Good versus bad? Victims, offenders and victim-offenders in Swedish crime policy

Abstract

In the crime policy field, the crime victim is usually described as the direct opposite of the offender in terms of characteristics and needs. This article analyses crime policy descriptions of crime victims and offenders, with a special focus on how politicians address the issue of the victimoffender overlap. The material comprises a sample of legislative crime policy bills submitted by members of the Swedish parliament during 2005-10. In the bills, crime victims are described as good, innocent and in need of help, whereas the offender is seen as a bad, ruthless scoundrel. In between stands a group of victim-offenders; pitiable poor things. However, when responses to offenders are discussed, both poor things and scoundrels are to be punished severely.

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

“…The analysis reveals how the interviewees sometimes feel a certain pressure to report offenders, they also feel ambivalent, and often they prefer to create a dialogue between the "offender" and "victim." Research reveal that it is often difficult to differentiate the offender from the victim (Bradshaw & Johnson, 2011;Heber, 2014).…”

“…This broad definition also captures some of the difficulties schools have when trying to categorize someone as a "victim." The same applies to the distinction between the offender and the victim, which the research shows is usually difficult to maintain (Heber, 2014;Melde & Esbensen, 2009). The framing of this "relation" seems to be much clearer in certain schools, however.…”

The exposed child in a qualitative study of cases at the Swedish Schools Inspectorate. An ideal or not-so-ideal victim?

“…The theory has been shown to explain why, for example, sexual crimes against certain women and crimes against criminal men are sometimes made light of, and why the dichotomy between victims and offenders may cause problems in practical social situations (Mancini and Pickett 2017). The victim-offender overlap is well known though problematic, since once a person has committed an offence, the victim label normally is no longer available (Heber 2014). Historically, the Swedish crime victim context has focused on the victim as an innocent woman or child in need of redress (Heber 2014).…”

“…The victim-offender overlap is well known though problematic, since once a person has committed an offence, the victim label normally is no longer available (Heber 2014). Historically, the Swedish crime victim context has focused on the victim as an innocent woman or child in need of redress (Heber 2014). Although children are included in the classical stereotypes of victims of crime, there is sometimes a victimoffender overlap through the joint occurrence of bullying perpetration and victimization in school (Chan, Oliver, and Wong 2015;Nickerson, Mele, and Osborne-Oliver 2009;Zablotsky et al 2014;Odenbring 2017, 2019).…”

“…In recent years, a number of qualitative studies have explored how Swedish school staff handle the socio-political struggles that emerge when hostile acts in school are defined, categorized and dealt with. The recent reinforcement of a legalistic perspective (Fransson 2016) can be seen as a part of a general policy change in Sweden regarding views on criminality and punishment (Heber 2014;Hammarén et al 2015). The management of conflicts and aggression in schools on the basis of guidelines and sanctions is sometimes considered problematic because judicial procedures alone rarely reduce the occurrence of problems (Hammarén et al 2015;Vainik 2017;Lunneblad and Johansson 2018;Lunneblad, Johansson, and Odenbring 2019).…”