Social and Preventive Impact of Other Criminal Measures

Elena Valeryevna Provodina

and Oksana Yuryevna Krasovskaya

Saratov State Law Academy, Criminal and Criminal Executive Law Department, Saratov, Russia

Keywords: Social prevention, other criminal measures, security measures, criminal mechanisms, crime.

Abstract: The institution of other criminal measures (security measures) is intended to influence the perpetrators, as

well as vulnerable persons inclined to commit socially dangerous acts, in order to prevent the misdoing.

The research of this institution in the aspect of its social prevention meets the modern needs of society, since

it allows the implementation of criminal preventive mechanisms, taking into account the needs of the social

nature of a person. The goal of the research is to identify the features of social prevention, formed by the use

of other criminal measures, and the task is to research the social aspects of the criminal mechanism for

protecting the interests of the individual, society and the state. The work used scientific methods of

comparative legal and structural analysis, as well as generalization and social analysis, which made it possible

to identify and substantiate the content of social prevention implemented by the criminal preventive

mechanism as a combination of legal and social phenomena. Such a prioritization in the light of changing

social relations contributes to a correct assessment of all legislatively provided means of impact and

contributes to an increase in the preventive potential and applied criminal mechanisms, which determines the

practical and theoretical significance of the research.

1 INTRODUCTION

Changes in public relations entail regular updating of

the entire legislative framework, despite the fact that

“For companies, it is important that the strategies

used in their operations are bound by the ethical

standards of stakeholders, which are law, policies and

procedures, as well as moral standards of employees.

In fact, the law is defined for society as a whole of

actions that are permissible or not. It merely

establishes the minimum standard of behavior»

(Gheraia, 2019).

In conditions when “the environmental and social

consequences of human economic activity have been

receiving growing attention” (Escher and

Brzustewicz, 2020), “… special attention should be

paid to the mechanisms that guarantee the exact

implementation of the requirements of the legal and

regulatory framework” (Provodina, 2020).

appropriate adaptation of the means and methods of

social management is required.

The mechanisms intended to influence the person

committed a socially dangerous act should no longer

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be based on the rigidity and severity of the measures

applied, but should be based on an assessment of

human nature, and be within the legal boundaries.

At the same time, the state is called upon to ensure

compliance with legislation (Sergeenko, 2020). So,

the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation already

has such an institution - other criminal measures,

known to foreign legislation as security measures. Its

content is fully consistent with modern trends in the

society development, when imprisonment in foreign

studies has long been considered an extreme and not

the most effective measure (Bottoms, 2004), and

domestic scientists insist on a broader application of

its measures as an alternative to imprisonment

(Zvonov, 2020). “The era of physical coercion in

Western European criminal legislation is gradually

giving way to the era of coercion of a different kind:

rather not mental, but psychological and

physiological, but not in terms of effect on the

convict's psyche due to the severity of the measures

taken, but in terms of the influence on consciousness,

which does not have choice under the implemented

methods. And if in domestic law this is negligible

(although it is only a matter of time), then the West

Provodina, E. and Krasovskaya, O.

Social and Preventive Impact of Other Criminal Measures.

DOI: 10.5220/0010627100003152

In Proceedings of the VII International Scientiﬁc-Practical Conference “Criminal Law and Operative Search Activities: Problems of Legislation, Science and Practice” (CLOSA 2021), pages

16-20

ISBN: 978-989-758-532-6; ISSN: 2184-9854

(in its most progressive variations) has been actively

experimenting in this direction for a long time”

(Bavsun, 2020). The development of biotechnologies,

the focusing in governance of society on the person

consciousness actualizes the research of this

institution with regard to the peculiarities of its social

nature, which make it possible to achieve real

retention of an individual from committing new

socially dangerous acts in the vein of modern needs

of society.

The social nature of other criminal measures is

determined by a special type of social prevention,

implemented within this mechanism, based

simultaneously on two factors: legal and social.

Where the legal one is associated with the application

of the means and provisions provided for by the

Criminal Law, and the social one - with the economy

of repressive measures noted in science (Minyazeva,

2016). This economy of repressiveness makes it

possible to exert a preventive effect on a person who

has committed a socially dangerous act, keeping him

from committing new socially dangerous acts and

minimizing harmful, negative consequences

(occurring in the event of a punishment) that

determine his social status and in many respects

further opportunities for self-realization in society.

The prevention of criminal encroachments on the

legally protected interests of the individual, society

and the state in the information world presupposes,

first of all, the correction of the system of values that

contributed to their fulfillment. Therefore, such "...

the prevention is necessary in order to minimize the

level of crime that will occur" (Wibowo, 2020), due

to which it is important that the means used can affect

human consciousness without resorting to extreme

methods unnecessarily, forming the opposite result.

Prevention, as a social phenomenon formed

within the criminal preventive mechanism associated

with the use of other criminal measures, the object of

its influence is the consciousness and will of the

person in terms of the properties that contribute to

antisocial behavior. The specificity of keeping an

individual from committing new socially dangerous

acts, as a result of other measures mechanism, is

characterized by a moderate effect on consciousness

and will, requiring specific adjustments, since “... a

person, being a bearer of consciousness and

will,“passes” any objective factors through these

properties inherent to him by the definition.

Consequently, for some people this or that social

factor may be decisive (i.e., capable of serving as a

reason for their behavior), for other individuals it may

not be of fundamental importance” (Razgildiev,

2020). It follows from the above that when choosing

options for behavior, the decisive importance belongs

to personal properties and qualities, which means that

in the conditions of an actually committed act of

antisocial behavior, it is these properties that should

be and are subject to social prevention through

criminal mechanisms with the use of other measures.

This vision of the social aspects of criminal law is

backed by the scientific association of criminal

behavior with social disorder (Kaur, 2017) and as

antisocial behavior in need of treatment (Prevention

and Treatment of Anti-Social Behaviour, 1943).

The scientifically substantiated relationship of

behavioral features and human individuality

(Prevention and Treatment of Anti-Social Behavior,

1943) proves that the consciousness and will of the

individual should be subject to imperative preventive

action only in a separate part of it, the established

properties and qualities, passing through which the

factors existing in objective reality, contribute to the

destructive behavior.

It seems that, taking into account the above

judgments, the object of prevention, formed through

the functioning of the mechanism of other criminal

measures, is consciousness in terms of the properties

responsible for destructive behavior and in need of

moderate correction. In addition, the object of the

presented type of prevention as part of a social

phenomenon should be attributed to social aspects.

The need for strictly differentiated solutions on the

way to achieving the tasks of criminal legislation

requires a subtle psychological correction of the

existing values of an individual who has committed

an antisocial act (misconduct), which is not always

possible to achieve through the use of such severe

measures as punishment.

The peculiarity of the presented type of

prevention is determined by the specifics of the flaw

in the person’s properties, which manifested itself

outside, i.e., revealed itself as the fact of a complete

encroachment on the benefits protected by law.

Such a need predetermines the analysis of

legislative provisions not only in terms of their legal

structures and compliance with legal techniques, but

as a phenomenon that directly affects a person,

addressed to his consciousness and will, and

ultimately forms a social result. Only the exceptional

appropriateness of the selected measures of state

coercion (and not the fact of their application)

contributes to its achievement. And in this sense, the

presence of the institution of other criminal measures

in the criminal legislation, combining imperativeness

and moderate repressiveness, are capable of exerting

the necessary degree of influence on the properties of

consciousness of an individual who has committed a

Social and Preventive Impact of Other Criminal Measures

socially dangerous act. Only in this case, preventive

criminal mechanisms will fulfill their social function

and work for the future and prevention of criminality

and crimes, and not be a measure of banal retaliation,

which corresponds to the vein of the society

development concept.

Wherefore, the goal of this work is to identify the

features of social prevention, formed through the

functioning of a preventive mechanism with the use

of other criminal measures in the context of modern

development of society.

According to the set goal of the work, its tasks are

to research the social aspects of the criminal

mechanism for protecting the interests of the

individual, society and the state, formed through the

use of other criminal measures that constitute its

social nature, which corresponds to the concept of a

“model of social prevention”.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

The materials for a robust analysis of the topic were

data referenced to the nature of law and established

the relationship between social behavior of people

and legal regulations (Gheraia, 2019; Escher, 2020),

where, among other positive legislative provisions,

special attention is paid to the analysis of mechanisms

that guarantee their observance (Provodina, 2020).

In addition, the views of both domestic and foreign

researchers on the effectiveness of imprisonment and

alternative options for its use were analyzed

(Bottoms, 2004; Zvonov, 2020). In the context of

intensive scientific and technological progress, the

works of the authors devoted to the analysis of the

legal ideas of modern society, taking place in the

comparative plane of Russian and foreign law

enforcement practice, have a noticeable value

(Bavsun, 2020).

The basis for assessing the social nature of the

institution of other criminal measures was the

research of domestic Russian scientists (Minyazeva,

2016).

In view of the study of the social prevention

problem, formed by criminal means, the works that

raise the issues of preventive impact and its aspects

were analyzed. (Wibowo, 2020; Razgildiev, 2020;

Kaur, 2017).

In solving argumentative issues related to the

practical significance and functioning of social

prevention, performed by other criminal measures,

the authors' researches on the problem of the need for

special knowledge in a wide range of sciences,

including psychiatry, psychology, psychogenetics,

etc., were assisted. (Rossinskaya, 2001; Ovchinsky,

2005).

A special contribution to the author's research

conclusions was made by works on the logic of risk

management (Tagarev, 2020).

When developing the provisions obtained as a

result of the research, well-known scientific methods

were widely used: comparative legal analysis, the

method of structural analysis, generalization and

social analysis.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Social prevention is an integral part of the criminal

mechanism formed by other measures, aimed directly

at correcting the properties of consciousness that

contribute to the choice of deviant behavior. In terms

of its content, social prevention is a manifestation of

the social essence of the specified criminal

mechanism, that is, its content is formed not by legal,

criminal elements, but concerns the social aspects of

their implementation. This refers to a direct impact on

the value system of an individual who has committed

a socially dangerous act, usually requiring moderate

adjustment. In this regard, the possibility of using

responsibility mechanisms formed by security

measures that are less repressive and allow avoiding

the more severe consequences of criminal impacts,

speaks of the high moral ideals manifestation that

meet the needs of modern society and the social

human essence.

In this regard, for the full implementation of

criminal mechanisms in line with their provision of

the criminal legislation tasks, their application should

meet the following requirements:

 the formed model of the preventive impact of

antisocial behavior, performed by other

criminal measures, is a specific direction of

prevention provided within the imperative

branch of law, and is a manifestation of the

social essence of the criminal preventive

mechanism, which corresponds to the ideas

about its social aspects;

 the content of the model under consideration is

not the elements of the criminal mechanism,

but its aspects, characterized as the properties

of an individual, in combination with social

factors that contribute to the choice of

antisocial behavior and objectively needing

moderate correction;

 in this regard, the concept of a social model of

prevention performed within the criminal

mechanisms is as follows: this is the directed

CLOSA 2021 - VII INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC-PRACTICAL CONFERENCE “CRIMINAL LAW AND OPERATIVE SEARCH

ACTIVITIES: PROBLEMS OF LEGISLATION, SCIENCE AND PRACTICE”

impact of the actual circumstances (i.e., tense

social climate) resulting from the application of

security measures (other criminal measures) in

relation to an individual who has committed a

socially dangerous act, to the properties and

qualities that have formed in him, which

contributed to the commitment of a socially

dangerous behavioral act;

 the specificity of the formed properties of an

individual determines the use of non-specific

criminal protective mechanisms

(compositions) formed within the criminal

legislation that provide for specific types of

punishments in sanctions, but forces the law

enforcement body to turn to other criminal

measures that differ in nature and principles of

impact from the said institution.

The research draws attention to the need to

mobilize law enforcement practice, taking into

account the full legislative potential. The proposed

approach, based on the social aspects of legal

phenomena, such as criminal mechanisms formed

through other criminal measures, based on the

application of which is the identification and

assessment of specific personality traits that

contribute, under the prevailing circumstances, to the

commission of socially dangerous acts requiring

usually a moderate correction. At the same time, the

implementation of the proposed approach in practice

may encounter some difficulties; another problem

arises: “… Research is needed using special legal

knowledge that the investigator and the court do not

possess” (Rossinskaya, 2001). However, statements

by Russian criminologists about the inadmissibility of

ignoring the results of the biotechnological

revolution, about the need for criminologists to

master the latest knowledge in the field of psychiatry,

psychology, psychogenetics and other natural

sciences (Ovchinsky, 2005) testifies that the problem

extends far beyond the boundaries of jurisprudence

and, when appropriate measures are prescribed,

requires special knowledge in the listed areas. Which

leads to a rethinking of the mainstay of human nature

understanding, including his criminal behavior

(Ovchinsky, 2005) and the formation of a meaningful

approach to the legal constructions implementation,

taking into account social aspects, the criminally

social danger of a person, determined under the

identifying properties that contribute to the

commission of a socially dangerous act, with the aim

of their further correction through a corresponding

choice of measures for this, can increase the branch

of law opportunities in the field of crime prevention.

The public danger of a person who has committed an

unlawful act is always accompanied by the risks of its

repeated commission. The risks are due to the

vulnerability of human consciousness. In the light of

the concept of the society development, “… the logic

of risk management… is to reduce the likelihood of

occurrence of concrete hazard (where possible) and to

limit its consequences through eliminating

vulnerabilities…” (Tagarev, 2020).

In this case, we are talking about the danger of

committing a new antisocial behavioral act due to the

vulnerability of part of the properties of human

consciousness under the social circumstances.

Wherefore, when choosing preventive measures, one

should proceed from the fact that “First, the

information, analysis, and evaluation of hazards,

vulnerabilities, and risks are the key factors of crisis

management decision… Second, measures to put the

hazards, vulnerabilities, and risks under maximum

possible control are or should be undertaken

throughout all preparatory and operational functional

areas, with the overall aim to strengthen the

community resilience” (Tagarev, 2020). With regard

to the problem under consideration, this means that

the main factors in choosing the means of state

response should be the analysis and assessment of

personality traits that cause the risks of repeated

antisocial behavior, and it is also necessary to be

aware of the full range of criminal means and

methods in order to establish control and strengthen

social sustainability. Only the combination of these

requirements will provide an appropriate choice of

criminal measures aimed at strengthening social and

behavioral resilience.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Summarizing the results of the research, we conclude

that the criminal mechanisms formed through the

application of security measures harmoniously

correspond to the needs of modern society, combine

the corresponding requirements, the main of which is

the presence of moral principles. The existence in the

imperative law of an institution that combines rigor

and humanity is a manifestation of high moral ideals:

on the one hand, we are talking about the impact

within the criminal and criminal procedure law,

sufficient and necessary to achieve the tasks set, on

the other hand, about loyal consequences as

compared with punishment.

The knowledge gained makes it possible to

characterize social prevention, implemented through

criminal preventive mechanisms with the use of

security measures, as an independent type of

Social and Preventive Impact of Other Criminal Measures

prevention performed within the imperative industry.

The peculiarity of social prevention forms a set of

legal (the norms of the criminal law on other criminal

measures and the provisions under and in accordance

with which they are applied) and social (moderate

repressive impact on the vulnerable properties of the

consciousness of an individual subject to social

circumstances to commit a crime) phenomena.

One of the foundations for building all the

mechanisms that ensure the security of society in the

context of its rapid development should be the ability

to prevent, not respond to problems.

The risks of committing new socially dangerous

acts due to the vulnerability of human consciousness

should be taken into account when applying other

criminal measures (security measures) in order to

minimize them.

Based on the foregoing, in order to modernize and

update the approach of law enforcement practice in

the vein of compliance with the stated trends in the

modern society development, taking into account

biotechnological breakthroughs and the associated

shift in emphasis towards methods of peremptory

impact on human consciousness, in order to correctly

assess the degree of its vulnerability, it is necessary to

involve specialists of the appropriate profile in each

case.

The formation of such an approach will allow to

optimize social prevention, performed through

security measures, and significantly increase the

criminal preventive potential.

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CLOSA 2021 - VII INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC-PRACTICAL CONFERENCE “CRIMINAL LAW AND OPERATIVE SEARCH

ACTIVITIES: PROBLEMS OF LEGISLATION, SCIENCE AND PRACTICE”