Criminal-Personal Features of Convicted Women of Childbearing Age in Russian Penitentiary Institutions

Abstract

The paper discusses the criminological characteristics of convicted women in penitentiary institutions. It is based on the authors own observations, the analysis of disciplinary practices and crimes of convicted women and the reports of various departments of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service in 2015-2017. Due to the social function of women, the problem of female crime and its prevention is currently urgent and requires a prompt solution. Most incarcerated women are of child-bearing age, some of them enter the penitentiary system already being pregnant, others become pregnant after extended visits by their husbands. The authors identify and analyze personal and criminological aspects of convicted womens behavior in the context of their motherhood. The paper stresses the behavioral characteristics of convicted women connected with motherhood in the conditions of isolation (the phenomenon of motherhood in the conditions of penitentiary isolation). The penitentiary system should provide the necessary conditions for mothers and their newborn children, which puts an additional specific burden on penitentiary systems employees responsible for achieving the goals of punishment, correction of inmates, observance of regime and prevention of repeat crimes.