Citation

Lie N, Haeggernes AM. Crim. Justice Behav. 1987; 14(1): 26-32.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1987, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0093854887014001003

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In a representative Swedish cohort, men and women who attended remedial-school classes as children are recorded in the Swedish General Police Register (all offenses) and in the Swedish General Criminal Register (serious offenses only) significantly more often than subjects who attended ordinary classes. To be a remedial-class pupil seems to be a predictor of subsequent criminality. Since, with few exceptions, remedial classes in Sweden are composed of pupils with subnormal intelligence (IQs between 70 and 85), the intellectual inferiority of the remedial-class pupils appears to be responsible for their increased level of lawbreaking, probably because failure at school reduces their self-esteem and makes them likely candidates for anti-social groups.

Keywords: Juvenile justice

Language: en