Research project Long-term outcomes of alternative sanctions for youths in conflict with the law
The project “Long-term outcomes of alternative sanctions for youths in conflict with the law: the influence of individual resources and social context”’s overall aim is to add knowledge about alternative sanctions for young offenders and assess their links to future life chances.
Alternative legal responses to youths’ involvement in crime, such as probation, youth-/community service, probation with conditions and youth care, are primarily carried out in the intersection between the justice and the social welfare system and for youths below 18, sanctions are often effectuated by the social services. However, juvenile crime has come to be portrayed as one of society's greatest antagonists. Politicians are racing to present repressive measures, and the management of young offenders is increasingly moved to the correctional sphere. Among other things, the reduced sentence for young offenders has been abolished for serious crimes, and supervision has been introduced as a sanction for juvenile offenders.
Project description
The project aims to outline the use of alternative sanctions for young offenders (15-17-year-olds and 18-20-year-olds) in detail and assess their differential links to risks of reoffending and future education and labour market attachment. The project further aims to explore if family resources, the historical context, as well as the spatial context in which sanctions are served moderate these associations. Using Swedish register data, we can follow 25 successive birth cohorts (born 1975–2000) from the time of their first criminal conviction and for up to 30 years. These data also allow adjustment for a broad set of background factors by merging conviction data with several other registers. The large national longitudinal data also make it possible to perform gender-stratified analyses. We hope the project will advance our knowledge about the relationship between legal responses to youth crime and young people's life chances.
Project members
Project managers
Anna Kahlmeter
Researcher
Members
Julia Kristin Sandahl
Researcher
Olof Bäckman
Professor
