Photo by Matt Sclarandis on Unsplash
Gang-related shootings and organised crime are growing concerns in the Nordic countries, especially in Sweden. One consequence of this development is the increasing number of young people being recruited into criminal environments, which in turn necessitates a rethinking of crime-prevention measures. One such measure is exit support programs, which aim to assist individuals who wish to leave criminal groups.
Despite the key role exit programs play in supporting people who disengage from gangs, there is little research on the subject in a Nordic context. In our article draft (Hedlund, Johansen, Tutenges), we examine some of the key challenges faced by municipalities in Sweden and Denmark as more individuals now seek support and assistance to leave criminal contexts. We chose to focus on Denmark and Sweden because these two countries have a long tradition of collaboration in crime-prevention efforts. To explore how exit programs are organized in the two countries and what challenges they face, we conducted ethnographic fieldwork and interviews in both Sweden and Denmark. We interviewed professionals from law enforcement agencies and social service providers who work with exit programs and gang desistance on a daily basis, as well as gang desisters.
Our findings show that exit programs face several challenges, including working with an increasingly younger target group. Gang desisters often struggles with complex problems such as financial debt, PTSD and trauma, and unemployment, to name just a few. The paper also highlights the difficulties related to the personal safety of gang desisters who receive support from exit programs, particularly when individuals need to be relocated to new towns, and the challenges municipalities face in providing pro-social support. Furthermore, the paper identifies structural differences between the two countries in terms of how exit programs are organized. For example, Danish exit programs are built around a national framework, whereas in Sweden it is up to each municipality to provide exit services. In the article, we highlight key challenges present in both countries and discuss ways in which exit programs can be improved.
The results are important for those working with gang desisters in practice and policymakers working to improve gang exit programs, as well as for scholars interested in gang desistance research in the Nordic context and beyond. The article is currently under review, and we hope it will be available to read in the fall of 2026.
The research is part of a broader project called Ways Out of Street Crime, funded by NsfK.
Project participants: Mette-Louise Johansen, Anna Hedlund, Sébastien Tutenges and Sveinung Sandberg Sandb
Anna Hedlund, senior lecturer, School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg
