NCJ Number
102430
Date Published
1986
Length
74 pages
Annotation
Three papers on crime policy provide an overview of European socialist criminal justice systems, a review of recent European research on juvenile delinquency, and a discussion of the relationship between offender rehabilitation and the principle of equality before the law in the Soviet Union.
Abstract
The overview of European socialist criminal justice systems notes the utilitarian principle that criminal law and its administration must enhance the designed social order and reduce behaviors that threaten it. Another trait of socialist criminal justice systems is the design of laws to implement society's moral values; a third characteristic is citizen participation in the administration of justice. The review of recent European research on juvenile delinquency addresses the causes of and contributing factors in juvenile delinquency, delinquency prevention strategies, and delinquency treatment methods. The third paper examines the Soviet Union's emphasis on equality before the law as the basis for criminal sanctions. This precludes focusing on offender characteristics as the basis for determining the length and character of sanctions. Equal treatment before the law requires that offenders who have committed similar crimes should be similarly sanctioned. References.