Editorial|Editorial
In recent years, stiffening penalties has become an election topic in many European countries, and it may also happen in Finland this spring.
8.1. 2:00 am | Updated 8.1. 18:00
Discipline and the themes of order are entering the election debate in a surprising way. Citizens would have enough to worry about in war and rising prices, but politicians are forcefully making crime an election issue.
In December, the opposition, under the leadership of Basic Finns, made a midterm question about street gangs and youth crime. In Parliament, Prime Minister Sanna Marin (sd) repeated her earlier demand for stiffening the penalties: “The phenomena must be tackled by stiffening the penalties, by looking at the entire scale of punishment and by quickly addressing violence by the police.”
The prime minister did not explain his demand in any more depth, so it is difficult to conclude whether a criminal political re-evaluation has taken place within the Sdp or whether it is Marin’s opinion. It would be important to know, because the current criminal policy has been re-aligned since the 1970s and 1980s largely under the leadership of experts close to the Social Democrats. The effort has been to bring Finland alongside the other Nordic countries by softening punishments, reducing the number of prisoners and focusing more and more on rehabilitating criminals into society.
Punishment for crimes is justified by different theories. In atonement theory, punishment is a legitimate consequence of an act, a kind of revenge. However, in Finland and other Nordic countries today, the starting point is the prevention theory, according to which the purpose of punishment is to prevent crime, either as a deterrent to those considering committing a crime or as a more general reminder of what society considers acceptable.
The current line has mostly worked excellently. Finland’s prison population is currently one of the lowest in Europe. At the same time, the crime rate has decreased. For example, the number of homicides has roughly halved since the 1990s.
However, there are regular demands for harsher punishments for violent and sexual crimes, often citing “citizens’ sense of justice”. “In the eyes of the people, evil must be rewarded,” former Attorney General Matti Kuusimäki justified his demand for tougher punishments for sexual crimes against children in 2018.
A 2017 graduate was assessed for legal sense by research, where citizens sentenced crimes on average to fairly similar punishments to professional judges. However, there was a great disparity: some gave harsh, others mild sentences. In addition, the perpetrator has a great influence: the people would give Kemal a harsher sentence than Mati and Mati a harsher sentence than Liisa for the same act.
Although crime has decreased, the fear of it remains and finds new targets, the most recent being street gangs. There are clear reasons for that. In a recent work The philosophy of crime and punishment researcher Noora Lähteenmäki reminded that social and economic crises increase support for tough criminal policies. “General insecurity creates demands for politicians to take concrete measures to improve the situation, and citizens suffering from insecurity usually accept these measures with relief.”
According to the researcher, it is more about a symbolic response to the feeling of insecurity than an attempt to find effective ways to reduce crime.
In recent years, the strengthening of punishments has become an election theme in many European countries, most recently in the Swedish parliamentary elections held in September. In Finland, Perussuomalaiset seems to be preparing for the same. The measure can be politically effective if enough scandalous – and suitable – criminal cases fall under the election.
What any crime will not do. Ullanlinna’s murder sparked a discussion about domestic violence, but there are hardly any intermediate questions on the subject. Politicians don’t seem to be interested in the violence of security company Avarn Security’s law enforcers either. Both of them lacked what now makes a crime a real political explosive: a foreigner.
Correction on January 8, 2023 at 5:58 p.m.: Contrary to what was first written in the story, the former attorney general is Matti Kuusimäki, not Kuusiniemi.
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