2. Psychological phenomena that ensure the cohesion of criminal communities of minors

Teenagers and youths are attracted to criminal groups by the fact that the inner life of these communities is surrounded by rituals, which, being very infectious, make the above-mentioned norms of the criminal world emotionally attractive. The most common rituals accompanying the procedure: "marking" the successful completion of the crime; testing and admission of a newcomer to the group, determining his status, rights and obligations; "cleansing" of persons who have defiled themselves by touching the "offended"; food intake; using the toilet and “cleansing” itself after visiting it; "fights" and punish those responsible; ostracism and others.
In the quality of the mechanism of continuity, stability established in the criminal world of relations are the tradition-. of As in ordinary social communities, criminal traditions are, on the one hand, the product of the social interaction of minors, and on the other, a factor regulating their behavior and intergroup relations. Most often, the traditions considered take the above-considered norms of the criminal subculture. At the same time, the traditions established in criminal groups differ, on the one hand, by their universality, and on the other, by a certain peculiarity peculiar only to this community. The tradition of negative attitudes in groups of juvenile offenders towards people cooperating with the authorities, activists, gay, oppressing strangers, etc. is universal. However, in every region, every institution, every criminal group, these traditions are filled with their content, acquire their own the form of manifestation, they are surrounded by "their" peculiar to this community, rituals.
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1 See. Kondratyev M.Yu. The authority of the teacher as a result of his personalization // Psychology of a developing personality. M., 1987.
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The means of cementing criminal groups are also oaths (in the jargon, to give an oath - “to swear”, to break an oath - to “make good”). The social harm of the vows is that, firstly, they unite young people into criminal groups, and secondly, they criminalize the person. The system of expectations encourages those who have given their word to strictly observe it. Severe sanctions are applied to the "advanced ones". Mafiosi, speculating on the inviolability of the oaths, tenaciously keep under control a group of underage criminals.
The oath ritual has strict rules: the word is given in the presence of "witnesses." “Dismantling” in the event of a violation of the oath is also done in the presence of others, so that “it will be difficult for others to break this word”
Ostracism, which exists since ancient times (expelled people from the tribe, from society, from the state, from work), is especially widespread in the criminal subculture. The methods of ostracism are eternal: first discredit the person, depersonalize it, and then demand that it be removed or removed. In the youth criminal environment, the most important means of depersonalization are: sodomy, “waffle”, “paraffin”, forcing to clean the toilet, to perform other “dirty work”.
Ostracism has a “normative” basis and a clear execution procedure. The danger of ostracism as a social and age-related psychological phenomenon is that it is becoming increasingly common among law-abiding young people. Teenagers and young men are well oriented in the methods of depersonalization used in the criminal environment, in the procedure and mechanisms of ostracism. Many follow these rules themselves. This indicates a merging of criminal and youth subcultures.
So, the students of one of the schools in the Tushinsky district of Moscow, Andrei F., Sergey Sh. And Nikolai P., meeting a student of this school, Boris X., demanded money from him, threatening him with a safety razor. Since he did not have the money, they brought him to the garages, and using a painful hold, they forced him to "smoke the penis." The next day they told the children about it at school. The students stopped talking to him, nobody wanted to sit at the same desk, come into contact with him. Boris tried to commit suicide.
A similar case occurred in one of the Moscow schools, as reported by the editor of the magazine "Professional" worker of this school. The school was entered by a young man, Sergey G., who was freed from the educational and labor colony, where he joined homosexuality. He inclined persuasion, threats, bribing a teenager Cyril 3. to sodomy. Having performed sexual intercourse with Cyril, Sergey told about this group. Then the guys themselves with him "tried." Having satisfied their curiosity, the group demanded to expel him from school.
An important attribute of the criminal subculture is the nicknames (cliques, chased) - often quite apt nicknames, pasted to a person by ironic clever men, in which the interpersonal relations in the criminal environment are clearly manifested1. Nicknames perform a number of interrelated functions:
1) replace the surname (communication function);
2) serve as a means of stigmatization (branding);
3) consolidate the status of the individual in the group hierarchy;
4) serve as a verbal means of depersonalization (by vesting a person with insulting nicknames). As a rule, the nicknames are stable, stick so that they do not tear off, do not get rid of, and their change occurs only with a change in the status of their carrier.
The nicknames reflect the objective data of the individual, her surroundings:
a) characterological features and habits: Shnir - sneaky, Pimple - malicious, Helicopter - talker;
b) physical features and deficiencies: Auburn - for hair color, Dowel - for a big nose, Scythe - for visual defects, Hunchback - for deformity;
c) transformed names and surnames: Michael - from Michael, Tsar - from Tsarev, Hor, from Khorkov, Skin - from Mekhov;
d) status in society (criminal group): the King, the Prince, the Director - the leaders; The bug, Bacillus, Ascaris - bottoms;
d) irony: Associate Professor, Intelligent - stupid; Cheerful - sad; Hockey player - lame with a stick;
e) the specifics of criminal activity: Brilliant - currency exporter, Ogonyok - apartment thief, Executioner - murderer;
g) socio-regional origin and nationality: Chechen, Mongolian, Japanese, Odessans;
h) former pre-criminal activity: Dukhar - a musician, Klistir - a medic, Financier - an accountant;
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1 Popov I. How to get rid of the nickname // Arguments and Facts. 1993, No. 23.
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i) borrowed from foreign words: Dregh - scum, Ranger - tramp;
j) animal names: Bear, Wolf, Jackal, etc.
Nicknames as it grows together with the person and remain, even if the offender is transferred to another institution or changed his place of residence. In migrants, the nickname obtained in the new place of residence in 70% of cases coincides in meaning with the previously existing one. This is especially true of stereotypical nicknames, given for appearance, physical and characterological features, regional origin. Some teenagers and young men are trying to get rid of the nicknames of offensive, evil, going from their physical disabilities, bad character traits and habits. However, these attempts are met with resistance from the criminal authorities1.
The material and financial element of the criminal subculture is the "common pot" ("common fund", "thief cash desk", crime instruments, cold and firearms). "Obshchak" exists not only in closed institutions, where the material benefits of the individual are limited, but also in criminal groups at large, performing the following functions in the criminal environment:
1) the financial and material base of uniting and rallying adolescents and young men into criminal groups (for example, renting dens);
2) further criminalization of the group and the individual, since it is replenished with funds obtained by criminal means;
3) material consolidation of the status of the individual (the weight of the benefits and the interest from them directly depend on the status of the debtor);
4) propaganda of "justice", "equality" and "thieves fraternity" in the criminal world;
5) assistance to persons who are oppressed by the administration of closed institutions (for example, who ended up in a punishment cell) or who were at liberty in a difficult financial situation;
6) bribing the criminal world with representatives of the authorities and law enforcement agencies (this takes up to 1/3 of all funds).
The erosion of the “thieves 'law” and criminal morality led to the emergence of a whole system of deception by individual criminals of the “thieves' fraternity” and created a system of retaliatory protective measures to protect the “common pot”. A concrete measure to combat the "common pot" in the adolescent and youth environment
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1 Popov And, How to get rid of the nickname // Arguments and Facts. 1993, No. 23.
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perhaps the creation of a counterweight to him in the form of the material and financial basis of student self-government in a market economy