ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the emergence of the “crime victim” in the framework of Swedish crime and welfare policy in the 1960s to 1976. The 1960s was the culmination of the Swedish social-democratic welfare state with an emphasis on solidarity, equality, and universalism. Crime was mainly considered a social problem, resulting from inequalities and poverty and with consequences for society. On an individual level, rehabilitation of the offender was the ideal. Care for offenders, and the understanding of crime as a reaction to a social situation did, however, not have any focus on individual victims of crime. Toward the end of this period, economic growth leveled off. Neoliberal ideas entered the Swedish society, and the dominance of the Social Democratic Party was challenged. Concurrently, victim support programs were being born in the United States and some European countries. Soon, the idea of the "crime victim" would also take hold in Swedish society. This chapter describes the rise of Swedish victim compensation, which is considered one of the first initiatives for crime victims. It will show that the first compensation schemes were part of a broader strategy to reduce surveillance and facilitate more open forms of corrections.
