This study examines the Swedish Police's perceptions and experiences in implementing the 2015 Swedish Counter-Terrorism Strategy, focusing on the intermediary strategic level that connects political decision-making with local practitioners. Using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), the study identifies barriers and facilitators across five domains: innovation, outer setting, inner setting, individual characteristics, and implementation processes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 participants from the National Operational Department (Noa), responsible for operationalizing the strategy or its critical components. The findings highlight systemic challenges, including misalignment between top-down directives and local priorities, resource limitations, and an emphasis on outputs (e.g., equipment procurement) over outcomes (e.g., prevention effectiveness). Key barriers included resistance to change, reliance on individual initiative, and a lack of clarity, motivation, and performance-based incentives. Structural and cultural factors, such as organizational autonomy and scepticism toward external mandates, further impeded implementation. Despite these obstacles, opportunities for improvement were identified. These include align national directives with local realities by engaging stakeholders early, transferring scientific knowledge on effective implementation to practitioners, recognizing individual contributions, and developing long-term, outcome-focused strategies. This research offers critical insights into the complexities of implementing counter-terrorism strategies within bureaucratic organizations, providing valuable lessons for similar contexts globally. Future research should incorporate regional and local perspectives to capture a comprehensive understanding of implementation dynamics across organizational levels.

Purpose: This paper sought to bring together police science and sport-for-development (SFD) with a scoping review of the empirical literature on at-risk youth and police relationship-building in the context of sport interventions.

Design/methodology/approach: We conducted a scoping review with a Setting, Perspective, Intervention, Comparison and Evaluation (SPICE) model to systematically examine existing studies on the involvement of police in sports-based youth development programs. A total of 1,247 records were identified, and ten empirical research studies were included in the review.

Findings: The review identifies the critical role of stakeholders, especially coaches and community leaders, in facilitating police-youth contact. Coaches often serve as boundary-spanners, building trust between police officers and at-risk youth. Police involvement in these programs is multifaceted, with officers participating as teammates, leaders or mentors. This participation helps dismantle barriers and foster positive relationships but shows that different roles are associated with different benefits and risk factors. Relatedly, the review highlights potential risks such as the hyper-criminalization of youth, emphasizing the need for program designs that promote equality and collaboration.

Originality/value: This paper provides the first significant steps toward conceptualizing the role of police within sport interventions by integrating community policing and SFD literature. We advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration between police science and SFD scholars to further develop police-youth relationships.

Introduction: Police officers' occupational patterns and their needs for health promotion are rarely addressed in police health research, partly due to the lack of specific instruments. This study describes the initial steps in developing an instrument that targets officers' lifestyles and health, utilising occupational therapy and - science.Method: The study includes 48 participants and uses an instrument development methodology. First, the construct was defined through theoretical dimensions with two focus groups. Second, items were developed and tested during cognitive interviews with 28 officers. Finally, the instrument underwent content validity testing with nine occupational therapists.Results: The instrument is based on the construct of police officers' conditions for a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. This refers to an individualised, balanced lifestyle that enables participation, choice and control, supporting healthy routines, roles and meaningful occupations across various life domains shaped by social, occupational and physical environments over time. All domains encompass aspects of working and personal life, and the balance between them.Conclusion: The instrument's psychometric properties, representativeness and feasibility need to be continuously evaluated. Subsequently, occupational therapists and human resource personnel may use it to promote police officers' sustainable lifestyles and life balance as an assessment and a self-reflection tool.

Sexual and gender-based harassment is a work environment concern, especially in hierarchical and male-dominant organisations such as the police. This scoping review aims to examine the existing literature on such harassment against police employees in Europe to identify the available knowledge and highlight the gaps for future studies. Following the Arksey and O'Malley framework, 16 relevant articles were analysed. Most of the studies were focused on sexual harassment, and gender-based harassment was mostly absent or mixed with other discriminations. The analysis resulted in six main themes: existence of sexual and gender-based harassment; perpetrators; associated factors; consequences; individual response; and impact of organisational policies. The findings demonstrate that such harassment remains prevalent among police employees, emphasising the need for continuous and rigorous supervision, evaluation, and comprehensive revision of policies by police authorities. This study recommends further research to address the identified gaps in this field.

PRACTICE IMPACT STATEMENT

The findings presented in this article have the potential to significantly advance the field of police research in Europe by providing a comprehensive map of existing knowledge and identifying important gaps within this research domain. Moreover, the study facilitates the application of more accurate and comprehensive methodologies. Additionally, the outcomes of this research can directly benefit police authorities by offering insights to enhance organizational culture and the work environment for police employees.

Following the #MeToo movement and a Facebook campaign known as #N & ouml;dv & auml;rn (selfdefense), sexual and gender-based harassment in the context of Swedish police work has received increased attention. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of sexual and gender-based harassment, the common types of harassment, and the organizational factors that officers perceive to be enabling the occurrence of such harassment. The current study employed a mixed methods explanatory sequential design. The quantitative phase involved 151 police officers to assess the prevalence and the more common types of sexual and gender-based harassment. The qualitative study, with a focus group and 12 individual interviews with police officers, aimed to explain the quantitative findings and explore how officers perceived such harassment and the enabling organizational factors in police work. The results showed that female officers reported significantly higher gender-based harassment than male officers. However, there was no significant gender difference in sexual harassment, and male officers also reported a high occurrence of sexual harassment from their colleagues and supervisors, who were mainly men. Verbal sexual harassment was reported as the more common type of harassment. The findings showed a prevailing toxic jargon among officers in the police work environment. Moreover, they stated a degree of silence against such harassment that makes identifying and addressing the problem complicated. Furthermore, there is a lack of skills and competence among police managers regarding handling such harassment. The findings underscore the need for ongoing organizational efforts to tackle cultural and managerial issues within the police organization.

Need-satisfying experiences corresponding to students' psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness, and competence lead to increased academic engagement and well-being. A lack of education-specific basic needs instruments validated in Swedish may inhibit basic needs research in Swedish-speaking student populations. Thus, the present study aimed to adapt the Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (NSFS) to the context of education in Sweden and validate this new Swedish NSFS in a sample of Swedish university students (n = 417, 59.7% women, mean age = 23.3 (SD = 4.3) years). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to investigate the dimensionality of NSFS ratings, followed by structural equation modelling of nomological networks of basic needs, academic engagement, life satisfaction, academic burnout, and perceived stress. The NSFS ratings were best described by a three-factor model with methods correction for reversed item bias. Results showed that each need uniquely contributed to perceived stress and academic burnout. Relatedness and competence, but not autonomy, were significant predictors of life satisfaction and academic engagement. The main study contribution was providing a Swedish NSFS to assess autonomy, relatedness, and competence in higher education. The results support the use of the Swedish NSFS as a three-dimensional measure of basic needs in Swedish-speaking student populations.

This qualitative thematic study aimed to examine the placement of unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors in compulsory institutional care in Sweden, to expand knowledge regarding their care and treatment. The dataset comprised official documents and anonymized journal documents from personnel detailing the experiences of twenty-five unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors in compulsory institutional care organized by the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care in 2015. The study identified three main themes: traumatic life events and mental health, alignment between needs, goals, and treatment, and language difficulties. The findings revealed a high prevalence of severe traumatic experiences among the asylum-seeking minors, with half having endured significant psychological and physical trauma. Mental health issues were inconsistently addressed, and prior traumas were often overlooked in care planning. The majority exhibited various mental health problems, underscoring the need for tailored interventions. The study highlights challenges in aligning unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors' individual needs, treatment goals, and provided care. Language barriers emerged as a critical concern, impeding effective communication and treatment. Approximately 80% of the asylum-seeking minors experienced difficulties in understanding and expressing themselves in Swedish. The limited use of professional interpreters further exacerbated this issue. The study underscores the need for targeted interventions to better support unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors within compulsory institutional settings.

Knowledge of factors contributing to cybercrime threats is needed to plan effective prevention strategies to combat the increasingly common occurrence of cybercrime. This scoping review summarizes current status of the literature published on the demographic, socioeconomic, and technological determinants of cybercrime offenders and victims in Nordic countries. The review followed Arksey and O’Malley’s methodology and the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, leading to the selection of 16 articles published between 2013 and 2022 for critical appraisal and data extraction. Only two studies focused on cybercrime offenders. The majority of studies (n = 10) were conducted in Finland and the dominant types of crime were harassment and online hate. Age, gender, living alone, immigration background, income, and education played different roles in determining victimization for different types of cybercrime. Associations between victimization and technological factors such as computer skills, protective measures, and specific platforms have also been identified. This review contributes to the emerging research area of cybercrime in Nordic countries by mapping the context of cybercrime and highlighting areas where further research is needed to ensure the protection of individuals in an increasingly digitalized world.

Police officers frequently interact with the public, and many of these interactions involve some form of conflict. As professionals, and representatives of the state, police officers are expected to handle these conflicts in a professional and just manner to maintain positive relationships with the public. Therefore, solid conflict management skills are necessary for any officer in a democratic society. The present scoping review examines the current state of research on police involved conflicts and conflict management in a police context. Results indicate that a majority of the studies have been conducted in the USA and that many of these studies focus on use of force rather than effective conflict management strategies and methods. The study further indicates a number of methodological difficulties in researching this important area of policing, including difficulties in obtaining data as well as a lack of unified definitions of concepts and methods.

An aim of committing terror is to instill fear in the population. This article explores to what extent Swedish citizens were cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally affected by the 2017 terrorist attack in Stockholm and how the citizens perceived that the authorities handled the situation. The study is based on data from a survey with 1996 participants, consisting of a random sample of people living in Sweden, aged 18-79 years. Our results show that exposure to terrorist acts has a significant negative psychological impact on the population in general and on those who do not feel part of Swedish society in particular. The attack’s negative effect was despite the fact that the vast majority of respondents felt that society had handled the attack well and almost half of the respondents stated that they had gained increased confidence in the authorities.