Realigning criminal policy. Offender and victim in the Swedish party system over time

The article conducts a case study of criminal policy in the Swedish party system between 1960 and the present. Like other countries, Sweden has witnessed its criminal policy take a ‘punitive turn’ during this time. We hypothesize that this turn is explained by the fact that the discourse on crime has become increasingly victim-centred. Our study of the changes in the parties’ policies suggests that the parties play a central role in this explanation. In order to understand the punitive turn, however, the increasingly victim-centred discourse must in turn be explained. We argue that it is the individualization of society which provides the key here.