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Social Services for Families and Children in the Soviet Union Since 1967

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Bernice Madison
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The history and development of social services for families and children in the Soviet Union prior to 1967 have been studied quite extensively.1 Soviet writings published since that time, more critical and probing than most earlier materials, as well as a field trip in October 1971 by this writer, make it possible to update our knowledge and to suggest what the future Soviet policy will be in this increasingly important area.

Type
Articles
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , December 1972 , pp. 831 - 852
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 1972

References

1. Madison, Bernice, Social Welfare in the Soviet Union (Stanford, 1968), pp. 35–49, 69-75, 147-76.Google Scholar

2. Izvestiia, Feb. 4, 1971, p. 2. Summer vacations were enjoyed by 19 million children and adolescents, relieving their parents of child care.

3. “Glavnaia zadacha,” Ogonek, 1971, no. 9, p. 3.

4. Prokof'ev, M. A., ed., Narodnoe obrasovanie v SSSR, 1917–1967 (Moscow, 1967)Google Scholar. Material on preschool education was translated in “Development of the Soviet Preschool Education System,” Soviet Review, 9, no. 2 (Fall 1968): 18.

5. Larisa Kuznetsova, “Kak byt1 s mladentsem?” Literaturmia gazeta, June 24, 1970, p. 11; and D. Novopliansky, “The Waiting List,” Current Digest of the Soviet Press, Aug. 17, 1971, pp. 8-9 (original article in Pravda, July 17, 1971).

6. Martynova, L., “V kolkhozakh i sovkhozakh RSFSR,” Doshkol'noe vospitanie, 1971, no. 3, pp. 4–6 Google Scholar.

7. A. BasHna, “Ot trekh do semi,” Ievestiia, Jan. 22, 1971, p. 3.

8. Upravlenie po doshkol'nomu vospitaniiu Ministerstva prosveshcheniia RSFSR, Programma vospitaniia v detskom sadu (Moscow, 1970); and Radina, E. I., ed., Umstvennoe vospitanie detei rannego vozrasta (Moscow, 1968)Google Scholar.

9. Martynova, “V kolkhozakh i sovfchozakh RSFSR,” p. 5.

10. L. Velikanova, “Kruglyi stol ‘LG, * 60, 000, 000 semei,” Literaturnaia gaseta, July 1, 1970, p. 11.

11. V. Perevedentsev, “Skol'ko imet’ detei? Ekonomicheskii aspekt,” Literaturnaia gaseta, Nov. 20, 1968, p. 12. For a discussion of this proposal see this weekly for Jan. 22, 1969, p. 11; Mar. 19, 1969, p. 11; Apr. 16, 1969, p. 11; and Aug. 13, 1969, p. 12. The symposium referred to is described by M. Pavlova, “Zhenshchina doma i na rabote,” in the same weekly, May 27, 1970, p. 12.

12. Madison, Social Welfare, pp. 75, 154-55.

13. Izvestiia, Feb. 4, 1971, p. 2.

14. Lebedeva, N., “Svet i teni prodlennogo dnia,” Sem'ia i shkola, 1970, no. 2, pp. 4–5.Google Scholar

15. Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1970, no. 19, p. 32.

16. Grankin, P., “Preimushchestva shkoly s prodlennym dnem,” Shkola-internat, 1962, no. 3, p. 79.Google Scholar

17. Kostiashkin, E. G., Shkola Prodlennogo dnia (Moscow, 1965), p. 4.Google Scholar

18. nedeli, Kruglyi stol, “Prodlennyi den‗ shkol'nika,” Nedelia, 1969, no. 44, p. 18.Google Scholar Led by Baskina and Mushkina.

19. Information given to author in October 1971, by Gosplan.

20. It should be added that for the third child there is a lump sum of twenty rubles; and for the fourth the lump sum is sixty-five rubles.

21. Kallistratova, R., “Rozhdaemost' i pravo,” Sovetskaia htstitsiio, 1971, no. 2, p. 15.Google Scholar

22. Narodnoe khosiaistvo SSSR v 1971 g., p. 220.

23. In 1971 in the Uzbek republic, with a population of 14 million, there were 650, 000 mothers receiving allowances. In the Ukraine, with a population of over 47 million, only 400, 914 mothers were receiving allowances (information secured by author in October 1971).

24. Whitney, Vincent H., “Fertility Trends and Children's Allowance Programs,” in Burns, Eveline M., ed., Children's Allowances and the Economic Welfare of Children: The Report of a Conference (New York: Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, Inc., 1968), pp. 124, 137.Google Scholar

25. Twenty-fourth Congress of the CPSU, March 30-April 9, 1971, Documents (Moscow, 1971), p. 192.

26. Sem'ia i shkola, 1969, no. 9, pp. 42-43.

27. G. Chernov, “For the Family's Advice: My Working Class,” CDSP, Mar. 9, 1971, p. 17.

28. Law of RSFSR on the Adoption of the Code on Marriage and the Family, Soviet Law and Government, 9, no. 2 (Fall 1970): 104.

29. Ershova, N., “Lishenie roditel'skikh prav,” Sotsialisticheskaia zakonnost', 1971, no. 4, pp. 46–47.Google Scholar

30. Shtuchnaia, N., “Lishenie roditel'skikh prav,” Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1971, no. 7, pp. 15–16.Google Scholar

31. G. V. Podelshchikov, “Fifth Session of the Seventh Russian Republic Supreme Soviet: Most Important Is the Concern for Man,” CDSP, Aug. 27, 1969, pp. 18-19.

32. Ershova, N., “Alimentnye obiazannosti rodstvennikov: Drugikh lits,” Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1971, no. 4, pp. 20–21.Google Scholar

33. Gorkdn, A., “Concern for the Soviet Family,” Soviet Review, 10, no. 3 (Fall 1969): 47, 52.Google Scholar

34. Lugovskaia, A., “Ispolnenie sudebnykh reshenii o vzyskanii alimentov,” Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1970, no. 23, pp. 10–11.Google Scholar

35. G. Ustinov, “In Standing Committee of the USSR Supreme Soviet Chambers: Know and Carry Out the Law,” CDSP, Jan. 6, 1971, p. 28.

36. Riasnitsev, V., “Rastorzhenie braka v sude,” Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1971, no. 6, pp. 15–16.Google Scholar

37. V. I. Perevedentsev, “Kale raspadaiutsiia sem'i,” Literaturnaia gazeta, Sept. 3, 1969, p. 11.

38. Gorkin, “Concern for the Soviet Family,” pp. 47-49.

39. Sem'ia i shkola, 1969, no. 1, p. 33; 1969, no. 2, p. 33; 1969, no. 5, pp. 29-30, 36; 1970, no. 7, p. 19.

40. Nechaeva, A., “Razreshenie sporov o detiakh pri rastorzhenii braka,” Sotsialisticheskaia zakonnost, 1971, no. 2, pp. 31–35.Google Scholar

41. Boris Urlanis, “Bezottsovshchina,” Literaturnaia gazeta, Jan. 7, 1970, p. 12.

42. Velikanova, “Kruglyi stol ‘LG, '” p. 11; S. Morozov, “Assignment at Readers' Request: Not Subject to Termination,” CDSP, Oct. 8, 1969, pp. 20-21; Viktorovich, V. G., “Drama v sem'e,” Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1970, no. 6, pp. 24–26.Google Scholar

43. E. Popov, “On the Subject of Morality: ‘Difficult’ Fathers,” CDSP, Mar. 31, 1970, p. 14.

44. A. Ianov, “Tak govorit zdravyi smysl,” Literaturnaia gazeta, Sept. 24, 1969, p. 11

45. G. Dmitrin, “Pedagogical Reflections: And a Family Unit,” CDSP, Feb. 9, 1971, p. 24.

46. Riasentsev, V., “Otmena usynovleniia i priznanie ego nedeistvitel'nym,” Sovetskaio iustitsiio, 1970, no. 16, pp. 25–27.Google Scholar

47. Editors, “Otvechaem na voprosy,” Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1970, no. 22, p. 32.

48. Dmitrin, “Pedagogical Reflections,” p. 24.

49. That the quality of personnel is also of great importance in children's institutions is underscored by a story about five youngsters of Anzhero-Sudzhensk Children's Home No. 1 who sneaked into the garden and got away with seven cucumbers. Their teacher left their punishment to the older children, who beat them in a shed. Only the echoes of her “educational” treatment reached the teacher. One of the punished children ran off that day. See Egor Iakovlev, “Assignment at Readers‧ Request: Material Evidence,” CDSP, Aug. 13, 1969, p. 27.

50. Kairov, I. A., “Nekotorye problemy razvitiia shkol-internatov,” Shkola-internat, 1961, no. 3, p. 9.Google Scholar

51. Medvedev, R., “O nekotorykh voprosakh razvitiia shkol-internatov,” Shkola-internat, 1962, no. 1, pp. 70–78.Google Scholar

52. Perevedentsev, “Kak raspadaiutsiia sem'i,” p. 11.

53. Osborn, Robert J., Soviet Social Policies: Welfare, Equality, and Community (Homewood, III., 1970), p. 248.Google Scholar

54. N. Ershova, “Alimentnye obiazannosti roditelei,” Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1970, no. 18, pp. 8-9. As late as 1969 it was reported that a boarding school in the Tatar republic occupied an ancient, squalid building. Firewood had not been prepared in time, and pupils had to saw huge logs in freezing weather and snowstorms. Often the children went without hot food, because there was no kitchen in the school itself and it was too expensive to feed them in the central city restaurant See Editors, “Internat privoditsiia v poriadok,” Sem'ia i shkola, 1969, no. 7, p. 39.

55. This estimate is based on the figure of 160, 912 mentally retarded educable children in schools in the Russian republic in 1969 (see Editors, in Narodnoe obrazovanie, 1969, no. 10, p. 123), and the figure of 21, 000 noneducable mentally retarded in homes in the Russian republic in 1969 (see Editors, “Doma budut tipizirovany,” Sotsial'noe obespechenie, 1969, no. 1, pp. 38-39).

56. Editors, “Trebovaniia vremeni: Na kustovykh soveshchaniiakh RSFSR,” Sotsial'noe obespechenie, 1968, no. 6, pp. 36-39.

57. Such transplantation is advocated in Editors, “Metallo-obrabotka v detskom dome,” Sotsial'noe obespechenie, 1968, no. 1, p. 40. The doubt is expressed by Iu. Zubrilin, “Polezny-li absolutnye otsenki?” Sotsial'noe obespechenie, 1968, no. 8, pp. 38-41.

58. For the period January 1968 to June 1971 Sotsial'noe obespechenie published only one story about a home in which the director, her husband, and the accountant employed by her were caught misusing funds. They had neglected the mentally retarded children. See Editors, “Direktor sniat s raboty,” Sotsial'noe obespechenie, 1968, no. 11, pp. 42-43.

59. This percentage is suggested by the figure of 4, 000 children awaiting placement in March 1968 in the Russian republic in which, in 1969, 21, 000 children were already in placement. The plan called for the construction of fourteen new homes with a capacity of 2, 355 places by the end of 1970, and for making sure that by this date all of the homes had workshops capable of being used for production. See Editors, Sotsial'noe obespechenie, 1968, no. 3, pp. 40-41.

60. Editors, Sem'ia i shkola, 1969, no. 4, p. 33.

61. Ustinov, “In Standing Committee,” p. 28.

62. L. Vul'f, “Nekotorye voprosy ustanovleniia ottsovstva v sudebnom poriadke,” Sotsial'noe obespechenie, 1970, no. 8, pp. 54-55; and M. Materova, “Zakonnost’ i obosnovannost1 sudebnykh reshenii po delam ob ottsovstve,” Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1970, no. 6, pp. 11-12. V. S. Tadevosian, “Okhrana prav odinokoi materi i ee rebenka,” Sovetskoe gosudarstvo i pravo, 1971, no. 11, p. 30.

63. Urlanis, “Bezottsovshchina,” p. 12. Urlanis states that in the Ukraine the relative number of illegitimate births during 1960-64, compared with 1950-54, dropped by 16 percent in rural communities, and by 33 percent in cities. He does not say, however, that this magnitude of decrease would be applicable to the entire USSR. What is more important from the standpoint of the kind of homes available for children is that for many of them legitimacy results from hastily arranged marriages—some of them, at least, unwanted. See V. Perevedentsev, “A Statistical Commentary: It's Time to Marry,” CDSP, May 11, 1971, pp. 35-36.

64. V. Obukhov, “Voprosy perevospitaniia nesovershennoletnikh pravonarushitelei i preduprezhdenie prestupnosti,” Sovetskaia pedagogika, 1971, no. 4, pp. 157-58. Since this article was submitted Walter D. Connor has published his Deviance in Soviet Society: Crime, Delinquency, and Alcoholism (New York, 1972). The reader interested in a more detailed discussion of delinquency is referred to pages 80-147 in that book.

65. T. Dudina, “Crime Prevention Is the Main Thing: One Guarantee for Reducing Crime Among Minors,” CDSP, May 21, 1969, p. 8.

66. G. M. Min'kovsky, “Effektivnost' mer vozdeistviia na nesovershennoletnikh pravonarushitelei,” Sovetskoe gosudarstvo i pravo, 1971, no. 4, pp. 106-7.

67. B. S. Vorontsov, graduate student at the All-Union Institute for the Study of the Causes of Crime and the Elaboration of Crime Prevention Measures, and N. I. Gukovskaia and E. B. Mel'nikova, senior staff scientists at the Institute, CDSP, May 21, 1969, pp. 9-13.

68. B. Levin, “Devushki, iunoshi i vino,” Literaturnaia gaseta, Jan. 6, 1971, p. 13.

69. Popov, “On the Subject of Morality,” p. 14.

70. Statute on Commissions on the Affairs of Minors, CDSP, Oct. 11, 1967, pp. 15-19. Decree of Presidium of Russian Supreme Soviet: On Making Changes in and Additions to the Russian Republic Criminal Procedure Code and the Statute on Commissions on the Affairs of Minors, CDSP, Mar. S, 1969, pp. 23-24.

71. Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet: On Ratification of the Statute on Labor Colonies for Minors and the Procedures for Promulgating It, CDSP, July 3, 1968, pp. 3-7.

72. Min'kovsky, “Effektivnosf,” p. 109, and Dudina, “Crime Prevention,” p. 9.

73. L. Khaldaev, “Nabliudenie za osvobozhdaemymi iz vospitatel'no-trudovykh kolonii, “ Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1970, no. IS, pp. 28-29.

74. G. Gaverov and G. Moiseenko, “Ob effektivnosti uslovnogo osuzhdeniia nesovershennoletnikh, “ Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1970, no. 6, p. 10. K. Prikhod'ko, “Obshchestvennye vospitateli nesovershennoletnikh,” Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1970, no. 8, p. 20.

75. Kozhevnikova, A., “Preduprezhdenie retsediva prestuplenii nesovershennoletnikh osuzhdennykh k nakazaniiam, ne sviazanym s lisheniem svobody,” Sovetskaia iustitsiia, 1971, no. 7, pp. 21–22 Google Scholar. One successful effort to involve the community is described by E. Lebedeva, “From the Experience of Local Soviets: Young People at the Center of Attention,” CDSP, Nov. 19, 1969, pp. 24-25.

76. Obukhov, “Voprosy perevospitaniia nesovershennoletnikh pravonarushitelei,” p. 157.