Vilka orsakar problemen? : En kvalitativ studie om användningen av cylindermodellen.

Sammanfattning: Research shows that police methods which aim to systematically focus on people, places and crimes that has been pointed out to be of a high-risk nature have yielded positive results in crime prevention. Furthermore, research shows that there is a relatively small percentage of those who commit crimes that account for a large percentage of the total crimes. A method used to answer the question of which individuals are causing the problems is the cylinder model. The aim of this essay is to investigate and describe how the cylinder model as a police method is used. Since the model is relative unexplored there is a knowledge gap in how the cylinder model should be interpreted, applied and to what extent it can be used. Therefore, I intend to identify police employees’ description of the models’ possibilities and limitations and how applicable it is. This is a qualitative case study of how a specific local police area in the southern of Sweden uses the model. The method of gathering data consists of seven interviews with police employees who work with the cylinder model in one way or another. The result is analyzed using SARA model, which is a method inspired by problem-oriented policing, and the concept of social control. The results shows that the cylinder model is used in slightly different ways depending on the police employees’ function and whether this function has accent to the cylinder model document or not. On the one hand, the cylinder model can be used for cooperation between authorities by sharing information and creating a common understanding of the problems and who is causing them. On the other hand, the work of other functions within the police local area is implicitly controlled by the cylinder model by planned targeted measures based on the local problems. Primarily, it concerns repressive measures against perpetrators of violence in order to remove them from the area so that they can no longer negatively affect the local society. The cylinder model as a document can be used as a tool to create structure and understanding. However, difficulties may arise in applying the template to a complicate reality. Furthermore, a prerequisite for the document to be useful is that it is adapted based on the local problem and that the information is continuously updated.