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LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Straffrätt i senmoderniteten – Om normstyrning, symbolisk kriminalisering och utvidgningen av sexköpslagen

Sventorp, Linnéa LU (2025) JURM02 20252
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Sociologisk forskning beskriver samtiden som ett senmodernt samhällstillstånd, som kännetecknas av snabb förändring, individualisering, globalisering och osäkerhet inför framtiden. Ett av rättens syften är att påverka människors beteenden, vilket kanske tydligast manifesteras genom straffrätten.
Detta examensarbete undersöker hur straffrättens mål att påverka normer och
styra beteenden tar form i senmoderniteten. Uppsatsen använder 2025 års utvidgning av brottet köp av sexuell tjänst i 6 kap. 11 § brottsbalken som ett
exempel på en situation där lagstiftaren får svårare att upprätta kontroll över
människors beteenden i senmoderniteten. När utbytet mellan sex och pengar
förflyttas till den digitala sfären uppstår osäkerhet kring vilka... (More)
Sociologisk forskning beskriver samtiden som ett senmodernt samhällstillstånd, som kännetecknas av snabb förändring, individualisering, globalisering och osäkerhet inför framtiden. Ett av rättens syften är att påverka människors beteenden, vilket kanske tydligast manifesteras genom straffrätten.
Detta examensarbete undersöker hur straffrättens mål att påverka normer och
styra beteenden tar form i senmoderniteten. Uppsatsen använder 2025 års utvidgning av brottet köp av sexuell tjänst i 6 kap. 11 § brottsbalken som ett
exempel på en situation där lagstiftaren får svårare att upprätta kontroll över
människors beteenden i senmoderniteten. När utbytet mellan sex och pengar
förflyttas till den digitala sfären uppstår osäkerhet kring vilka händelseförlopp
som kan omfattas av straffrätten. Detta skapar ett behov av att lagstiftaren
tydliggör gränserna för vilka beteenden som är tillåtna. Att inordna nya sociala praktiker i rättens befintliga kategorier ger upphov till en spänning mellan
å ena sidan snabbt föränderliga och moralisk sett mer flytande beteenden och
å andra sidan ett rättssystem som präglas av stabilitet, förutsebarhet och krav
på rationalitet.
Utredningen visar att senmodern sociologi pekar på att staten i allt mindre
utsträckning förmår styra sociala processer på grund av senmodernitetens
övergång från kollektivism och konformism till individualism och pluralism.
Det innebär att förutsättningarna för att straffrätten ska uppnå allmänprevention genom moralbildning kan anses vara försvagade. I takt med att straffrättens faktiska styrningsförmåga minskar betonas dess expressiva funktion allt
mer. Den offensiva straffrättspolitiken, som teoretiserats av Nils Jareborg,
kan förstås som ett försök för staten att återvinna auktoritet i ett samhälle
präglat av osäkerhet och risk. Kriminalisering används för att ge snabba och
tydliga svar på komplexa problem, för att visa handlingskraftighet, även när
kunskapsunderlaget är bristfälligt. Detta riskerar att leda till överkriminalisering och i längden underminera både tilltron till straffrätten och dess funktion som ultima ratio.
Utvidgningen av sexköpslagen illustrerar hur straffrätten i ökande grad används symboliskt för att signalera handlingskraft snarare än för att motverka
faktisk skada. Lagstiftaren har i förarbetena inte visat att kriminaliseringen av
köp av sexuella tjänster som utförs på distans skulle förebygga skada på ett
särskilt skyddsintresse. Dessutom föreligger gränsdragningsproblem mellan
sexköp och pornografi till följd av lagändringen. Mot denna bakgrund är det
svårt att motivera utvidgningen utifrån etablerade kriminaliseringsprinciper.
Problemen är ett uttryck för en bredare legitimitetskris i den senmoderna
straffrätten. (Less)
Abstract
Sociological research describes contemporary society as a condition of late
modernity, characterized by rapid change, individualisation, globalisation,
and uncertainty about the future. One of the purposes of law is to influence
human behaviour, insofar as this is possible. A function that is perhaps most
evidently manifested through criminal law. This thesis examines how
criminal law’s aim to shape norms and govern behaviour takes form in late
modernity.
The study takes the 2025 expansion of Chapter 6, Section 11 of the Swedish
Penal Code as a case illustrating the legislator’s increasing difficulty in exercising normative control over human behaviour in late modern society.
Through this amendment, the purchase of sexual acts... (More)
Sociological research describes contemporary society as a condition of late
modernity, characterized by rapid change, individualisation, globalisation,
and uncertainty about the future. One of the purposes of law is to influence
human behaviour, insofar as this is possible. A function that is perhaps most
evidently manifested through criminal law. This thesis examines how
criminal law’s aim to shape norms and govern behaviour takes form in late
modernity.
The study takes the 2025 expansion of Chapter 6, Section 11 of the Swedish
Penal Code as a case illustrating the legislator’s increasing difficulty in exercising normative control over human behaviour in late modern society.
Through this amendment, the purchase of sexual acts performed remotely—
such as through live video streaming—became criminalised when the act is
carried out primarily for the purpose of being viewed by the consumer. When
the exchange of sex and money moves into the digital sphere, uncertainty
arises as to which courses of conduct may fall within the scope of existing
criminal law. This creates a need for the legislator to clarify the boundaries
of permissible behaviour. Attempting to fit new social practices into existing
legal categories gives rise to a tension between rapidly changing, morally
fluid behaviours and a legal system characterized by stability, predictability,
and demands for rationality.
The findings from this study indicate that late modern sociology points to a
declining capacity of the state to govern social processes due to late modernity’s transition from collectivism and conformism to individualism and pluralism. As a result, the conditions for criminal law to achieve crime prevention through moral governance can be considered weakened. As the actual
steering capacity of criminal law diminishes, its expressive function is
increasingly emphasised. The offensive criminal law policy, theorised by Nils
Jareborg, can be understood as an attempt by the state to reclaim authority in
a society characterised by uncertainty and risk. Criminalisation is used to provide rapid and clear responses to complex problems, signalling decisiveness
even when the underlying knowledge base is insufficient. This risks leading
to over-criminalisation and, in the long run, undermining both trust in criminal law and its function as ultima ratio.
The extension of the criminal scope of purchasing sex illustrates how criminal
law is increasingly used symbolically to signal political resolve rather than to
prevent actual harm. The legislative history has not demonstrated that
criminalising the purchase of sexual services performed at a distance prevents
harm to a specific protected interest. Furthermore, the legislative change gives
rise to problems with drawing boundaries between the purchase of sexual
services and pornography. The extension can therefore hardly be justified on
the basis of established principles of criminalisation, constituting an expression of a broader legitimacy crisis in late modern criminal law. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Sventorp, Linnéa LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Criminal Law in Late Modernity – On Normative Control, Symbolic Criminalization, and the Swedish Sex Purchase Act
course
JURM02 20252
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
allmän rättslära, senmodernitet, straffrätt, rättssociologi, sex mot ersättning, straffrättsideologi, rättslig instrumentalism, reflexiv modernitet, risksamhället
language
Swedish
id
9217530
date added to LUP
2026-01-26 13:57:14
date last changed
2026-01-26 13:57:14
@misc{9217530,
  abstract     = {{Sociological research describes contemporary society as a condition of late
modernity, characterized by rapid change, individualisation, globalisation,
and uncertainty about the future. One of the purposes of law is to influence
human behaviour, insofar as this is possible. A function that is perhaps most
evidently manifested through criminal law. This thesis examines how
criminal law’s aim to shape norms and govern behaviour takes form in late
modernity.
The study takes the 2025 expansion of Chapter 6, Section 11 of the Swedish
Penal Code as a case illustrating the legislator’s increasing difficulty in exercising normative control over human behaviour in late modern society.
Through this amendment, the purchase of sexual acts performed remotely—
such as through live video streaming—became criminalised when the act is
carried out primarily for the purpose of being viewed by the consumer. When
the exchange of sex and money moves into the digital sphere, uncertainty
arises as to which courses of conduct may fall within the scope of existing
criminal law. This creates a need for the legislator to clarify the boundaries
of permissible behaviour. Attempting to fit new social practices into existing
legal categories gives rise to a tension between rapidly changing, morally
fluid behaviours and a legal system characterized by stability, predictability,
and demands for rationality.
The findings from this study indicate that late modern sociology points to a
declining capacity of the state to govern social processes due to late modernity’s transition from collectivism and conformism to individualism and pluralism. As a result, the conditions for criminal law to achieve crime prevention through moral governance can be considered weakened. As the actual
steering capacity of criminal law diminishes, its expressive function is
increasingly emphasised. The offensive criminal law policy, theorised by Nils
Jareborg, can be understood as an attempt by the state to reclaim authority in
a society characterised by uncertainty and risk. Criminalisation is used to provide rapid and clear responses to complex problems, signalling decisiveness
even when the underlying knowledge base is insufficient. This risks leading
to over-criminalisation and, in the long run, undermining both trust in criminal law and its function as ultima ratio.
The extension of the criminal scope of purchasing sex illustrates how criminal
law is increasingly used symbolically to signal political resolve rather than to
prevent actual harm. The legislative history has not demonstrated that
criminalising the purchase of sexual services performed at a distance prevents
harm to a specific protected interest. Furthermore, the legislative change gives
rise to problems with drawing boundaries between the purchase of sexual
services and pornography. The extension can therefore hardly be justified on
the basis of established principles of criminalisation, constituting an expression of a broader legitimacy crisis in late modern criminal law.}},
  author       = {{Sventorp, Linnéa}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Straffrätt i senmoderniteten – Om normstyrning, symbolisk kriminalisering och utvidgningen av sexköpslagen}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}