Chapter VI. Regulation of the life of criminal groups of minors 1. Types of norms of criminal communities and their characteristics

Due to the nature of age, juvenile offenders attach great importance to strict regulation of the life of their communities and the behavior of each individual. The whole life of their groups is clearly regulated by the norms imposed by “authorities”, borrowed from the adult criminal world subculture, or accepted by the group as a result of averaging the norms of intra-group interaction. These norms can be transmitted according to tradition or fixed as a result of the manifestation of gaming moments in the life of the group and the adoption of certain roles by its members to achieve the success of gaming activities. Then these norms begin to regulate the criminal activity of the group, intergroup relations in the commission of crimes and in everyday life. For this there are the following types of rules: "law", "order", "rule".
The "law" is a stable body of code of conduct (a kind of code). For example, the “law of thieves”, which includes the code of norms, is adopted and amended at the thieves' gatherings (congresses); its norms apply to the entire criminal world of the former USSR.
“Mandate” is lower in rank than “law”. This is a new rule, operatively created by a group of "authorities" - "thieves in law" (at least three persons) as a result of a compromise between conflicting groups or as a response to a new action by the authorities and law enforcement agencies.
The “rule” refers to the norms of “local self-government”; it is adopted by a specific group and regulates the behavior of its members.
All these rules can be classified according to a number of grounds.
Thus, according to the ways of regulating the behavior, criminal norms can be divided into: prohibiting (prohibiting a group member to reveal secrets of his community; deceiving members of his group, etc.) and obliging (obliging to obey the "authority" implicitly, pass a registration, observe duties and privileges according to status, etc.).
According to the focus of action or on regulated relations, criminal norms are divided into norms that regulate relations with representatives of the authorities, with “strangers”, with other groups in the criminal environment, within their group.
For functional purposes, we can distinguish the rules that ensure the cohesion and integrity of the group, the success of its criminal activities, material and other mutual assistance, leisure activities, reception of newcomers, "disassembly" and punishment of the perpetrators, etc.
According to the degree of generality - the rules apply to all; only on the "boys"; only on the "elite"; for beginners; on "bottoms", on other hierarchical groups.
Based on the “thieves' law” and “orders”, the norms of adolescent and youth criminal groups are also supplemented by the norms of the youth subculture (transformed to the needs of the group), the official norms of behavior of people in a totalitarian society, adapted to the needs of the criminal group, which is especially evident in privileges, appropriated by the "elite" of the criminal world. These privileges (deeds, behavior and affairs of a representative of the "elite" that distinguish him from the majority of criminals, as well as from members of his group, occupying lower positions) in the jargon received the name of "minor exceptions". "Minor exceptions" always strictly correspond to the status of the individual, his position in the criminal world. It is possible to accurately determine by them who is who. Therefore, "minor exceptions" play the role of signs of distinction, acquire a signal value1.
“Old men” have especially many privileges, although in recent years the presence of “fellow countrymen”, persons of their nationality in a group, has become an increasingly important factor determining the system of privileges in the criminal world. Higher status can be bought. The set of "small exceptions", on the one hand, is very stable and conservative, and on the other, flexible and mobile; it is connected with new life values ​​in society and the criminal world2.
Let us consider in more detail the specifics of these norms. Since the criminal group is in varying degrees of opposition to

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1 This is how a thief gathering of a newly elected thief in law “blesses”: “Do not forget the old commandments of a lawful thief that were not invented by us: you should not have a family, God forbid you to“ sew ”someone on your behalf for these purposes there will always be a butcher, try to be sober ... hold the color and do not yield power! " Sukhov E. I am a thief in law M., 1995, p. 14-15.
2 Pirozhkov V.F. The laws of the underworld of youth. Criminal subculture. M., 1992, ch. II, paragraph 3.

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society and the norms in force in it, to the extent that the first group of norms is aimed at regulating the relations of members of a criminal group with "strangers" (other groups of minors, adults, law enforcement officers, etc.). These rules prohibit a member of the group to disclose to others the life of the community, to give out "their", to inform on them. Harassment "strangers", novices and weak, deception teacher is honored for his valor. Persons who violate these norms are subjected to the most severe punishments, up to the expulsion from the group, receiving derogatory nicknames, from which they practically can not get rid of.
The second group of norms regulates interpersonal relations in the criminal community, ensuring its unity, cohesion and continued existence. These norms define relationships vertically (between, for example, the leader and his entourage, between them and the boys, between the boys and the lower classes), as well as horizontally (between persons equal in the group hierarchy). These rules regulate the use of the common property of the group (the “common boiler”), the items obtained by criminal means; rules for assigning nicknames, tattooing; oblige members of the group to know the jargon, to be able to play cards, to recognize the "authority of authorities", to be responsible for the word given to the group. In addition, there are rules defining the rights and obligations of each hierarchical group: what the newcomers can and cannot do; how the "top" and "bottom" should behave in different specific situations. Thus, the newcomer is assigned the obligation to undergo a "registration", during which his status is determined, and then behave in accordance with the rights of the person having this status; not to occupy a place in the space that the group owns without the leader’s permission; Do not arrogate to yourself in tattoos and nicknames of a higher status. Persons from the bottom have no right to: challenge the orders of members of a group that occupy a higher position; to dispose of their personal items. They are obliged to do all the "dirty work" for the group (washing the toilet, cleaning the potatoes and vegetables, washing the socks of the members of the group - the leader and his entourage).
This is what happened to the newcomer Nikolai K. in vocational school-10 in Astrakhan. "In one of the first days of classes, two sophomores approached the newcomer - Vitaly V. and Edward L. They asked if he knew that the law was valid in the school: the younger ones obey their elders in everything, and if they don’t obey - they are beaten for it? So literally in broad daylight thirty rubles were taken from K.
At nine in the evening, the same V. and L. took off his pullover and jeans. And an hour later, when the guy was lost, he was sitting near the hostel - “they were not allowed to go into the cabin”, - a third-year student Sergey 3 came up and demanded to take off his sneakers. ”1
Of course, this would not have happened if the vocational school had organized proper work with newbies, activists were attached to them, and the asocial nature of the indicated “norms” and “rules” were explained.
We will give one more "rule": you join a criminal group - pay "entrance fees", exit - pay "compensation" 2. Therefore, it is so difficult to get a teenager out of a criminal group, because he turns out to be all "must".
The third group includes sanitary and hygienic norms and standards of living (who has physical contact with whom not to defile themselves; what and how to wear clothes and shoes; when and how to wear clothes belonging to others; how to behave after going to the toilet, when eating, etc.).
In each group norm, one can distinguish a disposition (how to proceed: not to give out the secrets of the community; not to inform on one’s own people; not to put on someone else’s linen that is in contact with the open body of another person; not to engage in criminal activity in someone else’s territory, etc. .) social expectations (the group’s hope that the person will fulfill the group’s prescription) and sanctions (group approval for the exact fulfillment of the prescriptions, the punishment for violating the prohibitions).
Thanks to these norms, which, to the smallest detail, regulate the behavior of minors in a criminal group, their traditionalism, severe sanctions, the division into hierarchical groups is very stable. The status determined by a minor in a criminal group can also be maintained when he is placed in a remand prison, going to a special school or colony. This status is maintained in the new micro-environment due to the sign system of communication, communication and signaling (tattoos, nickname, jargon) playing the role of insignia.
In cases of detection in the school or vocational school of the prevalence among students of the specified "norms", "laws" it is necessary to find out who implants them; apply strict measures against them; explain to students the causes and sources of

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1 Mikhailova L. Window dressing. True, March 16, 1986
2 Koretsky DA Antikiller. SPb., 1995, p. 4-5.
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the punishment of these norms and their harmfulness, to show to whom they are beneficial; constantly oppose to them the universal norms of the hostel, trying to quickly translate them into traditions. The more a school or college has socially valuable “friends”, not only big ones, but also “small” traditions (how to meet newcomers, how to build relationships with teachers, etc.) 1, the fewer opportunities there will be for the emergence of “norms” and "laws" of criminal content.