NCJ Number
90793
Date Published
1982
Length
225 pages
Annotation
Analysis of Sweden's official statistics in two comparative periods, 1950 to 1965 and 1966 to 1982, indicates crime trends in general and for separate crime categories.
Abstract
The statistics are considered along with effects of these trends on the criminal justice system, particularly courts. Sweden's crime statistics are also compared with those of the U.S., West Germany, and other Scandinavian countries. The figures show a slow increase in crime from 1950 to the middle of the 1960's with a dramatic increase in the late 1960's sustained for the most part, through the study period. Meanwhile, the number of cleared crimes versus the number of reported crimes decreased, probably largely a factor of reduced social control stemming from a number of social changes. Increases in some types of crime could reflect such diverse phenomena as increases in automobile ownership making persons more mobile, an increase in the number of self-serve shops, and introduction of new payment methods, such as credit cards. These and other conditions possibly affecting the crime rate are discussed, as are unemployment and drugs and their roles in crime. A significant impact has been felt in the court system, which is being flooded with cases. Separate papers consider the frequency of automobile ownership among drug abusers and its implications; a self-report study of insurance fraud among Swedish citizens; welfare fraud in the area of housing subsidies; and reforms in Denmark, Finland, and Norway to counteract economic crime. For these separate papers, see NCJ 90794-97.