1.
Almost all the participants in the discussions agreed that a
departmental approach to registering crime and gathering statistics cannot provide an
adequate image of crime situation in our country. The subject of the lack of
comprehensive criminal statistics in Russia is described in details in appendixes. Here we
would like to note that departmental account and statistics may have other negative
consequences (violation of victims' rights, inability to define priorities in implementing
criminal policy, etc.). Experts emphasized the necessity of creating research foundation
for the concept of criminal policy itself, criminological monitoring, legislative
innovations (in the field of criminal, criminal-procedural and criminal-executive law) and
the reform, as well as necessity to conduct regular victimological researches.
Monopoly of a departmental science in the field of collecting
knowledge about such social object as crime is, developing draft laws and state programs bears
a threat of a catastrophe for society. The very nature of a departmental approach is
in its emphasis on the interests of corporate groups and serving political interests on
the spur of the moment rather than defining and solving actual public problems and forming
fundamental, comprehensive knowledge. Without independent science it is impossible to
define important social goals, mechanisms and range of activity for certain state
structures, develop efficient criminal policy.
Researches in the results of affecting crime should be also regarded as
one of the crime preventing strategies.
2.
In the course of the discussion methodological problems of information
and analytical supplying were touched upon.
While analyzing current criminal policy in Russia, social and cultural
motives of its main subjects and those power structures, which to some extent influence
this policy (federal and regional executive bodies, parliament and other bodies of
representative power, courts, procuracy, etc.) are not always taken into consideration.
What does it mean: "a policy should be oriented toward
knowledge"? Let us suppose that we know about efficiency of certain measures applied
to persons, who violated the law, about consequences of these methods for society, about
specific features of various criminal and risk groups. Do power and political structures
need such knowledge? We should take into account our type of society traditionally
responding to a situation from the point of view of providing better sustainability of
social structures and people working in them rather than from the point of view of
understanding the situation. When something negatively affecting our life happens, we do
not try to find a rational, optimal way out, but instead strengthen our social structure
(an organization, established methods of administration and activity), try to improve
conditions of its functioning and, thus, to preserve (or enhance) our personal status and
financial position. This is usually called a departmental approach. May be our social and
historical code, figuratively speaking, is behind that kind of response to problems?
In order to design the method of using knowledge it is necessary to
consider criminal policy to be a complex activity, consisting minimum of three layers: a
basement, subjects and addressees. Developing criminal policy in a certain region, it is
necessary to analyze a situation and connect all the three layers. It is necessary not
only to get knowledge about criminal situation in the region, but also to discover
addressees - potential efficient consumers of our knowledge. For this purpose it is
important to understand the strategies of activity of various subjects of the criminal
policy... Otherwise our knowledge will be useless.
Having defined subjects of criminal policy, we should understand who
and how can bring about changes in criminal policy. Simultaneously it is necessary to
provide information, analytical and conceptual supplying for the functioning of regional
subjects of the criminal policy. Without such supplying they have to overcome the
consequences of the devastating criminal policy followed by federal departments and their
regional divisions instead of changing this policy at the regional and federal level.
Exclusively scientific approach does not account the fact that social
and political situation in regions is constantly changing. That is why it is necessary to
develop principles of researching changing and heterogeneous (consisting of many layers)
object as well as principles of introducing (using) collected knowledge in practice of the
subject of criminal policy.
