Court-imposed care orders in a non-treatment paradigm

New research project at the Department of Criminology about court-imposed care orders in a non-treatment paradigm: trends, demographics and outcomes in Sweden, 1994-2020.

- The purpose of the project is to map how the penalty has been used during the period 1994–2020, which groups have been sentenced to it and whether this has changed over time. The project also intends to study how it goes for those who receive the sanction regarding labor market connection, health and recidivism, explains Anna Kahlmeter, researcher at the Department of Criminology.

- It is a complex sanction that involves many actors, e.g. both probation, social services and treatment institutions and it also contains some paradoxes, for instance that one is sentenced to treatment - but it must be agreed to - whereupon contract care is often described as voluntary. It is an interesting penalty that was introduced in parallel with the criminalization of drug use in Sweden and, with that, treatment for drug use formally became a criminal penalty, explains Anna Kahlmeter.

Despite the fact that contract care has existed since the end of the 1980s, there is relatively little research into it.

There is limited knowledge about alternative sanctions in general and perhaps contractual care in particular. Contract care has existed in Sweden since the end of the 80s and is a criminal law tool aimed at individuals who have an addiction, usually related to narcotics, and where there is considered to be a connection between the crime and the addiction.

- The prescription for a special treatment plan means that the penalty is attributed to a fairly large individual preventive potential, but we do not know how it goes for those who receive the penalty, especially not in the long term. We also do not know how different background factors come into play when choosing a penalty. Knowledge of this can contribute to both the drug policy and criminal policy discussion, says Anna Kahlmeter.


The project is funded by NfSK, the Nordic Research Council for Criminology and will continue throughout 2023.