Media discourse plays a critical role in shaping how crime is understood, influencing both public sentiment and policy debates. In Japan, where population ageing is rapid and family-based care remains culturally valued, eldercide by family caregivers receives considerable media attention. Yet, little is known about how the press frames such incidents. Drawing on qualitative document analysis of 48 articles published between 2000 and 2024 in a leading national newspaper, this study examines a dominant framing that situates eldercide within a caregiving crisis. The findings reveal a consistent narrative that humanises perpetrators, emphasises mental health strain and gendered caregiving roles, and downplays criminal intent. Such portrayals can shift public attention from individual culpability towards collective responsibility and reflect cultural tensions in Japan's long-term care regime. The findings contribute to criminological research on media framing of domestic homicide and illuminate the media's role in shaping societal responses to ageing and care.
Group Violence Intervention (GVI) has been implemented in Swedish welfare-state contexts to address serious violence through coordinated efforts involving police, prison and probation services, and social services. This study explores how implementation dimensions shaped the rollout of GVI in Gothenburg. Using a qualitative design, 35 semi-structured interviews were conducted with GVI-coordinators. The findings highlight legal constraints, role ambiguity, and fragmented structures as barriers, while strategic recruitment, inter-agency collaboration, and structured coordination meetings facilitated implementation. Community engagement emerged as both a challenge and a success factor, with trust and legitimacy proving pivotal. The study underscores the importance of transitioning to formalised role-based responsibilities embedded within organisations. It also emphasises the value of integrating implementation frameworks to support planning, readiness, and contextual adaptation. Despite challenges, the findings show that bridging silos through focused deterrence strategies is feasible in welfare-state settings - provided there is local ownership, legal clarity, and sustained cross-sectoral commitment.
Independent civilian police oversight is often hailed as the best alternative to internal oversight and a necessary component of "democratic policing." However, it remains unclear whether these systems have actually produced the changes they promise, such as reducing police use of force, improving accountability, strengthening public trust, and increasing confidence in both police and oversight institutions. Growing global calls to defund, detask, or abolish the police reflect declining public confidence in oversight systems as symbols of democratic accountability. This study questions that assumption by examining three contrasting cases: South Korea, which relied mainly on internal oversight; Ontario (Canada), which used decentralized independent oversight mechanisms; and South Africa, which adopted a centralized independent oversight model. The study argues that meaningful change depends less on claims of "independence," and more on whether accountability mechanisms operate effectively in practice and produce measurable improvements in police conduct, institutional accountability, and public trust.
