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Socialism, Capitalism, and the Reproduction of Crime

NCJ Number
99447
Journal
Crime and Social Justice Issue: 23 Dated: (1985) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
M Dixon, G Shank
Date Published
1985
Length
170 pages
Annotation
Papers in this issue address legal system development following the socialist revolutions in Cuba and Nicaragua, crime prevention activities by law enforcement agencies in the Soviet Union, the offense of social parasitism in Poland, new directions for leftist criminal justice research, and elderly criminality.
Abstract
The first paper describes the Nicaraguan justice system and cites official data to document a decline in crime since 1979. A Soviet professor reviews the constitutional basis of Soviet law and procedures and the crime prevention responsibilities of various law enforcement agencies. Two papers on Cuba focus on (1) the relationship between legal and social change since 1959 and the 1979 Cuban Penal Code and (2) the 1984 First Scientific Symposium on Politics and Ideology and its Relationship with Law. Another paper describes the Polish Government's 1983 draft on the legal regulation of social parasitism and comments on its implementation. In the theoretical area, one paper discusses the research implications of the view that future society will be characterized by individualized markets, an economy based on information rather than industry, decentralization, and decisionmaking by small entities linked by flexible networks. Another commentary analyzes the relationship between Marxism and positivism, outlining a neo-Marxist conception of human agency based on Hegel. The final paper, using Uniform Crime Reports data from 1967 to 1982, refutes the contention that criminality is increasing among the elderly. References accompany most papers.