Violent Networks in Sweden.

• In Event: What happened in Sweden last night? Studies on crime, gender, ethnicity and social class over the last 40 years

Abstract

Over the last decade, violence in the form of shootings and detonations has increased significantly in Sweden. At the same time, most other types of crimes are not showing any tendency to increase. These shootings and explosions are exceptional in their scope, for both Swedish and European circumstances. They have also received great attention in the mass media, and worries about criminality have increased among the general public. The great increase in sanction severity in the last few years and other changes to the Swedish legal system have been justified by the Government with reference to the growing problem of shootings and explosions.

The new type of violent criminality is primarily linked to criminal networks. It relates to conflicts between different networks, and between members within the same network. Young men with immigrant backgrounds from the socially deprived areas of major cities are usually the victims and perpetrators of these crimes.

This paper compares some older studies of criminal networks in Sweden with more recent research. It shows that the new networks in many respects function like the old ones, but that the element of violence has significantly increased.

Author

• Jerzy Sarnecki, University of Gavle