The research company Acta Publica has reviewed sentences against 439 young people who were punished with closed youth care for serious crimes between 2015 and 2022.
In a new report published in connection with the escalating wave of violence linked to the gang criminal environment, the research company states that the young people who have identified gang connections often commit new crimes.
91 percent of youths reoffend within a few years of serving time in closed youth care, according to the report. 78 percent of the young people had relapsed and been sentenced to prison terms.
“The result is disappointing,” notes Acta Publica after the review.
High figure compared to the Correctional Service
In the report, Acta Publica states that the figure is very high in comparison with the Correctional Service, which in the latest figures has reported that 31 percent reoffend.
“Acta Publica’s review may indicate that recidivism in serious crime among those sentenced to closed youth care has started to increase again,” says the report, which also mentions an earlier study by the Expert Group for Studies in Public Finance, ESO, which measured a reduction in recidivism in serious crime among young people.
The report also states that 42 percent of the young people sentenced to closed youth care had previously been in compulsory custody under the Act with Special Provisions on the Care of Young People, LVU, before conviction.
The research company underlines that the measurement methods at both the Correctional Service and ESO are different and complains that the figures compared are not directly comparable.