PR practitioners can be divided into two types depending on their attitude towards research. Some profess an intuitive approach to planning and conducting PR campaigns, while others, on the contrary, adhere to more rational and technological views and positions.
The former form strategies “from the head”, focusing on their own understanding of the situation and the moods of the target audiences, whether they are voters or consumers, they neglect research procedures. The second, in order to avoid mistakes, try to make sure that their own conclusions are correct and spend time and money checking them. In this case, there is a guarantee that the work will be done within the specified quality level.
Leading PR structures, as a rule, at all stages of creating a strategy, its implementation and summing up, try to rely on research results and are constantly in search of the most effective ways and methods of measurement.
The most important tool in PR activities is sociological analysis.
The analysis is directly divided into theoretical And applied, which in turn can also be divided into strategic And estimated(with appropriate strategic (baseline) and evaluation studies).
Theoretical analysis has a conceptual and largely abstract character, its subject can be, for example, the mechanisms of formation of public opinion or the specifics of the impact on it of certain channels of information delivery. This kind of analysis in the field of PR is not developed in Russia, although it is it that allows you to improve the theory of communications, build new models and concepts. A.N. Chumikov, M.P. Bocharov Actual public relations: sphere, genesis, technologies, fields of application, structures: educational practical guide - M .: Higher education, Yurait-Izdat, 2009. - 721s.
Applied Analysis designed to answer specific practical questions. Thus, strategic or basic research is carried out at the initial stage, i.e. before developing a program, strategy, concept of positioning the object of PR technologies. It is the most ambitious and time-consuming, since it usually requires the collection and analysis of a large amount of data, not all of which will subsequently be used in the future.
Evaluation studies are carried out during the implementation and at the final stage of the project, both before any actions (events, publications), or after the fact to determine the effectiveness of the implemented strategy and its adjustment.
The purpose of the study is to collect and analyze information that will allow a better understanding of the real state of affairs. And to understand is to understand how to act in the circumstances.
Standard task - this is the one for the solution of which it is necessary to apply a proven toolkit and a well-known methodology. Standard sociological analysis is carried out according to a procedure that determines the sequence of operations, the system of actions, methods of organizing research and processing results.
Analysis, which should be both preliminary (at the campaign planning stage) and evaluating the results of the PR campaign,
Required, but includes the following steps:
preparatory (setting goals, setting problems, finding out at what stage of solution they are, choosing adequate communication channels);
estimated (cost planning when preparing an action, taking into account the quality of work and the efficiency of using funds after its completion);
analytical (determination of directions, methods and means of the campaign, analysis of their results based on the results of the action).
Applying methods in sociological research system analysis, carry out a kind of division of the object into elements, when it is considered as a social phenomenon with common for this kind
phenomena with qualities and specific traits inherent in him alone. Sociological analysis makes it possible to study direct and indirect factors influencing the PR object, as well as social conditions and subjective circumstances that determine the position of the object. Content analysis is also carried out - the study, as already noted, of stably repeating text units, in relation to which statistical and structural relationships with other units are revealed and other qualitative or qualitative characteristics of materials are determined (for example, various publications on topics, issues, concepts, personalities).
Research is divided into quality And quantitative,
Qualitative research is research that
descriptive and informational methods are used. They determine the compliance of the object of research with standards and norms, but cannot be measured quantitatively. ,
Quantitative research, on the contrary, allows the use of mathematical analysis, i.e. their results are measurable and can be represented by experimental studies conducted in the laboratory or survey studies in the field.
In addition, research can be both quantitative and qualitative at the same time. For example, studies (measurements) on the ground (in the fields, as sociologists say) may consist of observations, which gives them the features of qualitative studies.
The study according to all the above signs is called all general (total), and one parameter - local (point).
Sociological research in all respects, but a limited array of data is selective.
The sociology of culture is one of the most paradoxical areas of sociological thought. Despite the fact that the sociological analysis of culture has been one of the main tasks of sociology since its inception, there is still no agreement on the subject of study of the "sociology of culture" proper and the place of this discipline in the structure of sociological knowledge. Sociological dictionaries do not always devote a special article to this area of sociology. Some authors tend to view the sociology of culture as a more or less broad-based "sectoral sociology" that studies the "sphere of culture", "cultural processes". In this capacity, the sociology of culture is interpreted either as existing along with such branch disciplines as the sociology of art, science, education, or as including them as subdisciplines. But if we consider the sociology of culture as a branch discipline more or less broad in scope of the phenomena studied, then the question of defining the boundaries of "culture" inevitably arises. Why do we refer to "culture" religion, science, art, but do not include politics and economics? Are these areas of social life less regulated by cultural meanings and norms? There is a point of view that considers the sociology of culture not as a direction that studies a certain "segment" or "sphere" of social reality, but as a special approach to the vision of social reality in general. This approach proceeds from the semantic nature of social phenomena. In this case, the sociology of culture actually becomes an independent project of sociology, close to understanding sociology. As you know, "culture" is one of the most ambiguous concepts, the number of definitions of which is in the hundreds. Perhaps, it is precisely in connection with this uncertainty, as well as the value and worldview load of the term "culture", that many researchers generally try not to use it. The difficulties that arise in determining the subject of the sociology of culture are also related to the fact that culture is an object of analysis not only for sociology, but also for other sciences - in particular, cultural anthropology and the philosophy of culture. Relatively recently, a science has emerged for which "culture" is the main object of study - cultural studies. In addition, there are many sciences that study various areas of culture. Thus, sociologists face the problem of substantive demarcation with other sciences that study culture. And this problem has no easy solution. A clear boundary is often impossible to draw. Studies of culture - an extremely complex and diverse phenomenon, "naturally" gravitate towards interdisciplinarity. The sociological analysis of culture has never been free from influences from philosophy, cultural and social anthropology, psychology and other humanities. But these sciences, in turn, were influenced by sociology.
Thus, the sociology of culture studies all types of transformative activities of a person, social communities and society as a whole, as well as the results of this activity. Purposeful creative activity itself forms a person as a subject of historical creativity. His human qualities are the result of his assimilation of the language, familiarization with the values created in society, accumulated traditions, mastering the experience, skills and methods of activity inherent in this culture. It would not be an exaggeration to define culture as a measure of what is human in a person. Culture gives a person a sense of belonging to a community, brings up control over his behavior, determines the style of practical life. At the same time, culture is a decisive way of social interactions, integration of individuals into society. Sociology of culture, as a branch of sociological knowledge, studies these complex phenomenological series and systems, strives to understand and formalize the patterns of these phenomena in scientific terminology.
45. Object and subject, laws and categories of mass media. The media are divided into visual(periodicals), auditory(radio), audiovisual(television, documentaries). Despite all the differences between them, the media are united into a single system of mass communication due to the common function and the special structure of the communication process. Among the functions of the media are the following:
informational (message about the state of affairs, various facts and events);
commentary and evaluative (often the statement of facts is accompanied by a commentary on them, their analysis and assessment);
cognitive - educational (advanced diverse cultural, historical, scientific information, the media contribute to the replenishment of the knowledge fund of their readers, listeners, viewers);
the function of influence (the media is not accidentally called the fourth power; their influence on the views and behavior of people is quite obvious, especially during periods of so-called inversion changes in society or during mass socio-political actions, for example, during general elections of the head of state);
hedonistic (we are talking here not just about entertaining information, but also about the fact that any information is perceived with a great positive effect, when the very way it is transmitted causes a feeling of pleasure, meets the ethical needs of the addressee).
The main tasks of the media are the transmission of information to consumers, which occurs in various ways (newspaper, radio, TV).
The activities of the press, radio and television are regulated in detail by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Mass Media”. It was signed by President N. Nazarbayev on July 23, 1999. This regulation is still in effect today. Of course, the activities of the media are also regulated by a large number of other laws and a number of by-laws. I will name just a few of them: the Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan; the Law “On Advertising”; the Law “On Counteracting Extremist Activities”;
According to lawyers, there are more than eight hundred legislative acts that directly or indirectly regulate the activities of the media and journalists. At the same time, the adoption of normative legal acts relating to the media is exclusively within the competence of the legislator at the republican level.
46.Media functions. Function (lat. functio "duty, appointment, nature of activity, performance of duties"). Consideration and analysis of the functions of any system of social activity is the most important moment of its theory.
This is due to the fact that the processes occurring in each system of social activity are ultimately determined by the fact that it performs a certain function in a broader whole.
In general, the media has a huge number of functions in completely different areas.
For example, E. P. Prokhorov*, considering journalism a multifunctional system, identifies the following six functions of journalism:
1. communicative - the function of communication, establishing contact, which the author calls the original function of journalism;
2. directly organizational, in which the role of journalism as the “fourth power” in society is most clearly manifested;
3. ideological (social orientation), associated with the desire to have a profound impact on the worldview foundations and value orientations of the audience, on the self-consciousness of people, their ideals and aspirations, including the motivation of behavioral acts;
4. cultural and educational, which, according to the author, is to participate in the promotion and dissemination of high cultural values in the life of society, to educate people on examples of global culture, thereby contributing to the comprehensive development of man;
6. recreational (entertainment, stress relief, enjoyment).
But it should be noted that it is not clear that the author singles out the organizational function directly. After all, since journalism is also the fourth power in society, therefore, it also influences the worldview and views of people, motivates their behavior. Therefore, this function can be combined with the ideological one. However, the media manifest themselves in completely different areas, in each of which the media perform their specific function.
47. The concept and types of sociological research. There are three types of sociological research: pilot (intelligence), descriptive, analytical.
A pilot study is a trial study that precedes the main one. It is intended to check the quality of the main study and covers small populations based on a simplified syllabus. In its course, all elements of the future study are checked, and difficulties that may be encountered during its implementation are identified. Often, during a pilot study, new hypotheses are formed and operational sociological data is collected. Usually it is carried out among 50-100 people.
Descriptive research is more complex, since in terms of its goals and objectives it involves obtaining a holistic view of the phenomenon under study. It is carried out according to the full program with the appropriate tools. Descriptive research is carried out when the object of study is a large community of people, characterized by a variety of characteristics. You can identify and compare connections with them, make a comparison and comparison.
Analytical research is the most in-depth type of sociological analysis. Its purpose is to identify the reasons underlying the process and determining its specificity. Its preparation takes a lot of time. It is complex.
From whether the subject is studied in statics or in dynamics, point (one-time) and repeated studies are distinguished. Dotted reflects the instantaneous cut of the characteristics of the object. Repeated ones are trend, panel and longitudinal.
Trend ones are carried out on similar samples with a time interval within a single general population. They are divided into cahorts (when they study a certain age group - cahorts) and historical (when the composition of the cahorts changes).
A panel study is a survey of the same people at regular intervals. It is important to maintain uniformity. Information is received about individual changes. The main difficulty is the difficulty of maintaining the sample from one study to another.
If the moments of the repeated study are chosen taking into account the genesis of the studied population, then this study is called longitudinal. They study only young people.
During the conduct of all studies, the so-called social monitoring is carried out - the creation of programs and databases using a computer.
According to the famous Russian sociologist V.A. Yadova, "the analysis of the collected information is the most exciting stage of the study" 3 . This is probably true, since the analysis is a kind of "crown" of a long, painstaking work, it is here that the researcher
This chapter was written by Dr. Sociol. Sciences prof.V.F. Anurin.
V.A. Poisons in his widely known (both specialists and non-specialists) book provides a list of 314 titles of domestic and foreign literature plus an annotated list of more than 70 titles (see: Yadov V.A. Sociological research: methodology, program, methods. Samara: Samara University Publishing House, 1995, pp. 275-285, 309-329). All those who show interest in a more in-depth study of the problems of sociological analysis are referred to these lists. Yadov V.A. Sociological research: methodology, program, methods. S. 202.
can definitely find out how true the working hypotheses put forward by him at the very beginning turned out to be.
The word “analysis” itself 4 has a number of meanings, but almost always it is associated with dismemberment of the object under study into separate elements. Such an operation is often associated with a situation where "you can't see the forest for the trees." In other words, excessive focus on a single element can lead to a loss of understanding of its relationship with other elements of the object, when we cease to understand the meaning of studying the object as a whole. Therefore, in the course of analytical work, one should not forget that the result of scientific research should be the reduction of particular conclusions obtained as a result of the study of individual elements into a single whole. Analysis is inextricably linked with synthesis.
Yu. Tolstova points to the existence of at least four different (albeit interconnected) meanings of the concept of “data analysis” in sociology: (1) a set of actions performed in the process of studying the obtained empirical data in order to form an idea of the characteristics of the phenomenon under study; (2) the process of studying statistical data using certain techniques, mathematical methods and models in order to present them more conveniently and visually, which allows the most reasonable interpretation of the phenomenon under study; (3) a concept identical to applied statistics; (4) such procedures for "folding" information that do not allow a formal algorithmic approach 5 .
The prospect of studying empirical methods for studying social phenomena is sometimes daunting for students. Some people with a "humanitarian" mindset are repelled by this stage because it includes working with numbers (calculations) and statistics. However, one cannot see
Rice. 22. You can independently carry out data processing
From Greek. analysis- decomposition.
See: Sociology: Dictionary-reference book. T. 4. Sociological research: Methods, mathematics
and statistics. M., 1991. S. 7-9.
that a sufficiently deep knowledge of a wide variety of processes occurring in society (including political phenomena, the behavior of buyers and sellers in the markets, changing systems of norms and values) is impossible without a basic knowledge of statistics and its use in the analysis and description of studies. However, the processing methods and mathematical procedures that we intend to describe here are quite elementary, this is just the first approximation for a rigorous and disciplined argument.
Sociological analysis is intended to achieve specific, predetermined goals, to establish links between various social phenomena formulated in the form of working hypotheses. Almost always, we must know in advance what we want, what we are looking for, what questions we want to get answered. Of course, accidental discoveries are also possible, but it is hardly worth counting on them. Thus, the success of the analysis depends to a large extent on the preparatory period and is largely laid down at the stage of program development.
One of the sections of the technical and methodological part of the program is the "Logical scheme of data processing and analysis" 6 . It is a brief description of the algorithm of the researcher's actions in the process of mathematical and logical processing of the resulting database, a kind of "route" of the processing procedure. It really is like plotting a route on a map before you hit the road. You can process the data yourself, but even if the calculations will be carried out by someone else (for example, a mathematician, operator, laboratory assistant), and you are only responsible for analyzing the results, you, as a sociologist-researcher, need to prepare a competent technical task for him - operation algorithm. If you process data on a computer (for example, using the SPSS package), then a more or less detailed analysis logic will include a list of commands in the order in which you will ask them to the computer.
At the same time, it should be remembered that the reliability and quality of the results of statistical processing to a large extent depend on how carefully and carefully the work on the formation of the database (the so-called “stuffing”) has been done. Attentiveness, accuracy and speed - these are the main qualities required from the operator when entering primary sociological information.
Quite useful preliminary work prior to data processing can be the compilation of the so-called dictionary of variables. This is a table that summarizes the variables of this study, indicating all the possible values that each of them can take, with the corresponding codes, as well as the numbers of those positions that this variable occupies in the database matrix. In table. 4 you can see an example of a dictionary of variables compiled in accordance with the questionnaire given in Appendix 1.
The need to compile a dictionary of variables is determined by the fact that the calculation tables of the SPSS package do not display the names of the variables themselves.
6 See: Anurin V.F. Program of Applied Sociological Research: Methodological Development. N. Novgorod: Izd-vo NKI, 1996. S. 1.
nyh and their meanings, but only their numbers and codes. Therefore, the dictionary is a good reference book, which can be consulted by both the stuffing operators and the researcher himself when compiling analytical tables.
Table 4Dictionary of variables for the study of ideas about wealth (fragment)
| Belt number | Variable | Value options | Position number |
| V1 | Self-identification of yourself and your family with the category of rich people | 0 - no answer definitely yes in principle yes probably no definitely no find it difficult to answer | |
| V2 | Set to achieve wealth as a goal | 0 - no answer necessarily probably, yes, if it works, then it’s not against them, they don’t need it, they don’t know, they didn’t think | |
| V84 | Parties that offer a reliable path to prosperity | 0 - no answer Agrarian Party of Russia KPRF LDPR Nash Dom Russia New Force Fatherland Right Cause Young Russia Union of Justice and Labor Labor Russia Honor and Motherland Yabloko Other None | 84-85 |
| V85 | Floor | 0 - no answer male female | |
Before turning to the description of specific methods of data processing and analysis, we should briefly dwell on the general principles that serve as the basis for any analysis. The essence of the process of processing primary information is its generalization. The primary sociological information collected during the field stage is an array of "raw" data (for example, a pack of completed questionnaires). This information is not structured, it is not available for viewing and cannot be directly studied. Therefore, the very first step to be taken in the direction of analysis is its ordering, compaction and compact description. This process is carried out with the help of statistical grouping of data 7 .
For more details see: Yadov V.A. Sociological research: methodology, program, methods. pp. 202-207.
Method groupings lies in the fact that the surveyed population is divided into homogeneous groups (i.e., individual units of which have a common feature for all). Groupings according to quantitative or qualitative characteristics have their own specific features. In the case of grouping according to quantitative characteristics (age, length of service, income), the entire range of change in the variable is divided into certain intervals, followed by counting the number of units included in each of them. When grouping according to qualitative characteristics, it should be possible to assign each of the units of analysis to one of the selected gradations. Moreover, this must be done in an unambiguous manner so that the total number of units of analysis assigned to all gradations would be exactly equal to the total number of the studied population (therefore, along with the answer options like “I don’t know”, “I find it difficult to answer”, in the dictionary of variables there are always a “no answer” option is provided, usually encoded by zero).
Another important procedure for ordering data, which precedes the actual analysis, is typology. This concept refers to "a generalization of the features of social phenomena on the basis of an ideal theoretical model and according to theoretically justified criteria" 8 . As an example of typologization, we could cite our study on the identification of the substantive aspect of the political stratification of Russian society in the 1990s. In this study, we singled out such types of political orientation as "democrats", "Westerners", "pragmatists", "communists", "national patriots" and "totalitarians" 9 .
When processing data, it must be remembered that the mathematical apparatus used in empirical and applied sociology often offers a fairly large number of specialized procedures to identify the connection between phenomena, as well as its direction and strength, many of which look very complicated and cumbersome. Their choice for a particular study depends both on the tasks (formulated by the hypothesis) and on the level of the researcher's training. However, it should be noted that in many cases a sophisticated mathematical apparatus, turning from a means into a kind of end in itself, can deprive the conclusions of clarity and "transparency". The practice of conducting research shows that it is possible to conduct a fairly convincing analysis of sociological data using a not too wide range of computational tools. It should not be forgotten that the main thing in statistical analysis is, first of all, the search for sociological sense, concluded in the tables, diagrams and indices obtained as a result of the calculation.
In a broad sense, the concept of "society" - "society in general" - characterizes what is common in any social formations. Based on this, it is possible to give a general definition of this complex category. Society - it is a historically developing set of relations between people, emerging in the process of their life.
It is easy to see that this is a universal definition that fits your study group, and the society of book lovers, and society of a higher degree of complexity. Therefore, the sociological analysis of society assumes a multilevel character. The model of social reality can be represented at least at two levels: macro - and microsociological.
Macrosociology focuses on patterns of behavior that help to understand the essence of any society. These patterns, which can be called structures, include social institutions such as the family, education, religion, and political and economic order. On macrosociological level society is understood as a relatively stable system of social ties and relations of both large and small groups of people, determined in the process of the historical development of mankind, supported by the power of custom, tradition, law, social institutions, etc. (civil society), based on a certain method of production, distribution, exchange and consumption of material and spiritual goods.
The macrosociological level of analysis is the study of microsystems (circles of interpersonal communication) that make up the immediate social environment of a person. These are systems of emotionally colored connections of an individual with other people. Various accumulations of such connections form such small groups, the members of which are connected with each other by positive attitudes and separated from others by hostility and indifference. Researchers working at this level believe that a social phenomenon can be understood only on the basis of an analysis of the meanings that people attach to these phenomena when interacting with each other. The main topic of their research is the behavior of individuals, their actions, motives, meanings that determine the interaction between people, which in turn affects the stability of society or the changes taking place in it.
In real life, there is no “society in general”, just as there is no “tree in general”, there are quite specific societies: Russian society, American society and the equivalent of modern nation-states, meaning the human content (“people”) of the internal space within state borders. The American sociologist N. Smelser defined the society replenished in this way as "an association of people with certain geographical boundaries, a common legislative system and a certain national (sociocultural) identity."
For a more complete and deeper understanding of the essence of society at the macro level, we highlight several of its distinguishing features (features):
1) territory - a geographical space delineated by boundaries, on which interactions are carried out, social ties and relationships are formed;
2) the presence of its own name and identification;
3) replenishment mainly at the expense of the children of those people who are already its recognized representatives;
4) stability and ability to reproduce internal connections and interactions;
5) autonomy, which is manifested in the fact that it is not part of any other society, as well as in the ability to create the necessary conditions to meet the various needs of individuals and provide them with ample opportunities for self-affirmation and self-realization. The life of society is regulated and managed by those social institutions and organizations and on the basis of those norms and principles that are developed and created within society itself;
6) a great integrating force: society, having a common system of values and norms (culture), attaches to this system each new generation (socializes them), including them in the established system of social relations of relations.
With all the differences in the definition of the concept of "society", sociologists from O. Comte to T. Parsons considered it as an integral social system, including a large number of social phenomena and processes of different order and character.
Social system - it is a structural element of social reality, a certain holistic formation. The constituent elements of society as a social system are social institutions and organizations, social communities and groups that develop certain social values and norms, consisting of individuals united by social ties and relationships and performing certain social roles. All these elements are interconnected and constitute the structure of society.
Social structure - this is a certain way of communication and interaction of elements, i.e. individuals occupying certain social positions and performing certain social functions in accordance with the set of norms and values adopted in a given social system. At the same time, the structure of society can be considered from different angles, depending on the basis for distinguishing the structural parts (subsystems) of society.
Thus, an important basis for distinguishing the structural elements of society are natural factors that divided people according to sex, age, and racial characteristics. Here one can single out socio-territorial communities (population of a city, region, etc.), socio-demographic (men, women, children, youth, etc.), socio-ethnic (clan, tribe, nationality, nation).
At the macro level of social interaction, the structure of society is presented as a system of social institutions (family, state, etc.). At the micro level, the social structure is formed in the form of a system of social roles.
Society is also structured according to other parameters related to the vertical stratification of people: in relation to property - into those who have and those who have not, in relation to power - into those who manage and those who are ruled, and so on.
When considering society as an integral social system, it is important to single out not only its structural elements, but also the interconnection of these heterogeneous elements, sometimes seemingly not in contact with each other.
Is there a relationship between the social roles of the farmer and the teacher? What unites family and industrial relations? etc. and so on. The answers to these questions are given by functional (structural-functional) analysis. Society unites its constituent elements not by establishing direct interaction between them, but on the basis of their functional dependence. Functional dependency is what generates a set of elements as a whole, as well as properties that none of them individually possess. The American sociologist, the founder of the structural-functional school, T. Parsons, analyzing the social system, identified the following main functions, without which the system cannot exist:
1) adaptation - the need to adapt to the environment;
2) goal achievement - setting goals for the system;
3) integration - maintaining internal order;
4) maintaining a pattern of interactions in the system, i.e. the possibility of reproducing the structure and relieving possible tensions in the social system.
Having defined the main functions of the system, T. Parsons identifies four subsystems (economics, politics, kinship and culture) that ensure the fulfillment of these functional needs - functional subsystems. Further, he indicates those social institutions that directly regulate adaptive, goal-setting, stabilizing and integration processes (factories, banks, parties, the state apparatus, school, family, church, etc.).
Socio-historical determinism. The allocation of functional subsystems raised the question of their deterministic (causal) relationship. In other words, the question is which of the subsystems determines the appearance of society as a whole. Determinism - this is the doctrine of the objective logical relationship and interdependence of all phenomena in nature and society. The initial principle of determinism sounds like this: all things and events of the surrounding world are in the most diverse connections and relationships with each other.
However, on the question of what determines the image of society as a whole, there is no unity among sociologists. K. Marx, for example, preferred the economic subsystem (economic determinism). Proponents of technological determinism see the determining factor in social life in the development of technology and technology. Proponents of cultural determinism believe that the basis of society is generally accepted systems of values and norms, the observance of which ensures the stability and uniqueness of society. Proponents of biological determinism argue that all social phenomena must be explained in terms of biological or genetic characteristics of people.
If we approach society from the standpoint of studying the patterns of interaction between society and man, economic and social factors, then the corresponding theory can be called the theory of socio-historical determinism. Socio-historical determinism - one of the basic principles of sociology, expressing the universal interconnection and interdependence of social phenomena. Just as society produces man, so man produces society. In contrast to the lower animals, he is the product of his own spiritual and material activities. Man is not only an object, but also a subject of social action.
social action - the simplest unit of social activity. This concept was developed and introduced into scientific circulation by M. Weber to denote the action of an individual consciously focused on the past, present or future behavior of other people.
The essence of social life lies in practical human activity. A person carries out his activity through the historically established types and forms of interaction and relationships with other people. Therefore, in whatever sphere of public life his activity is carried out, it always has not an individual, but a social character. Social activities - it is a set of socially significant actions carried out by the subject (society, group, individual) in various spheres and at various levels of the social organization of society, pursuing certain social goals and interests and using various means in order to achieve them - economic, social, political and ideological.
History and social relations do not exist and cannot exist in isolation from activity. Social activity, on the one hand, is carried out according to objective laws that are independent of the will and consciousness of people, and on the other hand, people participate in it, choosing various ways and means of its implementation in accordance with their social position.
The main feature of socio-historical determinism is that its object is the activity of people who at the same time act as the subject of activity. Thus, social laws are the laws of the practical activity of people who form society, the laws of their own social actions.
Typology of society. In the modern world, there are various types of societies that differ from each other in many ways, both explicit (language of communication, culture, geographical location, size, etc.) and hidden (degree of social integration, level of stability, etc.). Scientific classification involves the selection of the most significant, typical features that distinguish some features from others and unite societies of the same group. The complexity of social systems called societies determines both the diversity of their specific manifestations and the absence of a single universal criterion on the basis of which they could be classified.
In the middle of the 19th century, K. Marx proposed a typology of societies, which was based on the method of production of material goods and production relations - primarily property relations. He divided all societies into 5 main types (according to the type of socio-economic formations): primitive communal, slave-owning, feudal, capitalist and communist (the initial phase is a socialist society).
Another typology divides all societies into simple and complex. The criterion is the number of management levels and the degree of social differentiation (stratification). The simple society this is a society in which the constituent parts are homogeneous, there are no rich and poor, leaders and subordinates, the structure and functions here are poorly differentiated and can be easily interchanged. Such are the primitive tribes, in some places preserved to this day.
Complex society - a society with highly differentiated structures and functions, interconnected and interdependent from each other, which necessitates their coordination.
TO. Popper distinguishes between two types of societies: closed and open. The differences between them are based on a number of factors, and, above all, the relationship of social control and freedom of the individual. For closed society characterized by a static social structure, limited mobility, resistance to innovation, traditionalism, dogmatic authoritarian ideology, collectivism. K. Popper attributed Sparta, Prussia, Tsarist Russia, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union of the Stalin era to this type of society. open society characterized by a dynamic social structure, high mobility, ability to innovate, criticism, individualism and democratic pluralistic ideology. K. Popper considered ancient Athens and modern Western democracies to be examples of open societies.
The division of societies into traditional, industrial and post-industrial, proposed by the American sociologist D. Bell on the basis of a change in the technological basis - the improvement of the means of production and knowledge, is stable and widespread.
Traditional (pre-industrial) society - a society with an agrarian way of life, with a predominance of subsistence farming, a class hierarchy, sedentary structures and a method of socio-cultural regulation based on tradition. It is characterized by manual labor, extremely low rates of development of production, which can satisfy the needs of people only at a minimal level. It is extremely inertial, therefore it is not very susceptible to innovations. The behavior of individuals in such a society is regulated by customs, norms, and social institutions. Customs, norms, institutions, consecrated by traditions, are considered unshakable, not allowing even the thought of changing them. Performing their integrative function, culture and social institutions suppress any manifestation of individual freedom, which is a necessary condition for the gradual renewal of society.
The term industrial society was introduced by A. Saint-Simon, emphasizing its new technical basis. industrial society -(in modern terms) it is a complex society, with an industrial-based way of managing, with flexible, dynamic and modifiable structures, a way of socio-cultural regulation based on a combination of individual freedom and the interests of society. These societies are characterized by a developed division of labor, the development of mass media, urbanization, etc.
post-industrial society(sometimes called informational) - a society developed on an information basis: extraction (in traditional societies) and processing (in industrial societies) of natural products are replaced by the acquisition and processing of information, as well as predominant development (instead of agriculture in traditional societies and industry in industrial ) service industries. As a result, the structure of employment and the ratio of various professional and qualification groups are also changing. According to forecasts, already at the beginning of the 21st century in advanced countries, half of the workforce will be employed in the field of information, a quarter - in the field of material production and a quarter - in the production of services, including information.
The change in the technological basis also affects the organization of the entire system of social ties and relations. If in an industrial society the mass class was made up of workers, then in a post-industrial society it was employees and managers. At the same time, the significance of class differentiation is weakening, instead of a status (“granular”) social structure, a functional (“ready-made”) social structure is being formed. Instead of leading the principle of governance, coordination is becoming, and representative democracy is being replaced by direct democracy and self-government. As a result, instead of a hierarchy of structures, a new type of network organization is created, focused on rapid change depending on the situation.
True, at the same time, some sociologists pay attention to contradictory possibilities, on the one hand, ensuring a higher level of individual freedom in the information society, and on the other hand, the emergence of new, more hidden and therefore more dangerous forms of social control over it.
In conclusion, we note that, in addition to those considered, there are other classifications of societies in modern sociology. It all depends on what criterion will be the basis of this classification.
The term "social institution" used in a wide variety of meanings.
One of the first detailed definition of a social institution was given by the American sociologist and economist T. Veblen. He viewed the evolution of society as a process of natural selection of social institutions. By their nature, they represent habitual ways of responding to stimuli that are created by external changes.
Another American sociologist, C. Mills, understood the institution as the form of a certain set of social roles. He classified institutions according to the tasks performed (religious, military, educational, etc.) that form the institutional order. The German sociologist A. Gehlen interprets an institution as a regulatory institution that directs people's actions in a certain direction, just as institutions control the behavior of animals. According to L. Bovier, a social institution is a system of cultural elements focused on satisfying a set of specific social
needs or goals. J. Bernard and L. Thompson interpret the institution as a set of norms and patterns of behavior. This is a complex configuration of customs, traditions, beliefs, attitudes, laws that have a specific purpose and perform specific functions. In domestic sociological literature, a social institution is defined as the main component of the social structure of society, integrating and coordinating many individual actions of people, streamlining social relations in certain areas of public life. According to S.S. Frolov, a social institution is an organized system of connections and social norms that combines significant social values and procedures that meet the basic needs of society. According to M.S. Komarov, social institutions are value-normative complexes through which the actions of people in vital areas - the economy, politics, culture, family, etc. are directed and controlled.
If we sum up all the variety of the above approaches, then a social institution is:
Role system, which also includes norms and statuses;
A set of customs, traditions and rules of conduct;
Formal and informal organization;
A set of norms and institutions that regulate a certain area of public relations;
A separate set of social actions.
That. we see that the term "social institution" can have different definitions:
A social institution is an organized association of people performing certain socially significant functions, ensuring the joint achievement of goals based on the members of their social roles, set by social values, norms and patterns of behavior.
Social institutions are institutions designed to meet the fundamental needs of society.
A social institution is a set of norms and institutions that regulate a certain area of social relations.
A social institution is an organized system of connections and social norms that combines significant social values and procedures that meet the basic needs of society.
Typology of social institutions.The social institution is divided into main (main, fundamental) and non-main (non-main, frequent). The latter hide inside the former, being part of them as smaller formations. In addition to dividing institutions into main and non-main ones, they can be classified according to other criteria. For example, institutions may differ in the time of their emergence and duration of existence (permanent and short-term institutions), the severity of sanctions applied for violations of the rules, the conditions of existence, the presence or absence of a bureaucratic management system, the presence or absence of formal rules and procedures. Ch. Mills counted five institutional orders in modern society, in fact, meaning by this the main institutions:
Economic - institutions that organize economic activity;
Political - institutions of power;
Family - institutions that regulate sexual relations, the birth and socialization of children;
Military - institutions that protect members of society from physical danger;
Religious - institutions that organize the collective worship of the gods.
The purpose of social institutions is to satisfy the most important vital needs of society as a whole.
Five such basic needs are known, they correspond to five basic social institutions:
The need for the reproduction of the genus (the institution of family and marriage).
The need for security and social order (the institution of the state and other political institutions).
The need to obtain and produce means of subsistence (economic institutions).
The need for the transfer of knowledge, the socialization of the younger generation, the training of personnel (institute of education).
The need for solving spiritual problems, the meaning of life (Institute
religion).
Non-core institutions are also called social practices. Each major institution has its own systems of established practices, methods, techniques, procedures. Thus, economic institutions cannot do without such mechanisms and practices as currency conversion, protection of private property, professional selection, placement and evaluation of workers, marketing, the market, etc. Within the institution of family and marriage are the institutions of fatherhood and motherhood, the name of the dialect, tribal revenge, inheritance of the social status of parents, etc. Non-principal political institutions include, for example, the institutions of forensic examination, passport registration, legal proceedings, advocacy, juries, judicial control of arrests, the judiciary, the presidency, etc.
Everyday practices that help organize the concerted action of large groups of people bring certainty and predictability to social reality, thereby supporting the existence of social institutions.
Functions and dysfunctions of social institutions. Function (from Latin - execution, implementation) - the appointment or role that a certain social institution or process performs in relation to the whole (for example, the function of the state, family, etc. in society.) The function of a social institution is the benefit that it brings to society, i.e. it is a set of tasks to be solved, goals to be achieved,
services provided. The first and most important mission of social institutions is
satisfaction of the most important vital needs of society, i.e. without which society cannot exist as a current one. Indeed, if we want to understand what the essence of the function of this or that institution is, we must directly connect it with the satisfaction of needs. E. Durheim was one of the first to point out this connection: “To ask what is the function of the division of labor means to investigate what need it corresponds to.”
No society can exist if it does not constantly replenish with new generations of people, obtain food, live in peace and order, acquire new knowledge and pass it on to the next generations, deal with spiritual issues. List of universal, i.e. functions inherent in all institutions can be
continue by including in it the function of consolidating and reproducing social relations, regulatory, integrative, broadcasting and communicative functions.
Along with universal, there are specific functions. These are functions that are inherent in some institutions and are not characteristic of others, for example, establishing order in society (the state), discovering and transferring new knowledge (science and education), etc.
Society is arranged in such a way that a number of institutions perform several functions simultaneously, and at the same time, several institutions can specialize in the performance of one function at once. For example, the function of educating or socializing children is performed by such institutions as the family, church, school, state. At the same time, the institution of the family performs not only the function of education and socialization, but also such functions as the reproduction of people, satisfaction in intimacy, etc.
At the dawn of its inception, the state performs a narrow range of tasks, primarily related to the establishment and maintenance of internal and external security. However, as society became more complex, so did the state. Today, it not only protects borders, fights crime, but also regulates the economy, provides social security and assistance to the poor, collects taxes and supports health care, science, schools, etc.
The Church was created for the sake of solving important worldview issues and establishing the highest moral standards. But over time, she also began to engage in education, economic activities (monastery), the preservation and transfer of knowledge, research work (religious schools, gymnasiums, etc.), and patronage.
If an institution, in addition to benefits, brings harm to society, then such an action is called dysfunction. An institution is said to be dysfunctional when some of the consequences of its activities interfere with the performance of another social activity or another institution. Or, as one sociological dictionary defines dysfunction, it is “any social activity that contributes negatively to the maintenance of the effective functioning of the social system.”
For example, economic institutions, as they develop, make more and more demanding requirements for those social functions that the institution of education should perform. It is the needs of the economy that lead in industrial societies to the development of mass literacy, and then to the need to prepare more and more
the number of qualified professionals. But if the institution of education does not cope with its task, if education is put out of hand very badly, or if it does not train the specialists that the economy requires, then the society will not receive developed individuals or first-class professionals. Schools and universities will release into life routines, dilettantes, semi-knowers, which means that the institutions of the economy will not be able to meet the needs of society.
So functions turn into dysfunctions, plus into minus.
Therefore, the activity of a social institution is considered as a function if it contributes to maintaining the stability and integration of society.
The functions and dysfunctions of social institutions can be obvious if they are clearly expressed, recognized by everyone and quite obvious, or latent if they are hidden and remain unconscious for the participants in the social system. The explicit functions of institutions are both expected and necessary. They are formed and declared in codes and fixed in the system of statuses and roles.
Latent functions are the unintended result of the activities of institutions or persons representing them. The democratic state that was established in Russia in the early 1990s with the help of new institutions of power - parliament, government and president, it would seem, sought to improve the life of the people, create civilized relations in society and inspire citizens with respect for the law. These were the explicit goals and objectives declared in all heard goals. In reality, crime has increased in the country, and the standard of living has fallen. Such were the by-products of the efforts of the institutions of power.
Explicit functions testify to what people wanted to achieve within the framework of this or that institution, while latent functions testify to what came of it. The explicit functions of the school as an institution of education include the acquisition of literacy and matriculation, preparation for higher education, training in professional roles, and the assimilation of the basic values of society. But the institution of the school also has hidden functions: acquiring a certain social status that will allow a graduate to climb a step above an illiterate peer, establishing strong school friendships, supporting graduates at the time of their entry into the labor market. Not to mention a host of latent functions such as shaping classroom interactions, hidden curriculum, and student subcultures. Explicit, i.e. Quite obvious, the functions of the institution of higher education can be considered to be preparing young people for the development of various special roles and the assimilation of the value standards, morality and ideology prevailing in society, and the implicit ones are the consolidation of social inequality between those who have higher education and those who do not.
N. V. VASILYEVALIFE PLANS OF YOUNG DISABLED PEOPLE
IN MODERN RUSSIA:
SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
Moscow
Scientific monograph
The preparation of materials and the publication of this monograph became possible thanks to the programPresident of the Russian Federation for the state
support for young Russian scientists
MK-8958.2006.6.
Reviewer:
Seliverstova Nina Anatolyevna, Doctor of Sociology, Professor of the Department of Sociology, Moscow University for the Humanities, Deputy Head of the Department of Sociology, Moscow University for the Humanities
Artist: Goryushkin Alexander Viktorovich
© N.V. Vasilyeva Moscow University for the Humanities, 2007.
INTRODUCTION
The personal formation of young people during the period of choosing life orientations, designing life plans is influenced by many factors, especially the socio-cultural changes taking place in modern Russia. Life plans are an expression, on the one hand, of the attitudes of young people, and on the other hand, of real life opportunities provided by society at the societal level; the possibilities of the regions, which are associated with the historical features of their development and the current socio-economic situation; finally, the possibilities of the individual himself, determined by his potential, natural data and social environment.
There are people with disabilities in every country in the world and in every group of society. Their number in the world is significant and continues to grow. Russia is no exception. As of January 1, 2005, the total number of disabled people was 11,484 thousand people, but in 2002 the number of disabled people was 10,991 thousand people. According to the Federal State Statistics Service in the Russian Federation, the number of people recognized as disabled for the first time in 2001 was 82.2 people per 10,000 people, and in 2004 it was already 101.7 people. The number of disabled children under the age of 18 receiving social pensions in 2004 amounted to 593,000 people.
State social policy towards disabled people in modern Russian society involves concern for the material and spiritual conditions of their lives. The long-term goal of this policy is to improve the situation of young people with disabilities, which makes it necessary to study their basic needs.
The relevance of studying the life plans of young people with disabilities is due to a number of social contradictions. The main one is the discrepancy between the changing system of moral values of humane social attitude towards disabled people and the real practice of social exclusion of disabled people from social reproduction. Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of life plans are not focused on the study of this group and on modern socio-pedagogical reality. There is a need to adapt existing and justify new approaches to the study of the life plans of young people with disabilities.
This research perspective is relevant because it allows forecasting and projecting the social needs of young people with disabilities, developing effective programs of assistance and support in the implementation of their life plans.
Note that the analysis of the life plans of disabled graduates is complicated by the fact that this social group is closed. It is very difficult for a researcher to get into it, directors of boarding schools were asked to provide the necessary permission to conduct a survey from the city's Department of Education. Also, when interviewing graduates with hearing disabilities, the researcher had to be familiar with defectology and be fluent in dactylology and sign speech. Only thanks to the personal contact of the author of the study with people working with graduates with disabilities, this study took place. The author thanks Olga Alekseevna Kozlova (Dobrodeya Rehabilitation Center in Shakhty, Rostov Region), Nadezhda Vladimirovna Kuznetsova (a student of the Faculty of Philology of the Correspondence Department of Group 5421 of Novgorod State University named after Yaroslav the Wise), and Nazmetdinova Zukhra Shaimardanovna (b. Tatarstan, Naberezhnye Chelny), Valentina Mikhailovna Trunova (Bashkortostan, Salavat-1), Irina Redko (editor of the newspaper of the Youth Movement of the Tula regional organization of the VOI “No problems ?!” Tula), Yulia Matyushina (4th year student evening department of the Faculty of Cultural Studies and Tourism of the Moscow University for the Humanities), Gaba Oleg Ivanovich (consultant to the head of the city of Blagoveshchensk).
CHAPTER 1.THE PROBLEM OF LIFE PLANS OF THE DISABLED INSYSTEM OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
Life plans as a subject of research
Consideration of the problem of life plans is widely represented in the system of scientific knowledge. Starting from the 1920s, the life plans of young people have become an almost indispensable component of any study devoted to the problems of youth. Young people’s ideas about their future were studied through such concepts as: “life goals” and “life plans”, “life self-determination”, “life program”, “life orientations”, “life prospects”, “life claims”, “life path”, "values" and "value orientations", "social expectations" or "expectations" of young people.
“Life plans”, “life goals”, “life orientations” and “value orientations” researcher E.I. Golovakha 1 calls the main component of the structure of life self-determination of youth. Life plans are today the subject of various sciences. Let's analyze the concepts from the point of view of philosophical, psychological and sociological approaches.
"Life Self-Determination" in philosophical understanding is characterized through interests, values, ideals. In the works of A.V. Gribakina, O.D. Drobnitsky, N.A. Zalygin, L.N. Kogan, N.E. Korshunova I.A. Kulinich, I.O. Martynyuk, Yu.V. Mikova, N.D. Skosyreva, V.M. Shnyakina traces a close connection between self-determination and the meaning-forming components of consciousness, which are aimed at the lifestyle of those layers where the subject intends to join.
The concept of value first appeared with the philosopher Immanuel Kant in the 18th century. Values, according to Kant, in themselves have no existence, they have only significance: they are the essence of the requirements addressed to the will, the goals set before it. Positions where the highest spiritual ability in a person is recognized as the will, adhered to in the 19th and 20th centuries by the philosophers Lotze R.G., W. Windelband, G. Rickert. At the end of the 19th century, not the will, but the feeling was called the source of values by W. Wundt, F. Jodl, F. Paulsen, F. Brentano, A. Meynog, M. Scheller. The knowledge of values is based on feeling, ultimately on love and hate. Values are the higher, the more durable they are, the less they participate in divisibility, and the deeper the satisfaction they give.
Philosophy interprets value orientations as the most important elements of the internal structure of the personality, fixed by the life experience of the individual and delimiting the significant, essential for this individual from the insignificant, non-essential. For example, in the works of O.G. Drobnitsky, value orientations are considered in the structure of personality, in conjunction with such characteristics as needs, interests, values, ideals, expressed in the existence of a common motto of a person's being. 2
The dominant, fundamental values are made up of a system of social values, based on cultural and historical values. 3 Moral values as components of a system of social values are ideas related to the field of moral consciousness - the concepts of good and evil, justice, happiness. The content side of the concept of "happiness" determines the "purpose of life", "the meaning of life". 4 L. N. Kogan distinguishes the levels of a person’s awareness of the meaning of his life: from general ideas (“benefit to society”) to a clear understanding of the specific tasks of his current activity, from individual awareness of his life goal to the detailed development of life plans and programs. 5
Some values have a more intense impact on the strategy of behavior than others. Also, certain values may be neutral to the implementation of the line of behavior of the individual. The most significant effect of values that orient the subject in the "field" of life, lifestyle, as the choice of social position is associated with value ideas about lifestyle. The subject is not only guided by these values in everyday life, but also relies on them in his ideas about the future and extracts from them “meaning for himself” (Yu.V. Mikov). 6
Young people's self-determination in life, according to the researcher A. V. Gribakin 7 , is influenced by objective factors. Objective factors mean the impact of the social environment on the subject of self-determination. The scientist refers to the objective factors the macroenvironment - the social institutions of society, in particular, education and upbringing, social norms, the level of socio-economic development of society and the microenvironment - a set of stable material conditions and social relations that make up the immediate social environment of the individual: social origin, social position, place of residence, education and profession of parents, social contacts of the family, sphere of interpersonal communication.
Within the framework of the culturological approach A.Ya. Golubchikov 8 distinguish between the reproductive type, which reproduces the existing cultural matrix, and the productive type, open to various trends. On the contrary, V.M. Shnyakina 9 believes that the key role in the life self-determination of young people is played by the factors of internal determination, due to the inner world of the subject, his consciousness and self-awareness. Factors of internal determination perform a regulatory function, determine the order of preferences. V.M. Shnyakina distinguishes the following components of the internal system of determination: motivational, reflecting the perception and experience of the essence of various life events, causes, motives for certain actions; spiritual and moral, including values, meanings, ideals, knowledge, beliefs, an individual picture of the world; spatio-temporal,
reflecting the temporal sequence of entry into the sphere of professional and social relations, the sphere of real practical action. Life self-determination of youth contains four main types: active (dominated by internal, subjective factors of self-determination); passive (external, objective factors dominate); conformist (characterized by a balance of objective and subjective factors); asocial (impersonal behavior, lack of social status).
There is a certain causal relationship between the ratio of objective and subjective factors (TV Rogacheva) 10 . When the influence of the social environment on the life self-determination of young people weakens, the system of internal determination comes to the fore, however, if the structural elements of the self-consciousness of the individual are not included in the process of life self-determination, then the latter is following the requirements of the environment.
N.D. Skosyreva believes that "the social formation and formation of modern youth differs from the conditions of previous generations: the new situation naturally determines greater autonomy and the degree of independence of the younger generation, expands the scope of its conscious self-determination, increases its role and personal responsibility for its own destiny and the future of the country." 11 A social space has already been formed in Russian society, in which the younger generation spontaneously develops and chooses values, goals, life plans, means and methods for their implementation.
Thus, in the philosophical sense, the concept of “life self-determination” is most often used when studying the future of young people. Life self-determination as a need for self-realization reflects the strategic aspects of human existence. A decisive role in a person's attitude to the world is played by a worldview, a system of views on the objective world and a person's place in it, which determines the direction of self-determination. During the interaction of the individual and the environment, objective-subjective mechanisms are formed that form the value orientations of the subject. The connecting link between needs and orientations is public interests, refracted through public mood, opinion, ideals. The need for self-determination is determined by the processes taking place in society. Changing living conditions lead to increased contradictions between the value orientations of young people and public interests, which determines the features of life self-determination of young people as a generation and the types of life self-determination of youth within a generation.
IN psychology It is quite traditional to use the concept of “life self-determination” in the study of the future of young people (L.I. Bozhovich, L.S. Vygotsky, I.V. Dubrovina, S.L. Rubinshtein, I.G. Shendrik, E.A. Shumilin L. S. and others), value orientations (V.M. Bekhterev, L.S. Vygotsky), life plans (Baitinger O.E., Brushlinsky A.V., Golovakha E.I., Mudrik A.V.) .
According to a number of scientists (L.I. Bozhovich, L.S. Vygotsky, I.V. Dubrovina, E.A. Shumilin, etc.), the vital self-determination of a person acts as the main neoformation of adolescence.
The methodological foundations of the study of the problem of life self-determination were laid by S. L. Rubinshtein. He considers life self-determination in the context of the problem of determination - external causes act, refracting through internal conditions. Self-determination acts as self-determination, as the active nature of "internal conditions". In this sense, this concept is closely related to the concept of "motives", since, according to the scientist, motives determine the rules of behavior of an individual in various situations. 12
The prerequisite for the emergence of the concept of "value orientation" was the endowment of the motive with the quality of stability and the ability to generalize. The choice by the subject of the most significant objects, goals and motives for him is carried out through orientation based on the assessment of objective possibilities (V.M. Bekhterev). Assessing the significance of objects and phenomena of objective reality, the individual correlates them with his evaluation system, which reflects his personal characteristics. Personality is considered as a subject of life activity. Since a person independently builds his life path, responsibility for his own life, understood as the ability of a subject to foresee the consequences of his own activity, acquires special significance.
L.I. Bozhovich studied the problem of life self-determination from the point of view of age aspects. The need for self-determination arises at a certain stage of ontogenesis - at the turn of adolescence and early adolescence, and plays the role of the most important factor in mental development, forming a certain semantic system, which implies finding an answer to the question of the meaning of one's existence. 13 HP Vygotsky speaks of the emergence of a life plan in adolescence as a well-known system of adaptation. The formation of self-awareness and a relatively stable image of "I" allows you to analyze both the practical possibilities of your future activities and your internal resources - abilities, inclinations, knowledge, skills. 14
In contrast to L.S. Vygotsky researcher I.G. Shendrik believes that the process of self-determination is not determined by age characteristics and is inherent not only in adolescence. He understands self-determination as a hierarchy of a number of evaluation systems that are formed in the course of mastering the corresponding leading activities by an individual at various stages of ontogenesis. 15 In the course of ontogenesis, leading activities replace each other, causing changes in the nature of the individual's personal meanings (Leontiev A.N.). 16 The characteristics of activity include two sides: subject-oriented and aimed at the development of relationships with others, the assimilation of socially acceptable forms of behavior (D.B. Elkonin). 17
I.V. Dubrovina suggests the term "psychological readiness for self-determination", which she interprets as "the formation of psychological formations and mechanisms in older schoolchildren, indicating a certain personal maturity, not completed in its formation of a structure open to further development." 18 Within the framework of the activity approach, self-determination is considered through the dominance of the leading activity. In the general cycle of development of human activity in society, B.G. Ananiev identified four stages: preparatory, start, peak, finish. School graduates predict their development and activities at the time of "start", defined as inclusion in various spheres of life. 19
Life plans are understood as "specific events - entering a university, marriage", and life goals - "abstract guidelines - a good job, material security, a happy family life." 20 Life plans are detailed and designed for specific time intervals, therefore, in the structure of a life plan, the chronological consistency of life goals is of particular importance - a time perspective, which is a strategy for achieving goals in time. The peculiarity of the personality's reflection of temporal relations is determined by the subject's idea of the significance of life events. The life goals of high school students correspond to normative patterns, which are determined by the current state and the prospects for the development of society: a significant part of young people, when choosing a profession and place of study, are guided by the stereotypes of mass consciousness due to their positive social coloring, support by social institutions.
A. V. Mudrik 21 connects the construction of life plans through the formation of a goal-setting mechanism, since thinking allows a person’s consciousness to move freely along the time axis: rely on the past, orient in the future. 22 In the psychological aspect, proper time is subjective time given in experience. In the social sense, own time is a condition for the self-realization of the subject.
Exploring the life events of young people, scientists distinguish near, distant and long-term perspectives. Under the near future, for example, O.E. Baitinger understands the time period, measured by calendar terms from one day to one year, an event in this time period can be, for example, admission to a university. 23 The distant perspective is considered as a period of study at a university, the beginning of an independent life, the age limits of the period are from 18 to 40 years. The distant prospect is the peak of a professional career, retirement, raising grandchildren. The meaningful content of the image of the future of modern school graduates is distinguished by the predominance of orientation towards their personal life, which is considered by them as the main value. The scientist notes that high school students think little about their participation in society and do not count on state support. It is also noted that descriptions of the future resemble a set of formal signs of a “successful life”, which do not reflect the inner aspirations, abilities and inclinations of young people.
Thus, in the psychological aspect, life plans are understood as specific events: entering a university, getting married, etc. Life plans are detailed and designed for specific time intervals, so the chronological consistency of life goals acquires special significance in their structure. The life goals of high school students correspond to normative samples, which are determined by the current state and the prospects for the development of society. Based on the criterion of remoteness in time of life events expected by the subject, psychologists distinguish near, distant and long-term perspectives.
IN sociology young people's ideas about their future were studied through such concepts as “life goals” and “life plans” (V.T. Lisovsky, I.O. Martynyuk, M.N. Rutkevich, G.A. Cherednichenko, V.N. Shubkin ), “life self-determination” (N.A. Zalygina, I.O. Martynyuk), “life program” (O.N. Titov), life orientations (M.Kh.Titma), life prospects (E.N. Golovakha ), life claims (A.Z. Litvintseva, V.S. Magun), life path (T.I. Adulo, E.M. Babosov, M.Kh. Titma), values and value orientations (A.G. Zdravomyslov , V.B. Olshansky V.B., V.A. Yadov), social expectations or expectations of young people (V.B. Olshansky, N.I. Soboleva, O.N. Ezhova, Yu.V. Kupriyanova).
Considering the problems of sociological study of life self-determination of students, the researcher Zalygina N.A. reveals the concept of "life self-determination" from the point of view of philosophical and psychological aspects. Life self-determination is understood as a general social orientation associated with the idea of a life perspective in its integrity, which is expressed in setting life goals and ways to achieve them - life plans in the main areas of a person's life activity based on a system of personality orientations to vital values. 24
Values represent a kind of prism through which one can understand the essence of the processes taking place in a particular social system, reveal their latent content and direction of functioning. Values serve as guidelines; without them, people would be disoriented in the social space and the basis for motivating people's behavior.
One of the first to introduce the problematic of values identified with goods was Max Weber. He proposed to consider values as a kind of obligation “in itself”, that is, a demand not addressed to anyone. 25 However, in the course of the subsequent assimilation of the issue of values, they began to be used more often within the framework of the phrase “values and norms”, where values give significance to norms.
In the well-known work of the American sociologists Williams Thomas and Florian Znaniecki, “The Polish Peasant in Europe and America,” 26 values are characterized as rules of conduct by which the corresponding types of action are preserved, regulated, and propagated through the members of a social group. Williams Thomas and Florian Znaniecki were the first to introduce the concept of “value orientations” into sociology. They noted that the individual internalizes the basic social values and is guided by them in his behavior quite consciously, that is, the function of control passes to the individual himself. At the same time, the individual begins to actively develop his own values and take part in the development of group values.
In the domestic scientific literature, the first researchers of value orientations were V.B. Olshansky, A.G. Zdravomyslov, V.A. Yadov.
V.B. Olshansky understands value orientations as a disposition that regulates the general orientation of the activity of an individual or a group in relation to objects and phenomena of social significance, as well as the values of various social communities - universal, class, professional, etc. 27
A.G. Zdravomyslov and V.A. Yadov associated the concept of value orientations with the psychological concept of a person’s attitude. Most modern researchers, following A.G. Zdravomyslov and V.A. Yadov, present value orientations as an attitude of the individual. The installation concerns most of all the question of the realization of the simplest vital needs. 28
At the present stage of development of science, there are various paradigms for the study of values. Some researchers believe that values are things and their properties that are necessary (necessary, useful) to meet the needs and interests of the individual. N. Smelser considers values to be significant, generally accepted and shared in society beliefs about the goals that people should strive for and the main means of achieving them. 29 Most modern researchers argue that value is the ratio of the significance of objects of the social and natural world for the subject of social practice (individual, collective, society). Value, in their opinion, depends on the properties of both the subject and the object, but does not coincide with them. It is objectively set by the practical activity of the subject. The reflection of this subjective significance is the evaluation. 30 This approach took shape in the 1960s and became dominant.
By value orientations, we mean social values shared by the individual, acting as the goals of life and the main means of achieving these goals, and therefore acquiring the function of the most important regulators of the social behavior of individuals. Value orientations are a product of the socialization of individuals. The formation of a system of value orientations marks the formation of a person as an active subject of social activity. 31 We use this position to study the orientations of young people with disabilities towards the value system: education, work, health and family.
The concept of “expectations” is closely related to the concept of orientations. In order to concretize social expectations, V.B. Olshansky introduced the concept of “expectation”. 32 The social expectations of youth are defined as the social orientations of young people - a set of social attitudes, elements of knowledge, stereotypes of behavior, assessments, beliefs about what will happen or what conditions will develop in society in the future. The study of expectations is of interest from the point of view of predicting the nature, direction and qualitative assessment of the activities of social groups. Reflecting on the conscious and unconscious levels the existing social, political, economic and spiritual conditions, social expectations simultaneously fix the trends of social changes and thus contain an element of the future. A potentially possible future in expectations is appropriated by the subject, becomes a subjective reality, being realized in the future through the activities of social groups. Social expectations are one of the main elements of public opinion and have a decisive influence on its formation. With the help of expectations, current events are evaluated as contributing to or hindering the achievement of the predicted state. 33
Let us consider foreign approaches to the study of the views and attitudes of young people. In the modern world, in the German sociological tradition, the concept of “life chances” and “life plans” is used, in British and American sociology “life style” and “life cycle”.
Life chances are understood as the chances of an individual to own part of the economic and cultural benefits provided by society. 34 The distribution of these benefits is usually not symmetrical. The asymmetric distribution of life chances manifests itself, for example, in material rewards or differentiated access to education.
The German researcher E. Spranger's statement of the question of the life plan as a new life form that appears in adolescence is original. According to E. Spranger, a life plan is "the direction taken by the inner life." It is formed under the pressure, on the one hand, of internal impressions, on the other hand, of the environment, forming a “parallelogram of forces”. The source of the life plan is the will to power, "the desire to be above, not below." 35
In British sociology, life style represents the differences between social groups in patterns of social relations, the consumption of material goods, one of the ways of social presentation of economic classes. In American sociology, the concept of lifestyle is used to distinguish between rural and urban forms of social life, as well as between the way of life in the city center and in the suburbs. In modern research, the development of a certain lifestyle is considered as the main strategy for consumer behavior in society.
The term “life cycle” is used primarily to describe the complete cycle of personality development, which includes childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age, and death. 36 The sociological concept of “life cycle” indicates the perception of an individual through the prism of socially constructed categories of age, as well as the presence of different options for the social experience of growing up and aging. Sometimes the term “life cycle” is preferred to the term “course of life”, which does not imply the fixed stages of personality formation. This concept can refer not only to the individual, but also to the history of individual families. In this alternative sense, the life cycle is a process involving various periods of family development: premarital, marriage, child rearing, children leaving home, and the breakdown of the family unit.
Let us consider the most established concepts used in the study of the ideas of Russian youth about their future.
One of the aspects of the life self-determination of young people is their inclusion in all major areas of activity: in study, in cultural life, in interpersonal communication, in the sphere of work, etc. The features of this process are determined by the subjective orientation of young people to certain types of areas of activity. The subjective regulators of activity are value orientations, which include ideas about certain areas of activity and more general social values associated with them. Given the essential role of such value orientations in shaping the way of life of young people, they were called life orientations.
In the Russian Sociological Encyclopedia, life plans are interpreted as a set determined by a person TOTALITY
- a set of cases in relation to which certain conclusions are made. and the sequence of their goals on the path of life and the ways to achieve them, individualized reflection in the minds of people of a specific socio-historical situation that is developing in society objectively, regardless of the will and consciousness of an individual HUMAN
- a fundamental category of philosophy, which is the semantic center of almost any philosophical ... . In a broad sense, life plans include intentions related to acquiring a profession, working career, starting a family, giving birth and upbringingUPBRINGING
- participation of adults in the processes of development, maturation and socialization of children. The term V. indicates ...
children, decision SOLUTION
- 1. Finding an answer to some question (in relation to the task, problem). 2. An act of will, you ... housing and everyday issues, amateur activities ("hobbies"), etc. In a narrower sense, life plans are studied by sociologists in connection with the entry of young people graduating from a general education school and a vocational educational institution into an independent working life LIFE
- a form of the existence of matter, naturally arising under certain conditions in the process of its transformation ... . 37
V. Yadov understands the life plans of an individual as a generalized representation of an individual INDIVIDUAL
or group regarding their future status STATUS
- social position (position) of an individual in a group or society. in the main spheres of life (social, professional, family, etc.). 38
Life plans, according to the interpretation of the researcher O. V. Shaposhnikova, are a projective temporal sequence of a person achieving individually chosen life goals, which is formed under the influence of society and its institutions, as well as as a result of the manifestation of a combination of personal attitudes and motivations of an individual INDIVIDUAL
- this is a single representative of the human race, a specific carrier of all social and psychologist ....
Life plans are actively transforming intentions. Their formation and implementation is influenced by many factors and conditions. A number of social factors are subject to fixation, isolation and analysis. The main factors influencing the child on the scale of the global community are the development, implementation of the idea of the rights of the child and the change in the information space. 39
We adhere to the position in which "life plans" are integrating in the study of the future of young people with disabilities. They include a set of goals a person sets for himself when building his life trajectory, sequence, ways to achieve these goals. The used concept of "life trajectory" is associated with the trajectory approach of English researchers (R. Blackburn, J. Goldthorpe, K. Prandy, A. Stuart), who used it in the study of career and intraprofessional growth. 40 We have used this term in relation to all areas of human life.
Important for our study is a large interregional longitudinal project under the leadership of M. Kh.
M.Kh.Titma proposes to consider the real life opportunities of young people at three levels: the opportunities provided to the individual by society; the possibilities of the region where the individual lives, associated with the historical features of his development and the current socio-economic situation; the capabilities of the individual himself, determined by his potential, natural data and social environment. 41 We also believe that the real life possibilities of a disabled person depend on the presence of four components: 1. The possibilities of the person himself, depending on the type of disease; 2. Active or passive life position of a person. 3. The conditions of social support, protection, education, etc., created by society, for example, the influence of early professional orientation at school on the choice of a future profession. 4. Specifics of regional development, for example, we have noted serious differences in the attitudes of young disabled people living in a metropolis and in small towns in Russia.
Following M.Kh.Titma, we consider life plans as:
Job orientation and professional growth;
Orientation to education;
family orientation;
Focus on autonomy and independence;
Orientation towards financial security.
We also consider it important to include in the list under study:
Orientation to health, struggle with one's own illness;
Orientation towards a passive life, when the main decisions in the life of a child (where to go to study, what profession to choose, etc.) are made by parents.
Our program for studying the life plans of young people with disabilities also contains the following blocks:
Evaluation by disabled graduates of personal prospects and significant life values;
Social contacts of disabled graduates.
We consider life plans by studying respondents who are just finishing school (age limits 15 - 18 years).
Studying the life plans of young people with disabilities, we focus on the conditions provided to the individual by society and the possibilities of the individual himself, which are determined by his potential, natural data and social environment. In order to explore the possibilities offered to the individual by society, we also study the opinion of experts.
Despite the general humanization of society and the emergence of new research on disability, it should be noted that there is currently a small amount of research on the life path, plans and perspectives of people with disabilities. To date, isolated studies of life plans and orientations of disabled people are known: V.S. Sobkin in 1996 studied adolescents with a hearing impairment; M.N. Reut in 2000 determined the features of the socialization of deaf youth, scientists of the Saratov school E.R. Yarskaya-Smirnova, D.V. Zaitsev and others are actively developing projects for children with mental retardation.
Important for our work is the empirical study of V.S. Sobkin “A teenager with a hearing impairment: value orientations, life plans, social connections”. It was the first experience in studying the value orientations and life plans of adolescents with hearing impairments. The scientist analyzes the features of family, professional and educational plans of teenagers with hearing impairments. A characteristic feature of this study is that the author constantly compares the results of surveys of two groups: high school students with disabilities and adolescents from public schools. Particular attention is paid to the specific value orientations of high school students, depending on the severity of their auditory defect. At the same time, the logic of analysis in all content blocks is based on correlating the opinions of students with hearing impairments with the opinions of students in secondary schools. 42 At the same time, the opinion of healthy children is considered as a certain norm.
Thus, using philosophical, psychological and sociological approaches in studying the future of young people, we will adhere to a strategy in which the main and main thing is to study the life plans of disabled people as a separate social group that has its own rights and opportunities for building and implementing life plans. The value orientations we study act as orientations towards the goals of life and the means to achieve these goals, determined by individual (personal characteristics, life experience) and general social conditions of an individual's life (due to the system of upbringing, education, adjusted by society). They are also found in goals, ideals, interests and other manifestations of personality.
1.2. Life plans of young disabled people in designing the future
