Who is a Penitentiary Offender: a Brief Description of Personality Features, Their Sources, the Role in the Investigation
The paper discusses the opportunities for studying the personality of penitentiary offenders. This group includes people serving the punishment of incarceration who are similar in their legal status and actual situation, as well as suspects, accused and detained persons who committed a new illegal act in the conditions of isolation from society. People in such conditions acquire special features that are examined for making a lawful and well-grounded decision on prosecuting a person and for obtaining empirical data that act as a starting point for a forensic description and for further recommendations on the investigation. The current and prospective roles of information on the personal characteristics of penitentiary offenders are examined, and key spheres of using this information are identified. Psychological, social, and biological traits of a person who committed a crime in a correctional institution are analyzed.