Victimological prevention of violent criminality against helpless victims: general theoretical analysis

¹ Law School of the Institute of Law and Management, State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education, Moscow City Pedagogical University, Department of State Legal Disciplines; Autonomous Noncommercial Organization of Higher Education Moscow International University, Department of Criminal Law and Process, Moscow, Russia
² Law School of the Institute of Law and Management, State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education, Moscow City Pedagogical University, Department of State Legal Disciplines, Moscow, Russia
³ Law School of the Institute of Law and Management, State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education, Moscow City Pedagogical University, Department of Criminal Legal Disciplines, Moscow, Russia

^* Corresponding author: ila.vnii@mail.ru

Abstract

The article discusses primary trends in prevention of violent criminality against rights and freedoms of helpless victims. Based on general theoretical methods of analysis and synthesis, generalization, citation, axiomatic methods, the authors come to a conclusion that to affect victimization processes of the most vulnerable part of population, it is required to create an informational basis covering a set of people acknowledged as helpless due to a disease or disability, of senior or minor age, as well as persons living in difficult families as potentially being at risk to be subject to criminal actions. In this connection, the authors believe that in the area of victomolgical protection of vulnerable citizens at the current stage, it is required to improve efficiency of law-enforcement activity in terms of prevention of breaches of social rights of this category of citizens, including rights for victimological rehabilitation, which requires improvement of legal mechanisms envisaging a system of measures for victimological prevention of violent criminality. Maximum possible promulgation of information concerning the number of registered crimes towards helpless victims is a relevant and vital need. First of all, this signifies attention exerted by law-enforcement authorities towards the most vulnerable part of population. Secondly, this forms an irreconcilable attitude of the society towards persons committing such crimes. Thirdly, this creates a basis to improve awareness of helpless persons relative to risks occurring due to their condition and to minimize the distrust syndrome occurring because of a stereotype concerning no possibility or desire of law-enforcement authorities to help them. Moreover, general public will have a complete and objective (rather than fragmentary) understanding covering the entire range of illegal actions committed against such victims.