Sakkunnigas rättsliga och sociala uppfattningar: en kvalitativ studie av 2018 års sexualbrottsreform

Sammanfattning: Our interest to conduct this study emerged from the intense debate, which took place prior to the law reform regarding sexual crime. The aim is to review selected parts of the new legislation from a functionalistic perspective to tell if the legal norm fulfills its purpose. This was possible with the help from a selected group of expert witnesses and their comprehension of the modifications that sexual crime law in Sweden has undergone. We used qualitative semi structured interviews in combination with a thorough analysis of litigation and other written documents. To analyse the result we used Robert K. Merton’s theoretical framework regarding manifest- and latent functions and dysfunctions. This in combination with Thomas Mathiesen's reasoning concerning the interaction between social and legal norms. Mathiesen emphasizes that these two elements should be studied in relation to each other to give more depth to the analysis. The result from the interviewees shows that the social and legal norms are dependent of each other. In the analysis the answers are used to immerse this reasoning and the conclusion shows that, even if the aim may be to separate the social and legal norms from each other, it is almost impossible to do so. After the completion of this study we are convinced that, independent of the social and legal norms creates manifest- or latent functions and dysfunction, they affect how we as citizens look at the written law and how the political processes affect the legal process.