Research project The Unequal Crime Drop
The Crime Drop represents one of the most unexpected social changes in the Western world in recent decades. Contemporary criminological research has therefore been focusing on trying to unfold the driving forces of this development.
Still, few studies address the issue of if and how trends differ for various socio-economic strata. In this literature there seems to be an implicit assumption that the declining crime trend is common to all social groups. This project problematizes this assumption.
Project description
The Crime Drop represents one of the most unexpected social changes in the Western world in recent decades. Contemporary criminological research has therefore been focusing on trying to unfold the driving forces of this development. Still, few studies address the issue of if and how trends differ for various socio-economic strata. In this literature there seems to be an implicit assumption that the declining crime trend is common to all social groups. This project problematizes this assumption.
During the period of a declining crime rate, inequality in other areas of material well-being has increased. In Sweden this materializes as e.g. increasing income inequality and housing segregation. We claim that both empirical research and the theoretical understanding of crime trends could be made more complete by unfolding how the social gradient of crime and victimization is linked to the development in other areas of material well-being. The overarching aim of the project is to analyse how the trends of the distribution of crime in the population and among residential areas have developed across recent decades, as regards both offending and victimization.
The studies aim to analyse development across time and to identify the mechanisms behind changes in the social and spatial distribution of crime. Hereby we can provide a deeper understanding of how the developments of crime and inequality are linked.
We use high quality register data and victimization surveys. These data sources give the project a unique opportunity to analyse the inequality of crime and its development.
Project members
Project managers
Felipe Estrada Dörner
Prefekt
Members
Olof Bäckman
Professor
Anders Nilsson
Professor
Fredrik Sivertsson
Bitr lektor
Enes Al Weswasi
PhD
Publications
Bäckman, O., Estrada, F., Nilsson, A. & Sivertsson, F. (2021).
Socioekonomisk bakgrund och brott – Har ojämlikheten ökat eller minskat över tid? I Suhonen, D., Therborn, G., och Weithz,J (red). Klass i Sverige. Ojämlikheten, makten och politiken i det 21:a århundradet. Katalys.
Sivertsson, F., Nilsson, A. & Estrada, F. (2022).
Färre men värre? En kohortanalys av lagförd våldsbrottslighet bland unga män födda 1985-1999. I Rostami, A. och Sarnecki, J. (red). Det svenska tillståndet. Studentlitteratur.
Sivertsson, F., Begler, E. & Sandahl, J. (Forthcoming).
Assessing polarization in youth crime via data triangulation: An analysis of self-reported and convicted crime among youth in Stockholm, 2002 to 2018. Manuscript, Department of Criminology, Stockholm university.
Nilsson, A. & Bäckman, O. (2022).
Social förändring och ungdomsbrottslighet. Lagförd brottslighet bland födda 1975–2000. I Estrada, F, Flyghed J. och Nilsson A. (red.). Den svenska ungdomsbrottsligheten. Studentlitteratur