Young offenders

Pontus Andersson Garpvall (SD)

Madam Speaker! Sweden is in many ways a fantastic country. It is, not least, a land of opportunity. Generations of Swedes have, through hard work and enterprise, created a welfare society that gives all children a nearly unique opportunity to do what they want with their lives and shape them according to their wishes.

Our parental leave gives children an opportunity to spend a lot of time with their parents during their first years of life. After that, a preschool awaits which has a low fee compared to other countries and which is free of charge for those parents who have no income.

After preschool, a tuition-free primary school awaits, and after that a high school where you even receive money for attending, and you receive even more the day you choose to continue your studies at a college or university.

Association life in Sweden is more widespread and cheaper than in other comparable countries. Youth center activities are widespread, and schools often offer free homework help after school hours. Sweden is a land of opportunity, a fantastic country, where all children are given the opportunity to shape their lives according to their wishes.

What is it then that makes children, despite this, choose to become criminals? There is no single factor that makes a person choose to start committing criminal acts, but there are various risk factors that increase the probability. Growing up without a father, the parents not speaking Swedish, or the parents lacking work are all factors that increase the probability of choosing a criminal life.

Despite this, there are amounts of young people who never ever commit a criminal act even though they have grown up without a present father, with parents who cannot speak Swedish or with parents who do not have work, and that is why I say that one chooses criminality rather than ending up in criminality.

Common to all risk factors is that the parents play an incredibly important role in the children's lives. Our wonderful welfare society gives children the opportunity to do whatever they want with their lives. The responsibility lies with the parents to get the children to choose the right path in life.

If parents stay together, learn Swedish and are active in the labor market, the probability that their children choose a criminal path in life decreases, but ultimately crime is about morality. If we teach our children the right values, they will, regardless of how difficult circumstances they have, grow up to be well-functioning members of society.

For the children who end up on the slide, it is up to us adults to set boundaries early. The parents naturally bear a great responsibility, but so do school staff, leisure staff, social services, sports leaders, and other adults who see children behaving badly.

When it is the parents who set boundaries, the child is corrected by a person who genuinely loves him or her. If the parents succeed in this, the child avoids being reprimanded by other adults. If parents, school staff, social services, leisure staff, or sports coaches fail to set boundaries, it is ultimately the law enforcement authorities that have to step in, and it is only then that the proposals we push through in the Justice Committee affect the children.

My perception is that the question of people's own responsibility clearly distinguishes the right side from the left side in politics. We on the right side generally believe that people have a responsibility for their actions and that a person to a large extent is a result of their choices in life. Those on the left side often want to blame the problems on others. It is always someone else's fault, society's fault, that things are not as they should be.

Blaming society for individuals' problems contributes to creating a loser mentality where people who have more difficult circumstances than others believe that they do not have the opportunity to reach where they want to. If you are constantly fed the belief that you do not have the same opportunities because you have a foreign background or because you are a woman or for some other reason, you will likely not aim as high as you should.

For young, impressionable boys, it is easy to be impressed by quick money from criminal gangs, even though they can live a significantly safer and simpler life with at least as good a standard of living through a completely ordinary job.

Since the 2022 election, we have implemented a number of measures that affect children and young people. In January 2023, the youth discount for serious crimes was abolished. This means that all persons over 18 years of age who are convicted of serious crimes are sentenced as if they were adults, because they are adults. During the course of the parliamentary term, the youth discount will be abolished completely.

The Sweden Democrats and the government presented the proposal for secret wiretapping of individuals for 15 years two weeks ago. It will be introduced as early as this autumn rather than 2026, which was the initial plan.

Youth prisons will be established for young people who commit serious crimes, and expanded youth supervision will be introduced as a penalty for young people. LVU will be used to a greater extent than before for children who are mistreated at home but also to protect children from criminal environments.

Madam Speaker! When it has gone so far that children are drawn into crime, it is a failure, above all for the child and the child's parents. The big losers are society and the crime victims who are exposed to the crimes that the perpetrators have committed or will commit.

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Gudrun Nordborg (V)

Madam Speaker! I requested the floor because I was quite surprised that SD is singing the praises of the welfare society. I would like to do so. I belong to those who think that these are extremely important principles that we have long built our society on.

But I cannot understand how the member is satisfied with how the welfare looks today. We have amounts of staff within the school, within health and medical care, and within the leisure sector who would like to do an enormous amount more but who realize that their time and resources are not sufficient to support students as they would wish.

It is about them wanting to do good for many young people, but also about them wanting the opportunity to make extra efforts when they see that things are failing regarding an individual child, in order to be able to help the child and the family. Is the member satisfied with how these efforts can function and function today?

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Pontus Andersson Garpvall (SD)

Madam Speaker! Thank you for the question, Gudrun Nordborg! It is clear that there is always more to do. Now, the Sweden Democrats are not part of the government, but we are part of the government basis.

Healthcare is part of the regions' activities. School is part of the municipalities' activities. There are municipalities all over Sweden where it does not function well enough. I can state that the municipalities in Sweden that have it the toughest regarding school often have a red government. That is, where the Social Democrats rule and the Left Party perhaps is included as a support party.

The school has a compensatory mission, and the school funding is adjusted so that the schools that need more support receive it. I believe that one must compare Sweden with other countries in the world. Sweden invests an enormous amount in the school. The school has a compensatory mission, and one ensures that more money is given to the schools that need it. It is something we do in Sweden.

I believe that the reason for the crime we see in Sweden today is a cultural change. We do not have a worse school now than we had 20–30 years ago, but it is about what type of policy one has pursued at a national level linked to immigration. Some groups need more support than others. We see that the school functions in a very good way in many places despite receiving lower school funding than others.

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Gudrun Nordborg (V)

Madam Speaker! Thanks to the member for what I perceive as an attempt at an answer!

I come myself from a red-green municipality, Umeå, which has distinguished itself by not frequently appearing on the dramatic lists of areas with high crime and other specific problems. I have many good experiences of that society and of what a red-green majority can do to realize a better welfare society.

Umeå Municipality and other regions with red-green governments still complain that they are being made to bear far too much responsibility. The government pushes responsibility downwards through its budgets and reforms, but they provide no resources. There is, therefore, a general problem. It affects municipalities regardless of which government they have. A red-green municipality cannot perform magic either, and I believe we all know that municipal tax funds are a very unfair way to try to increase a municipal budget.

So this is very much about what the government power does, and we know today that the Sweden Democrats rule at least as much as the parties that have ministerial posts. I wonder what changes the members wish to make moving forward.

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Pontus Andersson Garpvall (SD)

Madam Speaker! I find it interesting that the member highlights Umeå as an example. I am from Skåne myself and have worked in Malmö as a political secretary. Both are municipalities that, for a foreseeable period, have been governed by red-green parties. What distinguishes Malmö from Umeå is that they have a population where a large majority of the students have parents who are either born abroad or have a foreign background. Umeå does not have that situation. Umeå municipality has had completely different conditions and not as palpable mass immigration as Malmö municipality. Therefore, they naturally manage their mission in a significantly better way.

We can absolutely compare municipalities with one another, but at some point it is still about giving them the conditions they could have seen given regulated immigration to Sweden. Umeå has not been affected by immigration to the same extent as Malmö. Therefore, we also get different results.

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Anna Wallentheim (S)

Madam Speaker! "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken adults," said Frederick Douglass. I think it is important that we carry that with us during such a debate.

Children and young people are our future, our greatest wealth and our most important responsibility. In every child there are dreams, hopes and opportunities, and we as a society must give children the best conditions to let these take shape.

Children are never a cost. They are always an investment. When we invest in them, we invest in a stronger, safer and more just society, because when children are allowed to flourish, the whole society flourishes. But in my opinion, Madam Speaker, society has now failed in that.

Today, far too many children and young people grow up in environments where they risk being drawn into crime. The severe violence has for a long time crept down in age, and it is often the children who already have a tough life and who lack faith in the future that the gangs turn to. These individuals are easily enticed by promises of money, community and status or risk being threatened and intimidated into participation.

The recruitment of children and young people into gang crime is happening today in real-time on social media, where criminal networks openly advertise for runners and transporters in various network forums. There, young people are offered quick money to commit very serious crimes. Despite the fact that the police identify these groups, and despite being aware of the problem, there is a lack of tools for the police to intervene and legislation that forces the social platforms to act.

Today, the Tidö parties held a press conference regarding this issue. It was welcome. We Social Democrats have tried to highlight the issue in several contexts and, among other things, demanded an open hearing in the Committee on Justice regarding the recruitment in social media. We will follow this work closely and demand proposals that make a real difference to protect our society and our children.

This is a development that must be broken. We do this by building a society where every child feels that it has a place and a future. A strong welfare state is society's best tool for creating equal life chances. What is required to stop the recruitment to the gangs and reduce youth crime is that the entire society stands strong. When society fails, when resources for the school are cut, when social services are brought to its knees, when recruitment occurs online and when parents struggle to make everyday life work, the doors are opened for the criminal gangs.

Madam Speaker! I am convinced that security is built through social justice. It is about every child having the opportunity to dream and believe in their future and every parent having the conditions to be a secure and stable adult in their child's life.

To succeed, we must see the whole child – its living conditions, its family, and its opportunities in society. It requires a social service that has the resources to work preventatively. It requires schools where every student is seen and receives the right support in time.

We need leisure activities that offer young people an alternative and where more adults see and support. We need patrolling police online. We need state services throughout the country. We need authorities and agencies that can speak with each other without being stopped by secrecy. And we need a justice policy that is built on what we know works.

Madam Speaker! The research is clear. The Swedish Research Council's knowledge overview on youth crime, which was released in the autumn of 2024, clearly shows that youth crime has generally decreased. It is something we talk about far too rarely. Yes, there is a smaller group of young people who commit all the more serious crimes – horrific crimes. But we must never miss that youth crime is actually decreasing and that children and young people in our country are many times better than previous generations.

The "fewer but worse" is, of course, a trend that must be broken, with the help of the right interventions and the right support. But punishing all young people harder is not the solution. What is required are targeted, evidence-based measures for those who run the greatest risk of becoming trapped in crime.

We also know that young offenders recidivate far too many times. According to the Prison and Probation Service's own reports, it is precisely interventions that change young people's behavior and thought patterns that have the best effect in breaking the cycle of crime. Surveillance without content and longer sentences do not reduce the risk of recidivism. It is not the right way to go.

The Social Democrats' reservation in this report, which I would like to take the opportunity to move for approval of, is clear. In our opinion, the government's actions and propositions regarding young offenders should be anchored in evidence. The government should present proposals that can yield good results in the work of breaking the cycle of violence and organized crime among young people. Trying to outdo one another in terms of who can be toughest on young people is a dead end.

It was right and necessary for previous governments to tighten penalties and modernize the legislation when needed. Several of the inquiries that the Social Democratic government commissioned have now also become reality. But today, the needs are different. Welfare in the country's municipalities and regions has been pressed hard by the economic crisis. It is something that we must take seriously.

Now it is crucial that we move the public conversation and direct the focus towards the social root causes of crime. Safety is built by strengthening the welfare, not by relying unilaterally on ever harsher repressive measures. It is time to put investments in school, social services and preventive measures at the center. Breaking the recruitment into crime is the absolute most important thing for our future.

The great challenges lie, as I have mentioned, in breaking the recruitment and the recidivism in crime. For that requires a policy based on research and proven methods, not symbolic politics.

Madam Speaker! Finally: We Social Democrats refuse to give up faith in and hope for our children and young people. It must end with a society that blinks and withdraws.

A strong, general welfare is the best equality-creating force we know of. Fundamentally, it is about the society being strong and present throughout all of Sweden. Parents across Sweden shall have a job, and families shall have a home. We must be able to identify early every young person who is drifting. Welfare staff across Sweden shall be given the conditions to see and support every child.

That is how we break the recruitment to the gangs. That is how we stop the violence. That is the Social Democrats' answer.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Charlotte Nordström (M)

Madam Speaker! The concept of young offenders is touching. For far too long, the measures against children and young people who risk falling into the grip of gangs have come too late or been too weak. The result has been devastating; many children and young people have been recruited into the gangs. That children subject other children to serious violent crimes and even become murderers is a total failure.

Many times, one has heard from different political sides and actors that children are our future. It has been like a mantra for many years, for some sometimes a punching bag in the debate. But what was done then, after the proclamation? What was done concretely? It is quite clear that it has not succeeded.

We now know that many of those suspected of involvement in serious gang violence have had extensive school absences, been in violent conflicts, and engaged in drug use. Some have even been subjected to compulsory placement. Strikingly often, they are known early on by schools and social services in their home locations in the form of reports of concern, without the authorities having had the opportunity to cooperate and act.

We recently read in the media about the reporting from Malmö. Extensive deficiencies have been revealed in Malmö city's efforts against children in crime. It is a description that is shocking, dear colleagues. In Malmö, 870 children were suspected of crime during January to August 2024, over eight months. The media writes that it is as many as a full 35 school classes. Nearly 10 percent of these children were under 12 years old. Children under 12 years old are thus suspected of crime.

This situation is unacceptable. I want to assert that the adult world is to a very high degree complicit. It is a complete failure.

This is a concrete example of why we needed a new Social Services Act. Previously, it was voluntary to work preventatively for the child's best interests. It was voluntary, but it should have been a matter of course. Now it becomes a requirement. With the Moderaterna in government, a very large reform effort has been initiated. We are determined to fight the criminal gangs. We will not give up until the recruitment of children into the gangs has ceased. We are now taking a holistic approach to youth crime.

To succeed, effective and evidence-based crime prevention work is required. Early, clear, and coordinated interventions in close cooperation between social services, school, police, and other relevant actors are needed to prevent children and young people from being drawn into crime. It is about building functioning social safety nets around every child, even in cases where there is no support from their own family.

There, secrecy has been a threat to our children and youth, against our will to support and prevent. But it is pleasing that the secrecy barriers are now being torn down so that social services, school, and police can cooperate effectively. The entire society must move the positions forward significantly in the crime prevention work. Now it is happening, but it will take time.

Children should be allowed to be children. All children and young people have the right to a life without crime and violence. All children have the right to a safe and bright future. It must be our common goal. Now it is time for action.

Madam Speaker! What is being done must, of course, be based on evidence-based work. But I want to add that it also requires common sense, courage and decisiveness, and it requires care for one another. These are the best positive factors in everyday life. If a child or a young person is harmed, one must act quickly and provide help.

Around all our children and young people, there are factors that protect them from risking falling into crime, substance abuse, or other difficulties. These are things that should be self-evident: to grow up in a loving family with clear rules and adults who affirm them, and to enjoy their school, feel a sense of belonging, and be noticed for positive actions.

By strengthening these factors around children together, we create conditions for a good future and a minimal risk of ending up on the wrong track later in life. It is of the utmost importance that we ensure children and young people find other communities than the criminal gangs, so that more can feel hope for the future.

Breaking the criminal gangs will take time. It requires determination and a broad effort where all good forces in society are mobilized. It is about more people having to do more and doing it better. It is not just about crime policy. It is also about social policy, school policy, integration, and a strong work line. Now the government is taking a coordinated grip across the boundaries of policy areas to develop the preventive work against crime throughout the country.

Madam Speaker! Several measures are being taken now at both national and local levels. We simply have to keep working. With reference to the ongoing crime prevention work with a strong focus on children and young people, I call for approval of the committee's proposal that the Riksdag rejects the motions and the reservation in Unga lagöverträdare.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Gudrun Nordborg (V)

Madam Speaker! Thank you for many good points from Charlotte Nordström!

I wonder about some things that I feel are quite naive, if I'm honest. I believe it is an illusion that if we change the legislation within the social services, it would mean that one could intervene by force.

I believe that, just as now, it is about the fact that one will not succeed with the interventions if one does not create a strong motivation. Those who have been skilled in social services and other public administration crack the problems that we today blame on secrecy by still being able to get close and convince that one has something positive to gain from cooperating.

Despite the fact that I am a lawyer, I think that paragraphs are sometimes overrated. They are a tool, but they do not work by themselves. The paragraphs do not start going out and working. Those for whom we are to provide legal support for various interventions, or those who already have legal support to act now, must have financial resources. There must be colleagues and measures that one can invest in and that can cost something.

I believe we can be very much in agreement that early general measures or early intervention in a youth's life is what is important. We must act quickly.

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Charlotte Nordström (M)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, member!

It is not naivety. I am talking about what happens on a reality basis. My experience as the chairman of the municipal executive board for many years was about having a strong focus on young people in the crime prevention work during a recession. We invested in the school and in the preschool. It was to be safe there when it was not safe outside.

This with the changed secrecy is a tool. I can say that we ignored the secrecy in Skara at that time, but other municipalities did not dare. They needed the paragraph to feel secure.

I am proud that we are meeting with those who work with social issues. We need this to be able to cooperate effectively with the police. I have seen good results when this has been done.

This is only a tool. Then, of course, leadership is required, the members, to dare to cooperate and be on board to make the early interventions individually to help the children correctly right away.

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Gudrun Nordborg (V)

Madam Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Charlotte Nordström! I appreciate again what you say.

I also have experience working at the municipal level with these issues for many years, and I have been close to many who have also done so in educational initiatives for these professions.

I have become more impressed by those who can use existing legislation, if they are simultaneously given economic resources to move forward. The school is one of the most important sectors.

We have many examples today of how the health and medical care also fails. We have far too many children in the queue for BUP, for example. We also have adults who would need much greater interventions from the health and medical care so that they perhaps do not involve young people in their case. We have an enormous amount of other things to do. But I can be glad that we, in any case, want to invest in early interventions.

I also believe in a skillful integration. I would like to return to that, but I mention it. It is all too common that we blame the problems on those who are new in Sweden. We must do more than we do today when we welcome them to our society so that it will be good for everyone involved.

I wonder how the member now wishes to proceed with their thoughts.

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Charlotte Nordström (M)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Member, for believing in what I say first and foremost! Thank you for us being in agreement on how things stand.

The queues to BUP are terrible. They have not appeared for two years. Here we have had long queues for a long time, and they must be addressed. Even there we must start early. I mean, from the other role where I have worked, that it should happen already at BVC. It is about the preschool and a collaboration between the regional and the municipal part. There we are in complete agreement.

If we receive newcomers, as we did in Skara, we must take care of them and do so in a correct way. It has not quite succeeded in Malmö. There, we must jointly find solutions.

We are to have a focused, evidence-based way of working, we are to have some common sense and we are to take care of one another and care for one another. It has been lacking from the adult world, I want to assert, in many municipalities across the country.

I want to proceed with the government's policy. After so many years, we finally have a new Social Services Act. We have lived with the old one for 40 years. I am proud of the government's policy.

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Gudrun Nordborg (V)

Madam Speaker! We are about to discuss crime policy with a focus on young offenders. Crime policy is actually expected to take care of what society, or rather politics, has failed with previously.

We intervene when it is actually too late. The crime is committed – already committed. We cannot always prevent it, but that must be the ambition. Pleasantly enough, there are now more voices for this than just a few years ago.

I also want us to pause for a moment. Just over a week ago, terrible shootings occurred in Örebro. It is a grim indication that we are intervening far too late.

We must take responsibility now so that Örebro becomes a turning point. It is a deterrent turning point because of the ruthless violence. But it is also an inspiring and strengthening turning point when we see the solidarity and humanity that emerges around the many who have now been affected by the violence concretely and brutally.

It is an impressive solidarity that calls for both emulation and reflection, not least within politics. The dominant political rhetoric has created divisions, not cohesion. Politics has for a long time prioritized incorrectly and caused unnecessary costs in the form of human suffering and death as well as misused tax funds. It is more than high time for a radical change of course. Harsh penalties no longer function as a deterrent, just as research has long indicated.

However, some new winds that can offer hope are blowing. The government's communication Barriers to Crime – a social preventive strategy against criminal networks and other crime describes a broad approach that is being implemented to break recruitment and socialization into criminal networks. It is about preventing children and young people from being involved in crime and trying to get people, especially young people, who commit crimes to leave crime behind.

The communication we now have to base our work on leaves me somewhat perplexed. It is filled with many short descriptions of what, at best, are essential forms of cooperation. Or is it mostly bureaucracy? The abbreviations are numerous. Everything suggests that we have a top-down perspective, and one might wonder how far down into reality this reaches.

SIG, which means social intervention groups, and SSPF, which means school, social services, police and leisure, exist in many municipalities in our country. The National Board of Health and Welfare has been working since 2023 with a new activity in the form of a national reinforcement team that is to provide support at the municipal level. A larger collaborative assignment that has been ongoing for several years and is called Early and coordinated interventions, TSI, is run by the Swedish National Agency for Education and the National Board of Health and Welfare together with a number of municipalities.

The latest is that the police, Brå, the Prison and Probation Service, the county administrative boards, the National Board of Health and Welfare, the State Board of Institutions, the Swedish National Agency for Education, and the Prosecution Authority have been tasked with establishing cooperation structures nationally, regionally, and locally regarding children and young people in organized crime. This is called Bob, children and young people in organized crime.

Will this work? We don't know, and I am not sure that the different bodies have good cooperation with each other. I believe that we need to think anew when it comes to how we create networks that are focused on certain tasks. Bob could be an example there.

I would like to bring up another example, which has been highlighted in the media lately. It concerns Skärholmen. The majority of the city's board decided to create a meeting place there that they call Stationen. They wanted to create a safe and inspiring meeting place out in the community with this. They would offer different kinds of activities and support the whole thing with other activities, including by investing in several voluntary organizations that work with leisure issues.

Skärholmen is first in Stockholm with a fritidsbank – and I thought it was something that was very common and practically occurred everywhere! I have been familiar with it for a long time in Umeå. Fritidsbanken is a non-profit organization that runs an activity entirely without profit motives. One has the opportunity to borrow clothes, equipment, and so on related to leisure time there. Everyone can borrow, and everything is free. Fritidsbanken asks to receive material for the activity, so it is also an environmental effort in that one reuses what can be reused.

I see the leisure bank as an important initiative where one tries to give all children the same opportunities. School classes can use the leisure bank when they have special sports days and so on. It can be about families who have visitors from other places, and the children might not have leisure gear with them. Then they can borrow there.

It is also about urban planning in general. I want to point out once again that it can be incredibly important that we mix rental apartments, condominiums, terraced houses, and villas in the same area. Then we can try to keep the children there so that they can attend their school according to the proximity principle and not attend private schools further away, which draw more tax money than necessary.

I would also like to touch upon the fact that the document is quite gender-neutral. We seem to be beating around the bush and refusing to see the elephant in the room. It is men who account for the majority of the crime.

What has also been increasingly revealed lately is that violence in young relationships is increasing. Rape among young people is increasing. The Public Health Agency has presented alarming figures: It is 24 percent of girls between 16 and 29 years old, that is every fourth girl, who have been subjected to what we, according to the consent legislation that currently applies, call rape.

We have much left to do in order to be able to curb violence and the violence that breeds violence, both from what happens in private relationships and what happens in society. We must show that we, as adults and as politicians, dare to invest in a future for children that gives them reason to feel both hope and faith in the future.

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Ulrika Liljeberg (C)

Madam Speaker! As late as the night to Monday this week, there was another explosion, this time in Hammarby sjöstad here in Stockholm. The police apprehended a suspect perpetrator at the scene who is under 18 years old.

This is year three of the government's term in power. We often hear from the Minister for Justice and others that it will take time to reverse the development. And it is actually realistic that it is so. But then we need to work with both the short-term and the long-term.

This morning we have heard the government present many and much-welcome initiatives and measures to tackle serious organized crime. But what we hear more of are coercive measures and repressive actions with removal orders and the like. We have also seen proposals for investigation on lowering the age of criminal responsibility. But are even more repressive measures, however welcome they may be, the long-term effective solution?

The committee's report refers to a document that is, in my opinion, good. It is the government's communication Barriers against crime – a social preventive strategy against criminal networks. It is important, and it is worth reading.

The document consists of five parts. In part three, the areas for urgent action within the broad area of crime prevention are listed. It is like sweet music! As number one, it is stated to counter passivity and exclusion through clear incentives for work and entrepreneurship. Instead, under the current government, we have had low growth and an unemployment rate of over 10 percent. The government has also, during the mandate period, made it more expensive to employ young people. This applies to both the 15–18 age group and the 19–23 age group.

Madam Speaker! We often talk about how, just like the gangs, we need to recruit the children – but then to the good, honest society. A police officer has said: With certain young people, we talk about how we must deprogram them from the criminal world to the honest world. Here, clear incentives for work and entrepreneurship play a large and important role, together with school, care, and much else that has been mentioned here.

We from Centerpartiet have no motion of our own and stand behind the committee's proposal in the report, but we believe that the areas of the Justice Committee would need to be discussed more in conjunction with several other areas. Just regarding what we are discussing now, young offenders, we need to show alternatives to the criminal path. We must show faith in the future.

There is constant talk about crime prevention. However, the goal cannot just be that one should not commit crimes. The goal must be something else, something greater. We must show the young people that there is another Sweden than the one we have today. An honest job is for Centerpartiet a clear path to another Sweden. More needs to be done here – for the young and for our country.

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Torsten Elofsson (KD)

Madam Speaker! In January 2025, Sweden shook – literally. We saw more bombings and explosions than ever before in Sweden, and the police testify to a dramatic increase in the number of children as perpetrators – children, often young boys, who should have been in school but are instead sent out onto the streets to carry out bombings and contract killings.

How did we end up here? There has been talk about lack of integration, about the school, about social services and about more police. All of this is, of course, important parts. But the parents, those who are closest to the children, have for a long time been almost forgotten in the political debate in Sweden. It is a serious mistake.

Madam Speaker! What we see today is the consequence of Swedish politics having ignored, for far too long, that which is the very foundation of a secure society: the family and values. This situation has been created through parallel social structures that challenge Swedish values, and with children and young people who cannot navigate between right and wrong.

The problems do not start in school, not at the social services, and not at the police. They start at home – in the family. There is no authority, no school counselor or social worker, or even any laws that can replace a present mother or father. There are no socioeconomic factors that can compensate for the absence of loving and present parents who set clear boundaries. It is there that the foundation is laid, and without this foundation, we will have to continue trying to pick up the pieces when it is too late.

Within research, there is a consensus that socioeconomic background does not constitute a direct cause of crime, something which, among others, the Crime Prevention Council's report Socioeconomic background and crime points out. Instead, it is good norms and values that play the decisive role. It is a question of upbringing and values, of whether the person can justify the action for themselves and their surroundings.

The common denominator for many of the young offenders recruited by the gangs is that they come from very difficult and vulnerable family circumstances. It is about absent fathers, weak family ties, and a lack of boundaries and guidance. Not infrequently, it is also about mental illness and a sense of alienation from society. In this situation, when the family fails, the gangs step in and offer a false sense of community and a different loyalty.

Madam Speaker! It will take time to clean up these enormous societal problems. The situation is very serious and has been for a long time, with children and young people being exploited by ruthless and cold-blooded gang leaders. Our Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer has rightly called the situation domestic terrorism. That is what it is, and the children are many times in the line of fire.

It is crucial now to implement the Tidö Agreement's reform agenda, where we Christian Democrats and the government are working intensively to fundamentally overhaul the crime policy in order to rebuild the security that has been destroyed in Sweden. It is about a reformed criminal law, harsher penalties, more tools for the police, and a focus on the crime victim. This also includes a new direction for crime prevention work.

In the strategy Barriers against crime – a social preventive strategy against criminal networks and other crime, the government's direction for crime prevention work in a number of areas is presented as mentioned. Here, the foundation is laid for long-term measures, where school, social services, and the police cooperate better to catch children and young people in the risk zone. We are also introducing a completely new Social Services Act with more tools for crime prevention work. We are removing secrecy barriers that have prevented authorities from cooperating. We are introducing a more requirement-based integration policy, and we are expanding parental support programs across the country.

This is completely central, but we Christian Democrats are not satisfied there. Not least regarding parental responsibility, much more is required. Parents must be given support to take their full responsibility, and we must realize that secure families are a completely decisive part of the solution.

The Christian Democrats are the guarantee that the most important crime preventer – the family and values – is placed at the center. A change of government was required to produce the legislation in the field of justice that we are in such acute need of. It requires the Christian Democrats to put a stop to the policy that for all too long has undermined the family's role and the importance of values in society.

We are the values-based party, and we have always upheld the family as the cornerstone of crime prevention work. It is there that good values and a sense of right and wrong in Swedish society are built.

This is more urgent now than ever. Sweden shall not be a country where 14-year-olds blow up stairwells, carry out contract killings, and seek status by raping, filming, urinating on, and humiliating their crime victims. If Sweden is to become safe again, we must speak about the obvious: safe families, responsible parents, and clear values.

With this said, Madam Speaker, I move for approval of the committee's proposal for a decision.

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Gudrun Nordborg (V)

Madam Speaker! I know that Torsten Elofsson as a Christian Democrat safeguards the family. There is nothing wrong with doing that, absolutely not. However, we have a major problem: We know that very much violence is committed within the family. Sometimes it leads to the mother and children freeing themselves and the violent father moves out. Then it is as if the rhetoric shifts and the responsibility is placed on the single mother.

I therefore think it becomes difficult to talk about absent fathers. Sometimes perhaps we should be glad that they are out of the picture because they were bad, violent role models. They can pass on the violence so that the sons also learn to use violence as a means of power.

What measures does Member Elofsson wish to take to curb the problem, which is also a driver in this and in more serious violence out in society?

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Torsten Elofsson (KD)

Madam Speaker! I thank Gudrun Nordborg for the question. Now we are not actually supposed to be talking about violence in close relationships but about young offenders, but I understand the connection that the member is trying to make.

Of course, it is the case that there are broken families. There are families where domestic violence against women and various other things occur that hinder family formation. If there are bad fathers who threaten the family, they shall, of course, also receive restraining orders. In that case, I think one must try to provide the single mother with support from society; parental support is required.

My point, which I want to point out, is that it is the guardians, usually the parents, who have the responsibility for the children until they are 18 years old. I understand that there are dysfunctional families who need this support. That is why we want to expand the parental support program to ensure that they receive it.

There are also good examples, including in Växjö. Araby was previously a vulnerable area, but through a series of interventions, not only the parenting support program, it has been successful to make Araby a "normal" area.

Of course, it is a combination of measures that must be taken. I just want to point out that it is the guardians, usually the parents, who have the primary responsibility to take care of their children. It is there that I think we should put in more effort. I have served for 40 years as a police officer in Malmö, where a number of crime-preventive measures have been taken. Millions have been invested in crime-preventive measures, but unfortunately, it has only gone downhill.

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Gudrun Nordborg (V)

Madam Speaker! I thank you for the answer. I want to point out that it is not only I who "tries" to shift the perspective towards violence in close relationships. It is becoming increasingly common for researchers to do so and see these connections between the seemingly small violence and the large violence. It is also becoming increasingly common for police officers and correctional officers, when they encounter those who have committed large or slightly smaller crimes, to ask what the home conditions have been like to see what connections there may be and how one can intervene. This is, therefore, not something I have made up. I think we must see that violence breeds violence and that different forms of violence unfortunately belong together. We cannot have one box for one type of violence and then another box, but we must see the connections.

I also think, of course, that it is extremely important that a mother who becomes a single parent receives a lot of support. There is very much more to be done there today. There are many single mothers who are struggling incredibly hard. I hope that together we can contribute to ensuring that there will be additional forms of support and aid initiatives for them and that one is prepared to invest funds to do so, because it is also about saving the children.

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Torsten Elofsson (KD)

Madam Speaker! We are probably in agreement on quite a lot. But violence in the family is also strongly linked to values. We have families where people have grown up with violence being used in the upbringing of children. That cannot be accepted. It was about 40–50 years ago that we banned corporal punishment here in the country. But we de facto have many in vulnerable areas who still use violence as a method of correction in the family, which obviously cannot be accepted by us at all. That is why I also emphasize values. It is very important that people share our Swedish values. Then there are, of course, also Swedish men who use violence, and that must not be forgotten. But there is a basis in a fundamental value that we must work with when it comes to the families.

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Ulrika Westerlund (MP)

Madam Speaker! Dear new committee colleagues! Today we are debating one of our most difficult societal problems, a challenge that it is obvious that many of us are thinking very much about. How do we stop the new recruitment to the gangs? How do we get young people to choose another path and see other opportunities in life?

There is no single solution to reverse the development and put a stop to youth crime. The problems and the underlying factors are multifaceted and have been acting over a long period. Therefore, the solutions also need to be long-term. Otherwise, we will be dragged along with these challenges for the eternal future. At the same time, measures are also required that address acute problems that we have here and now. I just want to mention some of the measures that Miljöpartiet wants to see and which we believe will have an effect in both the short and long term.

We want to significantly increase resources and set requirements for the operational preventive cooperation that takes place between school, social services, leisure activities, and the police, so that children in acute risk zones are identified and given interventions that prevent them from killing or being killed.

We want to invest heavily and compensatorily in schools and preschools and ensure that there are resources to meet all children with special needs or risk factors for socialization into crime.

We want to invest heavily in early outreach and preventive measures such as home visit programs, family centers, preschool integration, and so on, which give children with risk factors a good start in life and establish a trusting cooperation between parents and social institutions.

We want to continue to strengthen the law enforcement authorities through extensive resource reinforcements. Specifically, additional resources are needed for the police's investigative activities.

Madam Speaker! The crime prevention work must therefore be strengthened significantly. We must act much earlier than today to catch children and young people who are in the risk zone of being drawn into crime. There are successful interventions both in Sweden and abroad that we need to spread and develop, and where the state shall participate and co-finance.

In Denmark, the number of gang criminals has decreased by a third over ten years. It is not harsher punishments, visitation zones, or military personnel in the suburbs that have produced that effect. Researchers instead highlight social interventions in early years as the strongest contributing factor. Boys at risk of falling into crime are identified over a longer period by social workers, teachers, and contact persons to then receive follow-up support and guidance over several years. The model also includes family treatment, primarily aimed at mothers.

Even in Sweden, there are successful initiatives that we can build upon. It is important that measures such as these do not stop at temporary projects but are given sufficient and long-term resources. Miljöpartiet therefore makes a major investment of 1 billion kronor in the budget to achieve results in crime prevention work and to curb the recruitment of children and young people.

Madam Speaker! When a person is involved in gang crime, it affects the entire family, both parents, partners, siblings, and children. Statistics from Brottsofferjouren show that more and more relatives of criminals are seeking support. During the last year, the helpline handled twice as many cases as the year before. Relatives of persons in gang crime often have a different concern than other relatives seeking help; among other things, they may live with their own threat of violence and therefore be in need of support in the form of protected housing and protected personal data.

There is no national support line aimed at this target group. We believe this is needed to offer equal support across the entire country. The support line should have staff who can speak several languages and opportunities to provide psychological and practical support of various kinds.

Young lawbreakers

Madam Speaker! In conclusion, I would like to mention something about medical age assessments, an issue that has also been included in this report. The reason for this is not entirely clear to me, but that is where our motion on it was located.

Children have special rights precisely because they are children. It is therefore of the utmost importance that all children actually get to enjoy these rights. The medical age assessment that was developed in the early 2000s has received significant criticism because the assessment in many cases is arbitrary and lacks sufficient scientific basis. This may have led to children being incorrectly assessed as adults, something that may have had fatal consequences for their asylum processes as well as contravening the convention obligations that Sweden has committed to follow.

The independent review that was to be completed by 2024 to assess the method was scrapped by the government. Miljöpartiet demands that the investigation be resumed and completed, and that the directives recommended by the investigation be implemented.

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 26 February.)

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