New system responses to juvenile crime

Abstract In the Nordic countries, social work and child welfare interventions have traditionally played a central role in preventing children’s involvement in future crime. Hence, child welfare authorities, rather than the criminal justice system, have handled cases with children involved in crime....

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Main Authors: Britt Østergaard Larsen, Ann-Karina Henriksen, Theresa Dyrvig Henriksen, Tea Torbenfelt Bengtsson
Format: Article
Language:Danish
Published: De Nordiske Kriminalistforeninger 2023-10-01
Series:Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab
Subjects:
Online Access:https://tidsskrift.dk/NTfK/article/view/141475
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author Britt Østergaard Larsen
Ann-Karina Henriksen
Theresa Dyrvig Henriksen
Tea Torbenfelt Bengtsson
author_facet Britt Østergaard Larsen
Ann-Karina Henriksen
Theresa Dyrvig Henriksen
Tea Torbenfelt Bengtsson
author_sort Britt Østergaard Larsen
collection DOAJ
description Abstract In the Nordic countries, social work and child welfare interventions have traditionally played a central role in preventing children’s involvement in future crime. Hence, child welfare authorities, rather than the criminal justice system, have handled cases with children involved in crime. However, in 2019, Denmark enacted a new policy reform that constitutes a radical break with this long-standing tradition of welfarism. The policy reform introduced court-like proceedings for children under the minimum age of criminal responsibility. Cases concerning juveniles aged 10 to 17 who commit serious offences are now handled by Youth Crime Boards and the Youth Probation Service. In this article, we explore the complexities of these new responses to juvenile crime in Denmark. We do this by combining quantitative analyses of administrative data with qualitative interviews with case managers. We argue that the new Danish system is highly complex and targets a diverse group of children with punitive measures. With this, we hope to provide insights relevant to policy makers and practitioners implementing new juvenile crime prevention strategies.
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institution Kabale University
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language Danish
publishDate 2023-10-01
publisher De Nordiske Kriminalistforeninger
record_format Article
series Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab
spelling doaj-art-ca760515ab8444c8b80e5663423984622025-01-07T13:17:47ZdanDe Nordiske KriminalistforeningerNordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab2446-30512023-10-01110333235010.7146/ntfk.v110i3.141475134881New system responses to juvenile crimeBritt Østergaard LarsenAnn-Karina HenriksenTheresa Dyrvig HenriksenTea Torbenfelt BengtssonAbstract In the Nordic countries, social work and child welfare interventions have traditionally played a central role in preventing children’s involvement in future crime. Hence, child welfare authorities, rather than the criminal justice system, have handled cases with children involved in crime. However, in 2019, Denmark enacted a new policy reform that constitutes a radical break with this long-standing tradition of welfarism. The policy reform introduced court-like proceedings for children under the minimum age of criminal responsibility. Cases concerning juveniles aged 10 to 17 who commit serious offences are now handled by Youth Crime Boards and the Youth Probation Service. In this article, we explore the complexities of these new responses to juvenile crime in Denmark. We do this by combining quantitative analyses of administrative data with qualitative interviews with case managers. We argue that the new Danish system is highly complex and targets a diverse group of children with punitive measures. With this, we hope to provide insights relevant to policy makers and practitioners implementing new juvenile crime prevention strategies.https://tidsskrift.dk/NTfK/article/view/141475criminal justiceyouth crime boardsprobation servicechild welfareinterventions
spellingShingle Britt Østergaard Larsen
Ann-Karina Henriksen
Theresa Dyrvig Henriksen
Tea Torbenfelt Bengtsson
New system responses to juvenile crime
Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab
criminal justice
youth crime boards
probation service
child welfare
interventions
title New system responses to juvenile crime
title_full New system responses to juvenile crime
title_fullStr New system responses to juvenile crime
title_full_unstemmed New system responses to juvenile crime
title_short New system responses to juvenile crime
title_sort new system responses to juvenile crime
topic criminal justice
youth crime boards
probation service
child welfare
interventions
url https://tidsskrift.dk/NTfK/article/view/141475
work_keys_str_mv AT brittøstergaardlarsen newsystemresponsestojuvenilecrime
AT annkarinahenriksen newsystemresponsestojuvenilecrime
AT theresadyrvighenriksen newsystemresponsestojuvenilecrime
AT teatorbenfeltbengtsson newsystemresponsestojuvenilecrime