The government and the Sweden Democrats want to reintroduce youth prisons in Sweden for young criminals between the ages of 15 and 17 who have committed serious crimes.
But Leif GW Persson believes neither that it will reduce the risk of recidivism nor deter young people from being drawn into crime.
– These closed institutions that they are supposed to replace are really not holiday facilities, he says.
The government has tasked the Correctional Service with preparing the establishment of special youth departments for young people aged 15-17 who are convicted of serious crime. They and the Sweden Democrats want youth prisons to replace Sis homes when young people are convicted of serious crimes.
Sweden used to have youth prisons, but they were abolished in 1979 with the argument that the risk of recidivism was high.
– The arguments were that the educational institutions were pure criminals for these young people, says Leif GW Persson.
Same argument again
The 15-17 age group is not sentenced to prison today but to closed youth care, but the government believes that crime has changed in the last 20 years since the penalty of closed youth care was introduced.
Leif GW believes that they have abolished the alternatives that since the 70s have replaced youth prisons with the same arguments they had for abolishing youth prisons.
– Too high risk of recidivism, poor security and educational institutions in serious crime, something like that. It shows the political influence on basically factual issues.
I don’t think it will turn the tide
The starting point should be that children and young people should not serve the sentence together with adults, but that they should sit in special youth sections in the prisons. Leif GW Persson is doubtful that it will be better than what we have now.
– I find it very difficult to believe that the development would be different if youth prisons were introduced. An already hard-pressed Prison Service will then be further burdened with this. The consolation in this context is that these changes will not be implemented, according to the proponent, until 2028.
“No holiday facilities”
He does not believe that youth prisons will act as a deterrent.
– These closed institutions that they are supposed to replace are really not holiday facilities. And it is very difficult to distinguish them with the help of the eyes from such a would-be youth prison, as far as the clean exterior is concerned. But what is lacking there is that you have completely insufficient resources for care and treatment.