Tove Pettersson

Ethnicity and Violent Crime: The Ethnic Structure of Networks of Youths Suspected of Violent Offences in Stockholm

This study employs network analysis in order to study patterns of co-offending among youths suspected of violent offences in Stockholm. The studys objective is to examine the ethnic structure of relations among persons suspected of committing violent offences together. The Swedish media have presented information suggesting that violent conflicts between Swedish youths and youths with an immigrant background, based on ethnic conflicts between these groups, are common. The study also discusses the relevance of this image. The studys findings show that violent offences committed by youths in Stockholm are of an ethnically heterogeneous character. At the same time there is a tendency for marginalized and segregated ethnic groups to join together to some extent. The findings may be interpreted as indicating that youth violence in Stockholm today is characterized by ethnic diversity, but that increased ethnic segregation may lead to an increase in the level of ethnically related violent crime. Apparently there is a perception that ethnic conflicts do occur, which persists despite the fact that such conflicts are not common. It is of concern that the occurrence of such perceptions, not least in the Swedish media, may lead to an increase in the level of conflicts of this kind.1 1The author would like to thank David Shannon for his translation of the text.

The production and reproduction of prostitution

This article is the result of a study aimed at grasping the knowledge of ‘prostitution’ since 1999 when the purchase of sexual services was criminalised in Sweden. Key informants drawn from the police, social services and voluntary organisations, who work in close proximity to prostitution, were interviewed. We focus on how the position of the informant, considering governmental and non-governmental exercise, effects her or his understanding, and reproduction, of the phenomena. The central themes are the question of definition, the importance of exposure and the occurrence of male prostitution. It is suggested that a study of these themes shows how the traditional position of the bad woman as vendor and the invisible man as purchaser is preserved. Hereby all the other constellations, that may as well be considered to be prostitution, remains unproblematized.

Criminal Networks in Stockholm

This study employs a network analytical approach to examine co-offending. The aim is to test whether a network perspective can help with new approaches and a better insight into the character of juvenile crime in a metropolitan area.

Gendering delinquent networks A gendered analysis of violent crimes and the structure of boys’and girls’co-offending networks

Using network analysis and employing a gender theoretical perspective as the primary analytical tool, this study examines violent offences committed by young people. Although crime, and violent offending in particular, is strongly associated with men and masculinity, the use of a gendered perspective has, until recently, been something of a rarity in the context of criminological research into violence. The current study focuses on similarities and differences in the structure of girls’ and boys’ violent offending in Stockholm, Sweden. Apart from differences in levels of offending, the patterns of suspected violent offending found among girls and boys are very similar. The violent offences of both sexes appear primarily to constitute a means of creating hierarchies in relation to others of the same sex, hence according to the present study, violent crimes committed by girls cannot generally be interpreted as a form of opposition against male dominance. Instead they seem to be a way of subordinating other girls, just as the boys subordinate other boys. Nevertheless, girls’ subordination of other girls can in part be seen as a consequence of male dominance.

Recidivism Among Young Males Sentenced to Prison and Youth Custody

In 1999, Sweden introduced a new Act focused on young persons aged 15–17 who commit serious offences. The object of the Act was to replace prison sentences with a new sanction in the form of youth custody, which would involve a placement in a special approved home. This study constitutes a follow-up comparison of criminal recidivism among young males sentenced to prison prior to the introduction of the Youth Custody Act (1991–1998) and young males sentenced to youth custody following the introduction of the Act (1999–2003). The study shows that the sanction has not only been used as a replacement for prison sentences, but has also led to an expansion in custodial sentencing in the form of ‘net-widening’. There has also been a substantial increase in the length of custodial sentences awarded in connection with the new sanction. A comparison with the youth sanction in Denmark raises questions about the consequences of having expanded the group of youths sentenced to a custodial sanction in Sweden, and of the increased length of the custodial sentences to which this group is subjected.