Inside the adult Swedish prison preparing to house children as young as 13
Teenagers will now serve time in response to surging gang crime, but head of country’s largest jail has misgivings
TL;DR
- Sweden's Kumla prison, the largest in the country, is preparing to house child prisoners aged 13 and above.
- This change is a response to a decade-long increase in gang violence and criminal networks.
- The criminal age of responsibility is being lowered from 15 to 13 for crimes with a minimum four-year sentence.
- Child prisoners will be housed separately from adults, with modified cells and educational facilities.
- Critics, including prison officials and children's rights groups, argue that 13-year-olds' brains are not developed enough to fully grasp responsibility and that prison is not an effective deterrent.
- The move is seen as a departure from Sweden's historically humane approach to criminal justice and children's rights.
- The government defends the policy as necessary to manage an "emergency situation" caused by gang crime.
- Many children involved in crime are also victims, exploited by older criminals and suffering trauma, a complexity that complicates their handling.
- Sweden plans to significantly increase its prison capacity in the coming years.