Kriminalisering eller avkriminalisering av ungdomsbrottslighet - Olika synsätt på ungdomars lagöverträdelser

Sammanfattning: ABSTRACT Author : Siv B Wiss Title: Criminalization or decriminalization of juvenile delinquency - Different perspectives on juvenile offenses Bachelor´s essay: SOCK01 15 hp Internet Department of sociology Autumnal semester 2012 Tutor: Katarina Sjöberg This thesis will discuss the issue of juvenile delinquency in Sweden. It is a literary study and it encompasses both sociological and criminological theories concerning criminalization, juvenile delinquency, deviant behavior and labelling. In an attempt to summarize labelling in the context of juvenile delinquency, it is analyzed from a social constructivist perspective. The main focus will be on the professor emeritus of sociology, Stanley Cohen’s theory on decriminalization (2009). The sociologists Emile Durkheim, Howard S Becker and Mats Hilte are used to give the reader an understanding as to what deviant behavior is, and the social psychologists George Herbert Mead and Albert Bandura contributes with an explanation on how the individual actively creates his personality and his role in society. Finally, I have also included Pierre Bourdieus discourses concerning how the individual relates to the social structure of society. My material shows that criminalization of juvenile crime heightens the risk for labelling, and thereby causing the deviant behaviors to become internalized, making a relapse into crime all the more possible and a continued criminal lifestyle for the individual in question. Keywords: Criminalization, decriminalization, juvenile delinquency, labelling, deviant behavior, social constructivism, crime prevention. ABSTRACT Author : Siv B Wiss Title: Criminalization or decriminalization of juvenile delinquency - Different perspectives on juvenile offenses Bachelor´s essay: SOCK01 15 hp Internet Department of sociology Autumnal semester 2012 Tutor: Katarina Sjöberg This thesis will discuss the issue of juvenile delinquency in Sweden. It is a literary study and it encompasses both sociological and criminological theories concerning criminalization, juvenile delinquency, deviant behavior and labelling. In an attempt to summarize labelling in the context of juvenile delinquency, it is analyzed from a social constructivist perspective. The main focus will be on the professor emeritus of sociology, Stanley Cohen’s theory on decriminalization (2009). The sociologists Emile Durkheim, Howard S Becker and Mats Hilte are used to give the reader an understanding as to what deviant behavior is, and the social psychologists George Herbert Mead and Albert Bandura contributes with an explanation on how the individual actively creates his personality and his role in society. Finally, I have also included Pierre Bourdieus discourses concerning how the individual relates to the social structure of society. My material shows that criminalization of juvenile crime heightens the risk for labelling, and thereby causing the deviant behaviors to become internalized, making a relapse into crime all the more possible and a continued criminal lifestyle for the individual in question. Keywords: Criminalization, decriminalization, juvenile delinquency, labelling, deviant behavior, social constructivism, crime prevention. ABSTRACT Author : Siv B Wiss Title: Criminalization or decriminalization of juvenile delinquency - Different perspectives on juvenile offenses Bachelor´s essay: SOCK01 15 hp Internet Department of sociology Autumnal semester 2012 Tutor: Katarina Sjöberg This thesis will discuss the issue of juvenile delinquency in Sweden. It is a literary study and it encompasses both sociological and criminological theories concerning criminalization, juvenile delinquency, deviant behavior and labelling. In an attempt to summarize labelling in the context of juvenile delinquency, it is analyzed from a social constructivist perspective. The main focus will be on the professor emeritus of sociology, Stanley Cohen’s theory on decriminalization (2009). The sociologists Emile Durkheim, Howard S Becker and Mats Hilte are used to give the reader an understanding as to what deviant behavior is, and the social psychologists George Herbert Mead and Albert Bandura contributes with an explanation on how the individual actively creates his personality and his role in society. Finally, I have also included Pierre Bourdieus discourses concerning how the individual relates to the social structure of society. My material shows that criminalization of juvenile crime heightens the risk for labelling, and thereby causing the deviant behaviors to become internalized, making a relapse into crime all the more possible and a continued criminal lifestyle for the individual in question. Keywords: Criminalization, decriminalization, juvenile delinquency, labelling, deviant behavior, social constructivism, crime prevention.