The spread of crime has become one of the most acute problems in Russia. There are increasing numbers of crimes, the level of violence is going up, and episodes are becoming more and more brutal and professional. Criminals are moving from encroaching on people's property to contract murders, terrorism, and the seizure of hostages, and they are using weapons and explosive devices more actively. Violent crimes make up about 20 percent of all crimes, and severe ones make up about 5 percent. In the past few years, the public and law enforcement bodies have been increasingly alarmed about violence in the home, which has become the most widespread form of aggression in Russia, comprising 30 to 40 percent of violent crimes. This article presents a study that was carried out in the oblasts of the Central Black-Earth Region, Belgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Lipetsk, and Tambov oblasts. The empirical base was comprised of: (1) criminal statistics for 1990 to 2001; (2) 150 criminal cases reviewed by Voronezh Oblast courts from 1995 through 2001; (3) the findings of a questionnaire survey conducted in the same oblast in 2000 and 2001 of 200 people who had committed criminal acts of violence against family members; (4) 200 people who had been the victims of similar acts by household members; (5) 150 people in a control group; (6) statistical data on social, economic, and demographic processes; (7) and published materials from court and investigative practice. Based on the findings of the survey, one out of every six crimes (16.9 percent) was committed against a person who the offender knew to be in a state of helplessness. The survey also suggests that the increase in the number of violent crimes in the home stems from whole complexes of factors, which must be viewed in the context of specific social conditions and the conflicted nature of these conditions, which depends on the individual's upbringing.