NCJ Number
126173
Date Published
1990
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This monograph on criminality and criminal policy in Sweden is prefaced by a section defining commonly used terms and concepts in criminal justice including crime, penal legislation, public awareness of the law, different concepts of crime (tradition, organized, economic), sanction, punishment, and criminal policy.
Abstract
The discussion of criminality begins with a description of hidden criminality and a review of criminological analyses of actual criminality. The main source of information about criminality is gleaned from registered criminality published in annual statistics; from these data, examinations of geographical variations in criminality, as well as long-term and short-term changes can begin. Swedish offender and victim profiles are summarized as are the costs and damages of criminality. Elements of Swedish criminal policy explored in this monograph include ends and means, penal regulations, the mechanism of control, and developments in criminal policy during the 1970's and 1980's. The final section covers issues relating to causes of criminality including the shift from hardship criminality to welfare criminality, the increased opportunities for crime and the decrease in social control, and other criminal policy problems. 8 figures