Safety in Östra Göinge : A qualitative study of safety and fear of crime in the small urban municipality of Östra Göinge

Sammanfattning: In Östra Göinge, it appears that during the past five years, a recurring problem exists where residents feel unsafe. This, while the number of reported crimes is still remarkably low, according to results from the National Safety Survey which is a survey formed by the police and the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention. Thisresearch started off by conducting a pilot study consisting of studying the municipality itself. For the pilot study, a background research was conducted, where results from the National Safety Survey were studied. Dialogues where held with randomly selected residents. Furthermore, photo elicitation was also applied as a research method for this study where photographs were used during interviews with the aim of stimulating the participant’s thoughts and opinions. This study shows that there seems to be a certain disconnection between low reported crime rates and a decrease in feelings of security. This underlines that public perceptions of safety are not solely determined by objective crime statistics. Societal factors such as media coverage, which in fact has been mentioned a multiple of times during both the pilot study and the main interviews, as well as personal experiences, and social interactions play a significant role in shaping how residents of Östra Göinge are to perceive safety. The discrepancy between reported crime rates and feelings of security indicates that some groups within the municipality tend to be more vulnerable than others, even though Östra Göinge is in a low-crime context.