Ung och kriminell, men även mänsklig och sanktionskänslig - En straffteoretisk analys av huruvida särbehandlingen bör minska för de unga omyndiga lagöverträdarna vid allvarlig brottslighet
(2022) JURM02 20221Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- Juvenile delinquency is a much debated topic. In the Swedish penal system, young offenders aged 15-20 are treated differently in sentencing and the choice of sanction. This means that crimes committed by young people are punshied less severely than if a corresponding crime is committed by someone who has reached the age of 21. There are also special forms of sanctions that can only be imposed on young people.
Earlier this year, however, the penalty provision for juvenile offenders who have reached the age of majority was changed. This means that everyone over the age of 18 who commits serious crimes will be sentenced to the same severe punishment and the same penalties. Against this background, and the fact that the current mass media... (More) - Juvenile delinquency is a much debated topic. In the Swedish penal system, young offenders aged 15-20 are treated differently in sentencing and the choice of sanction. This means that crimes committed by young people are punshied less severely than if a corresponding crime is committed by someone who has reached the age of 21. There are also special forms of sanctions that can only be imposed on young people.
Earlier this year, however, the penalty provision for juvenile offenders who have reached the age of majority was changed. This means that everyone over the age of 18 who commits serious crimes will be sentenced to the same severe punishment and the same penalties. Against this background, and the fact that the current mass media image is that juvenile delinquency is increasing, the question arises to whether the special treatment of underaged juvenile offenders should also be reduced. This question is answered in this essay from a perspective of penal theory and based on the legal regulation of, and the underlying reasons for, the special treatment of these young offenders and what today´s juvenile delinquency looks like.
In the Swedish penal system the interest with the greatest influence is that the severity of the punishment should be in proportion to the severity of the crime. However, there are also elements of, for example, individual prevention and humanity, not least when it comes to punishing young offenders. In addition to taking into account the human nature of error and that punishment should be humane, among other things, special tolerance must be shown for the young offenders as they are considered to bear less personal guilt and be particularly sensitive to sanctions. These assumptions are based on young people being biologically and psychosocially different from adults. For example, young people have typically a lack of maturity, undeveloped ability to take responsibility, increased sensation seeking and risk-taking and an inability to withstand peer pressure. Furthermore, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, people under the age of 18 may only be deprived of their liberty as a last resort and for the shortest possible time.
The study of what today´s juvenile delinquency looks like shows that juvenile delinquency is generally extensive, while serious juvenile delinquency is considerably less common. However, statistics show that several serious crimes committed by 15-17-year-olds have increased in number over the past five years. Furthermore, the recidivism rate is high among young offenders and during the last ten years the proportion has increased the most among these. The sanction where recidivism rate is greatest is closed institutional youth care, followed by imprisonment.
Through an analysis of the material in this essay, a number of problem areas are identified where the special treatment does not satisfy the punitive ideologies and interests behind the Swedish penal system. For example, based on the interests of equal treatment and justice there are problems with the ”juvenile discount” and the sanction called juvenile supervision. Furthermore, based on the interest of social protection, there are problems with the closed institutional youth care and, based on the interest of justice, there are problems with the threshold effects arising from the reduced special treatment for juvenile offenders who have reached the age of majority. In the final analysis, however, it is stated that a reduced special treatment for the underaged juvenile offenders would probably not lead to the various interests generally being better met. Therefore the conclusion that the special treatment should not be reduced is drawn. Nevertheless, it appears in the thesis that other measures against serious juvenile delinquency may become relevant in the near future. If the interests behind the penal system and the special treatment can be met to a greater extent through these, there should be no obstacles to their implementation. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Ungdomsbrottslighet är ett omdiskuterat och ständigt aktuellt ämne. I det svenska påföljdssystemet särbehandlas unga lagöverträdare i åldern 15-20 år vid straffmätningen och påföljdsvalet. Det innebär att brott som begås av ungdomar bestraffas lindrigare än om motsvarande brott begås av någon som fyllt 21 år. Det finns också särskilda påföljder som endast ungdomar kan ådömas.
Tidigare i år ändrades emellertid påföljdsbestämningen för de unga myndiga lagöverträdarna i form av den så kallade slopade straffrabatten. Ändringen medförde att alla över 18 år som begår allvarliga brott ska dömas till lika hård straff och samma påföljder. Med bakgrund i detta, och att den gängse massmediala bilden är att ungdomsbrottsligheten ökar, väcks frågan... (More) - Ungdomsbrottslighet är ett omdiskuterat och ständigt aktuellt ämne. I det svenska påföljdssystemet särbehandlas unga lagöverträdare i åldern 15-20 år vid straffmätningen och påföljdsvalet. Det innebär att brott som begås av ungdomar bestraffas lindrigare än om motsvarande brott begås av någon som fyllt 21 år. Det finns också särskilda påföljder som endast ungdomar kan ådömas.
Tidigare i år ändrades emellertid påföljdsbestämningen för de unga myndiga lagöverträdarna i form av den så kallade slopade straffrabatten. Ändringen medförde att alla över 18 år som begår allvarliga brott ska dömas till lika hård straff och samma påföljder. Med bakgrund i detta, och att den gängse massmediala bilden är att ungdomsbrottsligheten ökar, väcks frågan om även särbehandlingen för de unga omyndiga lagöverträdarna bör minska. Frågan besvaras i denna uppsats med ett straffteoretiskt perspektiv och utifrån den rättsliga regleringen av, och de bakomliggande skälen till, särbehandlingen samt hur dagens ungdomsbrottslighet ser ut.
I det svenska påföljdssystemet har intresset att straffets stränghet ska stå i proportion till brottets svårhet störst inflytande. Det finns dock även inslag av exempelvis individualprevention och humanitet, inte minst när det gäller bestraffningen av unga lagöverträdare. Förutom att hänsyn ska tas till bland annat det mänskliga i att fela och att straff ska vara humana ska särskild tolerans visas för de unga lagöverträdarna då de anses bära mindre personlig skuld och vara särskilt känsliga mot sanktioner. Dessa antaganden baseras på att unga skiljer sig biologiskt och psykosocialt från vuxna. Exempelvis har unga typiskt sett bristande mognad, outvecklad ansvarsförmåga, ökat stimulanssökande och risktagande samt oförmåga att stå emot grupptryck. Vidare får unga under 18 år, i enlighet med barnkonventionen, endast frihetsberövas som en sista utväg och under kortast möjliga tid.
Undersökningen av hur dagens ungdomsbrottslighet ser ut visar att ungdomsbrottsligheten generellt sett är omfattande medan den allvarliga ungdomsbrottsligheten är avsevärt mindre vanligt förekommande. Dock visar statistiken att flera allvarliga brott begångna av 15-17-åringar ökat i antal de senaste fem åren. Vidare är återfallsandelen hög bland unga överträdare och under de senaste tio åren har andelen ökat mest bland dessa. Den påföljd där återfallsandelen är störst är sluten ungdomsvård, följt av fängelse.
Genom en analys av materialet i uppsatsen identifieras ett antal problemområden där särbehandlingen inte tillgodoser de bestraffningsideologier och intressen som har störst inflytande på det svenska påföljdssystemet. Till exempel finns det utifrån intressena av likabehandling och rättvisa problem med ungdomsrabatten och påföljden ungdomsövervakning, utifrån intresset av samhällsskydd problem med sluten ungdomsvård och utifrån bland annat intresset av rättvisa problem med de tröskeleffekter som uppstått genom den slopade straffrabatten för de unga myndiga lagöverträdarna. I den avslutande analysen konstateras emellertid att en minskad särbehandling troligen inte skulle leda till att de olika intressena generellt sett bättre skulle tillgodoses, varför slutsatsen att särbehandlingen inte bör minska dras. Dock framgår det i uppsatsen att andra åtgärder mot den allvarliga ungdomsbrottsligheten kan bli aktuella inom en snar framtid. Om intressena bakom påföljdssystemet och särbehandlingen i högre grad kan tillgodoses genom dessa bör det inte finnas några hinder mot att de genomförs. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9080556
- author
- Rignell, Johanna LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Young and criminal, but also human and sensitive to criminal sanctions
- course
- JURM02 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- straffrätt, påföljdssystemet, straffmätning, påföljdsval, unga lagöverträdare, särbehandling, slopad straffrabatt, ungdomsrabatten, ungdomspåföljder
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9080556
- date added to LUP
- 2022-06-13 10:18:45
- date last changed
- 2022-06-13 10:18:45
@misc{9080556,
abstract = {{Juvenile delinquency is a much debated topic. In the Swedish penal system, young offenders aged 15-20 are treated differently in sentencing and the choice of sanction. This means that crimes committed by young people are punshied less severely than if a corresponding crime is committed by someone who has reached the age of 21. There are also special forms of sanctions that can only be imposed on young people.
Earlier this year, however, the penalty provision for juvenile offenders who have reached the age of majority was changed. This means that everyone over the age of 18 who commits serious crimes will be sentenced to the same severe punishment and the same penalties. Against this background, and the fact that the current mass media image is that juvenile delinquency is increasing, the question arises to whether the special treatment of underaged juvenile offenders should also be reduced. This question is answered in this essay from a perspective of penal theory and based on the legal regulation of, and the underlying reasons for, the special treatment of these young offenders and what today´s juvenile delinquency looks like.
In the Swedish penal system the interest with the greatest influence is that the severity of the punishment should be in proportion to the severity of the crime. However, there are also elements of, for example, individual prevention and humanity, not least when it comes to punishing young offenders. In addition to taking into account the human nature of error and that punishment should be humane, among other things, special tolerance must be shown for the young offenders as they are considered to bear less personal guilt and be particularly sensitive to sanctions. These assumptions are based on young people being biologically and psychosocially different from adults. For example, young people have typically a lack of maturity, undeveloped ability to take responsibility, increased sensation seeking and risk-taking and an inability to withstand peer pressure. Furthermore, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, people under the age of 18 may only be deprived of their liberty as a last resort and for the shortest possible time.
The study of what today´s juvenile delinquency looks like shows that juvenile delinquency is generally extensive, while serious juvenile delinquency is considerably less common. However, statistics show that several serious crimes committed by 15-17-year-olds have increased in number over the past five years. Furthermore, the recidivism rate is high among young offenders and during the last ten years the proportion has increased the most among these. The sanction where recidivism rate is greatest is closed institutional youth care, followed by imprisonment.
Through an analysis of the material in this essay, a number of problem areas are identified where the special treatment does not satisfy the punitive ideologies and interests behind the Swedish penal system. For example, based on the interests of equal treatment and justice there are problems with the ”juvenile discount” and the sanction called juvenile supervision. Furthermore, based on the interest of social protection, there are problems with the closed institutional youth care and, based on the interest of justice, there are problems with the threshold effects arising from the reduced special treatment for juvenile offenders who have reached the age of majority. In the final analysis, however, it is stated that a reduced special treatment for the underaged juvenile offenders would probably not lead to the various interests generally being better met. Therefore the conclusion that the special treatment should not be reduced is drawn. Nevertheless, it appears in the thesis that other measures against serious juvenile delinquency may become relevant in the near future. If the interests behind the penal system and the special treatment can be met to a greater extent through these, there should be no obstacles to their implementation.}},
author = {{Rignell, Johanna}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Ung och kriminell, men även mänsklig och sanktionskänslig - En straffteoretisk analys av huruvida särbehandlingen bör minska för de unga omyndiga lagöverträdarna vid allvarlig brottslighet}},
year = {{2022}},
}