Research project Compulsive care of young people - significance of gender, ethnicity and social class for assessments

The question is, are these patterns still valid?

Research in both criminology and social work show that gender historically has influenced society’s ways of dealing with young people. The control of boys have concerned their externalizing behaviour while control of girls primarily has focused on restricting and disciplining their sexual behaviour. Several studies show how understandings of (problematic) behaviour in youth is still imbued with conceptions of gender, hence also influencing the societal control of young people.

The Care of Young Persons Act (LVU) enables society to take young people into care without consent from legal guardians and/or the young person (over 15 years old).  When it comes to teenagers, reasons for compulsory care are almost often problematic behaviour in terms of, for example, criminality or substance abuse (LVU § 3) and care is most often carried out in either foster care or residential care (locked or open).

The aim of this study is to investigate compulsory care of young people and the significance of gender, ethnicity and social class in court judgements, along with a focus on development and change over time. The study is carried out through both quantitative and a qualitative analyses of administrative court judgements. The research questions that are to be answered are:

•    For which reasons do court decide on compulsory care by § 3 LVU for girls and boys respectively?
•    Are dimensions of gender, ethnicity and social class significant for those decisions and the lines of arguments conducted, and if so, how?
•    What similarities and differences can be identified in comparisons to court decisions of compulsory care 20 years ago?
•    Which of the young people taken into compulsory care are then placed in secure care institutions, and are dimensions of gender, ethnicity and social class of significance for these placements?

The empirical data of the study consists of judgements and files from administrative court during 2015-2016 concerning compulsory care by § 3 LU. This material will be supplemented with information on who are placed in secure care. In step 1, the study will be designed as a quantitative census survey covering all decisions during the chosen time period. In addition, data on socioeconomic status and birth country/citizenship will be collected from Statistics Sweden. In step 2, a selection of judgements and files will be qualitatively analysed with a focus on how dimensions of gender, ethnicity and social class emerges and is given significance in descriptions of problematic behaviour and in arguments for compulsory care.