Trygghetsuppfattningar och könsnormativa beteenden : Unga mäns ideér och uppfattningar om trygghet på Ålidhem, Umeå

Abstract Feelings of safeness in public space differs a lot between the sexes, where women more often than men feel unsafe. But how do men relate to feelings of safeness in public spaces and how does unsafeness affect the relation between men and women? This study focusses on men’s behaviour towards women and how their behaviour changes during times of unsafeness, and how this behaviour affect´s men´s relationship with their romantic partners. The study is a case study and will focus on the city district Ålidhem in Umeå city, which reputation has suffered from the current image that local medias have projected. This case is interesting when it allows us to study how men in today´s society relate to problems with safeness in public space. The study´s result is based in six qualitative semi-structured interviews. the interviews were conducted with six young men in age 20-30 who had experience living in- or had prior experience living in the city district Ålidhem or had a relationship with a woman who had a similar experience. The interviews were later analysed through a narrative analysis method. The study´s result show that the men are more open with expressing their feelings of unsafeness and to talk about what types of factors that affect their mindset than previous studies show. These men sometimes felt that they got perceived as threatening elements in public spaces by unknown women, especially at night. This perception of the men as threatening elements sometimes caused the men to change their behaviour, like slowing down or taking other paths to their destination, to dampen the woman´s feeling of anxiety. The men themselves sometimes felt anxiety towards their romantic partner when they move in public spaces and they sometimes applied certain strategies to safeguard them. These strategies however weren’t a product of the men’s anxiety, but rather more often a product of the women´s. KEYWORDS: Safety in public space, Gender normative behaviour, Security plannin