The Dissolution of Core Values: Development of Crime and Society in Postwar Scandinavia with an Emphasis on Norwegian Circumstances

I would first like to thank my friend, Erlend D. Peterson, for giving me this opportunity to come to Utah to speak to you. As a citizen of a small nation situated far to the northeast and bordering mighty Russia, it is a pleasure as well as a privilege to be asked to describe to an American audience the trend of development in this area. I humbly approach the task. I am not a sociologist, nor a social anthropologist. My remarks are based on several decades of experience in various positions in criminal law in my home country, from collaboration with Scandinavian colleagues, and from participation in Nordic debate on criminal law issues. I also have a strong personal interest in the general cultural development in our little corner of the world. Perhaps my reflections will give you a few surprises depending on your previous perceptions of Scandinavia. Perhaps you will recognize trends of social development in Norway which are also the subject of current American debate. Such a discovery is not without interest, at least for Scandinavians. In Norway, we often say that the best and the worst influence we receive from the outside comes from the United States via "big brother" Sweden. Sweden provides, at least, some precedent and allows us to more easily foresee what might happen in Norway. However, the degree of outside influence should not be over-exaggerated. We ourselves are responsible for the most part. The great and difficult question is, nevertheless, to know what one should do to obstruct the most detrimental trends in social development. I can only answer this question to a limited extent. Nevertheless, the following analysis of core trends of social development, and the factors that influence them, can bring us closer to the answer. In an article in The Economist, I recently read the following: "To understand a country, you can study its economic data and demographic statistics. Or you can collect its jokes."1 The latter is naturally more amusing than the former, at least for a lecture audience. That same article contained a sample that says something about my profession's esteem in this country: "Q: What's brown and black and looks good on a lawyer? A: A doberman."2 While jokes are amusing, I nevertheless believe that a sociological and cultural-philosophical approach leads to a deeper understanding of the social development of a country. So there will not be much joking throughout the remainder of my remarks. I. POSTWAR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT If one looks back on Norway's near postwar period-the 1950s-we had a homogeneous and stable society. The Labour Party had a clear majority in the Parliament, we had full employment, and a wide stratum of the population enjoyed a gradual increase in prosperity. A modern welfare state with increasingly better social security was beginning to take form. The use of private automobiles was limited to only those granted public permits, and television was an unknown American phenomenon that we read about or saw in films. Criminality was under control, the public trusted the police and the courts, mother was at home taking care of her children, and marriages usually lasted a lifetime. The situation was roughly the same in Denmark, and Sweden-which had not experienced the German occupation-epitomized this pattern of development. From the mid-1960s, a development started which continued at least through the mid-1990s and has brought the Scandinavian countries out of their state of innocence, for better and for worse. I shall concentrate on some of the more destructive signs of this trend which, in my opinion, outweigh the positive. I am aware that my analysis is controversial and that others will place emphasis on the more hopeful aspects of this development. Many seem to be of the opinion that our society is constantly moving forward in a positive direction and they call those of us with other opinions "romantic nostalgics." One can live with this label. Time cannot be turned back, but this does not mean that the course ahead should not be adjusted. …