CRIME IN THE NEP VILLAGE: HISTORICAL AND GENERATIONAL ASPECT

Abstract

This article examines the phenomenon of peasant crime during the NEP period using a wide range of documents. For the first time in - Russian historiography, the generational structure of rural crime is examined. Archival documents, the vast majority of which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, are used to study the main groups of offenses committed in the village. Using statistical data, the article examines the generational structure of crime, in particular the generation of “children of the revolution,” the “revolutionary turning point,” and the older generation. Particular attention is paid to the causes of changes in the quantitative and qualitative indicators of crime rates depending on age. The author concludes that the majority of peasant offenders were young people of the “children of the revolution” generation. This situation was due to the fact that their formative period coincided with a time of wars and revolutions, which had a negative impact on the psychology of the peasantry. In the 1920s, “children of the revolution” committed the majority of cases of hooliganism, theft, sexual offenses, banditry, and murder. The study found that for the generation of the “revolutionary turning point,” the most common violations of the law were offenses against administrative order, embezzlement, misappropriation, and fraud. It is concluded that the alcoholization of the peasantry was a key factor in the rise in rural crime rates. It is shown that the widespread prevalence of hooliganism during the period under study is linked to the economic and social instability of society. Overall, the period of revolutionary upheaval sharply increased the level of crime in society, which became evident during the New Economic Policy (NEP).