THE CENTRAL THESIS OF THIS ARTICLE IS THE HIGH QUALITY AND SOPHISTICATION OF SOVIET CRIMINOLOGY DURING THE PERIOD UNDER DISCUSSION, AS COMPARED TO ITS SUBSEQUENT MISUSE. THE SCOPE OF SOVIET CRIMINOLOGY ENCOMPASSED SOCIOCULTURAL ISSUES, SUCH AS THE POPULATION MOVEMENT; THE CHANGING OF THE SEXES; URBAN AND RURAL LIVING CONDITIONS; AND THE CHANGING FAMILY STRUCTURE, WHICH RESULTED FROM THE YEARS OF REVOLUTION AND CIVIL WAR. SUCH ISSUES WERE ANALYZED FOR THEIR IMPACT ON CRIMINALITY: SOCIAL CONDITIONS, OTHERWISE IGNORED IN RESEARCH OF THE PERIOD, WERE CENTRAL TO SOVIET SCHOLARSHIP ON CRIME PATTERNS OF THOSE YEARS. FROM 1917 TO 1936 ORIGINAL AND PENETRATING RESEARCH ON CRIME FOCUSED ON THE CRIMINAL WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF HIS SOCIETY. PROGRESS WAS MADE IN STATISTICAL, THEORETICAL, AND PENOLOGICAL STUDIES OF CRIMINALITY. THOUGH SCHOLARS DID NOT EMPLOY THE ADVANCED STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES USED BY MODERN WESTERN SCHOLARS, THEY BASED THEIR CONCLUSIONS ON METHODOLOGICALLY SOUND RESEARCH. WITH STALIN'S ACCESS TO POWER RESEARCH BECAME A PROPAGANDA TOOL FOR THE GOVERNMENT AND ITS QUALITY DETERIORATED. EXISTING CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH WAS NOT ONLY POLITICIZED, BUT ITS METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR THE LATER DEVELOPMENT OF CRIMINOLOGY WERE IMPAIRED. SIGNIFICANT CRIMINOLOGICAL SCHOLARSHIP TERMINATED AS THE SOVIET CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND SOVIET CRIMINOLOGISTS WERE PRESSED INTO SERVICE AS IDEOLOGICAL SUPPORTERS OF THE REPRESSION OF POLITICAL OPPONENTS OF THE SOVIET REGIME. EXAMINATION OF THE HISTORY OF EARLY SOVIET CRIMINOLOGY RAISES SERIOUS QUESTIONS CONCERNING CONTEMPORARY MARXIST CLAIMS THAT SOCIALISM LEADS TO A PROGRESSIVE LEGAL SYSTEM AND IMPROVED CRIMINOLOGY WHICH BETTER SERVES THE INTERESTS OF THE MASSES. FOOTNOTES ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)