scholarly journals Terra incognita of vitality problem: Open issues. Part 2

Author(s):  
Vladimir A. Tolochek ◽  

The relevance of studying resilience is among other things conditioned by faster evolution of social objects, increase in general uncertainty, lack of stability, complexity and ambiguity of the dynamics of their state, which, in their turn, lead to an increase in the requirements for adaptation mechanisms of an individual and social groups (families, collectives, sports teams, managerial or project teams); the importance of an individual’s socio-psychological and psychological resources is increasing. Not all spontaneously formed adaptation mechanisms of individual and group subjects are developed in a timely manner, correspond to life situations or change optimally in accordance with changes in the purposes and requirements of the environment. The purpose of the study is to investigate human resilience under conditions of uncertainty; the subjects of the study are social and psychological mechanisms and resources of human resilience; the research methods are historical and theoretical analysis and analysis of the empirical research results. The hypothesis is that maintaining resilience of an individual and social groups through the development of prosocial behavior mechanisms according to the specific model (prototype) is the first stage. Subsequent stages of resilience development presuppose formation of adaptation mechanisms initiated and supported by the evolution of the subject’s “internal conditions”. It is stated that the two states of a person are considered within the boundaries of historically formed paradigms: “below the norm” and “within the norm” of social, psychological and physical functioning. Its characteristics are described by such concepts as “improvement”, “positive adaptation”, “preservation”, “optimal state”, etc. Resilience is viewed as the person’s achievement and maintenance of “social homeostasis” with an orientation towards pro-social behavior models of others and reproduction of such models. Individual’s advancement to a higher level of social functioning and his/her positive professional evolution are often associated with repeated changes and complications of the social conditions of social environment (medium), with the growth in its “resistance”; they remain understudied and retain a kind of “terra incognita” status. One of the possible and probable approaches that contribute to overcoming the binary thinking of the historically established paradigm can be the use of a new methodology, i.e. construction of system triads (that recreate social objects’ integrity) and linear triads that restore the sequences of social objects’ syntheses when they are integrated into systems of a greater generality.

Author(s):  
Vladimir A. Tolochek ◽  

The increase of uncertainty, instability, complexity, ambiguity of the dynamics of the condition of social subjects are among the issues that make vitality problem topical. This results in higher standards for adaptation mechanisms of an individual and social groups (families, work groups, sports, management, project teams) and greater importance of socio-psychological and psychological resources of a person. Not all spontaneously formed adaptation mechanisms of individual and group subjects are adequate for real-life situations, not all of them are developed when it is necessary and change when the goals and requirements of the environment change. The purpose of the study is to conduct research of human vitality under uncertainty conditions; the object of the study is: social and psychological mechanisms and human vitality resources; methods include: historical and theoretical analysis, analysis of empirical research results. Hypothesis: The first stage is maintaining the vitality of an individual and social groups via formation of prosocial mechanisms of behavior according to a model (prototype). The following development stages of vitality involve forming adaptation mechanisms initiated and supported by the evolution of the “internal conditions” of the subject. We analysed the materials related to vitality study in foreign and domestic psychology from the 1960s to the present: historically emerging approaches (five “waves”), subject and tasks, mechanisms and types of human adaptation to the physical and social environment. It is stated that, within the boundar ies of historically formed paradigms, two human states are considered – “below the norm” and “norms” of social, psychological, physical functioning, characteristics of which are described by the concepts of “improvement”, “positive adaptation”, “preservation”, “back to normal”, “optimal condition”, “achieving a good result”; vitality is viewed as the achievement and maintenance of “social homeostasis” by a person, with the focus on the prosocial behavior models of other people, who are reproducing such models. Climbing the heights of physical and spiritual maturity, reaching a higher level of social functioning, the effects of positive changes in survivors of traumatic events remain unexplored, and retain the status of terra incognita.


2007 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan V. Horwitz

The sociology of stress shows how nondisordered people often become distressed in contexts such as chronic subordination; the losses of status, resources, and attachments; or the inability to achieve valued goals. Evolutionary psychology indicates that distress arising in these contexts stems from psychological mechanisms that are responding appropriately to stressful circumstances. A diagnosis of mental disorder, in contrast, indicates that these mechanisms are not functioning as they are designed to function. The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, however, has come to treat both the natural results of the stress process and individual pathology as mental disorders. A number of social groups benefit from and promote the conflation of normal emotions with dysfunctions. The result has been to overestimate the number of people who are considered to be disordered, to focus social policy on the supposedly unmet need for treatment, and to enlarge the social space of pathology in the general culture.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-32
Author(s):  
Le Hoang Anh Thu

This paper explores the charitable work of Buddhist women who work as petty traders in Hồ Chí Minh City. By focusing on the social interaction between givers and recipients, it examines the traders’ class identity, their perception of social stratification, and their relationship with the state. Charitable work reveals the petty traders’ negotiations with the state and with other social groups to define their moral and social status in Vietnam’s society. These negotiations contribute to their self-identification as a moral social class and to their perception of trade as ethical labor.


2020 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 656-676
Author(s):  
Igor V. Omeliyanchuk

The article examines the main forms and methods of agitation and propagandistic activities of monarchic parties in Russia in the beginning of the 20th century. Among them the author singles out such ones as periodical press, publication of books, brochures and flyers, organization of manifestations, religious processions, public prayers and funeral services, sending deputations to the monarch, organization of public lectures and readings for the people, as well as various philanthropic events. Using various forms of propagandistic activities the monarchists aspired to embrace all social groups and classes of the population in order to organize all-class and all-estate political movement in support of the autocracy. While they gained certain success in promoting their ideology, the Rights, nevertheless, lost to their adversaries from the radical opposition camp, as the monarchists constrained by their conservative ideology, could not promise immediate social and political changes to the population, and that fact was excessively used by their opponents. Moreover, the ideological paradigm of the Right camp expressed in the “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality” formula no longer agreed with the social and economic realities of Russia due to modernization processes that were underway in the country from the middle of the 19th century.


Author(s):  
Ruslan Rafisovich Hasanov

On the basis of the archetypic analysis of development trends of a conflictological paradigm the author’s model of minimization of conflict potential in modern society is offered. Institutional construction is the basis for model that is harmonized with a factor of societal identity.It is noted that the problems of social conflicts, according to data from monitor- ing studies of the Ukrainian school of archetype, are increasingly shifted into the sphere of interpersonal relations. It is stimulated by the progression in society of so-called self-sufficient personalities, the “subjectification” of the social space, and at the same time narrowing down to the solution of entirely specific situations in which there is a collision of the interests of two or more parties.Instead, in order to find the optimal solution for resolving the conflict, it is necessary to have interdisciplinary knowledge, in particular understanding of the deep nature of such conflicts. Collision of points of view, thoughts, positions — a very frequent phenomenon of modern social life. In order to develop the correct line of behavior in various conflict situations, it is important to adequately under- stand the nature of the emergence of the modern conflict and the mechanisms for resolving them in substance. Knowledge of conflict nature enriches the culture of communication and makes human life and social groups not only more calm, but also creates conditions for constructive development. It is proved that in modern life one can not but agree with the statement that an individual carries first re- sponsibility for his own life and only then for the life of the social groups to which he belongs. And while making decisions within the framework of modern mecha- nisms (consensus), the properties of human psychology such as extroversion, emo- tionality, irrationality, intuition, externality, and executive ability will not at least contribute to such a task.That is why in the author’s research attracted attention to the archetypal na- ture of the conflict — the primitive images, ideas, feelings inherent in man as a bearer of the collective unconscious.


Author(s):  
Ruslan Rafisovich Hasanov

On the basis of the archetypic analysis of development trends of a conflictological paradigm the author’s model of minimization of conflict potential in modern society is offered. Institutional construction is the basis for model that is harmonized with a factor of societal identity. It is noted that the problems of social conflicts, according to data from monitoring studies of the Ukrainian school of archetype, are increasingly shifted into the sphere of interpersonal relations. It is stimulated by the progression in society of so-called self-sufficient personalities, the “subjectification” of the social space, and at the same time narrowing down to the solution of entirely specific situations in which there is a collision of the interests of two or more parties. Instead, in order to find the optimal solution for resolving the conflict, it is necessary to have interdisciplinary knowledge, in particular understanding of the deep nature of such conflicts. Collision of points of view, thoughts, positions — a very frequent phenomenon of modern social life. In order to develop the correct line of behavior in various conflict situations, it is important to adequately understand the nature of the emergence of the modern conflict and the mechanisms for resolving them in substance. Knowledge of conflict nature enriches the culture of communication and makes human life and social groups not only more calm, but also creates conditions for constructive development. It is proved that in modern life one can not but agree with the statement that an individual carries first responsibility for his own life and only then for the life of the social groups to which he belongs. And while making decisions within the framework of modern mechanisms (consensus), the properties of human psychology such as extroversion, emotionality, irrationality, intuition, externality, and executive ability will not at least contribute to such a task. That is why in the author’s research attracted attention to the archetypal nature of the conflict — the primitive images, ideas, feelings inherent in man as a bearer of the collective unconscious.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-272
Author(s):  
Venelin Terziev ◽  
Preslava Dimitrova

The social policy of a country is a set of specific activities aimed at regulating the social relations between different in their social status subjects. This approach to clarifying social policy is also called functional and essentially addresses social policy as an activity to regulate the relationship of equality or inequality in society. It provides an opportunity to look for inequalities in the economic positions of individuals in relation to ownership, labor and working conditions, distribution of income and consumption, social security and health, to look for the sources of these inequalities and their social justification or undue application.The modern state takes on social functions that seek to regulate imbalances, to protect weak social positions and prevent the disintegration of the social system. It regulates the processes in society by harmonizing interests and opposing marginalization. Every modern country develops social activities that reflect the specifics of a particular society, correspond to its economic, political and cultural status. They are the result of political decisions aimed at directing and regulating the process of adaptation of the national society to the transformations of the market environment. Social policy is at the heart of the development and governance of each country. Despite the fact that too many factors and problems affect it, it largely determines the physical and mental state of the population as well as the relationships and interrelationships between people. On the other hand, social policy allows for a more global study and solving of vital social problems of civil society. On the basis of the programs and actions of political parties and state bodies, the guidelines for the development of society are outlined. Social policy should be seen as an activity to regulate the relationship of equality or inequality between different individuals and social groups in society. Its importance is determined by the possibility of establishing on the basis of the complex approach: the economic positions of the different social groups and individuals, by determining the differences between them in terms of income, consumption, working conditions, health, etc .; to explain the causes of inequality; to look for concrete and specific measures to overcome the emerging social disparities.


Author(s):  
Sigita Kušnere

Taking into account the research conclusions in social and natural sciences, gastropoetics as a research method allows to examine a literary text in-depth revealing the causal relationships and nuances of the psychological portrayal of characters, as well as analyse semantic pluralism providing more diverse interpretation opportunities of a literary text. In Andrejs Upīts’s novel “Bread” (Maize, 1914) the portrayed passengers of the third class train wagon are a micromodel of Western society, where food, sharing the food or its denial precisely reveal the hierarchic structure of community and the differences in social stratification, as well as human behavioural principles, which are based on the tradition that has evolved over thousands of years and can also be cross-compared with the behavioural principles observable among animals. Other aspects include the social undermining of certain social groups, for instance, older people, children, foreigners, as well as the marginalisation of these groups denying them the freedom of choice or action, equal rights, etc. Upīts in his novel constructs a social situation of a small community, accurately revealing the hierarchic structure, as well as collaboration and relationship models of the community.


Author(s):  
Didier Fassin

If punishment is not what we say it is, if it is not justified by the reasons we invoke, if it facilitates repeat offenses instead of preventing them, if it punishes in excess of the seriousness of the act, if it sanctions according to the status of the offender rather than to the gravity of the offense, if it targets social groups defined beforehand as punishable, and if it contributes to producing and reproducing disparities, then does it not itself precisely undermine the social order? And must we not start to rethink punishment, not only in the ideal language of philosophy and law but also in the uncomfortable reality of social inequality and political violence?


Author(s):  
Michael S. Brady

In this chapter Brady argues that suffering is vital for the proper functioning and flourishing of social groups, because it is essential for the social virtues of justice, love, and faith. He makes this case by first focusing on Biblical and Qur’anic ideas—in particular that suffering is punishment for sin, and a test of faith—but argues that religious teachings have secular parallels. On this view suffering is essential for the legitimate punishment of criminal acts, and for building trust and solidarity in many groups. Central to suffering’s role in bringing about these social goods is its communicative value.


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