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The aim of this thesis is to consider the impact, on the perpetrator, of committing an act of serious violence against another person. The first chapter of this thesis presents a narrative literature review of the impact of killing another person, considering three distinct contexts; as a member of the armed forces, in the line of duty as a police officer and as a criminal act. Research addressing the impact of killing another in these three differing contexts is presented and critiqued, providing a broad summary of the different effects suggested in the literature. A model is then presented that may be relevant in explaining experiences resulting from killing in all three of these contexts. The second chapter of this thesis presents a piece of qualitative research that attempts to further understanding of the impact of committing violence in specific circumstances. It explores the impact of committing a serious act of criminal violence, for individuals who have not committed any prior serious violent offences.

Chapter 1 examines the new family policy introduced in the mid-1930's as perceived in Western and in contemporary Soviet literature. The second chapter is concerned with background information on questions of fertility control and motherhood up to the introduction of the 1936 Decree. Chapter 3 provides background information on marriage, divorce and child maintenance up to the mid-1930's while Chapter 4 considers the provision of child care facilities and the implementation of "protective" labour legislation in the same period. Chapter 5 examines the reasons for the restriction of abortion in 1936 and the extent to which it was implemented successfully in the years up to 1941 and provides an assessment of its possible results, while Chapter 6 attempts to explain changes in the divorce laws and examines the implications of the new policy in practice. The seventh Chapter is concerned with-the reasons for the Government's commitment to expand rapidly child care facilities after 1936, and investigates how thoroughly these promises were carried out, as well as considering how successfully mothers were 0protected' at work by special legislation. The thesis concludes by setting out to determine how much success the new family policy enjoyed overall between 1936 and 1941, establishing the probable reasons for its introduction and establishing its likely effects on the position of women within Soviet society.