ABSTRACT (DK)
Lea Brinkgaard
En ungdom uden kriminalitet: straf, velfærd og neoliberalisme i Danmark, 1990-2010

I forskningen om de sidste årtiers ’straffende vending’, er de nordiske velfærdsstater ofte blevet fremstillet som en undtagelse. I denne artikel nuancerer jeg Nordic Exceptionalism-tesen med en historisk analyse af indsatsen over for ungdomskriminalitet i Danmark fra 1990 til 2010. Jeg tilslutter mig studier, der har vist, at straf og velfærd ikke står i modsætning til hinanden, men er dybt sammenflettet og forankret i velfærdsstatens historie. Men med empirisk udgangspunkt i fire indsatser fra perioden 1990 til 2010, deres velfærdsshistoriske kontekst samt inspiration fra Loïc Wacquants neoliberalismebegreb, tilføjer jeg, at ungdomskriminalitetsindsatsen også var influeret af en bredere neoliberalisering af den danske velfærdsstat. Denne udvikling indebærer, at statens sociale funktioner trådte i baggrunden til fordel for de markedsorienterede og straffende. På trods af en række ligheder med ideerne bag Børneloven fra 1905 samt den senere ungdomsfængselsordning fra 1933 til 1973, viser jeg således, at kriminalitetsindsatsen over for unge i perioden 1990-2010, også rummede en række nyskabelser. Disse indbefatter at 1) straf og konsekvens blev centrale (diskursive) markører; 2) unge blev opfattet (og skulle opfatte sig selv) som ansvarlige forbrugere; 3) forældrenes ansvar genindtrådte og blev oprustet; 4) unge drenge med etnisk minoritetsbaggrund og deres familier blev et nyt interventionsmål.

ABSTRACT (UK)
Lea Brinkgaard
Youth Without Crime: Punishment, Welfare, and Neoliberalism in Denmark, 1990-2020

According to the literature proclaiming a ‘punitive turn’ in recent decades, the Nordic welfare states are often perceived an exception. In this article I nuance the Nordic Exceptionalism thesis with a historical analysis of how youth crime was understood and handled in Denmark from 1990 to 2010. I study four concrete initiatives introduced between 1990 and 2010 in relation to their welfare historical context and with theoretical inspiration from Loïc Wacquant’s conception of neoliberalism. While not opposing the convincing studies arguing that punishment and welfare are not contractionary, but, rather, deeply intertwined and rooted in the history of the welfare state, I add, that the efforts towards youth crime from 1990 to 2010, were also influenced by a broader neoliberalization of the Danish welfare state. This development, I argue, implies that the state’s social functions were revamped in favor of the ideals and premises of market-oriented and punitive. Despite similarities with the ideas behind the Children’s Act from 1905 and the later youth prison system from the 1933 to 1973, I show that the initiatives towards youth crime from 1990 to 2010 also contained renewals. These include that 1) punishment and consequence became key (discursive) markers; 2) young people were perceived (and should perceive themselves) as responsible consumers; 3) the responsibility of the parents was reactivated and strengthened; 4) ethnic minority boys and their families became a new target for intervention.