Better, worse or no difference: police, private security guards and the policing of migrant youth in smaller Swedish cities

The aim with this project is to investigate the interaction in stigmatized areas between the police, private security guards and migrant youth, focusing on questions related to crime and victimization, as well as the intersection between private and public control.

Particular attention will be paid to the dynamics within and between the three actors, attuned to tensions and conflicts as well as collaborations and problem-solving strategies.Theoretically, two traditions are woven together: criminological theory that emphasize plural policing and the importance of examining the outsourcing of the state’s capacity to provide security, respective urban sociological perspectives that underline the spatial aspects of policing and how these are linked to bordering practices.

Among the project’s guiding research questions are: What are the similarities and differences in the policing by the police and by private security guards of migrant youth in stigmatized urban areas?

What forms of skills and knowledge can be identified in the diverse actors’ abilities for conflict resolution, forms of collaboration and dialogue?Empirical material will be collected through ethnographic methods in the form of observations and interviews, complemented with document analysis.

The study will explore the situation in two smaller municipalities, with the ambition to expand the general focus on Sweden’s larger cities.

The project’s contribution should be evaluated in relation to this aspiration, but also in relation to previous research which has highlighted problems related to the over-policing of migrant youth, and the negative consequences that follow from extensive control measures. This topic will be explored together with questions of under-protecting and exposure to community violence.