SOM prize 2025 to Wintana Abraham

The 2025 SOM Prize goes to Wintana Abraham, Uppsala University, for her master’s thesis The ripple effect of gang violence - Has the rise in shootings fueled anti-immigrant sentiment in Sweden?. The thesis was defended in June 2025.

Shootings influence local public opinion

Wintana investigates whether the increase in shootings in Sweden, often associated with young men of immigrant background, affects the population’s attitudes toward refugee reception. She tests this in a panel-like setup, examining specific regions and how attitudes have changed in connection with shootings occurring in those areas.

The results of her analyses indicate that rising gun violence in a person’s own county negatively affects residents’ attitudes toward refugee reception, and that these effects are particularly strong among individuals with high news consumption. The thesis thus argues that media habits can amplify perceptions of the connection between immigration and shootings.

Multiple data sources in concert

In her work, Wintana has drawn on data from the national SOM surveys—primarily between 2017 and 2023—at the county level. In addition, she has used data from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention’s (BRÅ) National Crime Survey (NTU), Statistics Sweden (SCB), and the Police Authority’s own statistics on reported gun violence in the country.

According to the committee’s justification, Wintana consistently demonstrates very strong methodological skills in relation to this important and timely research area.

This is the third year in a row that a student from Uppsala University has won the SOM Prize. Wintana will receive her award remotely, as she will be interning at the Swedish Embassy in Harare during the autumn of 2025.