Field Research in early Soviet Criminology in the 1920s

Abstract

The paper examines field research methods in early Soviet criminology in the 1920s. The crime and criminality studies flourished in postrevolutionary Russia due to the relative intellectual freedom of the era of NEP and unprecedented access to penitentiaries for researchers. Although this interdisciplinary field of studies brought together scholars from different disciplines and professions (criminal law, psychiatry, psychology, anthropology), the sociological branch (represented by lawyers) was considered the most promising. While criminal sociology was traditionally associated with statistics, Soviet criminologists began experimenting with field research techniques, such as surveys, direct observation, qualitative interviews, and case studies. One of the methods-the study of so called "hotbeds of crime’-was most similar to contemporary understanding of field research: it involved the involvement of a researcher into crime-related communities (homeless, beggars, street children, former criminals) and research on the streets, night shelters, marketplaces or other criminogenic zones. Concerned about criminal subcultures, criminologists and prison administrators were interested in studying the inmate code, processes of prisonization, tattoos and other aspects of prison culture. In order to institutionalize the position of a scientist within the penitentiary system, two "experimental prisons" were organized in Moscow's places of detention: the Criminological Clinic and the Experimental Penitentiary of the State Institute for the Study of Crime and Criminal. The research is based on archival documents, research papers and periodicals.