489 19th century, when these crimes decreased in step with the lower classes gaining better material standards. The need for repressive measures lessened then, at the same time as the working classes channelled their demands and feelings into more organised forms. The model which describes a linear transition fromviolence to theft in step with the emergence of a capitalist society, does not correspond with our Swedish example. The use of physical violence in everyday life did decrease, however, in the long run. First in the form of fewer murders and manslaughters and even later in the form of fewer fights between “ordinary” citizens. This development was, with the greatest probability, caused by several factors. Partly by the fact that weapons were less easily available after Sweden’s period as a great power, which reduced the danger to life and limb in disputes, partly because times were less trying, which in its turn caused the functional need for violence to decrease. Justice came more and more to be used in peaceful civil disputes. Periods of social tension left traces in the lists of fines because of increased uneasiness on the town streets and an intensified campaign on the part of the local authorities. Because of this the development is not linear in certain places even if the curve over recorded violent acts finally does point downwards. The number of thefts was primarily influenced by economic factors. It is not until present times that the number of thefts and pilfering has been doubled many times over, but the data in this investigation does not extend to this. Town and Country It was easier to bring a complaint to the town magistrates than to the rural court. The magistrates’ court convened more often, sometimes several times the same week. The district court normally had only three sessions, one in the autumn, one in the winter and one in the spring. In Säbrå there were only two sessions, one in the autumn and one in the winter. It was also nearer to the magistrates court than to the district court. The cases brought before the district court had often “mellowed” for a while and many settlements were agreed upon before the sessions started. The village community council, parish general meetings and church councils of elders also came to be alternative, more informal instruments for settling disputes m rural areas. It is, therefore, not particularly surprising that a greater number of the cases led to a conviction in Gullberg’s rural district than in the town of Linköping during the 17th century, nor that the percentage convicted for failure to attend hearings often was greater in the sparsely populated, but in area larger, Säbrå district court. The supervision of undesirable conduct was more intensive in towns. Town watchmen patrolled the streets with the task of seeing that the fire regulations were kept, that young people went home before their “curfew”, that no one
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