Effects of Decentering and Non-judgement on Body Dissatisfaction and Negative Affect Among Young Adult Women

Objectives Mindfulness-based interventions have shown effectiveness in reducing risk factors for disordered eating; however, little is known about mechanisms. This online study evaluated two isolated metacognitive components of mindfulness, adopting a decentered or non-judgemental stance towards internal experiences, respectively, for reducing body dissatisfaction and negative affect. Methods Women (N = 330, Mage = 25.18, SD = 4.44) viewed appearance-ideal media images before listening to a 5-min audio recording that guided them to (a) distance themselves from their experience (decentering), (b) accept their experience without judgement (non-judgement), or (c) rest (active control). Participants reported state body dissatisfaction and negative affect at baseline, post-media exposure, and final assessment. Trait measurements (weight and shape concerns, mindfulness, emotion regulation) were assessed as potential moderators. Participants self-reported engagement and acceptability. Results All groups reported significant reductions in body dissatisfaction and negative affect following the recording (d = 0.15–0.38, p < 0.001), with no between-group differences. Trait measurements did not moderate effects. Conclusions The results suggest rest was as effective as the metacognitive components in ameliorating immediate negative impacts of appearance-related threats. Alternatively, coping strategies spontaneously adopted by the control group may have supplied temporary relief. Findings highlight the importance of including suitable control; further research should investigate when and for whom specific aspects of mindfulness-based interventions may be particularly helpful.

Self-Compassion And Imagery Rescripting: A Brief Online Intervention To Reduce Body Dissatisfaction in Women

Background: Due to the prevalence of body dissatisfaction, and given that it is a significant risk factor for eating disorders and obesity, understanding the mechanisms of change, and finding new ways on how to reduce body dissatisfaction are important avenues of research. The current study aimed to investigate whether a brief online intervention of imagery rescripting is more effective in reducing state body dissatisfaction in women than the widely used intervention of self-compassion, or a control condition. Methods: One-hundred and twenty-three Australian women with high levels of body dissatisfaction were allocated to one of the three intervention conditions: imagery rescripting, self-compassion, or control. Participants completed a screening questionnaire, a visual analogue scale (VAS) on mood, and a physical appearance state and trait anxiety scale (PASTAS) on state body dissatisfaction before and after a body dissatisfaction inducing mirror task, and again after the intervention. Results: Results showcased a significant decrease in state body dissatisfaction from post-induction to post-intervention for imagery rescripting compared to the control. Conclusion: Imagery rescripting was identified as an effective brief intervention for reducing state body dissatisfaction in women and inspiring body acceptance compared to the control condition. Future studies should investigate the impact of multiple sessions of imagery rescripting for women with high levels of body dissatisfaction.

Biometric personal data and their use in the investigation of criminal offences

The article is devoted to the analysis of biometric personal data, which is proposed to be considered as a source of information about a person and used during pre-trial investigation of criminal offences. The relevance of the research topic lies in the need to develop an optimal mechanism for using biometric personal data in the activities of pre-trial investigation bodies. The purpose of the research is to analyse the current international and national legislation on determining the place of biometric personal data in the criminal record system, implement their classification and provide recommendations for use by state bodies and individuals. To achieve this goal, the work used dialectical, historical-legal, formal-logical, dogmatic, structural-system and comparative-legal methods. It is proved that various types of biometric personal data accumulated in the criminal record system can be successfully used in the process of investigating criminal offences, and in some cases by individuals within the limits of their statutory powers. It was noted that along with the positive results of such activities, there are certain risks, namely, the presence of a threat of leakage and access to biometric data by unauthorized persons, as evidenced by the negative judicial practice of individual countries regarding unsatisfactory collection, processing, storage and use of biometric personal data. Taking into account the above, it is stated that the collection, processing and use of biometric personal data for the purpose of their use in the investigation of criminal offences must meet certain requirements, namely: the owner of the database of biometric personal data should only be the state represented by a special state body. Accordingly, the state should ensure the storage and protection of biometric personal data

TRANSBOUNDARY ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION OF KAZAKHSTAN AND RUSSIA: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

The article examines interstate cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia on transboundary environmental issues. An analysis of the environmental policy of Kazakhstan and Russia is carried out, and the key norms of the two countries’ environmental legislation are examined to determine the foundations and mechanisms for solving shared environmental problems. The role and ongoing policy of Kazakhstan’s central state body in the environmental protection sphere as a tool for solving environmental problems is determined. The main reasons for the environmental problems of the Ural and Ishim river basins and the biological diversity of the border areas of Russia and Kazakhstan are discussed. Priority prospects for environmental cooperation are highlighted in relation to the countries’ common transboundary environmental problems, including cooperation potential within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Space.

The transfer of state functions in the field of physical culture and sports to public organizations in the 1960s

The article examines public organizations that functioned and performed state functions in the field of physical culture and sports. Special attention is paid to previously little-studied issues of interaction of the Union of Sports Societies and Organizations of the USSR with state bodies. The source base of the article is the normative legal acts regulating the activities of this organization, as well as documents of the Kaliningrad regional Union of Sports Societies and Organizations that were not previously introduced into scientific circulation. The liberalization of public life during the Thaw period had a significant impact on the position of public organizations in the Soviet political system. The scientific literature of that time actively discussed the issues of involving citizens and public organizations in solving the problems facing the country. One form of such involvement was the transfer of state functions to public organizations. As a result, public organizations were able to make important decisions in a certain segment of the public sphere. The Union of Sports Societies and Organizations of the USSR became a unique organization that completely replaced the state body in the field of physical culture and sports. Based on the material studied, the author comes to the conclusion that the liquidation of the Union of Sports Societies and Organizations of the USSR in 1968 coincided with other processes aimed at curtailing liberal principles in the USSR. Almost 10 years of activity of this organization have shown that the transfer of state functions into the hands of the public is indeed possible.

THE OBJECTIVE SIDEOF BRIBERY OF A CIVIL SERVANT

This scientific article describes whether actions related to official position should be performed when using legal and factual opportunities, including actions (inaction) that are within the competence of an employee, as well as actions (inaction) based on reputation. services, the human right to information. In addition, the author emphasized that the performance or non-performance of the action must be illegal in nature or contradict the legitimate interests of the enterprise, organization, institution and body in which the employee works.Keywords: object, official, subject of a crime, interest, act, state body

Constitutional status of the Russian State Council in the mirror of actual constitutional reforms

The subject of research is social relations concerning the constitutional transformation of the State Council of the Russian Federation into the format of a constitutional state body, it’s tasks and functions in the unified system of public power. The aim of the research is to confirm or disprove hypothesis that the Russian State Council is a constitutional state body that ensures the coordinated functioning and interaction of authorities in the unified system of public power.The methodological basis of the research includes historical, comparative legal, formal legal methods, legal modeling and forecasting. The research is based on existing and historical legal acts, materials of judicial practice, as well as on the works of leading national lawyers.The main results, scope of application. The authors substantiate concept of the constitutional status of the Russian State Council as a completely new constitutional state body, formed on the basis of modern national principles of state building, taking into account the existing constitutional practice. Main task of the State Council is exercising the constitutional powers of the Russian President to ensure the coordinated functioning and interaction of public authorities, the definition of the main directions of national and foreign policy of the state. The article provides a critical analysis of the goals, tasks, functions of the Russian State Council, the decisions it makes, as a result of which a number of conflicts in the regulation of its constitutional-legal status are revealed. Some proposals to improve legislation and law enforcement practice aimed at solving of the discovered contradictions are made. Current constitutional of the State Council is a result of the constitutional amendments of 2020 in the Russian Constitution and innovations in the Federal Law on the State Council of the Russian Federation. The authors substantiate the idea that the consolidation of a new constitutional position of the State Council can be considered as a process of forming a completely new state body, designed to ensure the coordinated functioning and interaction of bodies included in the unified public system. A comparative legal analysis of the constitutional legislation on State Councils in foreign countries showed that despite the same name the status and functions of these state institutions differ greatly in different countries, therefore any comparative study of them will be unreliable.Conclusions. The Russian State Council has competence, functions of a state power character, take decisions signed by the President of the Russian Federation and therefore have a generally binding character. So it has the characteristics of a public authority. The Russian State Council is a new constitutional and legal structure - a constitutional state body created in order to implement the constitutional powers of the Russian President to ensure the coordinated functioning and interaction of other bodies (that are part of the unified system of public authority) and to determine the main directions of domestic and foreign policy of the state.

Paradigm of the penitentiary system of Ukraine functioning.

The article considers the paradigm of the penitentiary system of Ukraine functioning. The scientific positions of domestic and foreign researchers on the concept of penitentiary system are given. Thanks to a study of the genesis of the paradigm of the functioning of the penitentiary system, four main historical periods have been identified. It has been proved that it is time to transform the criminal-executive system of Ukraine into a penitentiary system. Ways of such transformation are considered. It is stated that the penitentiary system of Ukraine, as an independent sphere of scientific thought and practical activity, dates back to 1991, with Ukraine gaining its independence. By this time, it was located and developed for many centuries in various state institutions. In particular, such as; NKVS of the USSR, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Department for the Execution of Sentences, State Penitentiary Service. Currently, the penitentiary system is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. It was noted that at the present stage, the requirements for the scientific validity of the penitentiary system of Ukraine functioning are increasing by transforming its criminal-executive system into a penitentiary one. This is also confirmed not only by theoretically domestic scientists of penitentiaries, but also by the legislative, by the development of the draft Law of Ukraine «On the penitentiary system of Ukraine». There is also an objective need to develop and implement fundamentally new or radically modernized approaches to the functioning of the penitentiary system of Ukraine. The article proved that the negative factor in the development of science is the absence of publications in which the theoretical results of evolution in the field of the «Penitentiary System of Ukraine» would be completely displayed in the form of a terminological hierarchy. The need to establish a rigid terminology system is an integral part of the paradigm of the functioning of the prison system in Ukraine. That is why the definition of the «paradigm of the penitentiary system of Ukraine functioning» remains very relevant. Based on centuries of theoretical and practical experience, it follows that the modern understanding of the paradigm of the penitentiary system of Ukraine functioning was formed under the influence of domestic scientists in the field of criminal and criminal-executive enforcement law, incorporating all their best achievements. Thus, the paradigm of the penitentiary system of Ukraine functioning is a scientific classical technology that provides a theoretical, practical and methodological understanding of the penitentiary system as a state body with organizational power to implement state policy in the field of execution of sentences and probation.

THE ROLE OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND TRANSPARENCY TOOLS IN SELECTION PROCESS FOR CIVIL SERVICE

The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan K. Tokayev has set the task of creating a new professional state apparatus, in connection with which there is a need to use innovative forms and methods of management, modern methods of personnel selection and their further development. In this regard, the authors of the article consider the issues related to the selection of personnel for public service. Within the framework of the study, the analysis of current legislation, statistical data and in-depth expert interviews with civil servants (personnel management services and responsible state body staff) and representatives of civil society institutions was carried out. In conclusion, practical recommendations are given to increase the transparency of the selection process by strengthening the role of the institute of observers, as well as quality - by attracting motivated employees through using of innovative technologies such as coaching.