnels can result in devastating consequences. Despite this, there is a knowledge gap in the perspectives and experiences of strategic stakeholders in relation to the emergency medical response to MCI in tunnels. This study aims to explore and describe this issue. The study includes 11 interview participants from the emergency services organisations and governmental and municipal organisations in Sweden. The results indicate that the medical perspective is inadequately represented at a strategic level due, among other, to limited input from emergency medical representatives during planning stages and a lack of social networks. The results implicate a need to create and improve networks among the stakeholders from the involved organisations. Emergency medical personnel should not only be acknowledged for their expertise but should also be included to a greater extent in the planning stages and exercises. Medical and rescue personnel need time to jointly discuss how they, in the best way, can save lives in tunnel MCIs.

In this research note, we present results from a review of research on local resilience in relation to radicalization in public health, social work, crisis management, and community policing using terrorism studies as a point of departure. In order to identify agreements between literatures, we focus on how local resilience is understood, how it is said to be promoted, and how this knowledge could be synthesized. We show that resilience by and large is understood as both a process and a capacity underpinned by cooperation, social networks, and community resources and that an initial mapping of existing strengths and resources is pivotal for local resilience-building.

Radicalization and violent extremism are pressing issues on the Swedish political agenda. The local level has been identified as pivotal when it comes to preventive work and local public actors are encouraged to cooperate with civil society in efforts to promote local resilience. However, the Swedish debate on the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) and faith based organizations (FBOs) in resilience building and prevention is heated. Based on 14 interviews with representatives for secular, Christian and Muslim CSOs and FBOs, we have explored and analysed how they perceive their role in resilience building and preventive work. We have asked how they interpret local resilience against radicalization and violent extremism and what they think is needed in order to promote it. Findings are mirrored against a recent literature review on local resilience. In the interviews, there is a strong emphasis on work to strengthen social support networks, enhance community resources and build collective identity. In relation to the literature review, there are significant similarities with how resilience is defined and said to be promoted.

Introduction: An essential part of police work is handling people in distress, often related to some form of conflict that police officers are expected to handle in a professional manner. Thus, interpersonal and conflict management skills are essential for police officers. Further, police work has been hailed as one of the most complex and stressful jobs that one can have. While important progress has been made in relation to how the complex and stressful nature of police work affects the individual officers - less is known about the timing and onset of these effects. Similarly, while there is a growing body of research into police conflict management, more research is needed to deepen our understanding of police conflict management, not least in the Swedish context. The overall aim of the present thesis was to contribute to existing knowledge about police work by investigating conflict management and mental health among Swedish police recruits and officers.

Materials and methods: The present thesis used a mixed-methods approach and is built on four sub-studies. Sub-study 1 examined the evidence base for current practices, methods, and training in conflict management by means of a scoping review. Sub-study 2 used semi-structured interviews to examine how police officers perceived conflict and conflict-management and their training within the subject. Results from sub-study 2 where also used increating items for the instrument developed in sub-study 4. Sub-study 3 used a quantitative design to examine the mental health status of Swedish police recruits using the SCL-90 questionnaire. Sub-study 4 documented the initial steps towards developing an instrument to measure conflict behaviors and attitudes to conflict management among police officers and evaluated the psychometric properties of this instrument.

Results: A large proportion of the studies included in the scoping review were conducted in the US and manyfocused-on use of force. The results also indicate that a lack of available data, unified definitions and experimental as well as longitudinal research designs makes it difficult to draw causal conclusions regarding the effectiveness of training in conflict management. In the interviews, respondents described conflict largely in terms of interpersonal conflicts, and focused less on intrapersonal conflict. The complexity and importance of the role played by instructors during probationary training was also salient in their descriptions. As for mental health status, recruits overall reported scores that where similar to the general population. A small number of recruits (n = 15) reported scores that where above the patient mean of the Swedish general population in the corresponding age group. The intended factor structure of the instrument developed could not be operationalized in the instruments current form, but the instrument could still provide insights and provides a basis for further development of the instrument.

Conclusions: To enhance our understanding on police conflict management, scholars and police departments should work together to agree upon unified definitions on key concepts related to this topic. More research using longitudinal and experimental designs are needed to further develop training interventions related to conflict management. While a small number of recruits reported scores above the Swedish patient mean, extant research has indicated that stigmas surrounding mental health among police could lead to unconstructive coping behaviors. Further research on mental health among not only Swedish police officers but also recruits, could focus on helpseeking-behaviors and stigmas related to mental health to provide valuable insights on the topic. The instrument developed within the present thesis needs further development but nonetheless represents a first step towards examining individual differences in relation to police conflict management behaviors and attitudes towards conflict.

The aim of this study is to increase knowledge of how police officers define conflict and conflict management as well as how they perceive their training in conflict management, in relation to previous experiences, in-school training and their probationary training. Swedish police officers (n = 20) who had recently finished their probationary training were interviewed focusing on conflict and conflict management. The study shows that the respondents had general descriptions of conflict, which focused almost solely on interpersonal conflict. Further, the development of adaptive conflict behaviors during probationary training was largely dependent on their instructors, whose role and tasks are very complex. In addition, respondents reported an accelerated maturation process of sorts, in which they described themselves as less naïve and more cynical, despite their short time at work. The findings in this study might provide valuable insights into how police officers perceive conflict and conflict management.

Background: The stressful and complex nature of police work and its adverse effects on mental health are well-documented in police research. The mental health of police students however, has not been given the same attention. To the best of our knowledge, studies on the mental health of Swedish police recruits have not been undertaken since 2010.

Objectives: The present study aims to examine whether there are differences in the mental health between two cohorts (2009 and 2020) of Swedish police recruits, as well as to compare the mental health of both cohorts with the general population data collected in 2002.

Methods: Data was collected using the SCL-90-R survey. Data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and independent sample T-tests. Bi-variate analyses including t-test and chi-square were used to examine differences in sociodemographic variables between the two cohorts.

Results: A total of 376 police recruits participated in the study. Results indicated no significant differences between the cohorts with regards to the three global indices of the SCL-90-R: Global Severity Index (GSI), Positive Symptom Total (PST), and Positive Symptom Distress Index (PSDI). Recruits with a college degree had lower scores on GSI and PSDI, similar to respondents that where in a relationship vs. singles. A total of 15 (four female) recruits had GSI scores above the Swedish patient mean. Compared with the general population, males and females from the 2009, as well as females from the 2020 cohorts had lower or insignificantly different mean scores on all global indices, with males from the 2020 cohort having a significantly lower PST score.

Conclusions: While the vast majority of recruits had results that where indicative of a low prevalence and intensity with regards to mental health disorders, some recruits did score above the Swedish patient mean. While mental preparedness is part of the curriculum for Swedish police recruits, interventions targeting the stigmas of poor mental health could be of value. The fact that educational attainment appears to have a positive impact on the mental health of police recruits, could be taken in to consideration when recruiting future police officers.

The homecoming of police veterans from missions abroad is a topic that gives impacts on the strategic-level of leadership. Formal documents concerning the planning of home-coming activities implies that the veterans’ experience, knowledge from foreign countries and cultures should be utilized within the police organization. That is the formal part and what is written. For a long time, Sweden has been a big founder both in economic aspect, but also in personal resources when it comes to peace-keeping activities in different countries. In order to continue with sending police officers abroad there is essential that home coming officers feel that they are doing good, both for country, police force and themselves.  This research is focusing on how the veterans perceive the homecoming and especially how the local police organization meets these formal standards ordered by the national police chiefs. In this research five police officers were interviewed. The result shows that there is a different between formal guidelines and the organizations standards. There should be stressed, that this research has only focus on the homecoming veterans, and not the local supervisors and colleagues and their thoughts and actions. A research which can give voices on both sides should be interesting and recommended.  

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory is appealing as a conceptual tool for guiding public mental health interventions. However, his theory underwent significant changes since its first inception during the late 1970s until his death in 2005, due to which the implications that can be drawn might differ depending on what concepts (i.e. early or later) of the theory is utilized. The aim of this paper was to examine how different concepts of Bronfenbrenner’s theory have been utilized in (public) mental health research, and to analyse the value of these different uses for guiding public mental health policy and practice. A systematic search for articles that have utilized concepts of Bronfenbrenner’s theory within the field of mental health resulted in a review of 16 published papers. We found that one set of papers (N = 10) used the early concepts of ecological systems without investigating interactions between these systems, while another set of papers used the concepts of ecological systems by also investigating interactions within and between these systems (N = 4). Another limited set of papers (N = 2) utilized the later concepts of proximal processes and the PPCT model. Our results show that studies using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system concepts by clearly considering interactions between and within these systems can result in recommendations that are most useful for guiding public mental health policy and practice.

Settling in a new host country as an unaccompanied minor holds a lot of challenges such as adaptation of new social norms, learning a new language and understanding a new culture. Social networks may foster good conditions for settlement in the host community but little is known about the availability, quality and significance of social networks for unaccompanied minors (UM) in Sweden. The aim of this qualitative grounded-theory situational study was to explore experiences of social networks among UM and the significance of those networks for becoming established in Sweden, based on data from in-depth interviews with 11 young persons. Unaccompanied young persons were broadly found to be involved in three different kinds of networks: professional carers, like-ethnic friends and ‘Swedes’ in general. Networks with professionals (i.e. linking social capital) were perceived as both a secure base and a source of rejection, and could either facilitate or obstruct the establishment. Supporting networks with like-ethnic friends (bonding social capital) proved to be the most available and important resource for becoming established, while access to networks with Swedes (bridging social capital) was in general low but still perceived as important for becoming established, not least for reducing language and cultural barriers.

Burnout was originally conceptualized based on experiences of new professionals. Role clarity, task mastery, and social acceptance are recognized as key resources enabling new professionals’ management of the challenges of the new profession. However, relations between these resources and stress, strain, and burnout have not yet been thoroughly investigated at professional entry. Increased understanding of these relations could have implications for strategies to prevent burnout. The aim of the study was to investigate within- and between-individual effects over the first months and relations to burnout at one-year post-entry. Data (n = 322) was collected weekly over the first 13 weeks and again 9 months later. Relationships were modelled using a multilevel regression model and correlation analysis. Results showed that on weeks when participants experienced higher role clarity, task mastery, and social acceptance, they reported significantly less stress, and that participants who experienced higher levels of the resources in general, reported significantly less strain. Levels of the resources at three months were related to symptoms of burnout at 12 months. The study findings provide support of the role of task mastery, role clarity, and social acceptance as resources buffering the impact of demands at professional entry on experiences of stress, strain, and burnout.

The study aims to study policeofficers' perception of the implementation of the collection mission "inhämtningsuppdraget", in terms of the possibility of making correct assessments. The collection task includes several steps, of which the first must be carried out by all locla police areas. In previous research, it has emerged that the assessments made by the officers may be subjective, which leads to the risk of under- and over-reporting. 

The study has been conducted with a qualitative approach, and a number of semi-structured interviews have been conducted with policeofficers operation in the North region. The material has been analyzed with thematic analysis and put in relation to the theory of situational awareness. It appears in the study that the majority of respndents believe that they already know the outcome of the information the report, before the acquisition is carried out. It also appears that there are different prerequisites for creating a high degree of situational awareness based on internal and external information exchange. 

Sveriges kommuners lokala brottsförebyggande arbete ser väldigt olika ut. De flesta kommuner i Sverige har ett eget brottsförebyggande råd med lokala aktörer som polis, skola eller föreningar. Från och med den 1 juli 2023 kommer en ny lag att införas som ger svenska kommuner ett större ansvar för det lokala brottsförebyggande arbetet. 

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka och söka förståelse för hur en lagstadgad samverkan mellan kommuner och Polismyndigheten kan påverka det lokala polisiära arbetet. För att undersöka detta har studien genomfört semistrukturerade intervjuer med tjänstepersoner från kommuner samt poliser. Studien har ett kvalitativt förhållningssätt och har analyserat det insamlade materialet med en tematisk analys. Det teoretiska ramverket som studien har tillämpat är Danermarks samverkansteori tillsammans med begreppet "tvingande isomorfism" från den nyinstitutionella organisationsteorin.

Baserat på studiens resultat har det identifierats en orosföreställning bland poliser för att kommunen i samband med den nya lagen kommer att ställa högre krav på exempelvis polisens tillgänglighet. Utifrån studiens resultat finns de orosföreställningar inför den nya lagen om kommuners ansvar för brottsförebyggande arbete och dess påverkan på det lokala polisiära arbetet. Studien har också identifierat att de finns olika uppfattningar om hur väl förberedd organisationen är för en eventuell påverkan utav den nya lagen.