FOREWORD

The proposed book is the second expanded and expanded edition of "Criminal Psychology", released in 1998 in two volumes.
“Criminal psychology” with its content reflects various aspects of juvenile delinquency, from its causes, characteristics and dynamics to prevention and remedial work with offenders in places of social exclusion, participation in this work of various social institutions and officials.
Interest in the criminal psychology of adolescents is now in society so great that the first edition of the book went almost instantly. And this is not by chance. First, it is caused by the continued growth in the country and in the world of juvenile delinquency. In our country, its soil is homelessness. And secondly, this is due to the fact that our society, although very slowly, but still turns its face to the teenager, begins to appreciate him as an individual, seeks to notice and solve the problems that are now of interest and concern for adolescents and young people.
Psychology, including criminal, becomes one of the means that can be successfully used in the prevention of juvenile delinquency, and the practical psychologist becomes one of the main figures in preventive and remedial work with juvenile delinquents.
The book provides a systematic presentation of the main theoretical, methodological and practical issues in this area of ​​social reality. Special attention is paid to the methods of realization of scientific knowledge, corresponding to the modern level of development of psychological science, in working with difficult children and criminal adolescents.
Almost every adult can face the criminal behavior of teenagers in his life. Therefore, one must have an idea about the psychological mechanisms of juvenile crime and be able to deal with juvenile crime. Not only the police, but the entire society as a whole, starting with the parents, must fight teenage crime. The once famous domestic criminologist G.M. Minkovsky calculated that in Soviet society more than 50 social institutions and officials were involved, who were charged by the state with the duty to engage in the prevention of juvenile delinquency. Now they are all inactive, and the difficult teenager is left to himself, left to himself, none of adults is responsible for his behavior. Although it is known that many Western countries adopted and improved the system of prevention of juvenile delinquency created during the years of Soviet power, adding to this system, for example, the society of anonymous alcoholics, the society of anonymous drug addicts, individual patronage of difficult teenagers, various interest clubs and even such an exotic means , as the export of difficult teenagers from Germany to Russia, to Siberian villages for a period of not less than a year and living there under the guidance of a volunteer educator. So, everything useful from past experience should not be forgotten, but should be reconstructed and used taking into account the change in the personality of the adolescent, changes in the social situation in the country. It is known that teenagers who have committed a crime are isolated from society in places of detention. But as the centuries-old experience has shown, the prison does not correct the criminal, but, on the contrary, enriches him with criminal experience, which he gains in communion with his own kind. Therefore, in the second part of the book, it reveals what it acquires in places of deprivation of liberty (criminal experience and criminal subculture). Although deprivation of liberty remains one of the means of combating juvenile crime, society should be aware of the baggage with which a teenager is released in order to warn him of a new crime.
This does not remove the responsibility of society and the state to seek other (alternative) means in the fight against juvenile delinquency. You can not rely only on the social isolation of adolescents.
The publication is intended to practical psychologists of education and other professionals engaged in preventive work with juvenile offenders.
The content of the book has been tested in the course of the lecturing by the author of the course to students of the faculties of psychology of Moscow State University, MGPU, MGOPU, Institute of Youth, as well as practitioners of law enforcement agencies in different regions of the country. In preparation for publication, all comments of practical reviewers were taken into account.
The author is grateful to the reviewers and those readers who, in letters and personally, expressed their critical comments and suggestions.