Risker och rum. Riskmiljöer och riskfaktorer för barn och ungas skadehändelser i hem- och boendemiljön.

Licentiatavhandling, 2016

This thesis addresses the concept of risk and the understanding of risks in relation to children’s and adolescents’ injury events in the residential setting. The thesis is based on three main studies, the first study evaluate the register data used in study III, the second study is a literature review and the third study is an empirical study based on register data from the healthcare sector.  Study I discuss the methodological and analytical challenges related to work with data collected for another cause. The main data in the statistical analysis in study I is from hospital registration and it is origin designed for epidemiological research and not for a more complex situational or social analysis. To overcome the challenges the empirical analysis in study III was conducted with a mixed method approach, using both quantitative and qualitative data. The aim of study III is to map some of the factors that interplay in injury events in the residential environment, the main focus in the analysis is the relation between the individuals’ position and the physical environment. The two main results in study III are: that age and household income are the two main protective factors, the dwelling type has an effect on some injury events, even after control for other variables (age, gender, household income and ethnicity), but different rooms has different risk profiles. The study also shows the importance of an understanding of the function of the built environment, the physical room has often one primary intention and function but the room also creates an opportunity structure for alternative social praxis. In conclusion, the licentiate thesis has had a focus on the term risk and the understanding of risk from different perspectives. The thesis will be the starting point for the further PhD-project regarding prevention, since the understanding of risks are the foundation of prevention.