Victimological Safety of Persons Sentenced to Imprisonment: Conceptual Aspects

Abstract

The author presents the conceptual basis of an independent trend in victimology - the victimological safety of persons sentenced to imprisonment. The independence of this trend is justified by the existence of its own subject, object, aim, its theoretical and practical relevance, which are described in this paper. It is suggested that the victimological safety of convicts should be understood as the situation when their rights are protected during their imprisonment in correctional institutions. The research of the victimological safety of convicts is necessary because correctional institutions are highly criminogenic, and inmates are potentially predisposed to be victims of criminal behavior. The author enumerates factors influencing the victimity of inmates: personal traits of convicts (light-mindedness, casual behavior, customary use of swearwords that compensate for a poor vocabulary, etc.); character of the crime for which a person is convicted; psychological climate in the community of inmates, level of law and order maintained in the correctional institution; other factors determining the status of a convict in the penitentiary social environment. The author also presents a typology of convicts who become victims of criminal infringements; characterizes inmates placed in isolation for the reasons of personal safety; enumerates the most victimogenic categories of convicts in places of confinement; points out causes and conditions that victimize the personality of a convict in correctional institutions. The results of the conducted research are used to work out the preventive measures of ensuring the victimological safety of convicts, including organizational-management, regime, investigation and search and educational-psychological work. The information of this article has a practical value and can improve the effectiveness of work aimed at ensuring the safety of inmates, as well as the general situation with law and order in Russian penitentiary institutions.