Советский режим и человеческий фактор на примере функционирования системы детских домов. 1917–1930-е годы

Abstract

This article focuses on two pillars of the system of operation of children’s homes in post-revolutionary Russia—finance and personnel. On the basis of the detailed reconstruction of the characteristics established in the post-revolutionary Russian system of financing children’s institutions, including their human resources policy, the author reveals the role of personal factors in implementing the state’s official policy in the areas of mother and child protection. The author argues that, in practice, the availability of children’s homes, their level of funding, and the daily life of children living in these homes depended not so much on the relevant orders and instructions from Soviet authorities, but on the level of professionalism, integrity, initiative, and common decency of the people who implemented these regulations. This article is based on a wide range of sources, most of which were originally put into circulation among academics, and contains extensive statistical material, and tables based on archival documents.