Hårdare tag? Moderaternas, Socialdemokraternas och Vänsterpartiets konstruktioner av ungdomsbrottslighet

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study was to illustrate how youth crime is constructed by three different political parties in Sweden; Moderaterna, Socialdemokraterna and Vänsterpartiet. The data in this study consists of several official political documents such as interpellations, motions and proposals. The documents were analyzed using perspective analysis, which stems from the social constructionist perspective and aims to expose different perspectives of a social problem using a problem-component scheme. Perspective analysis can be used as both theory and method, and the data is analyzed through the perspective analysis but with a focus on claims-making. The study shows that there are three possible perspectives of youth-crime detectable in the chosen material that corresponds to the three parties. The following perspectives were constructed in the study; Moderaterna - Stricter policies, Socialdemokraterna - fight crime as well as the causes of crime and Vänsterpartiet - Strong social welfare. The perspectives were found to have both similarities and differences. There are for example similarities in how youth offenders are depicted as villains by Moderaterna and Socialdemokraterna, whereas Vänsterpartiet describes them as a product of their context.