Proceedings of the International scientific and practical conference ―Oxford International Science Forum‖ (February 6-8, 2026) / Publisher website: www.naukainfo.com. - Oxford, United Kingdom, 2026. - 245 p.

84 experience a sense of dependence and a lack of freedom that relieves them of the need to work, make decisions, and shoulder daily responsibilities in their lives. In this sense, the unfreedom paradoxically becomes negative freedom, ―freedom from...‖, thus acquiring characteristics inherent to the concept of freedom. This metamorphosis is extremely dangerous, because after passing through the ―school of criminal professionalization‖ (M. Gernet), such individuals identify themselves exclusively with the criminal environment and do not seek fulfilment outside prison. In summary, for individuals prone to recidivism, unfreedom acquires value through prolonged imprisonment, stigmatisation and alienation from society. This paradox can be minimised if society realises that it is necessary to ―reduce expectations of prison imprisonment and pay more attention to community correction‖ [4, p. 542]. With this approach, punishment will not ―tear‖ a person away from society and create dependence on imprisonment, but rather preserve their responsibility for their own actions, bringing sanctions closer to a state of semi- freedom than complete isolation. REFERENCES: 1. Єдиний звіт про осіб, які вчинили кримінальні правопорушення за січень- грудень 2025 року. Офіційний сайт Офісу Генерального прокурора . URL: https://gp.gov.ua/ua/posts/pro-osib-yaki-vchinili-kriminalni-pravoporushennya-2 2. Yukhnenko D., Farouki L., Fazel S. Criminal recidivism rates globally: A 6-year systematic review update. J Crim Justice, 2023, Sep-Oct, Vol. 88. P. 102-115. URL: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10933794/ 3. Голіна В. Рецидивна злочинність в Україні: причини та попередження. Вісник Академії правових наук . 1999. № 1. С.189-196. 4. Barkan S. Criminology: A Sociological Understanding. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, 1997. 622 р.