A Qualitative Examination of Swedish Police Officers’ Perceptions of Victim Culpability

ABSTRACT

Feminist and critical scholarships developed the concept of victim-blaming as a critical reaction to criminological theories which address victims’ culpability. The present study aims to expand the existing conceptual framework of victim culpability by exploring how Swedish police officers perceive victims’ culpability. 27 semi-structured interviews with Swedish police officers were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. The findings suggest that firstly, officers discuss victims’ culpability in a wide range of victimizations beyond sexual victimization and domestic violence and secondly, that officers understand victims’ role in the victimization through victims’ choices and their ability to impact their exposure to crime.

KEYWORDS:

• Police
• culpability
• victimization
• victim
• choices
• ability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michelle N. Eliasson

Michelle N. Eliasson is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law. She is a White cis-gender female from Sweden and her current research focuses on police officers’ perceptions of victims. Her current areas of interests are victimology, policing, criminal justice professionals, restorative justice, and qualitative methodology.