Moral Sensitivity of Young People with Intellectual Disability – Its Role in The Process of Their Education

According to Heller and Życiński (1980) the primary regulator of human behaviour is the system of values therefore its development should be in the centre of all educational and upbringing measures. Our focus here is on moral sensitivity understood as the ability of an individual to see social situations from the perspective of moral good and moral evil that represent values embodied in moral norms adopted by the world and internalised by humans as the principles of conduct. The main research question was the following: How morally sensitive are persons with ID and how is their sensitivity associated with the degree of intellectual disability and gender? A non-probability sample 267 of Polish residents aged 16-30 years with mild (58.42%) or moderate (41.58%) intellectual disability was assembled. Men and women were almost in equal proportion. The Moral Sensitivity Inventory (MSI; Otrębski, Sudoł, 2020) has been used to measure the moral sensitivity of people with ID. It consists of 10 illustrated stories presenting typical social situations containing moral dilemmas, and an evaluation form. The tested person’s task is to answer the following question “Who, in this story, did something right or wrong, and what was that?” and to indicate as many moral elements in the story and the picture as they can. The results imply that the study participants had different ability to discern moral good and moral evil. They were more sensitive to the manifestations of good and evil bad associated with Understanding one’s behaviour and its impact on others (more than one-fourth of them had high scores) and less perceptive of those relating to Respect for others’ property and Conformance to principles and norms. The results of the study expand the knowledge of the overall moral sensitivity of persons with intellectual disabilities.

The Antecedents of Consumer Engagement in CSR Communication in Social Media

This study aims to explore the ways in which targeted consumers engage with corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on social media platforms, specifically when discussing their opinions and experiences regarding the CSR activities of their favorite brands. Therefore, the variable moral norms were integrated in the theory of reasoned action. The study data about consumers' engagement (CE) in corporate social responsibility communication (CSRC) over social media (SM) platforms—electronic word of mouth, or e-WoM—was collected from 290 actual engaged consumers in online ordering and involved in social media groups. The findings confirmed that the antecedent factors (consumers' attitudes, subjective norms, and moral norms) have a positive influence on consumers' intention to use e-WoM, while no effect was found on CE in CSRC in SM. Furthermore, e-WoM was found to have direct significant impact on CE in CSRC in SM as it mediates the relationship between the antecedent factors and CE in CSRC in SM.

The coloniality of Holocaust memorialization in post-apartheid South Africa

This article investigates local endeavours for Holocaust memory in post-apartheid South Africa in their relation to global memory imperatives that are, among others, produced by supranational organizations such as UNESCO and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Drawing on a larger case-study on globalized memory, I analyse to what extent a generalized mnemonic framework is reflected in South Africa's 2007 curriculum reform, namely its inclusion of the Holocaust and subsequent memory politics. In order to illuminate the coloniality of memorialization, I trace the epistemic location of the narrative that suggests that Holocaust memory nourishes democratic values and human rights—maybe even more so than local memories of violence and oppression such as colonization and apartheid. In this regard, I found that while many activists for Holocaust memory continuously and sometimes uncritically advocate for its global implementation, a decolonial perspective enables us to understand the power dynamics constitutive of universal moral norms around Holocaust memory that tacitly transmit global demands to local contexts. I therefore suggest that, within the global colonial matrix of power, a universally advised practice of memorializing the Holocaust to specific ends can be regarded as a technique of governmentality, because it risks limiting utopian thought beyond the Euro-modern paradigm.

Political Self-Identification of Russian Military Personnel in Finland in Spring 1917

The socio-psychological characteristics of the behavior of the Russian military in Finland in the initial period of the 1917 revolution were revealed, including the formation of behavioral stereotypes, new “images of the enemy”, a change in their ideas about “friends” and “foes”, and the transformation of social and moral norms. The relevance of the study is due to the need to apply a relatively new historical and anthropological approach to the study of the role of the military factor in the history of Russia and Finland. Based on the materials of the revolutionary Helsingfors and non-capital garrisons, the process of ideological and organizational self-determination of the supporters of the Socialist-Revolutionary and Bolshevik parties is considered, information about the number and the beginning of the activities of these party organizations is systematized and analyzed. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that addressing the problem of “Revolution and man” and studying the images of “Friends”, “Foes”, “Other” in the perception of participants and eyewitnesses of events in connection with their participation in social transformations of a revolutionary time allows for the first time to get an idea of the mentality of privates and officers — the most active part of the Russian population of Finland. The author comes to the conclusion that the role of the Russian military in the events of the spring of 1917 is much more significant than was previously assumed.

Explaining cheating in schools with Situational Action Theory: Within-estimations using a German school panel

Wikström's Situational Action Theory (SAT) explains rule-breaking by reference to the cognitive perception-choice process, which indicates how a person's propensity to break rules interacts with the setting's criminogeneity. SAT's situational model claims that the interaction between personal morality and the moral norms of the setting, the so-called moral filter, is critical in the explanation of rule-breaking, and that the influence of self-control is subordinate to this process. Self-control becomes relevant when individuals whose personal morality discourages rule-breaking are exposed to settings in which the moral norms encourage rule-breaking, that is, if the moral filter is conflicted. Whereas most previous studies have equated the moral filter with personal morality, we consider the moral norms of the setting as well. This allows for a more rigorous test of the moral filter, and thus the conditionality of self-control. Here, we investigate student cheating, using data from two waves of a large-scale German school panel study, and we conceptualise the setting's moral norms by reference to the descriptive norm: other students’ cheating behaviour. This ensures the spatio-linkage between the setting's criminogeneity and rule-breaking, which is necessary for investigating SAT. Additionally, our estimation strategy – person and school fixed-effect models – controls for alternative explanations by the selection of people into settings with different levels of criminogeneity. Moreover, it controls for heterogeneity across persons and schools. The findings are in line with SAT's predictions. In cases of a correspondence between personal morality and the moral norms of a setting, students with rule-abiding morality are least likely to cheat, whereas students with a rule-breaking morality are the most likely to cheat. Also, in line with SAT, self-control only matters for students with rule-abiding morality when they are exposed to moral norms that encourage rule-breaking.

Gerhard Lohfink’s Interpretative Key to the Sermon on the Mount

The purpose of this article is to elicit and analyze the main interpretative key used by the German exegete Gerhard Lohfink in his reading of the Sermon on the Mount. It does not attempt, however, tracing in detail the scholar's interpretation of the individual passages within that biblical text. In Lohfink’s understanding, the Sermon on the Mount is not addressed directly to all people but only to those who become disciples of Jesus, and who allow themselves to be gathered as the new Israel. By living according to the message of the Sermon on the Mount, communities of disciples become a light to the world, creating a “contrast society” and thereby demonstrating to the world that human relationships can be shaped in new ways. It is only through this mediation of Christian communities that the world at large can discover the message of the Sermon on the Mount which, in the end, is not a set of abstract moral norms, but rather an indication of the way of life appropriate for the social sphere in which God reigns.

SELECTION CRITERIA FOR CONTEMPORARY ART WORKS AS A SUBSTANTIVE BASIS OF SPIRITUAL AND MORAL EDUCATION OF PUPILS

The article presents the results of the empirical study, which makes it possible to identify the criteria that teachers of general and additional education schools are guided when assessing the possibilities of contemporary art works in solving the problems of students’ spiritual and moral education. The empirical research data are supplemented by the results of theoretical analysis carried out from the humanitarian pedagogical paradigm, which makes it possible to correlate these criteria with the value-semantic nature of spiritual and moral education. There are identified such criteria as the moral norms reflection in contemporary art works, the presence of value content in it, spiritual or ethical conflict that is relevant for students, the form of values representing, problems, ideas corresponding to the students age. As a result, the scientific knowledge about the requirements for the content of students’ spiritual and moral education and the possibilities of contemporary art in solving the problems of spiritual and moral education has been clarified.

Regional elections of 2020 in the Irkutsk region: progress, results, and organization

The regular conduct of elections and the compliance of their procedure with the current legislation is a prerequisite for the functioning of a democratic political system. The occurrence of emergencies, such as military operations, pandemics, and the like, is a serious problem and challenge for the country’s leadership. The resulting social tension and instability, changes in the current electoral order and electoral procedures, pose a threat to the ruling regime and provide additional opportunities for the opposition. The article shows the activities of the leadership of Russia and the Irkutsk region in the context of a Covid pandemic during the regional elections of 2020. The legislation was changed and special measures were organized to ensure compliance with all epidemiological norms and to prevent a significant increase in the number of cases. A special feature of the elections in the Irkutsk region was the holding of early, really competitive elections for the governor, in which a Kremlin protege and a local representative of the Communist Party fought. In a really difficult situation, the elections were held calmly and without any special violations of the law and moral norms. Despite the fundamental nature of the struggle for the governor’s seat, the voter turnout was low and fundamentally lower than the plebiscite held in July of the same year to amend the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Human Rights in the Context of Asian and European Legal Values

This article substantiates the need to consolidate human rights through various international legal mechanisms, including regional conventions on human rights that reflect specific legal and cultural values. The authors analyzed the Oriental legal values that differ from those in the Occidental. Borrowed elements of foreign culture and standard legal norms do not provide effective implementation of international documents at the national level. In fact, a lot of contemporary conflicts originate in the gap between the official legal ideology and the traditional legal consciousness, which is typical of most Asian countries. The interdisciplinary and civilizational (sociocultural) approaches revealed that most Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries adhere to the so-called Asian values, e.g. collectivism; priority of family, clan, and nation interests; idealization of the authorities; detachment from active political and legal life, adherence to moral norms, etc. The authors believe that, along with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, there may be regional concepts and international regional acts based on civilizational identity, historical memory and experience. Eurasian countries need a new concept of human rights, which will combine universal and Asian legal values, e.g. priority of the community and state over the individual; the advantage of public order over the personal rights and freedoms; common wellbeing; significance of moral and religious rules; admiration for strong political leaders, etc. This concept will make it possible to integrate Asian mentality, lore, and national philosophy into standard human rights. The concept might help to resolve various conflicts that occur between global legal ideology and traditional legal mentality of most Asian societies.

A Cross-Cultural Study of Filial Piety and Palliative Care Knowledge: Moderating Effect of Culture and Universality of Filial Piety

Filial piety is a Confucian concept derived from Chinese culture, which advocates a set of moral norms, values, and practices of respect and caring for one’s parents. According to the dual-factor model of filial piety, reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety are two dimensions of filial piety. Reciprocal filial piety is concerned with sincere affection toward one’s parent and a longstanding positive parent-child relationship, while authoritarian filial piety is about obedience to social obligations to one’s parent, often by suppressing one’s own wishes to conform the demands of the parent. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the moderating effect of culture on the relationships between filial piety and palliative care knowledge. The secondary aim is to investigate whether filial piety is a universal construct across Singaporean and Australian cultures. A total of 508 participants living in Singapore and Australia were surveyed between May and October 2020. The final sample comprised of 406 participants, with 224 Singaporeans and 182 Australians. There were 289 females (71.1%), 115 males (28.3%), and two unspecified gender (0.6%) in the sample, with an average age of 27.27 years (SD = 9.79, range = 18–73). Results indicated a significant effect of culture on authoritarian filial piety and palliative care knowledge. Singaporeans showed higher authoritarian filial piety and higher palliative care knowledge than Australians. However, no effect of culture was found on reciprocal filial piety. Overall, no significant correlation existed between palliative care knowledge and reciprocal filial piety and authoritarian filial piety. For Singaporeans, a weak negative correlation was found between palliative care knowledge and authoritarian filial piety. In contrast, Australians and Singaporeans indicated a positive, moderate correlation between reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety. Further, culture moderated the relationship between authoritarian filial piety and palliative care knowledge. High authoritarian filial piety was associated with increased palliative care knowledge among Australians, while high authoritarian filial piety was associated with decreased palliative care knowledge among Singaporeans. The results support the conceptualization of filial piety as a possible psychological universal construct. In addition, the results point out an important implication that public health programs should target the appropriate filial piety types to enhance palliative care knowledge among Singaporeans and Australians.