Already at the end of September, the shooting deaths in Sweden reached a grim record. Now they are up to 56 pieces.
In Skarpnäck, south of Stockholm, several shootings have occurred, two of which were fatal. At Skarpatorpsskolan in the area, they are worried about the development and have therefore, since a year ago, worked closely with a sociologist and family therapist. A project that hopes to prevent young people from being drawn into criminal gangs.
– My mission is to offer early interventions to young people and quickly enter a person’s life, says Jonas Söderlund, sociologist, to Aktuellt.
Students smuggle guns
Gunnar Jonsson, principal at Skarpatorpsskolan, feels that more students know about and move around the criminal activities.
– We had students who transported a gun from a to b, which is a very serious crime. They are detained and it is not so fun to be detained as a 15-year-old, he tells Aktuellt.
Even in Gothenburg, it is noticeable that recruitment has become more intensive. Marika Andersson, principal of the Lövgärdet Gothenburg school district, talks about how her students are lured into criminal gangs with money.
– It’s crap, to put it bluntly, it’s a lot of work. But we can never give up. The whole society has to stop and that means investing in activities outside the school such as leisure centers and sports clubs, she says.
Hear sociologist Jonas Söderlund tell more about the project in the clip above.