The honesty and security you find in Sweden Posted by Katja on Dec 19, 2011 in Living in Sweden
One of the things I am very proud of when it comes to Sweden is the honesty of people. If you loose your wallet or forget your phone people run after you to hand it back, they also hand in the wallet to the police station with all the money and cards still remaining.
In addition to that many people in Sweden are not afraid to let their children run around a little out of sight. And people do occasionally let their bags out of sight without worry. All in all, people are very trusting, probably with good reason since bad things like theft very seldom occur, I think. I love the fact that you don’t constantly have to suspect people are out to get you, and I find it wonderful that so much honesty and kindness is so unlimited.
By writing this I don’t mean that Sweden is the only country to be this kind and friendly, because I know it is not. However, many people I have met and talked to have the impression of Swedes being quite reserved and cold, at least in the beginning before a good relationship has been established. I therefor want everyone to know of some of the things that make the Swedish society such a nice one to live in.
There is so little stress over personal safety, because it is taken for granted that you won’t get shot on the street. A theory why Sweden is such a safe society to live in might be connected to the fact that the social welfare covers basically everybody, making sure that there are very few people in complete poverty. Could this mean that the rate of crime decreases together with poverty?
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Comments:
Sheryl Lucas:
I visited Sweden this fall for the first time and I have been telling everyone back home in America this exact thing. I could not have expressed it better. We found the Swedish people to be very easy-going, reserved but friendly when you needed assistance. We would be traveling on a bus full of people yet it was so quiet. We did not hear one angry voice in the 2 weeks we were there until we got back to the Newark airport. I was sorry to have to leave.
Thor:
Too bad the rape rate in Stockholm is 6 times that in New York City. I left Sweden 10 years ago because I’ve never lived in a place where people treat each other like garbage. This is one of the most naive postings I have ever seen, you must be very young and/or not travelled.
Martin:
You don’t get killed on the street unless you are prime minister or a foreign affairs minister, but yes, I get the point. 🙂
Joacim:
That is what the statistic shows but in some countries it’s more common to report a rape and it’s also a huge difference in how the statistics are made. They explain it quite well on
http://www.bra.se/extra/pod/?action=pod_show&id=25&module_instance=11
Natasza:
Also, I guess it depends on the region. North is probably much safer than i.e. Malmo.
MichiganLady:
I’m pretty sure the poverty cycle IS a factor in crime, among other things. But it is a spectrum, in Sweden as in the U.S.–I live in a less urban area that is pretty much safe the way that’s described above. Whereas big cities can bring out the worst in people–or attract the worst people, since they’d never get away with that kind of behavior in the rural areas, where they aren’t so anonymous. Smaller communities hold each other more accountable.