Europe, Central Eastern

Janet P. Stamatel

The transition to a democratic market society during the 1990s brought major political, economic and social transformations to Central Eastern Europe. One of the many social consequences of the collapse of Soviet-style communism in the nations of this region (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Yugoslavia) is a change in both the type and amount of reported crime. Although information about crime and justice in Central Eastern Europe was scarce prior to 1989, the liberalization of the countries in this region has allowed public access to information about these issues. For more than forty years, from the end of World War II until 1989, the countries of Central Eastern Europe were ruled by Soviet-style communism (state socialism), which controlled all aspects of life, including politics, business, religion, education, and civil society. Based on Marxist-Leninist ideology, the goal of state socialism was to create a ...

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