Ungdomar i brottslighet. En rättssociologisk studie om unga lagöverträdare och rättens latenta funktioner.

Sammanfattning: Juvenile delinquency has become an obvious and recurring issue in the daily debate and emerges as one of the most controlling and dominant societal problems. There are various reasons why people choose to commit crime and there is no easy answer to the question why young people commit crime. A fundamental but crucial distinction to be made regarding crime is the difference between deviant acts and criminal acts. While a deviant act refers to an act that violates prevailing norms, a criminal act intends a violation of the law. The aim of this thesis is to investigate and analyze juvenile delinquency as well as what motives are the basis for young people to engage in crimes and what crime prevention measures that are taken by the authorities. The research questions are answered through analysis of interviews with respondents from the Police Authority, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalvården), the social services (Socialtjänsten) and KRAMI. The results showed that there are a number of factors that interact and create risk factors, of which misconduct at school, bad family relationships and pro-criminal engagements are said to be prominent. With regard to crime prevention measures, respondents state that they work in different ways directly with young people and that there is strong cooperation between the four actors in order to promote the best interests of young people.