Issue # 9-2006. Content
As usually, the issue contains some statistical documents: The Criminality in Russia in 2000--2005 (data of Home Ministry); The Brief Characteristic of Penitentiary System in Russia (qualifying date 2006/08/01) (data of Federal Penitentiary Service), here are the number of prisoners and penitentiary workers, number of institutions, categories of prisoners and so on. Also we publish some European figures on the imprisonment (data, published by Ministry of Justice of France) as well as data of Amnesty International on convicted to death penalty.
The first block opens Nils Christie analyzing the influence of penitentiary system on the health of prisoners. His conclusion is: the physicians must not enter in the penitentiary staff and have administrative independence.
The teacher of literature in a school in the colony for minor criminals, I. Holodiakov tells about real life of teenagers in colonies, about poor perspectives that expect them in freedom, about their need to have somebody adult and understanding for discuss real problems.
Olga Afanasieva in the article "Back Behind the Mirror" speaks on the problems which meet former prisoners in "normal" life. Their difficulties are explained mainly by absence of system of social adaptation and rehabilitation.
A. Konstantinov explains for readers what is "electronic bracelet" and why it may be useful for the humanization of penitentiary system. Another material of the same author "Know-how of Judges in Lipezk" is dedicated to the wholesome effect of European convention on the practice in some courts.
A. Livchak in the material "How did they investigate the Case of S. Loboda" shows a picture of full arbitrariness of penitentiary officers towards prisoners and their impunity.
The main block on the death penalty is opened by translation of a discussion of Michel Foucault, Jean Laplanche and Robert Badanter "Death Penalty: Criminal Personality or Dangerous System?", published in "Nouvel Observateur" in 1977, which did not lost the actuality for our country. The circumstances under which discussion was gone and the history of question in France are described by the translator of the material A. Bikbov.
A paradox point of view is expressed by I. Shevelev in the essay "Diversity of the Death World".
Not less paradox expresses V. Lozovskiin the essay "Maturity" where he proposes that the criminal himself should choose between death penalty and imprisonment for life.
A. Dobrovolskaya in the short material "Do not Kill!" speaks about impossibility of death penalty because it influence on the society in whole.
A. Konstantinov in the article "Some Problems of Imprisonment for Life in Russia" consider the real conditions of this category of prisoners since 1996: since this date the death penalty is not executed in Russia though it is not abolished yet.
V. Muhina considers the psychological characteristics of imprisoned for life in the article "Metamorphoses of Personality in Imprisonment for Life".
A. Savchenko publishes abstracts from letters of imprisoned for life under the title "Pardoned for eternal Imprisonment", citing one of the letters.
The block "History" contains an article by A. Sidorov "Prison Folk-lore of Belomorkanal", R. Gorchakov tells the story from annals of GULAG in Polar North, and A. Tarasov considers the history of psychiatry as a tool of oppression of political opponents since 1930ies till nowadays.
Nevolia. Issue # 9-2006. Print version (PDF, Russian, 770Kb)