Features of the use of punishment when providing social control over crime

Abstract

The article deals with the concept of «social control of a crime», and the role of punishment in the system of social control. It is proved that at all times the state and society have tried to minimize (to eliminate and overcome) undesirable behaviours and their carriers. In each country, a system of social control over crime and negative deviant manifestations (alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution, corruption and the like) is being created to this effect. However, none of the unwanted, negative social phenomena, including crime, could have been eliminated. The crime control is one of the forms of social control, which is a mechanism of self-organization (self-regulation) and the preservation of society through the establishment and maintenance of a normative order and removal, neutralization and minimization of deviant behaviour in a given society. The system of social control over crime includes two main methods: punishment and prevention. The article also emphasizes that at present imprisonment does not fulfill its main function, i.e. reducing crime and is an ineffective measure of punishment with numerous side effects. The prison is a school of criminal professionalism, but not a place of correction. However, the prison remains indispensable, as humanity has not found anything "better" to protect society from serious crimes. It is claimed that the most important areas of Ukraine's modern crime policy should be: further decriminalization of insignificant acts that are not dangerous; implementation of the principle of "minimum repression"; more consistent implementation of inevitability of punishment principle, regardless of the social status of a perpetrator; absolute inadmissibility of unlawful violence, including torture; penitentiary reform systems; refusal of repressive conditions of detention of persons sentenced to imprisonment; strict compliance with international norms; making crime prevention a priority; formation of alternative "restorative" justice, aimed at ensuring the rights and interests of victims outside criminal justice; formation of juvenile justice; promoting legal awareness amongst the population, aimed at establishing unconditional respect for a right.