CC BY
2THE ABSOLUTE NEUROTECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF RECIDIVISM
AND SOCIAL REHABILITATION OF CONVICTS
Abstract
The urgency of the investigated problem is caused by the fundamental issue in branches of criminal law, especially in penal law. The problem is in the ineffectiveness of weak correction of convicted, insignificant private prevention and the outdated methods of decrease in the level of recidivism. The purpose of the article is to show that achievements of the modern neurology and neuroscience promote solving the problem by the humane and cheap way completely. It is also the search of interested social factors points, which should be taken into account during the implementation. The lead approach is, firstly, the presentation of neuroscience achievements in case of impact on the world outlook and behavior. Secondly, it 's the search of technologies that fit the requirements of the final solution of this problem, investigation the basic interests of the state, society and citizens during the implementation, then the study of the cooperation role in implementation, the designation of basic rules, which promote the optimal way for interaction. The implementation will promote the humane use of neurotechnology in correction of convicted, in radical increase the level of security and decrease the harm, which is caused by crime. It will lead to general weakening of crime, especially extremist and drug trafficking. In general, it will break the existence of professional and organized crime. One of the most appropriate requirements of effectiveness in correctional impact is domestic technology of selective erasure of memories. Especially, key subjects and social groups are interested in the implementation. Following the requirements of humanity, providing the state public control is necessary. The promotion both organizational-legal and financial research; the development and implementation of neurotechnology in the penal system - are also necessary. Its use is justified by existing Russian and international law; it does not contradict the current legal acts, devoted to the rights of prisoners. Observation of extreme caution during the establishment of social norm is necessary, using hi-tech impact on the psyche. The excessively overvalued requirements should not put law-abiding citizens and companies with dominance of such citizens into disadvantage because of high costs of observance these rules. Article materials can be useful for the government and companies in case of determination the development strategy, for scientists in the research of criminal law, especially the effectiveness of criminal repression; and the all, who are interested in neuroscience and ways of development of society and legal subjects.
Keywords
neurotechnology, neuroscience, K.V. Anokhin, recidivism, criminal-executive law, criminal law, penal law, the prison, the purposes of criminal punishment, correction of the convicted person, prevention of committing new crimes, new innovations markets, strategies of the
development
AUTHOR
Stepan V. Chirva
Master student,
Altai State University. 61a, pr. Lenina, Barnaul, 656049, Russia E-mail: stepan-chirva@mail.ru
Introduction
1.1. Actuality of the Problem
One of the most important problems in the science of criminal-executive law and in the society, in general, is the inefficiency of existing penalties. The significant part of the Russian criminals (it's 85 %) (The Bitter Statistics, 2015), served their imprisonment, commit the crime again, i.e. after all of the procedures, devoted to the finding circumstances of the case, reaching the verdict and its executive. It shows the extremely low efficiency of existing methods of punishment, at least, in their current form. As the Secretary of Corrections in the state of Pennsylvania John Wetzel says, the rate of recidivism is 50% (Fixing the System, 2015).
The purposes of general and special prevention, correction of the convicted through punishment are recognized. The Part 2 of Art. 43 of the Criminal Code of RF contains the purposes of criminal punishment: correction of the convicted person and prevention of committing new crimes. How are these goals realized, if 85 % of the convicted to imprisonment commit crimes again? It shows the need of changing the ways of influence on prisoners, doesn't it?
1.2 Explore Importance of the Problem
It should be said that prisoners live in special conditions in the places of confinement. Strict supervision does not protect from the various facts of lawlessness. Prisoners get used to live not under the law, but under the "concepts", which directly prevent the process of properly socialization for those, who follow the life by this "concepts". Because of the wide popularity of this situation in society, nobody needs in released prisoners. Quite true point of view exists in society: the prison doesn't correct; often it conversely contributes to "social hallmarking", which pushes on the new crime again. There are different goals: to survive, to take revenge on society, to return in the prison, where everything is so simple. As the long-term practice shows, despite the numerous efforts the efficiency of different rehabilitation measures makes us to wish something better. This deadlock situation formed years ago. Still it is unclear, how to deal with it, how to break the vicious circle.
Let's just look around. We are surrounded by the results of information technology; various electronics has got into the all spheres of life. The great scientific progress is noted in the human brain and psychic researches.
The opportunities of neuropharmacology, which can contribute the socially acceptable human behavior, are awarded in the work of Francis Fukuyama "Our Posthuman Future": "Before the genetic engineering will be possible, knowledge of brain chemistry and opportunities to manipulate is important management tool with serious political consequences"(Fukuyama, 2002/2004).
As the candidate of biological sciences Evgenia Ivanovna Belova says: "the neuropharmacology value is determined by the role, which the nervous system plays in the all spheres of people's life" (Belova, 2006).
Konstantin Anokhin, who is the head of the Kurchatov Institute of Neurosciences Department, creates the way of partially erasure memories (Balaban, 2013).
That's why, memory changing leads to the personality changing, which means correction of the person, and the last is the purpose of criminal punishment.
Methodological Framework
2.1. Purposes of Research
Firstly, the purpose of research is the identification of neurotechnology opportunities in correction of convicted. Furthermore, the interest of certain elements of state and society in solution of this question by this way should be determinate.
Next, the legal opportunities for testing these methods on prisoners should be identified. In addition, the determination of probability of the implementation and its desirability is necessary; also the identification of some requirements in the implemented methodology is also important.
2.2. Methods of Research
The research is meaningful as the indicator of possibilities of interdisciplinary cooperation. Therefore, the list of discoveries in the sphere of neurotechnology is presented on the article. They are assigned by the author to the possible means for use them as the methods of impact on attitudes, motives, the most important goals, world's outlook due to technical change of life experience and its assessment.
The criterion is the novelty, because the research development in the earlier period has specific and mostly medical nature. But the increase of various publications about new discoveries in the sphere of research of brain and impact on the brain is spread today.
The next criterion is the statement in the author's publications about the presence in the discovery or invention the applications, which are required for the purpose of correction convicted. The author attributes to these applications the ability to change the subjective experience of person and also the attitude to the elements of this experience. This change should turn the criminal behavior of convicted from the deviant into the appropriate to requirements of behavior in society. This is the real correction of the person in the psychological aspect.
After that, the way of change is chosen by the author of the article. At the present, this way for correction is the most appropriate. Criteria of choice are:
1. The preference is in favor of earlier from the chosen at the previous stage. The selection by the novelty would be excessive. In addition, it would be impossible to apply another criterion, because the only the latest fits to novelty. The most important is that the early method means better research, higher level of development in this direction and the existence of great opportunities for detection of disadvantages, if they exist. However, the author of this article only carefully supposes the presence of defects in the selected method.
2. Criterion of guaranteed changes in the needed direction. This from the all of ways supposes the great effectiveness in person's changes.
Humanity is also considered by the author of the research as the important feature. The impact does not lead to the suffering.
Then the review of the social preconditions is necessary, because the technical possibility means, but does not guarantee the implementation of neurotechnological correction. This is done by the way of searching of the relevant social groups with coordinated interests. The interests are determined in accordance with basic purposes of their activities, mainly in relation to the penal system and criminal punishment.
Then the author notices how the use of this technology can influence on the society, guarantees of citizens' rights in dependence on our position to
implementation. The author tries to determine the procedure for this applying in the process of criminal prosecution.
The author explores the legal opportunity for conducting tests on convicted with the use of new methods for correction. It was made with the research of current legislature (Russian and international documents), which establishes restrictions on the conducting scientific and medical researches on prisoners.
2.3. Description of Research
The discovery of centers of interpretation situations as positive/negative (The regions of the brain of distinction between good and evil, 2016) by scientists of Germany and Israel, coupled with the impact of trankranialy electro stimulation, absolutely painless, give the opportunity to form a certain attitude to the certain life circumstances.
Scientists from the University of California make the discovery of "word's cards" in the brain, which allows to put into correspondence the words and relevant parts in the brain (How your brain files away words, 2016). Moreover, there is an opportunity to set the individual nerve cells, which are responsible for a certain memory (Quiroga, Friedand & Koch, 2013). It opens the opportunity for changes in this memory. In addition, there is an opportunity to form synthetic memories (Aleena & Garner, 2012). Moreover, there is the evidence of successful experience in changes and erasure of memories in the Department of Neurosciences in the Kurchatov institution, which is headed by Professor K.V. Anokhin (Balaban, 2003).
Thus, it contributes the changing in social attitudes and correcting the person. This allows fighting not only with the extremists, but also with anybody, who is found guilty. The guilt is the selective negative psychological attitude to certain social relations. Not just current success, but this speed (these discoveries were made in the last three or four years) should be emphasized. Such promising successes make us to think, whether it is possible to put achievements in the field of neurosciences on the social benefit. Existing problems in the execution of punishments makes the applying of neuroscience logical.
There are a lot of groups, whose interests are directly connected with the implementation of these methods.
The first group surprisingly consists of convicted. First of all, after serving the punishment they cannot cope with problems of free life, complicated by social hallmarking. Procedures, in which through the use of methods that directly influence on the person's material substratum guarantee of results is given (and the result will be observed on the screen during the research of person's brain), allow to get rid of the social hallmarking, both formal and informal. The person becomes in this case the full member of society.
The second group consists of the state and, especially, the economic block of the government. The content of the criminal-executive system involves the huge amounts of money, the economic returns from the prisoners, who are not subjected to the above-described impact, is negligible. So, the government spent 266 billion rubles in 2016 for the Federal Penitentiary Service maintenance (Kiyucina, 2015). It's more than for health or social protection, but the income consists of only 30 billion. The Budget of the USA in 2015 proposes $8.4 billion for Federal prisons and detention facilities. The need to bring to criminal responsibility the same people creates an additional (but by the volume: basic) work on the investigating bodies and the court.
By the way, it shouldn't be forgotten about the companies, connected with pharmaceutical business, and the producers of special equipment. Lobbying power of
these companies is able to influence both the public opinion and the position of government leaders.
Finally, the guarantee of security for ordinary citizens is also as important as the guarantee of person's freedom. It's the fact, which the hierarchy of needs by Maslow is able to explain.
Of course, neurotechnology implementation risks in changing the person (even only convicted) by government are extremely high. However, we must remember that these risks are more arguments to the action for government and companies, who are the players with the greatest opportunities in this situation. Therefore, no matter personal relationship to the neurotechnology implementation in the penal system, it should be understood that this implementation is an issue of time and stakeholders' effort.
It goes without saying; we can try to realize this implementation in such way, which will follow our interests. It can be done only by the way of control with establishing the humane and democratic legal borders. In this case the right and the law are able to direct the process to the needed way.
The legal problems, which appear during this process, connect with the need to relate the implementation of new ways for impact on the human and realization of real legal norms. It can be made by identification of existing rights and obligations, its changing and creating new ones.
These technologies are able to present extraordinary peace and prosperity for Russia and humanity, but they can determine unprecedented violation of human rights and freedoms.
Providing the best balance between the rights of the person and society during the implementation of these technologies in the sphere of criminal and penal law is the basic purpose.
It should be noticed that the court determines the measures of criminal law in relation to the person; the court will make the final decision. The judge makes the decision about corrective measures, which should be applied to the person. During the case investigation the court should plead guilty the person. It means to determine his psychological attitude to social relation, which was broken as a result of committing the crime. This relation builds concerning the wide circle of criminal-law security objects and differs from the negative in case of intention to careless in case of negligence. Subject to the establishment of the Motives and goals of persons, committed the crime, are also should be indicated.
On this hand, the methods of neurotechnical impact show its advantages. Such punishments as the imprisonment or rights and freedoms limitation show its inefficiency in relation to 85 % of convicted. Theoretically, after this experience the person must become clean and come to conclusion about the unacceptability of committing the crime again, at least for not being re-imprisoned again. Instead of this; using the way of neurological research, it becomes possible to influence on those brain mechanisms particularly and easily-checking, which lead to criminal behavior.
The way of changing the person by the memories erasure seems especially effective there. Moreover, it is quite obvious that this method relates with criminal penalties (complete memories erasure would be the better and more humane alternative instead of death penalty or life imprisonment); the possibility of correcting the person becomes most evident, too.
Deleting specific memories, which create a personal experience (it motivates to commit crimes), is the humane procedure. According to the K.V. Anokhin's research, it's also painless procedure. That's why; it has no comparison with the imprisonment, especially life imprisonment.
Results
Therefore, promotion and full implementation of this method are the guarantee of building the society that does not know professional criminality. The transformation of the confused and seeming "dead" person into the absolutely new and clean person is quite strong argument. Furthermore, it will save thousand lives. Lots of girls, women and children will be protected from the dander of rape. It is the way of incredible improvement of society from organized crime (today the danger of prosecution is not a problem for criminals). This becomes achievable, using bloodless and painless methods.
Is it possible to dream about something more? If it does not relate to the purpose of the criminal justice, in what is its purpose?
It is necessary to take the following measures for achievement the results:
Firstly, such research should attract the attention of lobby in penal system and justice.
It must become an issue of special importance, which is needed in objective financing for achievement of useful for correction results.
Secondly, it should provide factual and legal opportunities for the immediate implementation of technologies in the correction.
Discussion
Noteworthy is that this issue in the legal science has no proper overview. The problem of searching criminals (Ross, 2003) with the use of different methods with detection of lie (Minkin and Nikolaenko, 2017) attracts attention. However, the issue of using neurotechnology in the correction of criminals has not studied. Researches, which provide links in articles, devote to scientific theory, but not to its legal applications.
Conclusion
At this moment, there are certain places for testing these methods on prisoners.
So, Part 3 of Art.12 of the Criminal Executive Code prohibits any experiments, connected with conducting biomedical research and testing medical products, new methods of diagnostics, prevention and treatment of diseases. Restrictions on the medical experiments are also declared in the Nuremberg Code (The Nuremberg Code, 1947) and in the Helsinki Declaration (Helsinki Declaration, 1964).
Actually, the suggested methods are not medical, because they are not focused on the patient's treatment. In case of person's insanity this person has no punishment. The criminal is not a patient; he is in a good health, that's why he is convicted. The proclamation of the criminal as the sick person is the fact of the anthropological approach in the form, closed to lombrozianism.
So, the prohibition, presented above, has no matter to this issue. This method is not medical. It does not relate to Part 3 of Art.12 of the Criminal Executive Code and other restrictive points of view in the field of medicine. The Nuremberg Code does not have any restrictions by the feature of being in prison (The Nuremberg Code, 1947).
So, it is not an obstacle for the preparation of implementation of these methods in reality. Thus, the legal opportunity for implementation of this method has already created.
Prospects and efficiency of this stand out the all well-known analogues.
The complicated situation, which appears with need of security in society, requires efficient and tough decisions (if it will be necessary).
The support of using the neurotechnology in the correction of convicted is absolutely necessary for the purposes of criminal penalties, the interests of citizens, prisoners themselves, the state and society.
Recommendations
Facts, arguments and conclusions, which are presented in the article, have the value for lots of people. First of all, they are specialists in the sphere of law.
It should be noticed again that there are only few really new ideas in the field of convicted correction. That's unacceptable. The old fight between supporters of violent measures and supports of humanization still exists in the sphere of psychological approaches of influence on the prisoners in reality. This old fight only has become modernized. The supporters of violent measures are focus on the punitive nature of punishment. In their opinion, the punitive nature must make the potential criminal to refuse from commission of crime, because the punishment outweighs the benefits in the commission of crime. As for supporters of punishment humanization, the founder of theirs ideas can be considered Cesare Beccaria.
By the way, does not matter that a lot is made in the field of substantiation and adaption to the changing conditions, we cannot talk about the success.
It is necessary to apply absolutely innovative approaches, which are located outside the traditional measures of influence on the psychic of the person. Because of this, absolutely new approaches should be applied. This research work shows the way to the radical change and improvement of existing methods of influence.
Researching of a new and previously unexplored sphere of law - Legal Support of neurotechnology - allows adding the element of orderliness in this field.
In addition, the provision of human rights and freedoms becomes the vital necessity, because the advancing conversion of the issue of neurotechnology from the field of pure science fiction into the area of practical applying shows the deficiency of opportunities of bioethics, that's why the legal control is needed.
The norms shouldn't become the chain on the implementation of new methods and techniques. It is vital for the whole society, because the advantage can be in the hands of the most unscrupulous individuals and companies in the tough moral and legal restrictions on the use of any opportunities. These individuals are indifferent to these restrictions, but lawful individuals and companies are defeated. This seems unacceptable.
Further, these researches are valuable for the employees of the criminal-executive system as the change direction.
Here, it is necessary to clarify immediately that the negative attitude to the proposed reform and the wish to slow down are not only unethical (in terms of the interests of society, in general), but also meaningless. It will be carried out, because it is the best way for development. The most logical behavior is not to resist the inevitable future changes, but to integrate in them with the best possible outcome for you.
The implementation of these methods will more likely lead to reduction; however, the need in the administration and control for the correction of prisoners persists for ordinary guards. It will be just like with lots of large staff-capacious firms: reduction of the total number of employees leads to increasing the role and status of the highest managers. Especially, the use of such effective methods of influence on the psychic increases the importance of the criminal-executive system radically. Then the research shows employees of governmental economic staff the way of cost optimization for the maintaining of law enforcement bodies. This cost reproduces itself in terms of huge recidivism and ineffective social rehabilitation for convicts.
By the way, companies of pharmaceutics and special equipment have the great interest in the economic sphere. Lots of crimes are committed each year. The total number of convicted on the 1st of December in 2016 reaches 633,826 thousand. The number is increasing, because the economic situation in the state is not so good. Even if the recidivism will disappear, the number of people, who are subjected to the influence at the maximum use of the program, won't be less than 100 thousand a year. Moreover, the spread of the methods of correctional impact on the administrative offences and educational influence at all is possible in the future.
Just think, you get a ticket, the accelerating strip, the start to the market in the billions of customers!
It is evident that not all world countries will have its own technologies for these methods. That's why, it opens lots of global markets.
The correction of prisoners is the excellent start for neurotechnical testing in terms of guaranteed sales market and relatively insignificant damage for society in case of errors during the first applying. It should be said that aforementioned Nuremberg Code and the Declaration of Helsinki restrict medical tests on prisoners, but they are not the obstacle for the correctional impact, which, by the way, can have medical applications under insignificant change (Declaration of Helsinki, 1964)..
Special attention should be paid by representatives of all professions, connected with the fight against extremism and terrorism. These groups of crimes directly connect with negative experiences. Especially, to re-educate the criminals is extremely difficult because of their psychic features. Practically, the achievement of the desired result is possible only by the way of direct impact on the brain, aside from criminal consciousness of extremist or terrorist.
Besides, the applying of neurotechnology gets new opportunities in the operative work, because technologies can be used theoretically in the recruiting and re-recruiting. It also deserves the attention of fighters against organized crime. Does it need to notice the intelligence and counter-intelligence?
Further, this issue has an interest for fight with drug-related crime. The demand generates the supply, it is the common truth. The problem of drug addicts, in particular, is in the formation of the psychological addiction. The person remembers the pleasant feeling while taking the drug. The need to re-test the chemical happiness after years pushes the person on the use of these substances. Low efficiency of antidrug therapy - about 90 per cent of relapses - leads to the need of use this means of correction.
According to the method of Antokhin, the memory erasing is dotted. This fact provides additional stimulus to use this method on the drug criminals firstly, because the removal of memories about drug intake is the most obvious way of the consumer's correction. Obviously, neurotechnology correction should be primarily implemented in the fight against drug trafficking and extremism, which are spread in our country.
This issue should evoke the particular interest of all, who are interested in the problems of punishment humanization.
It should be noticed that these methods should be implemented only in the case, if they do not cause physical suffering. Perhaps, it is achievable. Even if other means of impact will be realized, the risk of causing the pain can be removed by the use of the substances, which eliminate the pain.
The use of such quick and painless ways of correction of the convicted minimizes the repressive nature of the penal system.
Problems of prison with its criminal environment and its violation of human rights by the hand of administration can be also minimized.
Anyway, the public and state control for the implementation of the quicker procedure can be much more reliable and easier carried out. Perhaps, this procedure will be provided in the biggest cities in order to economy and lack necessity for long and large maintenance of prisoners.
REFERENCES
Aleena, R. & Garner, E. A. (2012) Generation of a synthetic memory trace. Science, 335, 6075, 15131516, DOI: 10.1126/science. 1214985.
Balaban. P. (2003) Rapid creativity of memory. Expert. Retrieved February 17, 2017, from http://expert.ru/2013/06/21 /burnoe-tvorchestvo-pamyati/
Belova, E.I. (2006). Basis of neuropharmacology. Moscow: Aspect Press.
The Bitter Statistics. (2015, Marth 24). Vesti. Retrieved February 16, 2017, from: http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=2449835
Declaration of Helsinki (1964). CIRP. Retrieved February 17, 2017, from: http://www.cirp.org/library/ethics/helsinki/ .
Fixing the System. Performed by President Barack Obama. (2015, October 5). In Vice on HBO in the USA, Retrieved February 16, 2017, from from https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/fixing-the-system-0000760-v22n10
Fukuyama, F. (2002/2004). Our Posthuman Future. In e-reading.by. Retrieved February 16, 2017, from http://www.e-reading.by/chapter.php/143497Z11 /Fukuyama_-_Nashe_postchelovecheskoe_budushchee.html
How your brain files away words. (2016, April 27). In University of California. Retrieved February 16, 2017, from https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/mapping-where-words-are-stored-brain
Kiyucina, O. (2015). The report about the ineffectiveness of budget spending on criminal-executive system. Institute of problems of current society, St..-Petersburg, Russia. From http://i-pso.ru/2015/07/27/doclad1/
Minkin V. and Nikolaenko N. (2004) Theoretical background and technical means of identification of the human condition. ELSYS - biometrics for you. Retrieved February 17, 2017, from http://www.psymaker.com/Bibliography/RU/2004/Tex%20sredstva%20identifikacii%20sostoyaniya.p df
Quiroga, R. Q., Fried, I. & Koch, C. (2013). Brain Cells for Grandmother. Scientific American, Retrieved February 17, 2017, from from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/single-brain-cell-stores-single-concept/
Ross, P. (2003) Reading of thoughts. Science, from
http://dshinin.ru/Books/2007/01 /06/1925.pdf#page=46
The Nuremberg Code (1947). CIRP. Retrieved February 17, 2017, from: http://www.cirp.org/library/ethics/nuremberg/
The regions of the brain of distinction between good and evil. (2016, August 4). Max Planck Society. Retrieved February 17, 2017, from: https://www.mpg.de/10680318/gehirn-situationsbewertung
