Bearing Responsibility: A Local School Perspective on External Crime Prevention Edicts

• In Event: School, sports and crime prevention

Abstract

This paper explores the reception of crime prevention edicts among upper secondary school professionals in Stockholm, Sweden. The development of increased shootings and gang related violence is, at the time of conducting this study, one of the most pressing topics in Swedish domestic policy. Growing (public and political) concern over this matter has intensified the demand for solutions within the field of crime policy. While the dominant discourse often centers on repressive measures -such as increasing police presence and imposing harsher penalties – there is also strong advocacy for preventive strategies. Schools are commonly highlighted as key locations for crime prevention efforts, where both challenges and the potential of educational institutions in crime prevention are frequently debated. Such pro-active approaches to societal problem solving are both less controversial among politicians and less questioned among researchers. However, the Swedish school system has undergone dramatic structural changes in recent decades which have made the school's compensatory mission more difficult. Research on the development of crime preventive initiatives has emphasized an individualization of social crime prevention as well as an expansion of the concept.
The overall aim of this study is to explore how local school staff receive and conceptualize the concept of crime prevention in schools. Particular emphasis will be placed on their views regarding the responsibility for crime prevention and their reactions to concrete policy initiatives, such as the proposal to impose a statutory obligation on schools to prevent crime. The data is drawn from interviews with school staff – including teachers, principals, school counselors, and other student health personnel- in two upper secondary schools in Stockholm, which differ in terms of sociodemographic aspects.

Author

• Julia Sandahl, Department of Criminology, Stockholm University