Crime and criminology in Sweden

Abstract

Background Sweden is a sparsely populated country of 9 million people, geographically located on the margins of the European Union (EU). Approximately one-third of the population lives in the three metropolitan areas of Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö, and around 14 percent of Sweden's population are born overseas. Sweden is often described, together with Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway, as a welfare country characterized by low levels of income inequality (Lappi-Seppälä and Tonry, 2011). Prior to an election defeat in 1976, the Social Democrats had been in government since 1933, and Sweden had constructed what has been referred to as a welfare state par excellence (Tham, 1995). Although the Social Democrats quickly regained power, and governed until 2006 (with the exception of the period 1991-4), the Swedish political climate was influenced from the 1980s onwards by the international shift towards neoliberal ideas. The Social Democrats introduced changes to welfare policy, including, notably, gradually deregulating the economy. Today Sweden has a centre-right coalition government led by the conservative New Moderates. The consistent postwar 'party of government', the Social Democrats, is facing a serious challenge in the area of agenda-setting, and Sweden has become less different from the rest of Western Europe. Criminologists have also often described the Scandinavian countries as distinct from the rest of Europe, being characterized by low prison populations, knowledge-based crime policy and an absence of punitivity in the public debate (Lappi-Seppälä and Tonry, 2011). In his description of '"Scandinavian exceptionalism" in an era of penal excess', however, Pratt (2008) sees dark clouds on the Swedish horizon. In the early 1990s, Sweden suffered an economic crisis that tripled the unemployment rate (from around 3 to 9 percent) and produced major welfare policy cutbacks. Effects on living conditions

Annual Research Review: Secular trends in child and adolescent mental health

“…In the United States, evidence has shown increases in parent‐, teacher‐ and self‐rated conduct problems between the 1970s and 1980s, followed by a fall in the 1990s (Achenbach, Dumenci, & Rescorla, , ; Achenbach et al., ). In Sweden, there is evidence for an increase in self‐reported offending and conduct problems in adolescent cohorts between 1970 and 1996 (Wångby et al., ), followed by a decline in antisocial behaviour since the 1990s consistent with national trends in registered crime (Backman, Estrada, Nilsson, & Shannon, ; Estrada, Petterson, & Shannon, ). Evidence for an increase in behaviour problems, at least for girls, has also been reported in China between 1993 and 2003 (Lin & Wang, ).…”

Violence in urban schools: school professionals’ categorizations and explanations of violence among students in two different demographic areas

“…In Sweden, the tendency of schools to treat unruly behaviour, bullying and violence as crimes is partly a new phenomenon. Compared with most European countries and the US, Sweden has been viewed as an exception, focusing on care and social pedagogical measures instead of punishment (Estrada, Pettersson, & Shannon, 2012). Furthermore, Sweden has long been known for its progressive ideals and great emphasis on equality (Englund, 2016).…”

“…Previous research has also shown how contextual factors in the neighbourhood influence students' risk of encountering crime or their inclination to commit crime (Gottfredson & DiPietro, 2011). Further, studies have revealed that, among both victims and offenders, there is an overrepresentation of children growing up in socio-economically disadvantaged circumstances and neighbourhoods (Estrada et al, 2012).…”

The Absent Victim: Schools’ Assessment of the “Victimization Process”

“…Overall, there has been a development whereby behavior previously categorized as fights and teasing in various policy documents is now described using a legal discourse, such that juridical concepts like discrimination and harassment are used (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2011). One result of this is that the number of police reports has increased (Estrada et al, 2012). At the same time, there is no clear evidence that violence and degrading treatment are actually increasing in Swedish schools.…”