Ungdomsvåld: upptäckten av ett samhällsproblem. Ungdomsbrottslighet i svensk dagspress 1950-1994

Youth Violence: The Discovery of a Social Problem Youth crime in Swedish editorials 1950-1994 This article offers an analysis of how juvenile delinquency has been treated in editorials in Swedish newspapers between 1950-1994. It shows that the focus has shifted from property offences to violence. The shift is discussed from two perspectives; the objectivist and the constructionist. It is argued that the diminishing interest of the press in juvenile property offences since the beginning of the 1970´s corresponds to the pattern of recorded crime trends. From 1986 onwards, however, youth violence became a major topic in Sweden. Yet this cannot easily be explained by the objectivist approach alone. The constructionist approach seems to be a useful complement. The paper ends with a suggestion that a re-evualation of some parts of the crime statistics is needed. The emergence of youth violence as a social problem after 1986 has probably led to a higher propensity to report such acts. Therefore, statistics that are not dependent upon public reporting should be used when analysing the development of youth violence in Sweden