Younger and younger boys are drawn into the ongoing wave of violence in Sweden.
According to District Attorney Lisa dos Santos, young people are recruited into the criminal gangs in different ways – but something that unites the approach in many cases is that it is a very fast process.
– Our image now is that it is going at lightning speed and that it might as well be young people who apply to this environment, she says.
On Monday, a 13-year-old boy was found murdered in Haninge outside Stockholm. He is the latest in a line of young boys who have fallen victim to the brutal violence in which gang crime is believed to be an underlying factor. Lisa dos Santos, who was the preliminary investigation leader in several of the cases, describes the development as “terrible and catastrophic”.
– It’s a huge social problem and unfortunately an everyday one, it’s what I and my colleagues at the police now deal with on a daily basis and that development has been fast. We see both young victims and young perpetrators, she says.
Recruitment is not a long-term process
According to Lisa dos Santos, one needs to move away from the mindset that the recruitment of young people is a long-term and systematic process characterized by brainwashing, outreach and wooing. Admittedly, it does occur, but often it is also the young people who seek out the gangs themselves.
– We have seen young people who offer to take on assignments, who want to do gigs and rush, who want to call themselves managers and who are looking for this excitement.
Are they attracted by some kind of gangster romance?
– We have an established gangster culture and the gangs are so visible in many young people’s everyday lives with tough brands and this rather specific style. We can also note a certain appetite for adventure – that you somehow feel a thrill in this.
“It’s dark now”
Despite the fact that the punishment for more serious violent crimes has become stricter, Lisa Dos Santos wants it to be possible to intercept people under the age of 15, something that is not allowed today. She also thinks that the work of social services needs to be reviewed in order to break the trend among the young.
– We have a social service that is designed for a completely different time. We have a new reality now and we have to find a way to deal with the young serious criminals.
Is there any light?
– It’s dark now, but it’s clear that there is an opportunity to get a better development and I think that’s what everyone is thinking about. Law enforcement will not be able to solve everything by themselves. We have been listened to – there have been stricter penalties for more serious violent crimes and new legislation is coming, but as I said, everyone needs to look up now because it is not something you can ignore. It is a societal problem that affects us all.