“Are you defective or immoral?”. Problems of selection and socialization of “morally defective” children in the 20s of the 20th century in Soviet Russia: regional aspects

We consider the regional features of the social protection system of “morally handicapped” children in Tambov province in the first decade of Soviet government (1918–1928). We representatively and comprehensively investigate various poorly studied aspects of the declared scientific problem on the basis of attraction and processing of a wide complex of primary archival sources and other materials. We reveal typical regional features of the social education system formation in relation to homeless children and children with criminal tendencies in the formation period of the new socialist state at the provincial and county levels, different from the capital’s projects and instructions. We also show spontaneity and haste in the search for different forms and methods of organization of care for such socially neglected children. We clarify the main educational practices and organizational measures for the opportunities and needs of provincial institutions of the social education. We identify the main ways and methods of work with juvenile offenders during the period under review. Conclusions are drawn about the results and features of support for such “special” children and adolescents at the level of the province and county, which allowed to reconstruct the system of social protection of post-revolutionary Russia. Special attention was paid to the social protection of women’s councils female workers’ children and other regional public organizations. Attention is paid to the importance of taking into account regional specifics and specific historical, socio-political, socio-cultural and ethno-confessional features of the social education system. We clarify the factors that had the strongest impact on the personnel, financing of children’s social institutions, as well as trends in their development in the Soviet era. We reveal the catastrophic impact of the new economic policy on the regional system of social education and the work of orphanages, where homeless children gathered, who lacked other opportunities for socialization and survival.

socially defective children, orphanages, soviet government, orphans, homeless, immoral children, social education, provincial society