NCJ Number
15522
Date Published
1974
Length
419 pages
Annotation
Four professors of law in the German Democratic Republic present the principles of Communist criminological thinking and their basis in Marxist-Leninist social philosophy.
Abstract
The phenomenon of crime is defined in terms of the dynamics of class structure and the personality of the offender is viewed from that standpoint. The authors consider that perception of self, of others, of interpersonal relationships and, therefore, of crime are all determined by the structure of society. Included is the Communist view of Western criminologists who are seen as either tools of the dominant social class of capitalists or as insufficiently penetrating reformers. Also included is a description of methods and techniques used by Communist researchers in the investigation of criminality and its causes. Provided in the appendix is a data questionnaire used by the Crime Research Division of the East German Public Prosecutor's Office for Compiling Statistics on the Case Histories of Recidivists.