Psychological and Criminal-Legal Features of Convicted Migrants Determining Their Aggressive Behavior (Based on the Results of Theoretical, Methodological and Empirical Research)
Ganishina I.S., Ukhova I.V. Psychological and criminal-legal characteristics of convicted migrants determining their aggressive behavior (based on the results of theoretical, methodological and empirical research). Penitentiary Science, 2026, vol. 20, no. 2 (74), pp. 210–222. doi 10.46741/2713-2811.2026.74.2.011.
the article considers psychological and criminal-legal features of convicted
migrants in places of detention. Purpose: to identify psychological and criminal-legal features of
convicted migrants in places of detention, which determine aggressive behavior, and to develop their
criminal-psychological profile. Methods and techniques: analysis of personal files, questionnaires,
interviews, testing using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Ch. Spielberger). Results: an empirical
study conducted in April 2025 in the general regime correctional facility of the Federal Penitentiary
Service of Russia in the Ryazan Oblast covered 95 convicted migrants, including those held in panel
settlements. It is established that the psychological profile of most convicted migrants in places
of detention is characterized by a combination of rigidity and instrumental aggressiveness with a
reduced level of anxiety and frustration, while statistical outliers on the scales of “Frustration”
and “Rigidity” mark a risk group with extreme distress. The revealed subcultural stratification
indicates that this category of convicts is dominated by a neutral-passive stratum, formally following
regime requirements. Based on the identified psychological and criminal-legal characteristics, a
psychological portrait of a convicted migrant in places of detention is developed. Convicted migrants
mostly serve sentences of up to 5 years, have committed crimes of a mercenary nature, 59% have
penalties, 51% do not have incentives, 35% are on the preventive register. Conclusions: based on the
theoretical analysis, it is established that aggressive behavior of convicted migrants is determined
by a complex of factors, the key of which are the state of “double marginalization” and the legal
uncertainty of their status. The empirical study has specified this model, showing that the majority
of convicted migrants in places of detention have instrumental aggression and are combined with
rigidity with reduced indicators of anxiety and frustration, while the risk group with extreme distress
and the oppositional subcultural stratum represent the main carriers of destructive potential. The
developed psychological profile of a criminal can be used for the prevention of aggressive behavior
and differentiated psychological support.
Keywords: penal system; correctional institutions; convicted migrants; aggressive behavior; psychological characteristics; criminal-legal characteristics.
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