Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Deadly violence in Sweden: Profiling offenders through a latent class analysis

Khoshnood, Ardavan LU orcid ; Ohlsson, Henrik LU ; Sundquist, Jan LU and Sundquist, Kristina LU (2021) Stockholm Criminology Symposium, 2021 p.82-82
Abstract
Sweden has in recent years witnessed increasing rates of firearm-related violence and homicide, which has contributed to increased rates of deadly violence. Attempts to profile offenders committing such crimes are of major importance, because such efforts may contribute to better preventive measures. We therefore aimed to study the characteristics of individuals convicted and/or
suspected of homicide, attempted homicide, preparation to commit homicide as well as conspiration to commit homicide (for simplicity called homicide+) in Sweden. By using information from the Swedish Crime Register and the
Swedish Criminal Suspect Register, individuals being 15–60 years old and convicted and/or suspected of homicide+ between 2000 and 2015... (More)
Sweden has in recent years witnessed increasing rates of firearm-related violence and homicide, which has contributed to increased rates of deadly violence. Attempts to profile offenders committing such crimes are of major importance, because such efforts may contribute to better preventive measures. We therefore aimed to study the characteristics of individuals convicted and/or
suspected of homicide, attempted homicide, preparation to commit homicide as well as conspiration to commit homicide (for simplicity called homicide+) in Sweden. By using information from the Swedish Crime Register and the
Swedish Criminal Suspect Register, individuals being 15–60 years old and convicted and/or suspected of homicide+ between 2000 and 2015 were included in the study. Using these registers and also other population and health care registers, information on previous criminality, substance abuse, and psychiatric disorders were added to the Latent Class Analysis (LCA) that was used to identify latent classes of individuals convicted and/or suspected for homicide+. In addition, several individual variables were added for validation
purposes. A total of 14,466 individuals were included in the analysis. The majority were male (n = 12,802;88.5%) and Swedish-born with Swedish-born parents (n = 8247; 57.0%). The LCA identified three classes where Conviction Class (CC) contained mostly convicted individuals whereas Mixed Class A (MCA) and Mixed Class B (MCB) contained almost equal rates of both convicted and suspected individuals. The CC was characterized by individuals with low rates of previous criminality, substance abuse and psychiatric disorders. The MCA and the MCB were characterized by individuals with higher rates of previous criminality, substance abuse, and psychiatric disorders as well as lower education and worse economy in comparison with the CC. While MCA and MCB may be constituted by “traditional” criminals often well known by the police and/or the social authorities, the CC was mainly constituted by convicted offenders who may more easily escape the radar of the authorities. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Firearm, Firearm-Related Violence, Gun, Gun Violence, Homicide, Skjutvapen, Skjutvapenrelaterad våld, Mord, Dråp
pages
1 pages
conference name
Stockholm Criminology Symposium, 2021
conference location
Stockholm, Sweden
conference dates
2021-06-15 - 2021-06-16
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d6d97d10-a99c-4f76-9c89-ff98531ebc16
date added to LUP
2021-04-24 05:35:34
date last changed
2023-06-06 00:25:46
@misc{d6d97d10-a99c-4f76-9c89-ff98531ebc16,
  abstract     = {{Sweden has in recent years witnessed increasing rates of firearm-related violence and homicide, which has contributed to increased rates of deadly violence. Attempts to profile offenders committing such crimes are of major importance, because such efforts may contribute to better preventive measures. We therefore aimed to study the characteristics of individuals convicted and/or <br/>suspected of homicide, attempted homicide, preparation to commit homicide as well as conspiration to commit homicide (for simplicity called homicide+) in Sweden. By using information from the Swedish Crime Register and the <br/>Swedish Criminal Suspect Register, individuals being 15–60 years old and convicted and/or suspected of homicide+ between 2000 and 2015 were included in the study. Using these registers and also other population and health care registers, information on previous criminality, substance abuse, and psychiatric disorders were added to the Latent Class Analysis (LCA) that was used to identify latent classes of individuals convicted and/or suspected for homicide+. In addition, several individual variables were added for validation <br/>purposes. A total of 14,466 individuals were included in the analysis. The majority were male (n = 12,802;88.5%) and Swedish-born with Swedish-born parents (n = 8247; 57.0%). The LCA identified three classes where Conviction Class (CC) contained mostly convicted individuals whereas Mixed Class A (MCA) and Mixed Class B (MCB) contained almost equal rates of both convicted and suspected individuals. The CC was characterized by individuals with low rates of previous criminality, substance abuse and psychiatric disorders. The MCA and the MCB were characterized by individuals with higher rates of previous criminality, substance abuse, and psychiatric disorders as well as lower education and worse economy in comparison with the CC. While MCA and MCB may be constituted by “traditional” criminals often well known by the police and/or the social authorities, the CC was mainly constituted by convicted offenders who may more easily escape the radar of the authorities.}},
  author       = {{Khoshnood, Ardavan and Ohlsson, Henrik and Sundquist, Jan and Sundquist, Kristina}},
  keywords     = {{Firearm; Firearm-Related Violence; Gun; Gun Violence; Homicide; Skjutvapen; Skjutvapenrelaterad våld; Mord; Dråp}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  pages        = {{82--82}},
  title        = {{Deadly violence in Sweden: Profiling offenders through a latent class analysis}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}