G. Ye. Zaporozhtseva
Moscow Witte University, Moscow, Russian Federation
Return of the criminal to the crime scene: based on the F. M. Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” novel
Abstract. The episode where Rodion Raskolnikov returns to the crime scene became the reason for the author’s long years of reflection on the criminal’s behavior mechanisms. The purpose of the study is to conduct a psychological analysis of Raskolnikov’s behavior when he returns to the crime scene through the theory of Z. Freud. The methodology included the reflexology by I. P. Pavlov, V. M. Bekhterev, I. M. Sechenov, A. A. Ukhtomsky, the theory of person’s relations by V. N. Myasishchev, the theory of A. V. Dulov, the theory of Z. Freud, principles of systemacity, unity of consciousness and activity, causality, pleasure-displeasure, content analysis of Dostoevsky’s novel, empirical method of author’s observations based from his own practical work in law enforcement. An analysis of the determinants of the return to the crime scene of the main character of the novel “Crime and Punishment” through the psychoanalysis and reflexology is being undertaken for the first time. Based on the theory of A. V. Dulov about the impact of criminal activity on the increase in the mental stress of the criminal and guided by the theory of Z. Freud on the principle of pleasure-displeasure the author demonstrates by Raskolnikov’s behavior that one of the reasons for the return of the criminal to the crime scene is the need to relieve mental stress determined by the consequences of the crime and getting pleasure from the discharge of an overstrained nervous system. This research is important both for theory and for law enforcement practice. The psychological analysis of criminal behavior outlined in the article will allow employees whose profession is related to crime solution to look into criminal’s inner world, to predict the consequences of the crime that can be expressed in form of return of the criminal to the crime scene.
Keywords: F. M. Dostoevsky, R. Raskolnikov, Crime and Punishment, the consequences of criminal behavior, the return of the criminal to the crime scene, the principles of pleasure-displeasure, mental tension.
Paper submitted: December 17, 2021.
For citation: Zaporozhtseva G. Ye. (2022). Return of the criminal to the crime scene: based on the F. M. Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” novel. Russian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 24–31. DOI: 10.17238/ issn1998-5320.2022.16.1.3.
