On October 22, 2015, a masked man entered the primary school Kronan in Trollhättan and stabbed three people to death with a knife and a sword. Shortly after the attack the perpetrator was shot to death by the police. The event received a great deal of spatial attention in Swedish media and has been called the worst school attack in Swedish history. The twenty-one-year-old perpetrator had grown up in Trollhättan and it is his origin that is of interest in this study. The aim of this study is to examine how a perpetrator of native origin is portrayed in a Swedish medium. Previous research, which shows that there is a difference between how a perpetrator of native origin is portrayed compared to a foreign one, is used as background. According to these studies media often focuses on the perpetrator’s ethnicity and descent if the person is of foreign origin. Through a qualitative framing analysis we examine how the perpetrator in Trollhättan is portrayed in Sweden’s largest news website, namely aftonbladet.se. We explore how the perpetrator's ethnicity and origin are expressed and which of the perpetrator's characteristics are focused on by Aftonbladet. Through framing analysis we also explore how the perpetrator is portrayed from an us-and-them perspective, and how ideas and concepts are personalized through him. The results of this study show that the male perpetrator who is of native origin in the case Trollhättan is portrayed as a lone maniac who committed an act of evil and that Aftonbladet focused on his personal circumstances, for example that he had issues socializing.

Syftet med studien var att genom en statistisk analys och ur ett riskkommunikationsperspektiv undersöka informationens roll för riskuppfattning och upplevelse av oro kring pågående dödligt våld (PDV) hos studenter vid lärosäten i Sverige. I studien innefattar informationens roll beteenden kopplade till informationssökning, information som trygghetsskapande faktor och informationsbehov. I studien genomfördes en enkätundersökning som 120 studenter vid ett lärosäte besvarade. Genom en statistisk analys analyserades studiens forskningsfrågor utifrån aspekter kring informationskonsumtion, riskuppfattning, tillit och oro för att undersöka informationens roll. Studiens teoretiska ramverk bestod av teorier och begrepp från riskkommunikationsforskning (riskuppfattning) samt teorier och begrepp relaterade till informationskonsumtion (informationsundvikande, uncertainty reduction theory och risk information seeking and processing model). Resultatet i studien visade att de studenter som är oroliga och som söker information kring PDV är de studenter som i störst utsträckning anser sig ha kunskap om ämnet, däremot fanns det inte ett enskilt samband mellan ökad oro och att söka information. Individer som förväntas besitta kunskap om PDV, söker i större utsträckning mer information om ämnet. Studenterna i studien har inte fått information kring PDV från sitt lärosäte, men vill generellt få mer information och tror att information kan göra dem tryggare. Studenterna känner generellt tillit till lärosätet, trots att de inte fått någon information om PDV. De som känner tillit till lärosätet skulle vilja söka information om PDV hos dem, medan de som inte känner tillit söker mer information på egen hand. Vidare uppmuntras forskning där det undersöks vilken roll andras förväntan på individens kunskaper om risker spelar för individens informationskonsumtion. / The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of information for the risk perception and worry regarding ongoing deadly violence (ODV) that students at Swedish schools experience. The role of information regards behaviours in relation to information seeking, information need and information as a way to reduce worry. In the study, a web survey was conducted in which 120 students at a Swedish school participated. Through a statistical analysis, the research questions were analysed from aspects regarding information consumption, risk perception, trust and worry to investigate the role information plays. The theoretical framework for this study consisted of theories and concepts from the risk communication research field (such as risk perception), but it also consisted of theories and concepts related to information consumption (such as information avoidance, uncertainty reduction theory, and risk information seeking and processing model). The result of this study indicated that students who worry and seek information about ODV believe that they possess knowledge about the subject. However, no correlation between a higher level of worry and increased information seeking was shown. The individuals that feel a greater responsibility to have knowledge about ODV seek more information. The students in this study have not been given information about ODV from their school, but generally want to get more information and believe that information could make them less worried. Those who trust the school would seek information about ODV from the school, while the ones that do not trust the school tend to seek more information by themselves. Furthermore, we encourage further research that aim to investigate which role the expectations of others regarding expected knowledge play for the level of knowledge that individuals possess about risks and their information consumption.

De senaste åren har flera fall av skolattacker och grova våldsdåd i skolan inträffat i Sverige. Dödligt skolvåld utgör en särskild problematik för skolan eftersom elevers och personalens liv och hälsa hotas. Det ställer därmed stora krav på ledarskapet att hantera en sådan påfrestande situation, både under och efter händelsen. Trots detta saknas i stor utsträckning forskning på området, både i en internationell och skandinavisk kontext. Den här studien bidrar till ökad kunskap inom det här forskningsfältet. Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka ledarskapsrelaterade krav och utmaningar som lärare och skolledare har upplevt vid dödligt skolvåld i Sverige. En kvalitativ forskningsmetod användes, där datainsamlingen skedde genom semistrukturerade intervjuer och analyserades med en tematisk analys. Genom att ha intervjuat fem skolledare och en lärare har fyra olika teman identifierats som belyser ledarskapsrelaterade krav och utmaningar vid dödligt skolvåld. Dessa teman är organisering av krisarbete, kommunikation, anpassa ledarskapet samt hantera konsekvenserna. Slutsatser från studien är att många av de krav och utmaningar som ställs på ledarskapet återfinns i tidigare forskning om ledarskap under påfrestande förhållanden. Den tidigare forskningen fokuserar dock på ordinarie krishanteringsaktörer som polis och räddningstjänst. Till skillnad från ordinarie krishanteringsaktörer saknar dock många skolledare och lärare övning och utbildning i krishantering, samt upplever bristande organisatoriska förutsättningar och otydliga ansvarsförhållanden. Andra utmärkande aspekter av ledarskap vid dödligt skolvåld är att media upplevs som en stor utmaning att hantera och att efterarbetet kan pågå i flera år efter den aktuella händelsen. / In recent years, Sweden has experienced several incidents of lethal school violence. However, there exist a knowledge gap in the research literature concerning leadership in stressful and demanding situations in relation to a severe school crisis. This study contributes to fill this gap by examine leadership demands and challenges that teachers and school leaders have experienced during and after an incident of lethal school violence in Sweden. A qualitative method has been used in the study. Data collection was made through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using a thematic analysis method. By interviewing five school leaders in management positions (e.g. principal) and one teacher, four different themes has been identified; organization of crisis management, communication, adapt the leadership and handle the consequences. The result of the study indicates that many of the leadership demands and challenges that teachers and school leaders experience in situations of lethal school violence are similar to those that have already been identified in previous studies regarding leadership in stressful and demanding situations. However, most of the previous research have been focusing on ordinary crisis management actors such as the police. An important difference in relation to ordinary crisis management actors is that many school leaders and teacher do not have the prerequisites to handle such a demanding crisis due to a lack of practice and training. Organizational conditions and unclear responsibilities are other challenges. Additionally, many interviewees found the media coverage and handling of it very demanding. Noteworthy is also the aspect of time, where the consequences of the crisis can take years to recover from.