NCJ Number
67707
Journal
STAAT UND RECHT Volume: 26 Issue: 11 Dated: (NOVEMBER 1977) Pages: 1147-1156
Date Published
1977
Length
10 pages
Annotation
THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF CRIME IN SOCIALIST SOCIETY AS WELL AS PROPOSED GENERAL RESEARCH DIRECTIONS FOR CRIMINOLOGY ARE OUTLINED.
Abstract
CRIME IS VIEWED HISTORICALLY AS THE PRODUCT OF CLASS SOCIETIES WITH PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION WHICH BREEDS EXPLOITATION, ANTAGONISMS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AS WELL AS BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETY, AND EGOISM DESTRUCTIVE TO HUMAN AND COMMUNITY INTERESTS. DEVIANT BEHAVIOR, IMPOSSIBLE IN A PERFECTED COMMUNIST SOCIETY WHERE SOCIAL CONDITIONS, LIFESTYLES, AND HUMAN PERSONALITIES HAVE BEEN RADICALLY ALTERED, REMAINS IN SOCIALISM, THE TRANSITIONAL STAGE FROM CAPITALISM TO COMMUNISM. CRIME IN SOCIALIST SOCIETIES IS NOT REBELLION AGAINST PREVAILING CONDITIONS BUT A CONSEQUENCE OF THE RELICTS (REMNANTS) OF CAPITALIST SOCIETY. THE CAUSES OF RESIDUAL CRIME CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE TOTAL COMPLEX OF SOCIALIST SOCIETY BY STUDYING THE INTEGRATION OF LIVING CONDITIONS, LIFE STYLES, AND HUMAN PERSONALITIES. CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH SHOULD DETERMINE THE NATURE OF CAPITALIST RELICTS WHICH INDUCE CRIME SO THAT THEY CAN BE ELIMINATED. THE CONNECTIONS OF RELICTS TO CHANGING SOCIAL CONDITIONS SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED. CRIMINOLOGISTS SHOULD STUDY EFFECTS OF THE RELICTS AND HOW THEY ARE TRANSMITTED TO GENERATIONS UNFAMILIAR WITH CAPITALIST SOCIETY, REEMERGING IN SOCIALIST SOCIETY AND CONTINUING TO GENERATE CRIME. THE AVOIDABLE DISPROPORTIONS AND CONFLICTS IN SOCIALIST DEVELOPMENT MUST BE REVEALED AND CORRECTED. TO THIS END THE LIVING CONDITIONS, LIFESTYLES, AND PERSONALITIES OF OFFENDERS, AS WELL AS THEIR CONFLICTS WITH SOCIAL STRUCTURE MUST BE EXAMINED WITH A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH. NOTES ARE SUPPLIED. --IN GERMAN. (KMD)