”Det känns som att alla älskar att hata Malmö”. En rättssociologisk studie om mediebilden av Malmö

Sammanfattning: The Swedish city of Malmö has a problem with crime, which is shown in official statistics. However, the crime rates in other comparable Swedish cities are very similar. Despite this fact Malmö is depicted as a more dangerous city by the media, and this image of Malmö has been internalised by many. This study aims, using a qualitative method, to look into whether employees at the municipality of Malmö experience that this media representation of the city affects the work they do and what consequences this brings. To explore this we have carried out four interviews with five municipal employees that work with crime prevention and safety issues. The results show that they do experience that media influences their work, both on a day to day basis and in the long term, and they give us concrete examples of this. The results from the interviews are then analysed through Stanley Cohen’s theory of moral panic. In addition we analyse the theory of moral panic though a norm perspective. The purpose of our analysis is to explain how and why this perceived influence occurs and what the consequences could be. The study concludes, apart from the fact that media is seen as influencing the municipalities legal practice, that this image of Malmö that exists could have both positive and negative consequences. It complicates their work, but could also be seen as a form of crime prevention when the legal sanctions fail to function.