NCJ Number
144799
Date Published
1993
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This paper examines various patterns of explanation and differentiation within the structure of crime and criminalization in societies in transition with reference to crime inherited from state socialism and crime during transformation from authoritarian socialism to democratic capitalism.
Abstract
There are two areas of authoritarian socialism that have been the focus of retroactive criminalization under new political regimes: the monopolization of power and the exclusion of the greater part of society from the process of planning and decisionmaking. Dealing with the monopolization of power in the former German Democratic Republic has focused on the criminal prosecution of the formerly powerful and their judicial apparatus. Regarding the exclusion of citizens from policymaking that affects their lives, the focus of criminalization has been on illegal privileges and corruption as well as the suppression of attempts to attain democratic rights. With respect to the comparative study of crime incidence and change in the control of crime during social transformation in the countries of central and eastern Europe, it is possible to define various contexts whose similarities and differences provide explanations of the differing pictures of crime and crime control within these countries. The transitional situation has led to a rise in recorded crime in all of the countries. Much of this is due to an expansion of the areas of behavior being criminalized. Variously intense conflicts between various nationalities and ethnic groups have also played a role in the character of emerging criminal behavior.