ENSURING EMPLOYMENT OF CONVICTS AS THE MAIN DIRECTION OF RECIDIVISM PREVENTION
Authors:   East Siberia State University of Technology and Management, Filippova Olga V. 
Published: December 2024

In the execution of punishments and prevention of recidivism, the problem of ensuring employment of convicts remains relevant: in 2022, about half of convicts not isolated from society and registered with penal inspectorates did not work or study while serving their sentences; less than 40% of convicts were involved in paid labor in correctional institutions. The only punishment during which all convicts without exception work is a punishment in the form of forced labor. During their sentence, convicts are supervised, engaged in productive work, receive income, compensate for damages, and demonstrate a low recidivism rate. In order to achieve the preventive purpose of punishment, it is necessary to ensure employment of convicts. Labor activity is enshrined in the Penal Code of the Russian Federation as a means of correcting convicts. Nevertheless, in the modern period, a significant portion of convicts are not engaged in work while serving their sentences: in 2022, 44.8% of convicts not isolated from society and registered with penal inspectorates did not work or study; in places of deprivation of liberty, only about 40% of convicts were involved in paid work. The unemployment of conditionally sentenced persons is largely due to the fact that the courts, when applying a conditional sentence, do not impose on the conditionally sentenced person the obligation to work (find a job), although it is fixed in the list provided for in Part 5 of Article 73 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In practice, this obligation is imposed on a person after their registration with the penal inspectorate; the latter, if the conditionally sentenced person evades compensation for damage (in full or in part) caused by the crime, applies to the court with a motion to impose additional obligations. Meanwhile, from the moment of conviction until the imposition of the conditionally sentenced person’s obligation to work (find a job), a long time passes, during which the person continues to evade socially useful activities, does not have a permanent source of income, and allows unlawful behavior. In turn, in correctional institutions, the problem of ensuring employment of convicts is associated with the lack of the necessary number of orders for the needs of the penal system. After release from prison, former convicts also do not find work: according to the results of a survey of persons who committed a new crime after release from a correctional institution, 61.1% did not find a job after serving their sentence; of those who found a job, more than a half (61.4%) did random jobs. Reducing the degree of recidivism of individuals who have previously committed crimes is possible only with their maximum involvement in work activities. The only punishment during which all convicts without exception work is a punishment in the form of forced labor. When serving it, convicts are under supervision, do productive work, receive income, and compensate for damages while demonstrating a low level of recidivism. In this regard, further expansion of the use of punishment in the form of forced labor seems justified.