Research has consistently shown that attitudes favorable to violence increase the likelihood of violent perpetration, including intimate partner violence (IPV). Exposure to violence is a key factor shaping such attitudes. This study examines Swedish youths' attitudes toward general violence and IPV in parallel, and whether exposure to violence is associated with these attitudes in similar ways. The study draws on longitudinal data from the Malmö Individual and Neighbourhood Development Study, collected through questionnaires between late 2011 and 2015. The sample consists of 387 adolescents. Attitudes toward general violence and IPV as well as exposure to violence were measured using self-reported questionnaire items. Logistic regressions were used to assess associations between exposure to violence and attitudes toward violence and IPV. Swedish youth generally disapprove of violence, although gender differences are evident for attitudes toward general violence. Exposure to violence was statistically significantly associated with attitudes favorable to general violence, particularly when exposure was recent or repeated. In contrast, exposure showed limited associations with attitudes toward IPV. The findings suggest that different mechanisms may shape attitudes toward general violence and IPV, highlighting the need for further research on the formation of IPV-related attitudes.

Purpose: Research on young intimate partner violence (IPV) offenders remains limited, particularly regarding their patterns of IPV behavior. Rather than treating young IPV offenders as a homogenous group, identifying different offender groups can create a more extensive and nuanced understanding of IPV perpetration in adolescence and young adulthood. This study explores the possibility of distinguishing subgroups of young IPV offenders based on violence frequency and severity over time. Also, if early involvement in IPV predicts group membership. Gender differences in IPV offending are also examined.

Methods: Longitudinal data from five waves of the Peterborough Adolescent and Young Adult Developmental Study, covering ages 16–24 (n = 397, 59.4% female), was analyzed using cluster analysis and multinominal logistic regression.

Results: Three offender groups emerged: (1) a no/rare-violence group (58.7%), with little to no IPV offending; (2) an infrequent offender group (33.8%), engaging in both psychological and physical IPV at a low frequency; and (3) a frequent offender group (7.6%), engaging frequently in both psychological and physical violence. Early involvement in IPV increased the probability of belonging to the frequent offender group. Significant gender differences were found in specific types of physical IPV offending, However, no gender differences emerged for psychological violence or the most severe physical violence.

Conclusion: These findings highlight the heterogeneity of young IPV offenders and their violent behaviors, with early involvement predicting frequent offending. Gender differences were found in specific physical IPV, while no differences emerged for psychological violence or the most severe physical violence

Prior research consistently finds unsupervised and unstructured peer-oriented socializing conducive to crime but struggles to study its simultaneous relation to neighborhood- and individual-level characteristics. This study analyses spatial and temporal patterns of unstructured socializing, considering both individual crime propensity and neighborhood collective efficacy, using data from the Malmö Individual and Neighborhood Development Study and Malmö Community Survey. Employing space–time budget methodology, the findings reveal that unstructured socializing is more common among adolescents with higher crime propensity and typically occurs outside their residential neighborhoods. Contrary to expectations, unstructured socializing is not more prevalent in neighborhoods with lower collective efficacy nor is there an interaction effect between crime propensity and collective efficacy. Overall, the results highlight the need to integrate both place and individual factors to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the spatiotemporal patterns of unstructured socializing.

Den svenska kriminalpolitikens reaktion på en allt grövre brottslighet har bland annat handlat om att skärpa påföljder, bygga ut anstalter och sänka åldern för straffbarhet. Mer förbisett, åtminstone i den offentliga debatten, är frågan om hur samhället kan påverka unga i en riktning som gör att de aldrig begår sitt första allvarliga brott.

I den här antologin har ESO låtit forskare inom olika samhällsvetenskapliga discipliner presentera sina perspektiv på vad som kan utgöra effektiva brottsförebyggande insatser för barn och unga. I antologin skriver Per-Olof Wikström om brott som moraliskt handlande och Marie Torstensson Levander problematiserar samverkan som metod i det brottsförebyggande arbetet. Anna-Karin Ivert beskriver hur tidiga sociala insatser kan användas för att förebygga ungas brottslighet och Hans Grönqvist och Torsten Santavirta belyser hur utbildning och skolgång påverkar barns risk att hamna i brottslighet. Martin Grander skriver om sambandet mellan socioekonomisk boendesegregation och brottslighet och Magnus Dahlstedt och David Ekholm om vilka förväntningar som är rimliga att ha på idrottens kraft att förebygga barns brottslighet. Pia Enebrinks kapitel handlar om psykisk ohälsa och utvecklingen av brottsliga beteenden hos barn. Slutligen sätter Jenny Madestam i sitt kapitel ljuset på det politiska ledarskapet i frågan om ungdomsbrottslighet. Redaktörer för antologin är Axel Merkel och Marie Torstensson Levander.

Lethal violence in intimate relationships is frequently preceded by less severe forms of abuse. In Sweden, the clearance rate for non-aggravated assault remains low, partly due to organisational goal conflicts within the police force. Consequently, the police face challenges in both resolving intimate partner violence (IPV) cases and preventing escalation into more serious violence. This study aims to advance understanding of the investigative process concerning IPV in Sweden and examine whether investigative measures differ depending on the relationship between victim and perpetrator – whether intimate, acquainted, or unfamiliar. The analysis draws on police investigations conducted in Stockholm between 2016 and 2021. Findings indicate that structural limitations, particularly victim non-cooperation, significantly constrain the investigation of non-aggravated IPV. This reluctance impacts the application of investigative measures and often leads to early case closures when prosecution appears unlikely. These results underscore the need for more effective strategies to enhance victim engagement and improve the overall investigative process in IPV cases.

Background: Physical punishment (PP) of children is banned in > 50 countries, motivated by ethical arguments as well as empirically ascertained negative effects in adulthood. There is ample social pressure against PP in Sweden. Aims: How common is a history of PP among randomly selected Malmö adolescents, is PP explained by certain social background factors and/or individual characteristics, and how do physically punished individuals differ with respect to antisocial outcomes at age 18. Method: Participants (N = 518, a 20% sample of children born in Malmö 1995) responded to a comprehensive self-report questionnaire in three waves, age 15, 16 and 19. Results: PP was reported by appr. 20% of the participants. Several differences were observed between participants who experienced PP and those who did not. These differences can be summarized as follows: parents’ country of birth, the importance of religion, conflicts with parents, poor bonding with family, exposure to antisocial peers, perceived victimization by peers and teachers, victimization from crime, and difficulties with certain aspects of self-regulation. Conclusion: In spite of being illegal, PP is relatively common. There were some significant associations suggesting differences between those exposed to PP and the others, but no serious effects at age 19, except violent behaviour for boys.

BACKGROUND: Poor self-control is a strong correlate of criminal propensity. It is conceptualized and operationalized differently in criminology than in other scientific traditions.

AIMS: (1) To verify the dimensionality of the criminological Grasmick self-control items, other self-regulation items and morality ones. (2) To re-interpret the dimensions using a clinical perspective, a taxonomic/diagnostic model and references to possible "biological underpinnings." (3) Validate the dimensions by associations with crime.

METHOD: Population: all persons born 1995 in Malmö and living there at age 12. A random sample (N = 525) filled in a comprehensive self-report questionnaire on themes like personality, crime/abuse and social aspects at age 15, 16 and 18. Age 18 data were analysed: 191 men and 220 women.

RESULTS: Self-regulation items were 4-dimensional: ADHD problems (Behavior control and Executive skills) and two Aggression factors. Morality items formed a fifth dimension. Negative Affect and Social interaction factors covered the rest of the variance. The validity of these factors was backed up by correlations with similar items/factors. Self-regulation subscales predicted crimes better than the Grasmick scale; an interaction with morality improved prediction still further. Sex differences were over-all small with three exceptions: Aggression, Morality and Negative affect.

CONCLUSION: We identified four dimensions of the 20-item Grasmick instrument: Cognitive action control (impulsiveness/sensation seeking, response inhibition), Executive skills/future orientation, Affective/aggression reactivity and Aggression control. All should be possible to link to brain functional modules. Much can be gained if we are able to formulate an integrated model of self-regulation including distinct brain functional modules, process-and trait-oriented models, relevant diagnoses and clinical experiences of individual cases.

While unsupervised and unstructured socialising with peers is associated with delinquency, less is known about to what extent it fits within adolescents’ daily routine activities; that is, their general, structural time use. Furthermore, research informed by the situational action theory shows that unstructured socialising increases the probability of rule-breaking acts more for individuals with higher crime propensity. Hence, structural time use might explain patterns of unstructured socialising, and crime propensity might explain why some are at an increased risk of committing rule-breaking acts during such situations. The present study aims to connect these three aspects and examine: (i) how adolescents tend to structure their time use, (ii) if their structural time use differentially places them in unstructured socialising, and (iii) whether some adolescents during unstructured socialising run an elevated risk of committing rule-breaking acts due to their morality (as part of their crime propensity) while also taking their structural time use into account. Using a sample of 512 adolescents (age 16) in Sweden, time use and morality are analysed using latent class analysis based on space-time budget data and a self-report questionnaire. Multilevel linear probability models are utilised to examine how rule-breaking acts result from an interaction between an individual’s morality and unstructured socialising, also taking structural time use into account. Results show that the likelihood of unstructured socialising in private but not in public is different across identified latent classes. Adolescents, in general, run an elevated risk of rule-breaking acts during unstructured socialising, irrespective of structural time use. In this study, these acts consist mainly of alcohol consumption. However, the risk is higher for adolescents with lower morality. Adolescents’ time use may account for a general pattern of delinquency, but accounting for rule-breaking acts requires knowledge of the interaction between person and setting.