Social penitentiary psychology: theory and application aspects

The article reasons social penitentiary psychology as an independent field. The convict’s personality is the main object of penitentiary psychology. Social and psychological vision of the origin of this social phenomenon is the most reasonable one to be used for studying modern crime in Russia. Training of penitentiary officers within the context of social penitentiary psychology contributes to actualization of psychologically-oriented approach to social work with convicts.