Variability of the Criminal Personality
Aleksandrova V.V. Variability of the criminal personality. Penitentiary Science, 2026, vol. 20, no. 3 (75), pp. doi 10.46741/27132811.2026.75.3.004
the article discusses the variability of the criminal personality, as well as
determines appropriate criteria for assessing the degree of personality variability for the purposes
of law enforcement practice. The significance of personality variability for criminal law, penal
law, and criminology is demonstrated. Purpose: to optimize the scientific concepts developed in
various fields of science regarding the possibility of personality variability, as well as the criteria that
make it possible to determine the degree of personality change both over time and as a result ofcriminal legal and penal measures. Methods: empirical methods of description and interpretation;
theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic; legal dogmatic, comparative legal methods, and
the method of interpreting legal norms. Results: it is established that the property of personality
variability is of great importance for criminal and penal law, as well as for criminology. The general
approaches developed by philosophy and psychology regarding personality traits have specific
features determined by the nature of the respective fields. In relation to the variability of the criminal
personality, only those traits, characteristics, and processes that influence the commission of
a crime by an individual are subject to consideration. The need for intersectoral coordination and
interaction between different fields in the development, recording, and assessment of changes in
the characteristics of a criminal’s personality is demonstrated. Thus, a criminological task is to study
and identify the personality characteristics associated with different types of crime. At the stage of
court proceedings, it is necessary to identify the aforementioned personality characteristics and
take them into account when imposing criminal punishment. In relation to the problems of criminal
and penal law, strict differentiation and a clear formulation of the criteria for assessing personality
changes based on the available data about the individual are required.
Keywords: personality of the criminal; personality of the offender; personality of the convict; variability of the criminal personality; loss of public danger of the individual; rehabilitation of the convict; criteria for assessing variability; criteria for the rehabilitation of the convict.
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