For the first time, from a historical perspective, an attempt was made to study the dynamics of convictions, types and categories of crimes, social characteristics of convicts in Bashkiria in the second half of the 1960s - mid-1970s. A special part in the structure of convictions was occupied by crimes against the person: murder, rape, bodily harm. The proportion of those convicted of premeditated murder in 1966 was 1.7%, in 1971 - 1.9% of the total number of those convicted. In 1976, for especially grave crimes - premeditated murders, the death penalty was applied to 10 people. About a third of those convicted were convicted of hooliganism, which has become a common deviant behavior. In the years under review, more than a quarter of the total number of convicts were convicted for acquisitive crimes, in particular for theft of state and personal property. Increased the criminogenic potential of society and parasitism, at the time of the crime, more than 1/10 of the convicted did not work or study. Active alcoholization of the country led to an increase in crime and criminal record: over half of the crimes were committed by drunk people. Certain social and class differences were observed in the structure of the convicts: more than half of them were workers, collective farmers and employees occupied approximately 1/6 and 1/10 of the convicts. Pensioners and housewives committed crimes, their share in these years amounted to about 2.5% of those convicted. Over a third of the convicts had only primary education. In 1966-1971 the scale of recidivism among persons with outstanding convictions (previously convicted, serving sentences) increased by 3.6 times; in 1976, persons with previous convictions made up more than a third of all convicts, which called into question the effectiveness of the penitentiary system.