Keeping track of ex-convicts. The extension of lawful use of criminal records in Sweden

• The Swedish Criminal Records Register started out in 1901 as a register to be used by the courts for sentencing purposes. The previous system was based on local knowledge of criminals and on mandatory parish certificates. This provided both too little and too much control; it made it hard for the courts to keep track of ‘moving criminals’, and it made it possible for employers to deny convicted people employment. A national database with restricted access was seen as the solution to both those problems. Today, the major function of the register is no longer to provide the courts with information, but rather to make it possible for employers to check if someone is suitable for a specific work position. This is somewhat paradoxical considering the original motives for setting up the register. Beside the extended use of legally sanctioned background-checks, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of so-called ‘enforced subject access’. Since subject access was introduced in the Swedish Act in 1987, following recommendations from the Council of Europe, it has been possible for employers to demand that employment-seekers bring a copy of their criminal records, resulting in an non-sanctioned form of background-checks alongside the sanctioned ones. In this paper I analyse the changes in the Criminal Records Act during the period from 1901 up until today. My focus lies upon the extension of lawful use of records in recruitment processes, and how the motives for the register have changed. I discuss this in relation to a surveillance discourse and ‘fear of crime’. I base the analysis on documents produced by the different governments in their preparation of alterations in the Act, and on newspaper articles around certain key-events.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Juridik -- Juridik och samhälle (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Law -- Law and Society (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Criminal Records

Law

Employment

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vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)