The USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs' special-regime labor colonies for juvenile offenders in the penitentiary system of the Soviet state (1948–1957)

Labor colonies with a special regime, which functioned from 1948 to 1957, constituted a specific institution within the Soviet punitive-rehabilitative system, combining elements of repressive impact and educational work. Their organization reflected the adaptation of the USSR's penal policy to new socio-legal conditions and represented an important stage in the development of the system for dealing with juvenile offenders. The analysis of the functioning of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs' labor colonies with a special regime for juvenile convicts in 1948-1957 demonstrates that their establishment was driven by the need to improve the penal system in the context of post-war increases in juvenile delinquency and an expanding contingent of young prisoners. These institutions enabled the segregation of the most dangerous and persistently disruptive convicts from the main body of adolescents, ensured strict control and supervision, and created conditions for implementing educational and labor programs. Their abolition in the mid-1950s was linked to the beginning of reforms in penal policy and a shift towards partial humanization of measures applied to juvenile offenders, aligning with the general trend of the "Thaw" in the social and legal spheres. A historiographic analysis of this institution allows for the conclusion regarding its significance for understanding the evolution of the Soviet penitentiary system and the specifics of implementing state policy towards adolescent offenders. The experience of labor colonies with a special regime illustrates the combination of repressive and rehabilitative mechanisms characteristic of the Soviet punitive-rehabilitative model and remains an important source for studying the patterns of development of penal practice in the USSR. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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