This study examines how young offenders in Sweden have been viewed, treated, educated, cared for and punished over time. By tracing earlier transformations, it explores how changing social attitudes have shaped decisions about reform and punishment. Particular attention is paid to conceptions of childhood; the financial responsibilities of local, regional and central government; young people鈥檚 age, gender and cognitive capacity; and the ambitions, treatment philosophies and practices of different institutions.
The project investigates long-term shifts between punishment and treatment, including changes in which acts have been defined as offences, whose behaviour has been criminalised and how the meaning of youth crime has changed. It also asks how changing perceptions of children and young people have influenced responses to those who commit offences.
A central aspect of this research is that conceptions of age are (often overlooked) and not static. This project, therefore, seeks to examine how these shifting notions of age have been influenced by and reflected in the actions of various actors and contexts and how these interactions have contributed to the definition and redefinition of both youth crime and children鈥檚 rights over time. This project will push the scientific frontier by:
A) It broadens the understanding of child and youth crime by examining, over a long historical period, how it has been defined and how Swedish institutions have sought to counteract it. This historical perspective provides a stronger basis for understanding the complexities of the current situation.
B) It demonstrates the historical complexity of youth crime and shows how interpretations of young people鈥檚 criminal behaviour have depended on institutional settings and interactions among societal actors, young people and families. This perspective offers a new understanding of these relationships and of the factors that institutions need to consider when working with young people defined as offenders.
C) It analyses the diverse ways in which youth crime has been conceptualised over a long historical period and how these conceptions have shaped social policy and the regulation of young people. This approach generates new perspectives on how offences committed by young people have influenced both children鈥檚 and young people鈥檚 lives and society鈥檚 understanding of youth crime.
Drawing on cross-disciplinary analysis of a wide range of research material, the project combines new empirical findings with historical and theoretical analysis.
