Tillit i “särskilt utsatta områden” i Angered stadsdel: En fallstudie om den polisiära verksamheten i särskilt utsatta områden

Abstract

During the past decades the world's democracies have slowly eroded by the process of polarization by reasons such as a lack of common ground which is increasing the perspective of us versus them. Digital media has overpowered traditional media, amplifying the information we are already taking in, creating a one-sided perspective with a higher risk of misinformation. Recently, the development of the Black Lives Matter movement during 2020 in the United States increased the coverage of excessive force used by police in the United States as well as in Sweden. The perspectives shared in the media have had little to none information about the Swedish police’s views, perspectives or ways of working. The purpose of this study is to examine the perspectives of equal treatment, trust and ways of working in areas that are particularly vulnerable in Sweden. This has been done qualitatively with semi-structured interviews with police officers working in the community of Angered, Göteborg. The ways of which the Swedish police work in Angered are analyzed by using social science theories such as social capital and organisational culture as well as the concept of groups and definitions of trust. The results show that the experience that the police retain from working in these vulnerable areas enhances the understanding of the people and the complexity of the issues at hand. Since 2015 the internal organisation culture and the trust between colleagues has improved, making it easier to display trust and cooperation towards the citizens. Contextual factors such as individual differences do however overall impact the relationship between police. Even global conflict affects the local feeling of safety as the police describe it. Overall, the police interviewed have displayed a way or working that focuses on decreasing the polarization between them and the people.