The Personality of a Modern Bribetaker

Abstract

A persistent negative situation in the sphere of corruption in Russia, as well as the enforcement of a new National Anti-corruption Plan for 2021-2024 approved by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of August 16, 2021 № 478, the search for new forms and methods of preventing this criminal social phenomenon and of counteracting it gain a special urgency. Experience shows that criminal law measures are not sufficient for counteracting corruption. Due to this, the role of criminology seems especially vital. A comprehensive study of the criminal’s personality will help to improve the effectiveness of preventive work for the category of people under consideration. The goal of the work is to research specific socio-demographic, moral-psychological, role and criminal law characteristics of the personality of a bribetaker in Russia today. The research is based on the analysis of Russian and foreign publications in journals of law and sociology. The empirical part consists in studying the decisions of the courts of general jurisdiction of different subjects of the Russian Federation (from 2018 to 2023) and official statistical information on criminal prosecution under Art. 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Besides, the author carried out a content analysis of electronic mass media on high-profile cases of bribery involving officials at different levels. It was found that, at the present time, a bribetaker in Russia is male (with a growing share of female bribetakers), aged 30-49, a Russian citizen with a higher education, married with underage children, employed by law enforcement or state and municipal bodies. He is described favorably as a responsible, sociable and competent person both at work and in personal life. Key individual psychological features include emotional stability, ability to control and manipulate people, ability to build necessary connections, denial of moral and criminal norms, avarice, tolerance to corruption, thirst for power and a desire to prove himself through illegal actions.