Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Access Criminology and Criminal Justice journals now

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
European Journal of Criminology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ólafsdóttir, H.
Right arrow Articles by Bragadóttir, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Crime and Criminal Policy in Iceland

Criminology on the Margins of Europe

Hildigunnur Ólafsdóttir

Reykjavík Academy, Iceland, hildigunnur{at}akademia.is

Ragnheidur Bragadóttir

University of Iceland, Iceland, rb{at}hi.is

Icelandic criminologists have classified Iceland as a country in which offences are rare. Despite an increase in crime during the 1990s, the incarceration figures are among the lowest in Europe. An overview of Icelandic research on crime and criminal justice over the past five years shows diversity in the topics chosen but also indicates that in certain areas there is no research to be found. The chief topics addressed in recent Icelandic work include the formation of boundaries between deviance and conformity, fear of crime, problems in the city centre, recidivism, the social status of inmates, youth crime and long-term trends in punishment for violent offences. This article traces how public discussion of criminal policy in recent years has centred on making punishments more severe. It will be shown that the demand for more severe punishment for drug offences is driven by utilitarian motives, whereas the arguments for punishment for sexual offences are based on the principle of retribution. At the end of the 20th century, attitudes toward crime and punishment were characterized by a consensus that is seen clearly in attitudes toward drug offences, whereas political divisions have recently emerged in discussion of sexual offences.

Key Words: Crime Development • Criminal Policy • Iceland • Low Crime Rate • Small Society

European Journal of Criminology, Vol. 3, No. 2, 221-253 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1477370806061977
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?