The Soviets believed that reform happened through labor and by all accounts they were right, the recidivism rate in the USSR was something like 12-18%.
I think doing socially useful labor was part of this, but the USSR also was far ahead of capitalist countries in terms of guaranteeing basic human needs like housing, food, medicine, and education. Taking care of those covers a lot of reasons to reoffend.
I think doing socially useful labor was part of this, but the USSR also was far ahead of capitalist countries in terms of guaranteeing basic human needs like housing, food, medicine, and education. Taking care of those covers a lot of reasons to reoffend.