NCJ Number
54122
Journal
BRA (BROTTSFOREBYGGANDE RADET) - APROPA Issue: 3 Dated: SPECIAL ISSUE (1978) Pages: 26-30
Date Published
1978
Length
5 pages
Annotation
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AS A MAJOR SOCIAL PROBLEM HAS EXISTED IN SWEDEN ONLY SINCE POST-WORLD WAR II DAYS. THE SOURCE OF THIS MALAISE IS EXPLAINED IN TWO MODERN TRENDS: LIBERALISM AND SYMPTOM THEORY.
Abstract
SYMPTOM THEORY PERTAINS TO THE TENDENCY OF MODERN SOCIETY TO AVOID LOOKING AT THE ACTUAL CRIME OR DEVIANT BEHAVIOR AND INSTEAD ATTEMPT TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE BEHAVIOR. IT IS BASED IN MODERN PSYCHOANALYTIC AND HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY THEORY. 'LIBERALISM' STATES THAT ANIMALS DO NOT HAVE PROBLEMS IN RAISING THEIR YOUNG TO FOLLOW THE NORMS OF THEIR LEVEL OF LIFE, AND GENERATIONS PREVIOUS TO THE LAST FEW HAVE NOT HAD MAJOR DIFFICULTIES IN SOCIALIZING THEIR CHILDREN. YET, IN THE 1970'S, WHEN A JUVENILE COMMITS A CRIME, AND A GREAT AMOUNT OF CRIME IS COMMITTED BY SWEDISH YOUTHS, SOCIETY DOES NOT SEEM ABLE TO MAKE AN APPROPRIATE RESPONSE. MORE LIKELY THAN NOT THE OFFENDERS ARE GIVEN A VERBAL SLAP ON THE WRIST AND RELEASED. TO REVERSE THE GROWING PHENOMENA OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY, SWEDISH SOCIETY MUST DISMANTLE THE MODERN MYTHS ASSOCIATED WITH HUMAN BEHAVIOR THEORY AND PSYCHOLOGY AND BEGIN DEALING WITH OFFENDERS AS SOCIETY HAS IN THE PAST. --IN SWEDISH. (DAG)