Education of juvenile offenders in the late 19th – early 20th centuries from the perspective of a criminological approach

Introduction. The objective is to reveal the peculiarities of organization of educational work with juvenile offenders from criminological approach and consider the results of reforming this category of persons basing on the archives of Storozhishchenskaya correctional orphanage colony of the Smolensk province in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Materials and Methods. The authors employed general theoretical methods (analysis, synthesis, actualization, systematization) and historical and pedagogical methods (identifying the basic conditions for the implementation of the criminological approach in the Storozhischenskaya correctional orphanage colony in the Smolensk province in the late 19th – early 20th centuries). Results and Discussion. From the second half of the 19th century institutions for juvenile offenders began to open in the Russian Empire. At that time scientists developed a criminological approach, which showed the ways to solve this urgent problem for the country. They studied the factors leading to child crime; considered legislative aspects in the field of juvenile delinquency; pointed out the necessity of consideration of age-related characteristics of children who committed crimes when choosing the optimal form of their punishment. Conclusions. The criminological approach to the process of reforming juvenile offenders in the late 19th - early 20th centuries contributed to the reorganization of pedagogical activities in institutions for this category of persons: the education of child offenders took place based on humanization, respect for the child and the full development of his personality. The Storozhischenskaya correctional orphanage colony in the Smolensk province maximally focused on the ideas of representatives of the criminological approach in order to increase the efficiency of the process of reforming children who violated the law.