Cecilia Hansen Löfstrand

Professor

Department of Social Work

Telephone

+46 31-786 47 66

+46 766-18 47 66

Mail

cecilia.lofstrand@socav.gu.se

Visiting address

Sprängkullsgatan 25

41123 Göteborg

Postal address

Box 720

40530 Göteborg

About Cecilia Hansen Löfstrand

Cecilia Hansen Löfstrand obtained her PhD in Sociology in 2005 and became Associate Professor of Sociology in 2011. Since 2024, she is Professor of Sociology. She was Director of Postgraduate Education at the Department of Sociology and Work Science for just over four years in 2018-2022.

Hansen Löfstrand's existing and ongoing research has two orientations. She conducts research on different forms of policing. This includes the the police authority's camera surveillance and criminal justice investigations, the private security industry's provision of policing and non-profit (civic) participation in policing. She also conducts research about the margins of welfare society. This includes both the work performance of employees and experiences of service users. Overall, her research is characterized by an interest in power, governance, social control, policing, legitimacy, the rule of law and legal certainty.

Ongoing research projects

Hansen Löfstrand leads the research project From police investigation to court verdict: mass video surveillance for criminal justice purposes (funded by the Swedish Research Council 2023-2026) This project provides knowledge about when and how recordings from surveillance cameras is used by Swedish police and courts to solve crimes. Based on observations of investigative work and interviews with police, prosecutors, lawyers, and judges, as well as observations of trials and analysis of verdicts, we produce knowledge about when and how recordings from surveillance cameras are used and made useful in the legal process. More information is available here: From Police Investigation to Court Verdict: Mass Video Surveillance for Criminal Justice Purposes | University of Gothenburg (gu.se)

Hansen Löfstrand works in the research project Video surveillance recordings and artificial intelligence in criminal investigations (funded by the Swedish Research Council 2023-2026). This project provides knowledge on how the increased use of surveillance camera recordings – together with artificial intelligence (AI) to process recordings – affects the capacity of the police to investigate and solve crimes and how the material produced is used and turned into evidence by crime investigators. In the project, we conduct observations of and interviews with investigators and image analysts employed within the police authority at local, regional, and national level. More information is available here: Video surveillance recordings and artificial intelligence in crime investigation | University of Gothenburg (gu.se)

Recently finished research projects

Hansen Löfstrand lead the research project Body-worn cameras: implications for the work environment of security guards (funded by AFA Insurance). In this project, Hansen Löfstrand and Christel Backman examined the use of body-worn cameras in the surveillance industry from a work environment perspective to contribute with knowledge about how employees perceive and use the cameras, how it affects their work environment and how companies and the industry regulate and manage camera use. More information: Body-worn cameras: implications for the work environment of private security officers | University of Gothenburg (gu.se)

Hansen Löfstrand has recently (2019-2021) participated in the project Geographies of home-based service interactions at the margins of welfare in Finland and Sweden (funded by the Academy of Finland and led by Professor Kirsi Juhila, University of Tampere, Finland). Hansen Löfstrand was responsible for the Swedish sub-study and for supervising a post-doc (Doris Lydahl). The project contribute with knowledge about implications of social contructions of place in home-based services targeting people in the margins of welfare, how employees and clients orient towards each other, and tensions between public/private, support/surveillance and inclusion/exclusion. More information: Geographies of home-based service interactions at the margins of welfare in Finland and Sweden | Tampere universities (tuni.fi)

Teaching

Hansen Löfstrand teaches courses in criminology, sociology and social psychology and has extensive experience of teaching qualitative methods. She is currently responsible for and teaches a course in qualitative analysis and conceptualization for doctoral students. Furthermore, she has extensive experience of supervision at all levels, including in postgraduate education.