Hur legitimeras kameraövervakning? : En kvalitativ innehållsanalys om hur opinionsbildande artiklar legitimerar kameraövervakning som brottsförebyggande metod

Sammanfattning

The purpose of this study is to examine how opinion-forming articles in 2017 legitimized video surveillance as a crime prevention method. The study aims to identify the legitimizing frameworks that writers rely on in their arguments. A qualitative content analysis was conducted, based on a selection of opinion pieces published in the Swedish newspapers: Aftonbladet, Svenska Dagbladet, Dagens Nyheter and Expressen. The theoretical framework includes the concepts of categorization, legitimization and framing. These theories, in combination with the content analysis, form the basis of the study´s analytical approach. The results are categorized into six themes: three supporting the legitimacy of video surveillance and three opposing it. The findings show that the writers primarily relied on three legitimizing frameworks to express their views on video surveillance and what was considered legitimate to highlight the debate. These frameworks are: the solution-oriented framework, the democratic framework and the control-critical framework. Surveillance cameras are thus portrayed as either a solution to social problems, a threat to democratic rights or a step towards a surveillance society. Furthermore, the study shows that arguments for or against video surveillance were legitimized through references to events, public statements, statistics and facts, as well as through underlying social norms. It is also concluded that criticism of surveillance was often framed in terms of its perceived risks, grounded in such norms.