The objective was to assess the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions in preventing gang membership and gang-related crime among children and young adults under the age of 30. We performed a systematic review and synthesized interventions targeting universal, selective, and indicated populations published between January 2000 and April 2023. We included 42 (seven randomized, 12 nonrandomized, 23 controlled interrupted time series) studies evaluating 33 unique psychosocial interventions. Synthesis without meta-analysis found a preventive effect of psychosocial interventions in middle schools on gang membership. Furthermore, meta-analysis found that focused deterrence strategies prevented gang-involved violence, and that psychosocial support during probation decreased crime recidivism. This systematic review found significant effects of four psychosocial interventions compared to control in reducing future criminality, especially gun violence, among children and young adults. The findings are discussed regarding policy implications and ethical considerations. 

While there is a substantial research literature on Western ‘foreign fighters’ – those young men and women from Europe, North America, Australia and elsewhere who traveled to Syria and Iraq, from around 2011–2017, to join jihadist groups engaged in combat – there is a dearth of comparative studies examining the backgrounds of these fighters. National variations in the levels of recruitment have been measured and samples examined to determine the demographics of these fighters, indicating some national variations in who went, how, and maybe why. More fulsome comparative data is needed, however, to detect and measure such differences to gain insight into the factors conditioning the radicalization of these foreign fighters. Calling on original and unique datasets, this study presents the results of a comparative analysis of Canadian and Swedish foreign fighters. In each case the findings are compared with other domestic jihadists as well to delineate if those drawn to fight in Syria and Iraq differ. Clear differences emerge in the basic demographics of these national samples, highlighting some empirical and interpretive issues in need of further analysis.

Global evidence indicates minimal connection between immigration and crime. Nordic research, however, has been generally carried out on individuals and shows that immigrants are over-represented in crime. This has led to claims that high crime rates are due to immigration. We directed our study towards these claims by analyzing immigrant population prevalence, defined as the percent of foreign-born individuals, and violent crime in Swedish municipalities between 2000 and 2020. Nearly all municipalities had higher violent crime rates in 2020 relative to 2000. To discern whether drastic increases in municipality-level crime rates could be connected to municipality-level immigrant population prevalence, a retrospective case–control design was used to select 20 municipalities with the highest increase in reported violent crime rates and 20 municipalities with the lowest increase in reported violent crime rates. Immigrant population prevalence had little association with high rates of reported violent crime. The average association between immigrant population prevalence and violent crime rates calculated from all municipalities was also weak and non-significant (p > 0.05). Municipalities with a high increase in crime tended to have more crime correlates than municipalities with a low increase in crime. However, more research is needed on the impact of migration in small towns, especially those that have experienced economic and social stagnation.

Regeringen har gett Vetenskapsrådet i uppdrag att kartlägga forskning om insatser, åtgärder och metoder för att förebygga brottslighet kopplad till kriminella nätverk. Den här rapporten är en slutredovisning av uppdraget och baseras på en systematisk översikt, en nationell kartläggning och en analys av utvärderingsförmågan inom området.

Rapporten ger en samlad bild av evidensen för brottsförebyggande insatser riktade mot kriminalitet kopplad till kriminella nätverk, tillsammans med en analys av Sveriges kapacitet att utvärdera sådana insatser.

Den lyfter fram fem rekommendationer: utgå från insatser med god evidens, stärk tillgången till forskningsresultat, utveckla samverkansstrukturer mellan forskning och praktik, utveckla beställarkompetensen för utvärderingsuppdrag, utred hur den nationella utvärderingsförmågan kan förstärkas.

This study explores the characteristics of individuals affiliated with violent extremist milieus in Sweden, focusing on far-right, far-left, and Islamic extremist milieus. Firstly, by using a compilation of law enforcement and other Swedish population registers, we describe these milieus along a range of demographic, socioeconomic, criminal, mental health, and familial indicators. We then compare Swedish extremists to extremists globally. Our findings reveal that while demographic patterns, such as age and sex, align with international studies, significant differences emerge in areas like criminal activity, mental health prevalence, and socioeconomic factors. Compared to global data, Swedish extremists show higher levels of criminal involvement, particularly prior to radicalization, but lower prevalence of severe mental disorders. Additionally, violent Islamic extremists in Sweden exhibit a significantly higher likelihood of having extremist family members, suggesting a possible intergenerational transmission of extremist affiliation. Socioeconomic disparities are also evident, with violent far-right and violent far-left extremists displaying different educational and employment patterns compared to their international counterparts. By combining Swedish register data with international comparisons, this study highlights the importance of considering national contexts when analysing extremist profiles and emphasizes the need for comprehensive, context-based designs to prevent and counter violent extremism.

Knowledge of factors contributing to cybercrime threats is needed to plan effective prevention strategies to combat the increasingly common occurrence of cybercrime. This scoping review summarizes current status of the literature published on the demographic, socioeconomic, and technological determinants of cybercrime offenders and victims in Nordic countries. The review followed Arksey and O’Malley’s methodology and the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, leading to the selection of 16 articles published between 2013 and 2022 for critical appraisal and data extraction. Only two studies focused on cybercrime offenders. The majority of studies (n = 10) were conducted in Finland and the dominant types of crime were harassment and online hate. Age, gender, living alone, immigration background, income, and education played different roles in determining victimization for different types of cybercrime. Associations between victimization and technological factors such as computer skills, protective measures, and specific platforms have also been identified. This review contributes to the emerging research area of cybercrime in Nordic countries by mapping the context of cybercrime and highlighting areas where further research is needed to ensure the protection of individuals in an increasingly digitalized world.

BACKGROUND: Penetrating trauma to the head and neck (HN) has increased during the past decade in Sweden. This aim of this study was to characterize these injuries and to evaluate the outcome in patients treated at a tertiary trauma centre.

METHODS: Swedish trauma registry (SweTrau) data was extracted on patients with HN injuries admitted to Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, between 2011 and 2019. Outcome information was extracted from hospital records, with primary endpoints focusing of physiological outcome measures and secondary endpoints on surgical and radiological outcomes.

RESULTS: Of 1436 penetrating trauma patients, 329 patients with penetrating HN injuries were identified. 20% (n=66) suffered a gunshot wound (GSW), 73% (n=240) a stab wound (SW), and 7% (n=23) other trauma mechanisms (OTM). The median age for GSW, SW and OTM were 25, 33, and 21, respectively. Assault was primary intent, GSW (81.8%, n=54) and SW (65.8%, n=158). Patients suffering GSWs had severer injuries, worse admission GCS-M and higher intubation rate at the injury site. Most GSW patients underwent major surgery (59.1%) as an initial procedure and more likely had intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) (21.2%). The 30-day mortality: 45.5% (n=30) for GSWs, 5.4% (n=13) for SWs and 0% (n=0) for OTMs. There was a yearly increase in incidence and mortality for GSW and SW.

CONCLUSION: Between 2011 and 2019, there was an increasing yearly trend of incidence and mortality from penetrating HN trauma in Stockholm, Sweden. GSW patients suffered more severe injuries, ICHs, and underwent more surgical interventions compared to SW and OTM.

Den svenska våldsutvecklingen har uppmärksammats internationellt och den negativa utvecklingen i en för övrigt fungerande välfärdsstat har givit upphov till begreppet ”Det svenska tillståndet”.

Den organiserade brottsligheten har hittat sin guldkalv, finansieringskälla och spelplan i näringslivet, där företag kapas och utnyttjas ekonomiskt. Men även offentliga verksamheter drabbas av så kallade välfärdsbrott.

Hur ser den kriminella ekonomin ut i dag? Vilka risker och utmaningar står näringslivets aktörer inför? Och hur ska utvecklingen vändas?

Rapporten ”Kriminella entreprenörer – en studie av den organiserade brottslighetens kopplingar till näringslivet” beskriver hur den organiserade brottsligheten engagerar sig i näringslivet genom formella uppdrag och kriminella relationer.

Rapporten belyser också vilken skillnad det är mellan individer inom den organiserade brottsligheten som redan är, eller inte är, engagerade i näringslivet på något sätt. Rapporten syftar till att belysa och diskutera de risker och utmaningar som näringslivets aktörer och samhället i sin helhet står inför.

This study investigates 30 lone actors in Sweden with a register-based design using a group of male lone actors and two reference groups: same-sex siblings and other male violent extremists. We compare lone actors to the reference groups along social background, criminal background, and co-offending relations (1995 –2016), and mental health (1980–2016). Our results show that lone actors are primarily born in Sweden to two Swedish-born parents. They have a high degree of criminality and co-offending, indicating that they are not completely loners in their criminal behaviour. They have higher enrolment in secondary education than the reference groups, but lower enrolment in higher education than other male violent extremists. Additionally, they suffer considerably more from mental disorders compared to the reference groups. An analysis of criminality and in- and outpatient hospitalisation over the life course indicates that lone actors may have had problems in their transition into middle age.