Criminological urban science: the contribution of scientists of Moscow University to its formation and development prospects in the XXI century

Abstract

In today’s world, it’s crucial not only to focus criminological research on urban issues, but also to develop an independent field within criminology. The author proposes calling it criminological urbanology. This field could focus on the determination of crime in urban settings, as well as criminological prevention processes. The emergence of a broader field, legal urbanology, may serve as a basis for this conclusion. The historical premise for the emergence of criminological urbanology should be considered the comprehensive study of territorial differences in crime conducted in the Soviet Union and abroad. Prominent scholars from the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology at Moscow University — Professors M.N. Gernet, A.N. Trainin, A.A. Gertsenzon, and N.F. Kuznetsova — made significant scientific contributions to this field. The paper presents a brief overview of their scientific contributions to the study of urban crime, using Moscow as an example. The studies of Moscow crime in 1923 and 1968–69 played a particularly important role, addressing not only scientific but also educational objectives. The involvement of students from the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Law of Moscow University facilitated the students’ acquisition of independent research skills, a sense of the connection between research and practice, and a more detailed understanding of the subject. The mission of the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology at Lomonosov Moscow State University is to continue the scientific tradition at the present stage.

References

1. Ananich, V.A. (1986). Features of increasing the effectiveness of crime prevention by law enforcement agencies in large cities. Minsk (in Russ.).
2. Babaev, M.M. and Koroleva, M.V. (1990). Crime of newcomers in the capital city. Moscow (in Russ.).
3. Gabiani, A.A., Gachechiladze, R.G. and Didebulidze, M.I. (1985). Crime in cities and rural areas. Tbilisi (in Russ).
4. Gernet, M.N. (1905). Social factors of crime. Moscow (in Russ.).
5. Gernet, M.N. (1924). The criminal world of Moscow, Moscow (in Russ).
6. Gladkikh, V.I., Borbat, A.V. and Shabanov, G.H. (1998). Crime in the Moscow region. Condition. Features. Trends. Moscow (in Russ.).
7. Kogan, L.B. (2003). Cities and politics: Russian lessons. Moscow (in Russ.).
8. Kuznetsova, N.F. (2003). Selected works. St. Petersburg (in Russ.).
9. Ovchinsky, V.S. and Tsarev, A.I. (1975). Crime in medium and small towns and the activities of law enforcement agencies to prevent it. Moscow (in Russ.).
10. Ostroumov, S.S. and Kuznetsova, N.F. (2009). On the teaching of Soviet criminology. The Russian criminological view, 2, pp. 52–56 (in Russ).
11. Trapsh, V.G. (1984). Crime prevention in the agglomeration of a super-large city. Minsk (in Russ.).