Deviant Women, first examines the emergence of the discipline of criminology in early Soviet Russia, tracing the development of principles and theories—particularly that of female deviance—and highlighting the ways in which criminologists, a diverse cohort of jurists, doctors, sociologists, anthropologists, psychiatrists, statisticians, and forensic experts, conducted innovative social science research under the constraints of Bolshevik ideology. It then turns to criminologists’ analyses of female crime, exploring their attitudes concerning sexuality, geography, and class. Concluding with a close study of infanticide, the most “typical” crime committed by women, Deviant Women discusses the social attitudes revealed through the professional discussions of this crime. Throughout, Kowalsky focuses on the position of women in early Soviet society, revealing criminologists’ understandings of female crime and how their attitudes helped shape the development of social and behavioral norms in revolutionary Russia.

Translated by: Aleksandra Glebovskaia