NCJ Number
75476
Journal
Freedom at Issue Issue: 53 Dated: (November/December 1979) Pages: 21-25
Date Published
1979
Length
5 pages
Annotation
An analysis of Soviet crime statistics by a former Soviet criminal investigator describes Soviet categories of criminal behavior, notes differences from U.S. crime statistics, and contends that most Soviet crime springs from the essence of Soviet socialism.
Abstract
Despite the absence of published crime statistics, criminal activity is the Soviet Union's fifth largest problem -- after military, international, economic, and nationality difficulties. Consequently, during the past 15 years, the science of criminology has been receiving more recognition in the Soviet Union. An analysis of data on the number of persons sentenced by type of crime during 1976 in the Soviet Union identifies 'hooliganism,' or disorderly behavior, as the number one crime. Examples of misconduct under this category purport to show its uniqueness as a Soviet crime. Hooliganism is a crime mainly characteristic of young males in urban areas, and it is a distinctive barometer of the climate of Soviet society. Hooliganism also highly correlates with alcoholism. Crimes against the person are the second highest category of criminal behavior and include murder, rape, and serious bodily assault. Soviet adolescents commit a significant share of these crimes, which are mostly committed on days off, holidays, and on the occasion of family festivals and ceremonies. Convictions for theft of State and public property and crimes against citizens' personal property rank third and fourth, respectively, in number of convictions. Other lesser categories include motor vehicle crimes, economic crimes, official crimes (criminal negligence and abuse of power), and crimes violating law and order. Also, Soviet crime statistics do not include about 1 million criminal cases reviewed each year by 280,000 comrades' courts and do not estimate the amount of white-collar crime, which is believed to involve as many as 20 million people. Soviet statistics on prisoners reveal that in January 1977 over 1,600,000 persons were serving sentences in corrective labor institutions. On a per capita basis, this is about 3.5 times greater than the U.S. prison population. Two tables are provided.