Distant Psychological Violence: Prospects for Improvement of Criminal Legislation

The article researches the legal issues of protection from various forms of distant psychological violence arising in electronic communication. The study aims to assess the public danger of cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking and cyber-harassment among potential and real victims in order to develop recommendations for improvement of domestic legislature. The main results of the study have been obtained by surveying 207 individuals and by means of comparative review of domestic and foreign law. The results indicate that distant violence does take place, but its assessment by legislators and the public is highly controversial. Cyber-harassment is commonly seen as a more dangerous phenomenon than cyber-bullying or cyber-stalking, which raises a question of its criminalization in the law. This necessitates a correct definition of sexual harassment in distant form as there are risks of either intruding into the field of socially acceptable behavior or overlooking the socially unacceptable ones.

Assessment of Psychological Safety of a Situation and Strategy for Coping Behavior in Juvenile Offenders

The article presents the results of the research of subjective prognostic evaluation of the level of psychological safety of a situation and the strategies of coping behavior of adolescent offenders in comparison to adolescents with lawful behavior. Psychological safety of a situation is viewed as an environment resource ensuring the effectiveness of coping strategies used by adolescents in difficult situations. The research sample was comprised of 100 adolescents aged 14-15. It has been revealed that the situations with the lowest level of psychological safety are those associated with breach of confidentiality, betrayal, quarreling with friends and dependence on decisions of others. In their assessment of situations, juvenile offenders show higher levels of psychological safety than adolescents with lawful behavior. The latter have more varied ways of coping behavior than adolescent offenders do. While possessing the same levels of confidence in themselves, the world and other people, the adolescents who commit offences and those with lawful behavior differ both in their estimations of the psychological safety levels of situations and in their strategies for coping with troubles.

Cyber-Security Culture: Psychological and Legal Aspects

Digitalization has become part and parcel of the modern-day human activities. Nowadays it is going into every field of business and personal life. To develop and prosper, most organizations need IT systems, and hence to take the safeguarding of their informational assets seriously. Many of the processes which are essential for securing their IT assets, largely depend on human interaction. This study has attempted to address the culture of cyber-security in the light of psychology and law. The results of the research showed that from the psychological standpoint, the culture of cyber-security involves the willingness on the part of a modern human to overcome the digital expansion by mastering the tools for countering the negative IT factors. In its turn, from the legal standpoint, the culture of cyber-security is based on the legislative framework which regulates the legal relations in the field of cyber-security.

Psychological Model of Professional Fitness for Investigative Activities

The research work was aimed at developing the criteria for identifying candidates' professional fitness for operational services of law enforcement. The sample comprised of 114 internal affairs officers (with 2 or more years of service). Research methods: standardized method of personality research, psychophysiological techniques; in order to evaluate an operational officer's professional effectiveness on the basis of a factor analysis of 55 behavioral qualities of an operative noted by immediate supervisors, the professional profile of the employee including the following factors was developed: ‘professional level’, ‘proneness to conflict’, ‘physical development’, ‘availability’, ‘self-control’, and ‘intelligence’. The primary goal was to identify the ‘professional level’ factor using psychodiagnostic parameters. This task was accomplished through multiple linear regression analysis. With the help of adjacency matrix of expert evaluation and predictive index of regression, the identification accuracy was assessed. It turned out to be high when identifying the high expert evaluation through testing. The model developed is only intended for selecting the best operational officers.

Indices of Victimization in Minor Victims of Sexual Violence and Abuse

The article presents the results of a comprehensive psychological and psychiatric examination of 117 minor victims of sexual violence and abuse. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of cases of sexual violence and abuse against minors was used, depending on the degree of the victims ' ability to understand the nature and significance of the illegal sexual acts committed with them and to resist them. The comparison criteria are identified: the type of violence and abuse, the age of the victim, the presence of a mental disorder in the victim, and the features of interaction in the "victim – assailant" dyad. 4 groups of victims are described, which differ in the degree of understanding of the criminal situation and the ability to resist, and indicators of victimization and victim behavior of children and adolescents are highlighted. The prospects for future research are outlined, which can improve the effectiveness of expert conclusions and preventive measures.

Age-related Peculiarities of a Delinquent Personality's Preparedness to Resocialize in the Post-penitentiary Period

This article is an incomplete presentation of the second part of the follow-up study on the evidence of age-related peculiarities of personality's preparedness to resocialize during the post-penitentiary period. Earlier, we were able to create and successfully test psychodiagnostic and psychocorrective programs for the resocialization of a delinquent person at the stage of release from prison. The A.R. Ratinov's value and standards theory of a criminal's personality is used as a basis for analysis and comparison of the subjects' system of value orientations. 201 individuals have been examined. The obtained results indicate that the subjects have lowered values in three categories of cognitive concept of personality's basic beliefs. The significance of the age factor in the subjects has been reliably found in such scales as «a tendency to force others to fit one's wants/tastes», «a tendency to change others», «categoricalness towards others», «inability to adjust oneself to others» and so on. Subjects have been found with manifestly excessive predisposition to aggression.

Self-Control Peculiarities of Men with Alcohol Dependence

The article presents the results of an empirical research of self-regulation peculiarities of men with alcohol dependence. Self-regulation is defined as a system process which is comprised of initiation, planning and modeling processes, evaluation and correction of one's external and internal activities in accordance with goals. In case of alcohol dependence as one of the forms of destructive addictive behavior, serious disorders occur in one's personality sphere. Firstly, negative changes emerge in all mental processes. Secondly, alcohol abuse leads to disorders in the emotional sphere. Addicts are liable to aggressive and uncontrolled acts. The empirical study that aimed to detect peculiarities in self-regulation altered by the establishing alcohol dependence. The experimental group included 40 men diagnosed with the second and third stages of alcoholism. The results of the empirical study can be used in preventive programs based on techniques of developing self-regulation.

Emotion Sensitivity in Individuals with Various Degrees of Expressive Suppression: The Case of Policemen

The article examines emotion sensitivity in policemen and its relationships with emotion suppression. It was hypothesized that individuals with high emotion suppression were less efficient in recognizing others’ negative emotions. Forty-nine policemen from the Arkhangelsk region of Russia aged from 22 to 50 took part in the study. Emotion sensitivity was measured presenting faces with dynamic changes in emotional expression from neutral to the one of four emotion categories, namely happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. Emotion suppression was measured with Gross’ Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Happiness was recognized faster and more accurately compared to negative emotions. Among negative emotions, the least intensity was needed for the recognition of fear, more intensity for the recognition of sadness, and even more for anger. Fear was recognized more accurately compared to anger; there was no difference in the accuracy of the recognition of fear and sadness. Individuals high in expressive suppression recognized happiness faster and mistook sadness for anger more often. The results are discussed in the context of the specific features of policemen professional activity.

Self-realization in Officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation

The article presents the research data of the professional self-realization in the internal affairs officers of the Russian Federation. Also the study provided the data of a survey carried out among some internal affairs officers from the subdivisions of Moscow Head Office of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. The respondents specified the motives and the work context that led them to resignation from service. The study shows how the notion of self-realization is defined in the international and in Russian Psychology. The work also contains the findings of average values of structural components of personal self-realization and the factor analysis of the data obtained. 190 officers (non-commissioned and commissioned officers with 2-15 years of service) from the structural subdivisions of the Moscow Head Office of the Ministry have been examined. Several conclusions can be drawn from the results of the examination. Firstly, the examined officers of this group mostly have not only a good idea of their ambitions, but they also have the ability to fulfill them. The officers are efficient and at the same time optimistic, they can redistribute their resources. They are distinguished by the yearning for their personal growth, professional excellence and social recognition. Secondly, the respondents' motivational sphere has certain contradictory elements. On the one hand, they have their own personal motives ensuring their career advancement (financial independence, prestige and power). On the other hand, they accept the socially upheld motives (to make a significant contribution to their collective accomplishment, to improve relationships among their colleagues etc.). At the same time, the socially upheld motives are considerably more prevalent (at a fairly high level of statistical significance p≤0.0002).

Digitalization of Social Contacts – Risks for Women Seeking a Spouse through Dating Sites and Apps

The article presents the results of an empirical study related to the problem of the risks of digitalization of social contacts when searching for marriage partners through dating sites. The research hypothesis suggests that these risks are fraud; sexual harassment; stalking; abuse of received information of an intimate nature; distortion of perception of the communicative situation, reality, communication partner; the occurrence of negative psychological consequences. It is assumed that the risks will increase due to the characteristics of the personality of women. The respondents were 197 women who used dating sites to find a marriage partner. A specially developed author's questionnaire was used, as well as standardized methods. It was revealed that such types of risks as fraud, sexual harassment occur regardless of the personal characteristics of the respondents. Risk of facing fraud increases among successful women. Risk of the distortion of the perception of the communicative situation, reality, communication partner and risk of the occurrence of negative psychological consequences directly depend on the personal characteristics of women.