NCJ Number
225457
Journal
Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: 2008 Pages: 59-79
Date Published
2008
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article discusses discrimination in the Swedish criminal justice system.
Abstract
On the basis of experiences described by justice system professionals in Sweden, this article presents a range of examples illustrating some of the many situations in which people from minority backgrounds are disadvantaged in their contacts with the justice system there. The research conducted by the authors among Swedish justice system professionals indicates the presence of a dissonance between a desire not to discriminate against people from minority backgrounds and the de facto occurrence of precisely this kind of discrimination throughout the criminal justice process. The article notes that this can be understood as resulting from a situation where, just as in other areas of society, much of the disadvantage suffered by people from minority backgrounds in the justice system is due to what has been referred to as “subtle, unconscious, automatic discrimination.” The study concludes with a brief discussion of the implications of the findings for efforts to combat discrimination within the criminal justice process. Data employed in the presentation were collected in 2 stages, the first being an invitation to participate in a survey which drew responses from 291 prosecutors and 144 defense attorneys. The second phase involved organizing 9 group interviews with a total of 32 persons deemed as justice system professionals. References