Pioneers in Swedish Victim Support

• In Event: Victimization and Victimhood: Both Sides of the Coin

Abstract

As a part of an ongoing project on the rise and development of victim support in Sweden, this presentation is based on a study of official and internal documents of Sweden’s oldest and largest nongovernmental victim assistance organization, the Swedish Association of Victim Support. In addition, we have conducted retrospective interviews with pioneers that founded the association. Non-governmental victim support organizations were established in Sweden in the 1980’s. In the 1990’s there was explicit political and state support for these organizations and also in general for the idea of supporting victims of crime. In a period of approximately ten years, the political focus shifted from rehabilitation of offenders to supporting victims. This presentation will highlight the main aspects the introduction of a new perspective and of organizing a new kind of practice in criminal justice. Among these aspects we will present how the pioneers related to official and state bodies and how they gained public interest. We will also focus on the kind of images of victims and offenders these pioneers promoted, and how these images related to the public opinion.

Authors

• Kerstin Svensson, Lund University

• Carina Gallo, Lund University