ffensively at home or, at the worst,
were working at small family enterprises. In rural areas they might have
been attending the family's private agricultural plot or the privately
owned livestock.

CRIME AND JUSTICE

Crime

The country's most widely quoted authorities on crime view it as a
social phenomenon, that is, actions by people within society against the
interests of the society as a whole or against the principles directing
it. Combating crime, therefore, becomes a matter both of law enforcement
and of social edification and persuasion. Although they adhere to the
argument that in a developing communist society most of the crime is
related to holdover attitudes from the old society and to unavoidable
contacts with such societies still existing, they do not expect to
eradicate crime according to any existing timetable.

Petty crime is an irritant to the leadership, not so much for the damage
or lasting effects of the individual criminal acts, but because such
acts reflect an attitude on the part of the perpetrators indicating that
they hold the society, if not in ridicule or contempt, at least in less
than proper respect. Such attitudes prompted an official in the Ministry
of Internal Affairs to state, "Social democracy does not take a
conciliatory attitude toward petty criminals, or tolerate individuals
who disturb the public order or who are engaged in a parasitical life."
The actual amount of petty crime is less worrisome to the authorities
than the fact that it is increasing. Also disturbing are statistics
showing that most of those apprehended for it are in the
eighteen-to-thirty-year age-group.

Authorities have found themselves facing a problem in relation to petty
crime that is in no way unique to Bulgaria. Misuse of government
property, including theft and pilfering, has become rampant and is
considered forgivable by those who are guilty because "everybody does
it." The courts have become reluctant to hand down harsh sentences upon
people who consider that they have done no wrong and, at least in the
opinion of some government spokesmen, lenient court sentences have
helped foster a view that theft of public property is wrong only because
it is so described in certain of the laws.

The authorities also point out that statistics accumulated on such
thefts reported in 1970 are revealing in other respects. Almost 90
percent of those recorded fell into the category of petty crime, but
about one-hal