Dödligt våld - uppkomst, brottsrubricering och straffmätning
(2008)Department of Law
- Abstract
- To get correct answers on statistical questions about lethal violence have proved very difficult. The actual number is often overrated, which makes the numbers presented way to high. The statistics vary quite much from year to year. The numbers of reports about lethal violence in Sweden have increased especially during the last ten years. From a number of 100 to 150 cases a year, the numbers are now over 200. Whether this is an actual increase of the lethal violence or not is hard to say with today's many errors in criminal statistics. The major part of crimes conducted in our country is committed by a little group of serious criminals. There is scientific knowledge about which factors that can increase the risk for such a development.... (More)
- To get correct answers on statistical questions about lethal violence have proved very difficult. The actual number is often overrated, which makes the numbers presented way to high. The statistics vary quite much from year to year. The numbers of reports about lethal violence in Sweden have increased especially during the last ten years. From a number of 100 to 150 cases a year, the numbers are now over 200. Whether this is an actual increase of the lethal violence or not is hard to say with today's many errors in criminal statistics. The major part of crimes conducted in our country is committed by a little group of serious criminals. There is scientific knowledge about which factors that can increase the risk for such a development. Examples of such factors are qualities and behaviour, genetics and biology, parents and raise plus socioeconomic structure. Children which early show different kinds of serious behavior disorders or hyperactivity or which have problems with speech development, children with parents that abuse alcohol or drugs, devote to criminal activities or are mentally ill, children which become exposed to violence by their parents or children which grow up in bad living areas can run a bigger risk to develop criminal behaviour. It is however important to point out that it is not obvious that a child who shows some of these qualities later will develop a criminal career. It is more likely to talk about a possible criminal development for a child if it shows many of these qualities under a longer period. Women suspected for crime have redoubled since the 1970's. Jealousy and envy are considered to be triggering factors for a woman to use violence. When it comes to lethal violence the number of cases with a female perpetrator has not increased, the percentage is steadily around 10%. According to scientists it takes more for a woman to commit a murder than it does for a man. Nothing suggests that lethal violence with young perpetrators have increased. What makes the existing youth violence special is partly that perpetrator and victim don't know each other, partly that the crimes often take place away from home in public areas. Common victims of lethal violence are young men that participate in public entertainments and women which are killed by someone they have had a close relationship with. In most cases of lethal violence the perpetrator and the victim know each other and are at the same age, from the same country and have the same socioeconomic status. The motives for lethal violence can be divided into two categories. One is when the perpetrator's goal is to hurt or kill the victim and the other is when the perpetrator's goal is to get in possession of money or other objects. The first category is the most common. Common motives when it comes to murders in close relationships are jealousy or separation problems. Between acquaintances the motive is often a row that goes adrift. Alcohol and drugs are often involved. The crime labels that can be considered when it comes to lethal violence are murder, manslaughter, infanticide and assault. While the perpetrator in the normal case for intentional killing gets judged for murder, he gets in the less gross case judged for manslaughter. Examples of mitigating circumstances which can make the perpetrator guilty of manslaughter instead of murder are that the perpetrator has committed the crime under strong mental pressure or if he or she has been serious provoked by the victim. Examples of circumstances which can make the perpetrator guilty of murder instead of manslaughter are if the course of events wasn't very fast, if the perpetrator showed ruthlessness or cruelty, if the victim was in a very defenceless situation or if the victim was closely related to the perpetrator. The regulation about infanticide means that there is a more lenient punishment of certain cases that otherwise should have been judged as manslaughter. The regulation is applicable when mothers kill their newborn babies. This action can in certain cases have normal physical and psychological reasons. Criminal intent must exist when the perpetrator is convicted for murder or manslaughter. If someone with a criminal intent to abuse someone, but with negligence happens to kill him, the perpetrator will be convicted for abuse and involuntary manslaughter. The punishment for murder is ten years in prison or life imprisonment. You can't tell by the regulation of murder which punishment should be norm. The choice between life imprisonment and a limited punishment should be based upon the circumstances in every single case. The committee of the penal law suggested was that the punishment for murder as a rule should be life imprisonment. This opinion has been changed. According to a judgment from the Supreme Court from 2007, life imprisonment should only be used for the most serious murders. To reduce the lethal violence, my opinion is that a lot of work has to be done when it comes to crime preventive measures. Measures that work to reduce the number of persons that have social problems with for example drugs. It is often this kind of people who develop a criminal behaviour and use violence against people in their surroundings. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1558592
- author
- Jacobsson, Helene
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2008
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Straffrätt
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 1558592
- date added to LUP
- 2010-03-08 15:55:22
- date last changed
- 2010-03-08 15:55:22
@misc{1558592,
abstract = {{To get correct answers on statistical questions about lethal violence have proved very difficult. The actual number is often overrated, which makes the numbers presented way to high. The statistics vary quite much from year to year. The numbers of reports about lethal violence in Sweden have increased especially during the last ten years. From a number of 100 to 150 cases a year, the numbers are now over 200. Whether this is an actual increase of the lethal violence or not is hard to say with today's many errors in criminal statistics. The major part of crimes conducted in our country is committed by a little group of serious criminals. There is scientific knowledge about which factors that can increase the risk for such a development. Examples of such factors are qualities and behaviour, genetics and biology, parents and raise plus socioeconomic structure. Children which early show different kinds of serious behavior disorders or hyperactivity or which have problems with speech development, children with parents that abuse alcohol or drugs, devote to criminal activities or are mentally ill, children which become exposed to violence by their parents or children which grow up in bad living areas can run a bigger risk to develop criminal behaviour. It is however important to point out that it is not obvious that a child who shows some of these qualities later will develop a criminal career. It is more likely to talk about a possible criminal development for a child if it shows many of these qualities under a longer period. Women suspected for crime have redoubled since the 1970's. Jealousy and envy are considered to be triggering factors for a woman to use violence. When it comes to lethal violence the number of cases with a female perpetrator has not increased, the percentage is steadily around 10%. According to scientists it takes more for a woman to commit a murder than it does for a man. Nothing suggests that lethal violence with young perpetrators have increased. What makes the existing youth violence special is partly that perpetrator and victim don't know each other, partly that the crimes often take place away from home in public areas. Common victims of lethal violence are young men that participate in public entertainments and women which are killed by someone they have had a close relationship with. In most cases of lethal violence the perpetrator and the victim know each other and are at the same age, from the same country and have the same socioeconomic status. The motives for lethal violence can be divided into two categories. One is when the perpetrator's goal is to hurt or kill the victim and the other is when the perpetrator's goal is to get in possession of money or other objects. The first category is the most common. Common motives when it comes to murders in close relationships are jealousy or separation problems. Between acquaintances the motive is often a row that goes adrift. Alcohol and drugs are often involved. The crime labels that can be considered when it comes to lethal violence are murder, manslaughter, infanticide and assault. While the perpetrator in the normal case for intentional killing gets judged for murder, he gets in the less gross case judged for manslaughter. Examples of mitigating circumstances which can make the perpetrator guilty of manslaughter instead of murder are that the perpetrator has committed the crime under strong mental pressure or if he or she has been serious provoked by the victim. Examples of circumstances which can make the perpetrator guilty of murder instead of manslaughter are if the course of events wasn't very fast, if the perpetrator showed ruthlessness or cruelty, if the victim was in a very defenceless situation or if the victim was closely related to the perpetrator. The regulation about infanticide means that there is a more lenient punishment of certain cases that otherwise should have been judged as manslaughter. The regulation is applicable when mothers kill their newborn babies. This action can in certain cases have normal physical and psychological reasons. Criminal intent must exist when the perpetrator is convicted for murder or manslaughter. If someone with a criminal intent to abuse someone, but with negligence happens to kill him, the perpetrator will be convicted for abuse and involuntary manslaughter. The punishment for murder is ten years in prison or life imprisonment. You can't tell by the regulation of murder which punishment should be norm. The choice between life imprisonment and a limited punishment should be based upon the circumstances in every single case. The committee of the penal law suggested was that the punishment for murder as a rule should be life imprisonment. This opinion has been changed. According to a judgment from the Supreme Court from 2007, life imprisonment should only be used for the most serious murders. To reduce the lethal violence, my opinion is that a lot of work has to be done when it comes to crime preventive measures. Measures that work to reduce the number of persons that have social problems with for example drugs. It is often this kind of people who develop a criminal behaviour and use violence against people in their surroundings.}},
author = {{Jacobsson, Helene}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Dödligt våld - uppkomst, brottsrubricering och straffmätning}},
year = {{2008}},
}