The concept and signs of recidivism
The term "relapse" means "the reappearance of something."
Recidivism of crimes, along with the real totality (Part 1 of Article 17 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is a type of multiplicity.
Recidivism is the most dangerous form of multiple crimes, since a second criminal act is committed after the fact of conviction for the first crime.
Recidivism of crimes is the commission of an intentional crime by a person who has a criminal record for a previously committed intentional crime (Part 1 of Article 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
From this definition it is clear that relapse has the following characteristics :
- commission of two or more intentional crimes by a person;
- having a criminal record for a previous crime.
Thus, relapse as a type of plurality is characterized by the fact that a person convicted of an intentional crime, before expunging or removing the criminal record, commits an intentional crime again. Recidivism in the criminal legal sense cannot occur through the repetition of careless crimes. An indication of the intentional form of guilt of two (or more) crimes specifies the concept of recidivism and excludes the possibility of recognizing a person as a recidivist if he commits a careless crime or has a criminal record for a careless crime.
Recidivism statistics in Russia - real numbers and reasons
The purpose of criminal liability is to set a person on the right path. However, in practice the opposite often happens. Today, statistics show that among criminals in the country, 58% become repeat offenders.
The reason for this trend lies in:
- psychological pressure from society: it is easier to communicate with similar brothers; prosperous people do not want to get involved with those who were imprisoned;
- familiar atmosphere;
- lack of rehabilitation (no respect, lack of employment, oppression of society).
Distinguishing recidivism from the totality of crimes
The presence of at least one conviction for a previously committed crime as a mandatory sign of recidivism makes it possible to distinguish recidivism from the totality of crimes. If a relapse is recognized in accordance with Part 4 of Art. 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation are not taken into account :
- convictions for intentional crimes of minor gravity . If a person who has a conviction for a minor crime commits an intentional crime again, there is no recidivism. At the same time, if a person has a criminal record for committing an intentional crime of a different category and again commits an intentional crime of even minor gravity, his actions constitute a recidivism.
- convictions for crimes for which the conviction was recognized as suspended or for which a deferment of execution of the sentence was granted, if the conditional conviction or deferment of the sentence was not canceled and the person was not sent to serve the sentence in a prison. When recognizing the recidivism of crimes, the criminal records of persons who were given a suspended sentence or who were granted a deferment of execution of the sentence are also not taken into account if the punishment assigned to them was more lenient than imprisonment, regardless of whether the suspended sentence or deferment was canceled, since in this case they were not sent for serving a sentence in a prison. If the conditional sentence or deferment was canceled due to the commission of a new crime (Part 5 of Article 74, Part 4 of Article 82 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and the convicted person (convicted woman) was sentenced to imprisonment based on the totality of sentences, then in this case there is no relapse of crimes.
- convictions for crimes committed by a person under the age of 18 (for example, a conviction that arose after the person reached the age of 18 is not subject to consideration for determining recidivism if the person was convicted of a crime committed before reaching the age of majority).
- convictions removed or expunged in the manner prescribed by Art. 86 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (expunged or expunged criminal records cannot be taken into account when deciding the issue of recidivism, since they do not legally exist. The presence of relapse is associated with an outstanding criminal record precisely at the time of the commission of the crime, and not at the time of the imposition of any sanctions against the person who committed the crime investigative or judicial procedural decisions).
Social psychological portrait of a repeat offender
The personality of a repeat offender is visible in his value system and outlook on life. He has no recognition or respect for anyone, not even himself. He does not have a clear idea of the institution of family. A recidivist is not culturally enlightened; in addition, he has a narrow specialization and hobby. He is satisfied with parasitism and violence applied to others without showing pity.
A repeat offender, as a rule, carries within himself a challenge to society, a confrontation. His psychological state correlates with mild forms of mental retardation and psychopathy, and alcoholic degradation. If we are talking about a woman, then the repeat offender is characterized by hysteria and alcoholism, in addition, they commit crimes more often under the influence of a drug breakdown.
Gender and age
Research shows that the proportion of female repeat offenders is only 10% of the total. Moreover, 30% of female crimes are non-violent. Most often this is misappropriation and embezzlement of entrusted property or abuse of official authority.
80% of repeat offenders are persons aged 18-40 years, of which 60% are persons under 30 years of age. People over 45 are least likely to relapse.
Education and occupation
Among recidivists, there is a fairly low level of education, but there is a tendency to increase it:
- no education: 0.3%;
- no incomplete secondary education: 14.7%;
- incomplete secondary: 26.6%;
- average: 36.9%;
- secondary vocational: 20.3%;
- incomplete higher education: 0.6%;
- higher: 0.6%.
If we talk about their occupation, then more than half of the criminals who commit repeated crimes are parasites. 10.9% take up any job offered, even if it does not relate to their qualifications. 17.8% are skilled workers in their field of activity. 6.6% work as service personnel. 4.7% are students, 1.9% are pensioners.
Family
Among the offenders who repeatedly commit a criminal offense are often avid family men. However, 66.3% are single, 6.2% are divorced, and 12.2% are in a civil marriage.
In addition, 21.9% of repeat offenders have 1 child, 5.3% have 2 children, 2.2% have 3 children.
Bad habits
Among bad habits, the most common are drinking alcohol (15%) and taking drugs (25%). Most crimes are committed under their influence.
Social circle, interests
50% of repeat offenders are characterized negatively by place of residence. At the same time, neighbors and colleagues speak positively about 40% and are extremely surprised when they learn about their criminal activities.
The interests of such people are limited to banal needs and specific methods of satisfying them. However, most of them enjoy reading literature, mainly detective stories and fantasy.
Character
Criminals who repeat criminal offenses are most often characterized by weak willpower and excitability.
Types of relapse
Article 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for three types of relapse :
1) simple; 2) dangerous; 3) especially dangerous.
The criteria for such differentiation are the categories of crimes, the number of convictions and the type of punishment. It should be noted that the more dangerous the crime, the fewer convictions are required to recognize a recidivism as dangerous or especially dangerous.
Simple relapse
In case of a simple recidivism, a person who has a conviction for an intentional crime again commits an intentional crime of any category, except for those that characterize a dangerous or especially dangerous recidivism.
Dangerous relapse
Dangerous relapse is provided for in Part 2 of Art. 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. A dangerous relapse has two types. They are based on various criteria: mandatory sentencing to real imprisonment for crimes committed or a certain category of crimes committed, the number of previous convictions.
The law establishes two grounds for recognizing a relapse as dangerous:
1) when a person commits a serious crime for which he is sentenced to actual imprisonment, if earlier this person was sentenced to imprisonment two or more times for an intentional crime of moderate gravity. When identifying this type of dangerous recidivism, the legislator proceeded from the number of previous convictions (at least two), the category of crimes and the type of punishment. In this case, previously committed crimes must be of medium gravity, and newly committed ones must be serious. The terms of imprisonment assigned both for the first crimes and for the newly committed act do not affect the determination of the type of recidivism; however, it must be borne in mind that a suspended sentence of imprisonment excludes relapse;
2) when a person commits a serious crime, if he was previously convicted of a serious or especially serious crime to actual imprisonment. In this case, the category of crime (serious or especially serious) is taken as a basis and the number of repetitions of the assault is reduced to a minimum. As with the first type of dangerous recidivism, the presence of this variant presupposes the conviction of the perpetrator to punishment in the form of actual imprisonment.
Particularly dangerous relapse
When determining this type of recidivism, the legislator uses different criteria: the number of convictions, type of punishment and categories of crimes.
Recidivism of crimes is considered especially dangerous:
1) when a person commits a serious crime for which he is sentenced to actual imprisonment, if previously this person was twice sentenced to actual imprisonment for a serious crime;
2) when a person commits a particularly serious crime, if he was previously convicted of a serious crime twice or was previously convicted of a particularly serious crime (Part 3 of Article 18 of the Criminal Code).
Legal consequences of recidivism
All of these types of recidivism, according to Part 5 of Article 18 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, entail the following negative legal consequences:
More severe punishment . Recidivism of crimes entails a more severe punishment on the basis and within the limits provided for by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (clause “a”, part 1, article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, article 68 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Thus, Article 63 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation classifies relapse as aggravating circumstances. The Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has repeatedly drawn the attention of the courts to the fact that the unreasonable imposition of lenient penalties on persons with previous convictions is unacceptable.
The procedure for imposing punishment . The term of punishment for any type of recidivism of crimes cannot be less than 1/3 of the maximum term of the most severe type of punishment provided for the crime committed, but within the sanction of the relevant article of the Special Part of the Criminal Code. In the presence of mitigating circumstances provided for in Art. 61 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the sentence may be assigned less than 1/3 of the maximum term of the most severe type of punishment provided for the crime committed, but within the sanction of the relevant article of the Special Part, and in the presence of exceptional circumstances specified in Art. 64 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - and a more lenient punishment than provided for this crime (Article 68 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Maximum sentence . In case of relapse in accordance with Art. 70 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it is possible to impose a sentence of imprisonment for a term of up to 30 years.
Type of correctional institution . Recidivism of crimes affects the purpose of the type of correctional institution (Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Convicted men who have previously served imprisonment, in case of a simple or dangerous recidivism of crimes, are assigned to serve imprisonment in high-security correctional colonies, and in case of a particularly dangerous recidivism, men serve their sentence in special-regime correctional colonies, and they may be assigned to serve part of the sentence in prison .
