2nd Edition

Russian Youth Law, Deviance, and the Pursuit of Freedom

    230 Pages
    by Routledge

    230 Pages
    by Routledge

    In the generation that has passed, what have we learned about the rule of law, legality, legal reasoning, and deviance in Russia? And what about the general subject of legal socialization—how young people learn about rules, norms, and laws; what their attitudes about rules and laws are; and, if and whether this knowledge and these attitudes shape their behavior? The second edition of Russian Youth asks and answers these questions.

    Introduction to the Second Edition 1. Legal Socialization in Disparate Legal Contexts 2. Foundations for the Study of Legal Socialization 3. Law and Law Reform 4. Crime, Delinquency, and Youth Problems 5. Corruption, the Shadow Economy, and Organized Crime: An Unsavory Context for Learning Legality 6. The Joys and Sorrows of Cross-Cultural Research 7. A Soviet and an American View of the Law 8. Law and Deviance through the Eyes of Russian Youth 9. Three Perspectives: American, Soviet, and Russian 10. Voices of a New Russia

    Biography

    James O. Finckenauer is a Professorial Fellow in the Division of Global Affairs at Rutgers University, USA. He previously served the School of Criminal Justice from 1974 to 2011 as an Associate Professor, Professor I, and Professor II. He also served as President of the NJ Council of Educational Institutions for Law Enforcement, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and the International Association for the Study of Organized Crime. He was a visiting professor in Australia, China, Germany, Japan, and Russia, and studied or lectured in Europe, Asia, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, and the Middle East. From 1998 to 2002, he was Director of the International Center at the National Institute of Justice of the U.S. Department of Justice, while on academic leave; and in 2007 he was a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Hong Kong.

    James Finckenauer’s book Russian Youth represents a milestone in the history of cross-national and cross-cultural social science research, first for setting out the many challenges such an ambitious comparative research project entails. But the results of the project also matter. This book deserves the wide audience that its reissue should foster, and will hopefully lead to replication of its inquiry in new contexts.

    --Peter Solomon, Professor Emeritus, Centre for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, University of Toronto

    This is a telling cross-cultural study on the socialization, moral development, social bonds and delinquent behavior of Russian and American Youth from schools and country-specific juvenile institutions before and after the break-up of the Soviet Union, and at a critical time of liberalization. Rich with unexpected empirical results and sophisticated theoretical explanations, James Finckenauer’s book is a challenging stimulus for new studies.

    --Victor M. Kogan, Professor, Criminal Justice and Sociology, Saint Martin's University

    Too many students of Russia dismiss law as irrelevant and its young people as lacking moral fiber. Finckenauer takes a more nuanced approach. He breaks down the process of legal socialization, providing insight into why some, but not all, Russian youth pay attention to the law. His work deserves to be read by anyone trying to understand the reality of post-Soviet Russia.

    --Kathryn Hendley, William Voss-Bascom Professor of Law and Political Science, University of Wisconsin Law School

    This significant study, based on considerable fieldwork, reveals how the legal socialization that formed today’s generation has entrenched authoritarian roots that impede the move from a culture of repression to a culture of lawfulness. In so doing, it does no less than expose the most critical of challenges for tomorrow’s adults.

    --Nanci Adler, Professor, Memory, History, and Transnational Justice, NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies, University of Amsterdam