The government wants to change the law so that children as young as 13 or 14 years old can be deprived of their liberty, i.e., locked up in prison, if they commit very serious crimes. Currently, the limit is 15 years old. So, the proposal is not just about convicting children of crimes, but about making it possible to put them in locked institutions, places that are effectively prisons.
The government believes this is necessary to stop gangs from using young people in crime. They also say that society must be able to react more harshly when a young person does something really serious.
But most of the authorities that were asked to comment on the proposal during the consultation period, such as the Social Services, SKR, DO, the Prison Service, and several children’s rights organizations, have said no. They point out that the proposal goes against both research and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
If the proposal is approved, children aged 13–14 could end up in institutions with locked doors where they live in isolation, are monitored, and have very limited freedom. This is not the same as an HVB home or a treatment center with a focus on care, but a prison and based on punishment.
It also means that:
- – children can be taken out of school for a long time
- – contact with family, friends, and security is impaired
- – they risk being placed together with other young people and adults who have committed serious crimes
- – they get even stronger contact with criminal environments
- – they risk feeling even worse mentally
Research shows that children who are deprived of their liberty are at greater risk of:
- – re-offending
- – dropping out of school
- – developing mental health problems
- – ending up in crime when they get older
That’s why experts warn that this could make the problem bigger, not smaller.
This is not about “defending” children who do wrong. Children who harm others must be taken care of immediately, and society must set boundaries and protect victims of crime. It’s about how you do it and what actually works.
Unga Örnar does not support the proposal because:
1. Prison doesn’t work for children
Children’s brains are still developing. They think more impulsively, are more easily influenced by others, and do not understand consequences in the same way as adults. Prison-like environments are built for adults and harm children more than they contribute to security
2. Research says that children in prison feel worse and become more criminal
International studies show the same thing: children who are deprived of their liberty early are at greater risk of getting stuck in crime.
3. The real problem is that younger and younger children are being recruited by gangs
It is not the lack of punishment that has created the development in Sweden, but that the gangs have become better at luring, deceiving, and exploiting children. To stop the crimes, you have to stop the recruitment, not lock up children after the damage has already been done.
4. There are better alternatives that actually work
Children can already be forcibly taken into care and placed in locked treatment centers where they receive care, psychological support, and help to change. This protects both other children and the child themselves, and the risk of new crimes decreases.
5. Children are always someone’s child
Taking a child’s freedom is one of the most extreme interventions a society can make. Then you have to be absolutely sure that it helps, and research shows that depriving children of their liberty does more harm than good.
1. Invest in children before something goes wrong
This is the core. This is where security is built. Security is created where children are – in school, in their free time, at home. Not behind locked doors.
Strengthen the school
Children who succeed in school are significantly less likely to be drawn into crime.
- – Smaller classes
- – More special education teachers
- – Safer school environments
- – Free breakfast and more adults on site
Stop new recruitment
It is not children who run the gangs, it is adults who recruit them.
- – Efforts targeted at recruiters
- – Support for families at risk
- – More cooperation between school–social services–police
Leisure that gives hope for the future
Children who get a place in associations, culture, and sports do better.
- – Free leisure activities.
- – Greater support for associations.
- – Easier to find activities after school.
2. Early interventions when the first warning signs appear
The research is crystal clear: early, coordinated interventions make the biggest difference. Children who get help in time rarely need tougher measures later.
Support for families
Family support, parental support, and early social services contact reduce the risk of serious crime later.
Mental health
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (BUP) and school health services need to be genuinely accessible.
Social intervention teams
When social services, schools, and the police make individual plans for children at risk, the risk of continued crime is greatly reduced.
3. When children have already committed crimes, secure but child-adapted alternatives to prison
Children should not be left to fend for themselves. But they should not be put in prison. Children need care, treatment, and safe adults, not cells.
Locked HVB and SiS homes with a treatment focus
Here, children can get structure, treatment, and education without the harmful effects that prisons have.
Individualized care
Children who commit crimes almost always carry trauma, vulnerability, or influence from adult criminals.
Treatment must match the child’s needs, not adult punishment logic.
Continued schooling, always
Studies have shown that continued schooling during placement is one of the strongest protective factors against relapse.
4. What works best, societies that invest in children
International research says the same thing:
Security is built by reducing the number of children who end up in gangs, not by punishing them harder when they are already there. Children are children. It is the adult world’s responsibility to ensure that they get to be that
- – Early interventions and family support
- – Strong school
- – Reduced child poverty
- – Youth centers and associations
- – Access to summer jobs
- – Safe adults in children’s everyday lives