Christel Backman

Christel Backman is a Lecturer at the University of Gothenburg, Department of Sociology and Work Science, Faculty of Social Sciences. Appointed Excellent Teacher in 2020 and promoted to Associate Professor of Sociology the same year, she also serves as vice-prefect for education at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Education

• LL.B. – Bachelor of Laws
• Ph.D. in Sociology – defended 2012 with the award-winning thesis Criminal Records in Sweden. Regulation of Access to Criminal Records and Criminal Background Checks by Employers

Research Interests

Backman’s research combines sociology of law, surveillance studies, criminology and HR studies. A central strand examines how technologies such as CCTV, AI and body-worn cameras reshape law enforcement, workplace control and privacy. Another growing area explores higher-education pedagogy, focusing on active-learning classrooms, hybrid learning spaces and local faculty-driven pedagogical development.

Recent projects investigate:

• Camera surveillance and AI in criminal investigations
• Patient-accessible online medical records and their impact on physicians’ professional practice
• Body-worn cameras in private security and policing
• Employers’ cybervetting practices on social media

Publications & Awards

Since 2012 she has published extensively in journals such as Surveillance & Society, Acta Sociologica, Social Science & Medicine and International Criminal Justice Review. Her work has received the HR Research of the Year 2012 award and multiple Faculty Pedagogical Team Prizes (2014, 2024).

Teaching & Supervision

Backman teaches criminology, victimology, sociology of law, surveillance studies and higher-education pedagogy. She supervises doctoral, master’s and bachelor’s theses and leads institutional efforts in pedagogical development, including evaluation of the university-wide Learning Lab Göteborg (2023-2026).

Collaboration & Networks

She is an active member of the Surveillance Studies Network, participates in departmental research groups on criminology, sociology of law and digitalization, and co-edited the first Swedish-language book on Active Learning Classrooms.