Organized crime on the agenda

• In Event: The Far Reaching Realm of Criminal Justice Policy

Abstract

Organized crime is discussed increasingly often by politicians and in the media, both in Europe and the Anglo-Saxon countries. Since the year 2000, Swedish journalists have published 8000 articles about organized crime, which represents approximately eight times as many as were written during the 1990s. Discussions of topics that have a place on the political agenda can influence public policy, people's opinions about crime and also their fear of crime. On the other hand, many actors have much to gain by highlighting organized crime; it has a high news value and sells newspapers, politicians gain more support from voters and the police receive more resources. In spite of all this, the Swedish political and media debate on organized crime has not yet been studied. The purpose of the study is to analyse both the parliamentary debate and media descriptions of organized crime in Sweden since 1989/90. The focus is directed at the interaction between these two arenas and also at how the current view of organized crime has evolved. The presentation will focus theory, previous research and a small sample of interviews with politicians, police officers and journalists.

Author

• Anita Heber, Stockholm University