Recidivism has a relatively stable position in the totality of offenses, a high proportion of previously convicted persons in the total number of persons who committed crimes, as well as those sentenced to imprisonment, and the stability of antisocial behavior of a certain category of recidivists. Analysis of relevant issues has always been relevant. In the course of our research, I have come to believe that the nature of the first crime, the age of the first convicted person, their behavior during the period of serving their sentence, and other factors have the most significant impact on the subsequent criminal activity of repeat offenders.
This conclusion was made on the basis of empirical material obtained from a questionnaire survey of persons who had previously served a prison sentence and had a criminal record at the time of conviction. The questionnaire, which contained 36 questions, was filled out according to the data available in the convict's personal file, as well as from his words. Data collection took place in correctional institutions of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Voronezh Region. Total
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160 questionnaires were completed. The study covered two high-security penal colonies and one general-security penal colony in September 1998. We also used the data of criminal statistics for the Russian Federation and the regions of the Central Chernozem region for the period 1992-1998 to analyze the dynamics of various indicators, as well as to verify the reliability of the conclusions of our own research. The task was primarily to study the influence of factors related to the socio-demographic, criminal-legal, correctional-labor characteristics of the convict's personality.
The current criminal legislation provides for multiple forms of crimes: recidivism, totality. Recidivism, as the most dangerous form of multiple crimes, is characterized by the following legal features: the commission of an intentional crime; the presence of a criminal record for a previously committed intentional crime (Article 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This novel shows that in this case, the legal assessment is given to the act, and not to the actor. In legal science, there is no unity of views on the issue of the signs of the concept of recidivism. Depending on the legal approaches, legal, criminological, and penitentiary recidivism are distinguished (1). When determining criminological recidivism, one should take into account the commission of a new crime by a person after conviction, regardless of whether the guilty person has a criminal record or not (2). Recognizing that a criminal record that has been removed or expunged frees the person who stumbles from the eternal stigma of a criminal and thereby contributes to his re-socialization, correctly believe that it is necessary to take into account such life facts in understanding relapse, since no one can cross out the past (3).
Of great practical interest is the question of what is the duration of the break between the previous and subsequent crime, after which it is unlikely to be possible to talk about a relapse. According to our data, 46.9 % of those who have served their first sentence commit new crimes in the first year after their release, 23.5 % -from 1 to 2 years; 8.2%-from 2 to 3 years; from 3 to 4 - 4%; over 4 yearsThe results obtained in the course of the study largely coincide with the data obtained by D. S. Chukmaitov (2, p.14). As can be seen, the criminal activity of persons released from prison is highest in the first year after their release. Then, until the period of 3-4 years from the moment of serving the sentence, there is a decline.
And another issue that deserves attention is the relationship between crimes. When we talk about the impact of the first crime on the subsequent illegal activities of recidivists, we mean a whole period in the life of a recidivist: the circumstances associated with the commission of the first crime and its nature; the first serving of a sentence and release from it, etc. The definition of this relationship allows us to establish probable patterns that suggest the nature of recidivism crimes, time intervals between them, and other information that is significantly significant when considering already specific, individual behavior.
As a result of the study, it is established that the nature of recidivist crimes largely depends on the direction and content of the first crime, the age reached by the criminal at the time of the first criminal record, as well as his personal characteristics. To what extent can this or that property determine the high probability of committing a new crime at the time of committing the first crime?
The features of the recidivist's personality have been studied quite fully [4], however, we have attempted to show that the first crime under certain circumstances can be recognized as a fairly significant factor in the criminal biography and its influence largely depends on the characteristics of the individual. One of the characteristics of a person is age. Criminologists have long noted a pattern, the essence of which is that the probability of relapse on the part of younger people is higher. Nevertheless, the possibility of this indicator in predicting the future behavior of various categories of those released from the ID is far from exhausted.
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48.1 % of respondents committed their first crime before the age of 16. This circumstance, in our opinion, is associated with the instability of the system's values, a high probability of the predominance of anti-social views, attitudes, with little life experience, and incorrect orientation in solving even simple conflict situations. The probability of recidivism is quite high if the first crime is committed at the age of 18-24 years. Relapse is not typical among mature and elderly people. This is also confirmed by studies conducted by A. F. Zelinsky, who found that the onset of relapse very rarely refers to 40 or more years (3, p. 71).
There is an assumption in the literature that the younger the age of a criminal, the faster a new crime is usually committed. Our results confirm this. Under the age of 24 inclusive, the frequency of committing a second crime is high. Further, the greater the age, the lower the probability of relapse. Obviously, it can be assumed that the most dangerous age from the point of view of the possibility of relapse is under 24 years of age.
The relationship between people's level of education and the likelihood of antisocial behavior, including recidivism, is complex. The data obtained are as follows: at the time of the first crime, 49.0% had secondary education, 23.5 % - incomplete secondary education, and 20 % - primary education. Subsequently, the educational level of 37.8% changed. Thus, at the time of committing a new crime after release, 28.6% of people had improved their educational level and received secondary education; 19.4%-specialized secondary education; 6.1% - higher education. Comparison of these values leads to the following conclusion: the share of people with secondary education at the time of committing a subsequent crime is quite high (77.6 %). Education in this context does not deter a person from breaking the law again.
A significant role in the behavior of a repeat offender is played by factors related to the influence of family. Analysis of the data obtained shows that 74.5 % of individuals were unmarried at the time of conviction for the first crime. The trend of rejuvenation of convicts has certainly affected such a large percentage of unmarried people. According to the sample of D. S. Chukmaitov (2, p. 46), this indicator is higher - 82.3 %. Our study confirms that the rate of relapse among single people is higher than among married people. Regardless of whether the family survived or broke up, people who were married are generally less likely to relapse later. You should pay attention to such an indicator as the percentage of family breakdown. For persons who have committed a new crime after serving their sentence, it is quite high (26.5 %), and the probability of continuing criminal activity on the part of persons whose family has broken up is higher than for those whose family has remained. According to 19.4 % of repeat offenders, difficulties in social adaptation will be associated with the prospects of starting a family. And the creation of a prosperous family is a change in the environment of a person who has served a prison sentence. It contributes to the cessation of criminal activity, the emergence of a new scale of values and the emergence of meaning in life. According to correctional officers, among those who were married and still have a family, there are significantly fewer malicious violators of the regime (5).
Nevertheless, often relationships in the family, the prevailing microclimate in it are the cause of crime. Statistics show a recent increase in the proportion of so-called domestic crimes resulting from abnormal relationships in the family. Recidivism is no exception. We have not specifically investigated this issue, but it would be appropriate to cite data from another study. Thus, 83.7% of the recidivists surveyed said that there were normal relationships in the family, while 16.3 % had abnormal relationships - there were fights, quarrels, and scandals in the family (6).
Of particular importance is the problem of the attitude of recidivists to work. According to our data, the share of persons without certain occupations among the
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The number of respondents was 18.2 %. Analysis of the answers of convicts to the question about the type of occupation shows that 44.9 % identified themselves as workers, while other categories of persons were distributed as follows: employees-13.1 %; peasants-14.6 %; students-9.2 %.
The problem of employment is natural in the current conditions. According to 38.8 % of respondents, after their release from the detention center, difficulties will be more related to employment. In 42.9% of them, after serving their sentence in the form of deprivation of liberty, the type of activity changed, including due to the addition of a group of people without certain occupations.
Given the difficulties of social adaptation of this category of people, we should not forget about the problem of permanent residence. According to the survey data, 20.4% of repeat offenders experienced real difficulties with housing in one way or another. When asked about housing conditions, 79.6 % of repeat offenders said that they lived with their parents; 17.3 % had a separate apartment or house. This is the most prosperous, so to speak, category of recidivists in terms of housing provision. Although here, too, bad relations with relatives are not excluded. The second group of people is those who do not have a permanent place of residence - 3.1 %. Given that the vast majority of repeat offenders had a place of residence, this indicator, in our opinion, is not of practical interest in terms of identifying general trends.
The analysis of socio-demographic personality traits of recidivists allows us to draw a number of conclusions: the subsequent illegal activity of recidivists is predetermined by their age; the probability of continuing criminal activity remains high if a person did not have certain occupations before the arrest; educational level and marital status can play a certain role in subsequent behavior.
Essential features of the recidivist's personality are clearly manifested when considering criminal-legal signs. These include data on the number and nature of past criminal convictions, the dependence of recidivism on the type and amount of previously served sentence, and the direction of ongoing criminal activity. These and other signs indicate an increased public danger of the recidivist's personality in comparison with those who commit crimes for the first time. Analyzing the data on the first criminal record, it is easy to see that more than half (52.1 %) of the respondents served their first sentence for self-serving and self-serving violent crimes that pose an increased public danger. In the analyzed population, there is a high level (24.5 %) of hooliganism. And then there are premeditated murders, causing grievous bodily harm (8.0 %).
To a certain extent, we can talk about the relationship between the first and second crimes. Thus, there is a steady trend of maintaining the focus of criminal activity. The share of self-serving and self-serving violent crimes for which there is a second criminal record is 55.1 %. The percentage of crimes committed out of hooligan motives is relatively high (18.4 %). The share of other violent crimes increased by 5.2 % (from 8.0% to 13.2%), depending on the distribution of criminal records for the first and second crimes. The most stable was the relapse, which began with a self-serving crime. This conclusion is confirmed by comparing the number of criminal convictions with the nature of subsequent crimes.
Thus, the highest rate of recidivism is found in the group of self-serving and self-serving violent crimes that combine robberies, robberies and all types of theft, as well as among those convicted of hooliganism. The rate of recidivism in the group of violent crimes (premeditated murder, rape, intentional grievous bodily harm) is quite high. The structure of recidivism by the nature and size of previously served sentences shows that recidivism is a problem mainly related to persons who have previously served a prison sentence. The share of recidivism that falls on convicted persons who have served other measures
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penalties, insignificant. And this is understandable, since persons who, as a general rule, are the most socially and morally neglected and who have committed more serious crimes are sentenced to imprisonment.
As a result of the study, data were obtained on the dependence of recidivism crimes on the grounds for release from a correctional institution. The probability of recidivism on the part of persons released on parole, under amnesty or pardon is low, and among persons released after serving their sentence, it is much higher.
In this regard, the actual sentence served, taking into account subsequent criminal records, is at the level of recidivism. Positively characterized convicts were released earlier, and those who were released at the end of the term are characterized by a high degree of probability of committing a new crime. I believe that a more cautious approach is needed in applying conditional early release to persons with second and subsequent criminal records.
The question of the dependence of the level of recidivism on such a circumstance as complicity in a crime is of interest. In our aggregate, the majority of convicted persons committed the first crime alone-68.2 %; in complicity-30.7 %. The structure of recidivism by the ratio of single and group crime in it indicates that in modern conditions, unlike in the past, recidivists are less likely to be accomplices in group crimes, preferring to commit them alone. A certain category of previously convicted persons is characterized by a very high level of group crime. These include, in particular, recidivists of younger age groups (up to 25 years), as well as those convicted of robbery, robbery and theft.
The results of the study also generally confirm the position that the worse the characterization of a person in places of deprivation of liberty, the more realistic it is to expect a recidivism from him.
Summing up the above, we can say that the study of the recidivist's personality should occupy the main place in the research of the phenomenon of relapse, since personality traits are the most important motivating factors. The considered characteristics of the recidivist's personality allow us to identify risk groups and adjust the work of law enforcement agencies.
list of literature
1. See: Karpets I. I. Problema prestupnosti [The problem of crime], Moscow, 1969, pp. 113-115.
2. See: Chukmaitov D. S. Influence of the first crime on the subsequent illegal activity of recidivists, Moscow, 1994, p. 12.
3. See: Zelinsky A. F. Recidivism of crimes: structure, connections, forecasting. Kharkiv, 1980. p. 9.
4. See: Mikhlin A. S. Personality of persons convicted to deprivation of liberty and problems of their correction and re-education. Frunze, 1980; Gorbatovskaya E. G., Kononov AL., Yutskova EM. Personality of a recidivist and the use of data on it in the activities of the prosecutor's office. M., 1987; Solopanov Yu. V., Kvashis V. E. Recidivism and recidivists. M., 1971; Zhuravlev M. P. Especially dangerous recidivists. M., 1973; Chukmaitov D. S. Influence of the first crime on the subsequent illegal activity of recidivists. M., 1994, et al.
5. See: Alekseev A.M., Solopanov Yu. V. Prevention of recidivism of crimes, Moscow, 1980, p. 14.
6. See: Bozhanov O. I., Efimov M. A., Sarkisova E. A. Prevention of repeated crimes. Minsk, 1988, p. 37.
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