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jp 5 ny

David Wästerfors

Professor

jp 5 ny

Safety Work with an Ethnic Slant

Author

  • David Wästerfors
  • Veronika Burcar Alm

Summary, in English

Ethnic discrimination in the criminal justice system is a well-researched topic, but the significance of ethnicity in policing activities at more mundane levels has attracted less attention. This article analyzes ethnographic data on municipal ‘safety work’ in a Swedish city troubled with robberies, vandalism, and violence. It shows how the efforts of different safety workers, operating to curb crime and promote security, came to focus on the ‘soft’ policing of young men with various immigrant backgrounds. A set of street-level safety practices, performed within spatial demarcations, was found to represent a more-or-less silent orientation towards local minorities; a focus on non-Swedish ethnicities was embedded in the policing activity. This article points out the importance of implied ethnicities in the contemporary landscape of plural policing.

Department/s

  • Sociology

Publishing year

2014

Language

English

Pages

88-101

Publication/Series

Social Inclusion

Volume

2

Issue

3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Cogitatio

Topic

  • Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)

Keywords

  • security
  • safety work
  • plural policing
  • media
  • crime
  • ethnicity
  • urban space
  • Sociology

Status

Published

Research group

  • Kriminal- och socialvetenskapligt nätverk

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2183-2803