Från behandlingsideologi till nyklassicism. (Danish)

From treatment ideology to neoclassicism. (English)

This article is based on notes for an oral presentation made at the 100th anniversary of Swedish Kriminalistföreningen in the autumn of 2011. The Association was formed at a time when the so-called treatment ideology began to grow strong in Swedish criminal policy. The peak of this ideology was reached in the 1950s, but it still dominated criminal policy when the new Criminal Code came into force in 1965. From the late 1960s, however, it was subject to increasing criticism. From the 1980s, the treatment-oriented criminal policy was also gradually replaced by a neo-classical criminal policy with emphasis on concepts such as censure, penalty and proportionality. Of importance for this development was that research on treatment did not support the opinion that treatment was an effective tool to reduce crime. However, the article argues, with classical criminal law as a background, that the criticism was mainly based on the fact that the individual in a treatment-oriented system is not seen as a responsible subject but as an irresponsible object that may be subject to coercion as a means to achieve social goals or advance his »own« interests (paternalistic intervention). The concept of guilt, which was central in classical criminal law, is rejected as pure metaphysics. In neoclassical criminal law the concept of guilt has been restored. However, there are still many remnants of older criminal policy in both legislation and public debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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