The Geography of Soviet Criminality

Abstract

A distinct geographical distribution of criminality exists in the Soviet Union as a result of the measures of social control exercised over the mobility and residence of the population, and that differentiates Soviet crime from that of both developing and developed countries. In the USSR increasing urbanization is not correlated with higher rates of criminality. As a result of the internal passport system and the difficulties of moving to large cities, the rates of criminality in the Soviet Union have shifted from the most populous cities of the USSR to the newly established cities of the far eastern and far northern parts of the USSR and to the rapidly expanding smaller urban centers.