4. Motives for applying and removing tattoos

The motives of tattooing. In a criminal environment, tattooing is a common occurrence. The very process of their application is so contagious that the majority of teenagers agree to this voluntarily. Motives for voluntary tattooing are very diverse. Here and the desire to follow the established traditions and norms of the criminal world; conformism ("to be like everyone &; gt ;, ks standing out from their community) and, conversely," not to be like everyone else "(nihilism): stand out from the group, show their originality, originality; please people of the opposite sex; confirm your high status in the criminal community or through tattoos to mislead the members of the new group about their previous status, to demonstrate their independence and independence, hardness and ability to endure pain. Often, adolescents and young people resort to tattoos for an argument, according to mood to challenge adults, and sometimes -. and stupidity is how they have defined their motivation (see Table 7.2.).

Table 7.2. Motives for tattooing juvenile offenders

	% of the number of respondents	Ranked a place
Tattoo motifs
Imitation (caused because others did)	31.6	one
Has put from nothing to do (from boredom)	30.0	2

I wanted to be beautiful, like others	21.7	3
I wanted to show my involvement in the criminal	10.7	four
the world
I wanted to stand out, not be like everyone else	4.5	5-6
I wanted to gain credibility in the case of transfer to ITK	4.5	5-6
I wanted to gain credibility in this institution	1.5	7
Other motives	5.5
Total	100

We give some explanation of this table. The motives show strong intragroup dependence of adolescents. So, on the motive “put it because it was done by others”, 31.6% of the people examined put tattoos. There is not a single motive here, but a whole group of different motives: because of bravado, absurd vanity, the desire to show oneself seasoned, resilient. This motive may hide the vitality of the “thieves' traditions”, pressure (psychological pressure of the group). All this encourages the novice to look for inadequate ways of asserting himself in the criminal world and his group. Often tattooing in criminal communities takes on the character of an epidemic. It can be difficult for an inexperienced person to resist such group pressure, to be accused of cowardice, inability to endure pain, and so on. Moreover, the absence of tattoos in the criminal environment is considered something unlawful, shameful affair.
Tattoos are most often used by minors and young people in conditions of inactivity and unorganized rest. It is not by chance that 30.0% indicated that they had inflicted tattoos "out of boredom" in order for the time to pass faster, "because of nothing to do." This is indicative of closed institutions and "parties" in the cities; 21.7% applied tattoos in order to "be beautiful, like others"; 10.7% wanted to "show their involvement in the criminal world." Tattoos are common in groups of males and females. A significant part of the examined was subjected to tattooing by force or after appropriate psychological treatment.
Violent tattoos. Usually applied: 1) losers in the cards and do not give in time debts; 2) stealing his (krysyatnikov); 3) convicted for the rape of minors; 4) homosexuals; 5) child molesters; 6) for informers1. Refusal to apply tattoos, and above all, status insignia - this is a serious violation of criminal traditions, entailing severe sanctions. This is how a traumatic situation arises, from which a person is looking for a way out by applying “moderate” tattoos to himself. Tattoos are also used as a talisman - a sign that saves from trouble if a teenager enters a new environment.
Tattooing is a group process. One is uninteresting to make tattoos, and it is not always handy: it is difficult to find tools, dyes, it is inconvenient to put drawings on yourself! back of the body. The process of tattooing in criminal groups * is arranged by appropriate rituals that promote the rapprochement and consolidation of the group, the development of common moral principles of behavior, which are reflected in the plots of drawings and inscriptions.
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1 From the collection of Baldaev D.S.
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Therefore, it is possible to consider tattoos not so much as personal, but as group values, emphasizing the adolescent's belonging to a specific criminal group. Consequently, in tattoos unified group settings, ideals, which contributes to the development of a single type of behavior for all members of the group.
Thus, tattoos influence the cohesion of a criminal group from two sides: first, from the procedural (activity) side, uniting and rallying the group on the basis of joint activities - tattooing; secondly, from the side of content (ideological and moral content, reflected in the drawings and inscriptions on the body), refracted in the group consciousness of minors. Both of these aspects must be considered in unity when studying the group crime of adolescents and youths.
There was and is a whole tattoo industry. Even in "zones" traditional means and methods of tattooing (needle, ink pens, compasses, guitar strings, mechanical razors, pre-made cliches), improvised dyes (ink, burnt rubber, brick dust, ballpoint pens paste, etc.) depart into the past. If necessary, they issue and deliver modern dyes, automated means of drawing pictures for substantial money, at least to Butyrka. According to the history of places of social isolation, the elite of the underworld is "discharged" and delivered to the "zones" of class artists for tattooing. If the criminal world managed to organize a "thieves' gathering" in the same "Butyrka", which made a lot of noise, 2 then it doesn’t "drag" into the "zone" for the time of the artist, to transfer it from the "zone" to the "zone". “After initiation into“ thieves in law ”, the Varyag became a grandee of the underworld and rose to the topmost level. In one of the Vorkuta zones, hooliganism and debauchery was served by a famous artist who made stencils and soldered his fingers for rations. taking advantage of the obschak's money, Varyag ensured that the artist was transferred to them to the zone, which immediately received mighty patronage. Namely, he created the most important tattoo in his life, which elevated him over other convicts: the cross, and above him two hovering angels "3.

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1 Tepes V. Do not go to "Butyrku" // Komsomolskaya Pravda, 1995, No. 32. 'Kislinskaya L. Shodnyak in Butyrka as an apophigy of underdeveloped capitalism
2 Moscow Railroad, 1994, No. 32. E. Sukhov. I am a thief in law. M, 1995, p. 14.
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“On the outside” applying any tattoos is not difficult, since in many cities there are officially tat-rooms, where, under sterile conditions, masters of their craft “create beauty” on the human body. However, this requires substantial cash outlay. Therefore, in spontaneous criminal groups, yard companies, handicraft methods and means of tattooing are still used. Widely used are the methods of transferring to the body plots and pictures from illustrated magazines. A teenager doing a tattoo yourself is using a mirror for this purpose. However, mutual tattooing in the group is most common. This is explained by the fact that not everyone is able to endure this painful problem alone (one example of others, an element of competition, exhilaration that helps overcome fear. In addition, it is difficult for one to find and make tattooing tools, to get dyes. Not everyone is able to draw. It is also impossible to apply a tattoo on the back, sides, buttocks should be taken into account and the fact that it is simply not interesting for one to make a tattoo.
Tattoos are used in the police to identify the individual, in the process of investigation - for identification. This takes into account not only the content of drawings, inscriptions, signs, but also the quality of applied tattoos. The higher their quality, the higher the position of the offender in the group hierarchy. \ Motives for tattoo removal. Minors no-time - &; gt; This refers to applied tattoos. At first, they experience a sense of superiority over others, take pride in their tattoos, and then get used to them. This applies to individuals who voluntarily applied tattoos. Understanding the harm caused by this procedure usually comes too late. But many who have made tricks "out of stupidity" and regret it, soon come to the conclusion about the need to get rid of them. Those who were tattooed forcibly, from the very beginning, are concerned with how to get rid of the shameful stigma. Everything requires the study and knowledge of the motives for which adolescents want to get rid of tattoos (see table 7.3).

Table 7.3. Motives for getting rid of tattoos

Motives for getting rid of tattoos	%	Rank
Tattoos are a telltale sign	24.4	one
Dissatisfied with the quality of applied tattoos	20.0	3

Motives for getting rid of tattoos	%	Rank
Dissatisfied with tattoo content	13.3	four
I consider it immoral to have tattoos	10.6	five
Tattoos cause ridicule	8.9	6
Difficult to answer	22,8	2

The table shows that about 20% (10.6 + 8.9) of adolescents want to get rid of tattoos for moral reasons. They feel a sense of shame or a state of discomfort, getting into a new environment and being in the center of attention of others. For these people, tattoos become a serious obstacle when adapting to a new educational or labor collective. They are avoided by others, they do not trust. This causes conflicts, protests, rudeness, heavy experiences.
Minors are trying to get rid of tattoos and because they cause not just wariness, but ridicule of others, especially if the tattoos are humiliating and offensive in nature (stigma tattoos). If it is impossible to get rid of such tattoos, then they are reworked, trying to hide their humiliating nature.
Over 24% of minors seek to remove tattoos because they unmask (the police immediately “draws”) and interfere with further criminal activity. By removing tattoos, minors and young people are trying to get rid of such obvious and obvious evidence showing that the wearer belongs to the criminal world.
Special mention should be made of those who are dissatisfied with the quality (20%) and the content (13.3%) of tattoos. Every third of the surveyed tried to reduce the "unsuccessful" tattoos and apply new, brighter, trendy, original ones, or "correct" the old ones, taking into account the changed status in the criminal group.
22.8% of the surveyed found it difficult to specify the specific motives for tattoo removal. However, conversations with them show that there are several such motives, they act as if in a complex. We have already reviewed these motives above (belated sense of shame, inconvenience, understanding of the harm caused by tattoos and the desire to correct the situation, dissatisfaction with the quality of the applied tattoos, the desire to wash off the shame of inflicted "smarties", dissatisfaction with the quality and content of tattoos and DR -) to applied tattoos, you can more effectively carry out preventive work. Thus, the public story of a person who is experiencing moral and domestic suffering from tattoos can act as a warning to adolescents trying to inflict tattoos on themselves. The classification of minors and young people in relation to applied tattoos allows for differentiated work to promote the removal of tattoos, to prevent the use of methods of removing them that are hazardous to health.

Ways to remove tattoos.
There are three "classic" groups of tattoo removal methods:
1. Surgical (various methods of excision of the relevant skin areas).
2. Electric (immersion in the skin of a needle connected to the negative pole of the battery).
3. Chemicals (rubbing the skin with various chemicals, etc.).
Currently, laser beams, other gentle methods and means are used to remove tattoos.
Having decided to remove the tattoo, minors and young people rarely, unfortunately, seek qualified medical assistance. First of all, they do not know where to turn. In addition, not all medical institutions such operations are performed. Therefore, adolescents and young people pin their hopes on "friends" and acquaintances, resorting to barbaric (without anesthesia) methods of removing tattoos. Often they try to burn out (!) Tattoos with the help of hot iron, heads of matches, burning cigarettes; tattooed places are rubbed with potassium permanganate, caustic soda, trichloroacetic acid, tannin, cut out with a razor blade, polished with emery paper, etc. All these methods leave noticeable scars and disfigure the body.
This is due to the fact that methods of self-treatment are widespread among the population, while young people are not serious about their health, and in closed correctional and educational institutions there is one more reason - the distrust of adolescents and young people in the administration of the institution. An interesting fact is that men who are most concerned about alopecia and? j tattoos. Insight comes late. ; ; • All of this indicates that the pa-s' bot is not underway to explain the danger of self-removing tattoos for human health. This applies not only to U colonies and special educational institutions, but also to secondary schools, army units, "young people also apply and remove tattoos.
You can not discount the psychological factor such as addictive person to his tattoo. In some people, a mechanism of psychological defense, a kind of “armor”, develops and begins to operate, making them inaccessible to ridicule and curious views of others. Such people do not respond to various educational measures. In order not to be alone in this regard, these adolescents and young people encourage others to repeat their mistakes.

Laboratory work

Topic: Tattoos in the juvenile delinquency value system
The task
1. By questionnaire survey of 100 schoolchildren and students of special educational institutions to identify the prevalence of tattoos among minors and their attitude towards them.
2. Collect, describe and classify 30 tattoos in the form of abbreviations, legends, drawings, symbols, rings.
3. To issue the obtained data with a report and report on the results of the practical lesson.