Value orientations of convicts in a closed social system of a penitentiary institution

The social and economic processes related to the changing nature of social relations taking place in our country affect almost all social groups and communities. These processes cannot but influence the nature of the formation of social values of a person as a member of these social communities. Sociologists are particularly interested in studying the principles and forms of formation of personal value orientations in closed social formations. One of the most closed social institutions in our country is the penal enforcement (penitentiary) system. The social contingent contained in conditions of isolation from society is distinguished by a certain specificity — the presence of criminal experience, and consequently, a certain system of value representations. In the course of numerous studies, penitentiary sociologists have documented the transformation of the value orientations of those sentenced to imprisonment. The result of the analysis of the data obtained was an a priori statement that all changes in the value orientations of convicts are usually socially negative. The author of the article treats such conclusions with a certain degree of criticality. In particular, it is noted that the convict comes to a closed society already possessing a certain system of basic values. Therefore, they cannot disappear from him. He can give them a completely different qualitative assessment, because not all of them can be important in conditions of isolation from society. They can transform in accordance with the changes in the consciousness of the convict himself. And most importantly, the convict may develop new social values that may be relevant to this social system.