Many people prefer anger and disappointment alone. Return to normal state of mind they also try without the participation of other people. It’s much easier when you’re young, but elderly health may be at risk.
Very few people consciously choose to live alone. After all living in the company of other people and feeling that they need you is one of the most important human needs.
It's sad that some people, most often in old age, have to suffer from lack of attention. Therefore, they feel forgotten and unwanted.
Researchers who have studied this problem have concluded that loneliness is a serious problem. Especially in adulthood. It has a bad effect on elderly health and can even lead to premature death.
Loneliness often leads to deterioration mental health, cardiovascular diseases, increased arterial pressure and dementia.
How does loneliness affect the health of older people?
It is believed that about ten percent of older people suffer from “cancerous” loneliness.
According to statistics, at least 70% of older people have at least one serious problem health problem(physical or mental) associated with loneliness.
According to research, loneliness affects the state of the brain in much the same way as. Both have a negative effect on the endocrine and immune system. This, in turn, leads to various pathologies and diseases.
According to the director of the Institute of Psychiatric Research (IIP), Dr. Manuel Martin Carrasco, people suffering from loneliness often have high blood pressure, diabetes, anxiety, and they often have infections.
In older people the negative impact of loneliness on the body is even more pronounced. After all, with age, the body’s resistance and its ability to recover weaken.
Of particular concern is that the problem of loneliness among older people is becoming increasingly relevant. In just a few years it may turn into one of the major global health problems.
According to experts, successfully combating loneliness has a positive effect on the health of older people, as it is known that normal social relationships are one of the main factors for a good quality of life.
David McCullogh, president of the Royal Women's Voluntary Service, which has more than forty thousand volunteers helping older people in the United Kingdom, believes that The issue of loneliness and its consequences for health is becoming increasingly relevant.
Volunteers from this organization help helpless people, mainly the elderly. Being lonely, they suffer from illness, loss of mobility and certain mental problems.
Therefore, service volunteers feed, provide shelter, and help in every possible way those who, for some reason, are left alone in this world.
Is there a solution?
When an elderly person is left alone, it is very it is important that he can engage in some kind of social activity.
American scientists have published the results of two independent scientific projects aimed at studying the impact of loneliness on life expectancy and its quality. In the first of them, experts summarized the medical histories of approximately 45 thousand cardiac patients aged 45 years and above. During the four-year follow-up period, single patients were much more likely to die from a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular complications than married patients. Middle-aged people experience the highest risk. In this group, living in isolation increases the risk of premature death from a heart attack by 24%. Subsequently - between 66 and 80 years - the risk is halved. After 80 years, loneliness no longer has any significant negative impact.
According to the head scientific project MD and cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston Deepak Bhatt, M.D., “loneliness is a warning sign that hints at worst-case scenarios in development heart disease in the patient."
So why is loneliness dangerous? Scientists believe that for middle-aged people, married life is the norm, and therefore deviation from it is often caused by serious social or psychological problems. For example, lonely people may have difficulty socializing, be generally in poor health, be depressed, or be under work-related stress. All of these conditions are naturally associated with the development of cardiovascular disease.
Loneliness can also affect health in more trivial ways. People who don't have spouses or children to worry about them are much more likely to miss taking medications and ignore early signs of heart problems. According to statistics, men with pain caused by pain get to clinics much faster if they are married or living in a common-law relationship.
Another research team looked at how the experience of loneliness affects health. The scientists who conducted this study specifically noted that when they spoke of loneliness, they did not mean the type of residence. According to their data, approximately 43% of people who consider themselves lonely actually do not live alone.
So, after following people over 60 for six years, scientists found that men and women die 45% more often if they perceive themselves to be lonely, abandoned or unnecessary. In addition, such people are 59% more likely to experience difficulties with everyday life, for example when dressing or bathing. These “simple” actions are extremely significant for the health of older people.
A number of experts consider prolonged loneliness as a form of stress, which, in turn, is associated with the development of cardiovascular pathologies. Carla Perissinotto, M.D., MD, lead author of the second study, says, “Feelings of loneliness can act as a catalyst for illness. From a social perspective, people who feel lonely may be less likely to seek medical or social assistance, treat themselves with less concern and attention.”
49. Loneliness like social problem
Loneliness is a painful feeling of an increasing gap with others, fear of the consequences of a lonely lifestyle, a difficult experience associated with the loss of existing life values or loved ones; a constant feeling of abandonment, uselessness and uselessness of one's own existence.
Loneliness in old age is an ambiguous concept that has a social meaning; it is, first of all, the absence of relatives, as well as living separately from young family members, or a complete lack of human communication. This is a social condition that reflects the psychophysical status of an elderly person, making it difficult for him to make new and maintain old contacts and connections. It can be due to various reasons, both mental and socio-economic.
Isolation and self-isolation are inapplicable attributes of old age (in the sixties, the attraction to loneliness is normal and even instinctive). Loneliness is not related to the number of social contacts, but is largely a subjective mental state.
Classification of models of loneliness:
Psychodynamic model (Zimburg), 1938.
According to this model, loneliness is a reflection characteristic features personality. According to this approach, loneliness is the result of early childhood influences on personal development.
The Phenomenological Model (Carl Rogers), 1961.
This theory focuses on therapy aimed at the patient’s personality. According to Rogers, the actions of an individual are the result of patterns formed in society that limit human freedom by socially justified methods. In this regard, a contradiction is created between a person’s true “I” and its manifestations in relationships with other people. Rogers believes that loneliness is the result of poor adaptation of the individual to socio-economic conditions. He believes that the cause of loneliness lies within the individual, in the inconsistency of the individual’s idea of his own self.
Existential Approach (Moustafos), 1961.
This approach is based on the idea of the original loneliness of all people. Loneliness is a system of defense mechanisms that separates a person from solving life issues, and which constantly encourages him to strive for activity for the sake of activity together with other people. True loneliness stems from the concrete reality of lonely existence and the collision of the individual with borderline life situations experienced alone.
4. Sociological approach (Bauman) 1955, (Crisman) 1961, (Slator) 1976.
Bowman hypothesized three forces leading to increased loneliness:
weakening of ties in the primary group;
increased family mobility;
increasing social mobility.
Chrisman and Slator relate their analysis to the study of character and the analysis of a society's ability to meet the needs of its members. Loneliness is a normative general statistical indicator characterizing society. In determining the causes of loneliness, special emphasis is placed on the significance of events occurring in a person’s life in adulthood and on socialization, which, under the influence of certain factors, negatively affects the individual (media).
5. Interactionist approach (Bays), 1973.
Loneliness appears as a result of insufficient social interaction of the individual, interaction that satisfies the basic social needs of the individual.
2 types of loneliness:
emotional (lack of close intimate attachment);
social (lack of meaningful friendships or sense of community).
Bays views loneliness as a normal reaction.
6. Cognitive approach (Ash), 70s.
He emphasizes the role of cognition as a factor in the relationship between lack of sociality and feelings of loneliness. Loneliness occurs when an individual realizes a discrepancy between what he wants and achieved level own social contacts.
7. Intimate approach (Derlega, Mareulis), 1982.
The concept of intimacy is used to interpret loneliness. Loneliness occurs when an individual's interpersonal relationships lack the intimacy necessary for trusting communication. The intimate approach is based on the assumption that the individual strives to maintain a balance between the desired and achieved levels of social contact. These researchers believe that both intra-individual and environmental factors can lead to loneliness.
8. Systems approach (Landers), 1982.
He regards loneliness as a potentially secret state that suspends the mechanism feedback, helping the individual and society maintain a stable optimal level of human contacts. Landers believes that loneliness is a beneficial mechanism that ultimately contributes to the well-being of the individual and society.
There are two motives for behavior:
individual;
situational.
Based on these motives, different degrees and types of loneliness are formed. Distinctions between these types are made on grounds relating to the assessment of the individual, his social status, the type of deficit in social relationships he has experienced and the time perspective associated with loneliness. The emotional characteristics of loneliness reveal the absence of positive emotions such as happiness, affection, and the presence of negative emotions - fear, uncertainty. The type of impairment is determined by the nature of insufficient social relationships. The main thing is to collect information about relationships that are significant to the individual.
In ancient times, when the existence of people was purely communal, collective, tribal, we can talk about three forms of loneliness:
1. Rituals, rituals, tests.
2. Punishment by loneliness, expressed in expulsion from the clan and condemning the punished to almost certain death.
3. Voluntary solitude of individuals, which formed into a separate institution of hermitage, which lasted for at least 2.5 thousand years.
In philosophical research there are several approaches to the problems of loneliness:
1. Evaluation pathology (Parkert, Zimerman).
Koelbel's typology, 4 types of loneliness:
positive internal type– proud loneliness, experienced as a necessary means of discovering new forms of communication with other people;
negative internal type - loneliness, experienced as alienation from one’s self and from other people;
positive external type– predominates in situations of physical solitude, when a search for positive experience is underway;
negative external type - appears in in that case when external circumstances lead to very negative feelings.
2. Sociological approach.
Typology of time perspective (Young, Running) 1978, three types of loneliness:
chronic - typical for those people who have not been satisfied with their social connections and relationships for 2 or more years in a row;
situational – occurs as a result of significant stressful events in life. A situationally lonely person, after a short period of distress, usually comes to terms with his loss and overcomes his loneliness;
transitory.
Dierson, Periman, 1979:
hopelessly lonely people, these people do not have spouses, intimate relationships. Distinctive feature: feeling of dissatisfaction with connections with peers;
periodically or temporarily lonely, people connected by social relationships with relatives, but not attached. Distinctive feature: no close relationships;
passively or persistently lonely people, people who have come to terms with their situation and consider it inevitable.
Social work with lonely older people should promote their integration into the communicative sphere.
What is loneliness? This concept can be interpreted in different ways. It is wrong to think that a person who lives alone is considered lonely. Loneliness is, rather, a special way of realizing one’s own “I” when a person feels unwanted, abandoned, forgotten. We will talk about the problem of loneliness in our article.
Loneliness, first of all, is a feeling that is born in the soul. Sometimes it occurs even when a person is surrounded on all sides by friends, colleagues, and loved ones. It is quite difficult to understand where this chilling cold of emptiness comes from. But teenagers and older people encounter it especially often. Loneliness is a rather complex feeling of denial, and in order to overcome it, you need to make a lot of effort.
The problem of loneliness in older people
Older people especially often feel lonely. And this is not surprising. They are among the people who need the help and support of others. But, unfortunately, the problem of loneliness in old age has been gaining momentum in recent years. At the same time, not only living without relatives or the absence of them leads to loneliness, but also misunderstanding or rejection on the part of loved ones and the family in which the elderly person lives.
You can feel lonely in old age for various reasons. Children move away, old acquaintances and friends die, communication with society comes to naught, various stressful situations occur in life. Of course, over time, an elderly person will be able to overcome the feeling of their own uselessness, but this cannot be done without the support of family and friends.
Loneliness as a social problem
When studying loneliness as a social concept, first of all, special groups of society are taken into account, and not society as a whole. Acute forms of social loneliness are manifested in such concepts as ostracism and expulsion. A person who feels that he has lost connections with the team and the people around him can feel lonely. Thus, often ordinary dismissal from work causes a feeling of loneliness, which develops into depression and has an extremely negative impact on a person’s condition. Thus, loneliness, as a social problem, manifests itself most often when a person is excluded from a team, not hired, fired, blackballed, and also when a person is deliberately avoided for various reasons, for example, because of the color of his skin.
Loneliness as a psychological problem
If we summarize the provisions of some theories of psychoanalysts, we can say that loneliness from the point of view of psychology is a condition that has its roots in childhood. One of the psychoanalysts, Zilburg, believed that between loneliness and solitude there is a big difference. The first phenomenon is a constant sensation that can cause harm to a person. The second is a normal and passing state, to one degree or another characteristic of each of us.
G. Sullivan spoke about the etiology of loneliness as a need for human intimacy, which manifests itself from infancy. If such a need is not satisfied, a person may develop deep loneliness.
Teenage loneliness
Between 10 and 50% of people in the world face the problem of teenage loneliness. adolescence. In most cases, this problem is temporary, and when completed adolescence it's fading away.
Feelings of loneliness in teenagers can arise for various reasons. For example, due to lack of self-confidence, unsuccessful relationships with peers, passivity in social projects, errors during training, complexities. To avoid loneliness in adolescence, you need to think positively, express yourself, and communicate with others. Well, parents should pay attention close attention on your children and encourage them in every possible way, showing your love and desire to help, listen, advise.
Loneliness as a social problem
Loneliness - social psychological condition, characterized by the narrowness or absence of social contacts, behavioral aloofness and emotional disinvolvement of the individual; also a social disease, consisting in the massive presence of individuals experiencing such conditions.
Loneliness is one of the main social problems that are the subject of social work, and social work is one of the most important tools for eliminating or at least alleviating this social disease. Among the means of combating loneliness are socio-psychological: personal diagnostics and identification of individuals with increased risk loneliness, communication training to develop communication skills, psychotherapy and psychocorrection to eliminate the painful effects of loneliness, etc.; organizational: creating clubs and communication groups, forming new social connections among clients and promoting new interests to replace those lost, for example as a result of divorce or widowhood, etc.; socio-medical: developing skills of self-preserving behavior and teaching the basics of a healthy lifestyle. Helping lonely people Social worker must have a good understanding of the complexity of the problem and the multifactor nature of its possible solution.
Loneliness with scientific point vision is one of the least developed social concepts. In selective studies among singles, the following types were identified. The first type is the “hopelessly lonely”, completely dissatisfied with their relationship. These people did not have a partner in sex life or spouse. They rarely connected with anyone (such as their neighbors). They are characterized by a strong feeling of dissatisfaction with their relationships with peers, emptiness, abandonment. More than others, they tend to blame other people for their loneliness. The majority of divorced men and women fell into this group.
The second type is “periodically and temporarily lonely.” They're in sufficiently are connected with their friends and acquaintances, although they lack close affection or are not married. They are more likely than others to engage in social contacts in various places. Compared to other singles, they are the most socially active. These people consider their loneliness to be transitory and feel abandoned much less often than other lonely people. Among them, the majority are men and women who have never been married.
The third type is “passively and persistently lonely.” Despite the fact that they lack a partner intimate connection and they lack other connections, they do not express such dissatisfaction in this regard as respondents belonging to the first and second types. These are people who have come to terms with their situation, accepting it as inevitable. Most of them are widowed people.
Increased marriage and family dynamics (primarily the nuclearization of families and an increase in the divorce rate), depersonalization of large cities, strengthening of the principles of individualism - all these are factors primarily influencing the increase in the scale of loneliness. In addition, socio-medical factors that are positively correlated with the increase in loneliness are the increase in psychiatric diseases (schizophrenia) and borderline conditions and the spread of autism, i.e. painful inability to communicate as a result of defects in obstetric care (“rough hands of the doctor”) and upbringing.
The increase in the number of single people and the establishment of loneliness as an acceptable lifestyle cause the formation of a specific service industry for this category of the population. It has been established that single people have the opportunity and desire to spend more money on their hobbies, on tourism and recreation; they more often purchase expensive goods, primarily for sports and tourism purposes. Special residential complexes for people without families are being built abroad; any of their needs can be satisfied in the services market. Of course, this only applies to those people for whom loneliness is a conscious and comfortable choice, and who do not feel the need for family connections.
The specifics of Russian loneliness are predominantly different. First of all, this is the result of the high mortality rate of the male population ( Russian women live significantly longer than men) and mortality from unnatural causes (it is estimated that approximately every third mother has the opportunity to outlive her children). In addition, general social and family disorganization, the lack of developed technologies to help lonely people or those at risk of remaining lonely, turn loneliness into its Russian version into a rather malignant social disease.
The concept of loneliness is associated with the experience of situations that are subjectively perceived as an undesirable, personally unacceptable lack of communication and positive intimate relationships with other people. Loneliness is not always accompanied by social isolation of an individual. You can constantly be among people, make contact with them and at the same time feel your psychological isolation from them, i.e. loneliness (if, for example, these are strangers or people alien to the individual).
The degree of loneliness experienced is also not related to the number of years a person has spent away from human contact; People who live alone their whole lives sometimes feel less lonely than those who have to frequently communicate with others. A person who, having little interaction with others, does not show either psychological or behavioral reactions of loneliness cannot be called lonely. In addition, people may not realize that there are discrepancies between actual and desired relationships with others.
Genuine subjective states of loneliness usually accompany symptoms mental disorders, which have the form of affects with clearly negative emotional coloring, and different people have different affective reactions to loneliness. Some lonely people report feeling sad and depressed, for example, others report feeling fearful and anxious, and others report bitterness and anger.
The experience of loneliness is influenced not so much by real relationships as by the ideal idea of what they should be. A person who has a strong need for communication will feel lonely if his contacts are limited to one or two people, but he would like to communicate with many; at the same time, someone who does not experience such a need may not feel loneliness at all, even in conditions of complete absence of communication with other people.
Loneliness comes with some typical symptoms. Typically, lonely people feel psychologically isolated from other people, incapable of normal interpersonal communication, of establishing intimate relationships with others. interpersonal relationships like friendship or love. A lonely person is a depressed or depressed person who, among other things, experiences a deficit in communication skills.
A lonely person feels different from everyone else and considers himself an unattractive person. He claims that no one likes or respects him. Such characteristics of a lonely person’s attitude towards himself are often accompanied by specific negative affects, including feelings of anger, sadness, and deep unhappiness. A lonely person avoids social contacts and isolates himself from other people. More than other people, he is characterized by so-called paranormality, impulsiveness, excessive irritability, fear, anxiety, a feeling of weakness and frustration.
Lonely people are more pessimistic than non-lonely people; they experience an exaggerated sense of self-pity, expect only trouble from other people, and only the worst from the future. They also consider their lives and the lives of other people to be meaningless. Lonely people do not talk much, behave quietly, try to be inconspicuous, and most often look sad. They often have a tired appearance and increased sleepiness.
When a gap is discovered between real and actual relationships, characteristic of the state of loneliness, then different people react to this differently. Helplessness, as one of the possible reactions to this situation, is accompanied by increased anxiety. If people blame others for their loneliness rather than themselves, they may experience feelings of anger and bitterness, which encourages hostile attitudes. If people are convinced that they are to blame for their own loneliness and do not believe that they can change themselves, then they are likely to be sad and judge themselves. Over time, this condition can develop into chronic depression. If, finally, a person is convinced that loneliness challenges him, then he will actively fight against it and make efforts to get rid of loneliness.
An impressive list of typical emotional states, which from time to time cover a chronically lonely person. These are despair, melancholy, impatience, a feeling of one’s own unattractiveness, helplessness, panic, depression, inner emptiness, boredom, wanderlust, a feeling of one’s own underdevelopment, loss of hope, isolation, self-pity, stiffness, irritability, insecurity, abandonment, melancholy, alienation (the list was obtained by factor analysis of the responses of many lonely people to a special questionnaire).
Lonely people tend to dislike others, especially those who are sociable and happy. It's theirs defensive reaction, which in turn prevents them from installing good relations with people. It is believed that loneliness is what drives some people to abuse alcohol or drugs, even if they do not admit to being lonely. A lonely person is characterized by exceptional focus on himself, on his personal problems and inner experiences. He is characterized by increased anxiety and fear of catastrophic consequences of an unfavorable combination of circumstances in the future.
Having inadequate self-esteem, lonely people either neglect how others perceive and evaluate them, or they certainly try to please them. Lonely people are especially concerned about issues related to personal sociability, including dating, introducing themselves to others, participating in various activities, and being relaxed and open in communication. Lonely people are more likely to perceive themselves as less competent than non-lonely people, and tend to attribute their failure to make interpersonal connections to a lack of ability. Many tasks associated with establishing intimate relationships cause increased anxiety in them and reduce interpersonal activity. Lonely people are less creative in finding ways to solve problems that arise in interpersonal situations. It has been established that loneliness depends on how a person treats himself, i.e. from his self-esteem. For many people, the feeling of loneliness is associated with clearly low self-esteem. The feeling of loneliness it generates often leads to a person’s feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness.
The emotional states of a lonely person are despair (panic, vulnerability, helplessness, isolation, self-pity), boredom (impatience, desire to change everything, stiffness, irritability), self-deprecation (feeling of one’s own unattractiveness, stupidity, worthlessness, shyness). A lonely person seems to say: “I am helpless and unhappy, love me, caress me.” Against the background of a strong desire for such communication, the phenomenon of “mental moratorium” (E. Erikson’s term) arises:
A return to a child's level of behavior and a desire to delay the acquisition of adult status as long as possible;
Vague but persistent state of anxiety;
Feeling isolated and empty;
Constantly being in a state of something such that something will happen, have an emotional impact and life will change dramatically;
Fear of intimate communication and inability to emotionally influence people of the other sex;
Hostility and contempt for all recognized social roles, down to male and female roles;
Contempt for everything national and an unrealistic overestimation of everything foreign (it’s good where we are not).
“Active solitude” is better. Start writing something, do something you love, go to the cinema or theater, read, play music, do physical exercise, listen to music and dance, sit down to study homework or start doing some work, go to the store and spend the money you save.
We must not run away from loneliness, but think about what can be done to overcome our loneliness. Remind yourself what you really have a good relationship with other people. Think about what you have good qualities(sincereness, depth of feelings, responsiveness, etc.).
Tell yourself that loneliness will not last forever and that things will get better. Think about activities in which you have always excelled in life (sports, academics, household, art, etc.). Tell yourself that most people are lonely at one time or another. Take your mind off the feeling of loneliness by thinking seriously about something else. think about possible benefits the loneliness you have experienced.
Personality is a stable system of ideological, psychological and behavioral characteristics that characterize a person.
Man is a being who embodies highest level development of life, subject of socio-historical activity.
An individual is a representative of society, a fundamentally indecomposable element of the existence of society.
The social structure of a person is a combination of individual psychological and socio-psychological qualities of a person, manifested through the employee’s attitude to surrounding phenomena and events.
Role theory - symbol theory, interactionism (J. Mead, G. Blumer, E. Goffman, M. Kuhn, etc.) considers personality from the point of view of its social roles.
Social position is the place, position of an individual or group in the system of relations in society, determined by a number of specific characteristics and regulating the style of behavior.
Social status is the relative position of an individual or social group in a social system, determined by a number of characteristics characteristic of a given system.
Social freedom is a person’s ability to act in accordance with his interests and goals, based on the knowledge of objective necessity.
Personality types are an abstract model of personal characteristics inherent in a certain population of people.
Personality dispositions are numerous personality traits (from 18 to 5 thousand), forming a complex of predispositions to a certain reaction of the subject to the external environment.
Value orientations of an individual are a reflection in a person’s consciousness of values that he recognizes as strategic.
Self-realization - identification and development by the individual personal abilities in all areas of activity.
Mentality is a set of ethnocultural, social skills and spiritual attitudes, stereotypes.
Motivation is an active mental state that encourages a person to perform certain types of actions.
Social attitude is a predisposition fixed in the social experience of an individual (group) to perceive and evaluate socially significant objects, as well as the readiness of an individual (group) for certain actions.
Socialization is the process and result of assimilation and active reproduction by an individual social experience carried out in communication and activity.
Interiorization is the formation of the structures of the human psyche through the assimilation of the structures of external social activity.
Conformity is the tendency of an individual to internalize norms, habits and values, to change his initial assessments under the influence of the opinions of others.
Anomia is a psychological condition: - characterized by a feeling of loss of orientation in life; - arising when an individual is faced with the need to fulfill contradictory norms.
Social satisfaction is the totality of his perceptions and assessments of the conditions of his social life and quality of life, generalized in the mind of an individual.
Interpersonal relationships are a system of attitudes, expectations, stereotypes, orientations through which people perceive and evaluate each other.
A leader is a member of the group, whom it recognizes the right to make responsible decisions in situations that are significant to it, i.e. the most authoritative person.
Deviant behavior is a form of manifestation of the attitudes of individuals and social groups to the norms and values of the social system in which they operate.
Social control is a mechanism of self-regulation of the system, ensuring the orderly interaction of its constituent elements through normative regulation.
Social well-being is a phenomenon of social consciousness, the prevailing state of feelings and minds of certain social groups in certain period time.
Social sanctions are measures of influence of a social group on the behavior of an individual that deviates in a positive or negative sense from social expectations, norms and values.
Logical task
1. Do you agree with G. Tarde, who believed that “the so-called “social pressure” only promotes self-determination and a more vivid expression of each individual personality. Without this support, which offers him a certain resistance, the individual would not be able to move in the social environment, like how a bird could not fly without the help of air resisting its wings" (New ideas in sociology. Collection N2 // Sociology and Psychology. St. Petersburg, 1914. P.80).
Overcoming the barrier of social pressure becomes possible by expanding the degree of internal freedom of the individual. In this case, a freer person receives advantages over less free ones - people whose behavior is predictable and determined by social norms. If such a person expands the number of his social contacts, then he begins to be pushed upward like a cork from the water column. The reason is that in every interpersonal contact, the freer person influences the less free one. The more often this happens, and if the contacts are caused by certain socially significant issues, the greater and stronger the influence of this person on society as a whole. Thus, the personal power of the individual is extended to more and more large quantity members of society, which is social success.
2. “The more primitive the society, the greater the similarities between the individuals that make them up” (Durkheim E. Method of Sociology. M., 1990. P. 129). How do you understand this statement?
In primitive societies based on mechanical solidarity, the individual does not belong to himself and is absorbed by the collective. On the contrary, in developed society based on organic solidarity, both complement each other. The more primitive the society, the more people are similar to each other, the higher the level of coercion and violence, the lower the level of division of labor and diversity of individuals. The greater the diversity in a society, the higher the tolerance of people towards each other, the broader the basis of democracy. In primitive societies founded on mechanical solidarity, individual consciousness in everything follows and submits to the collective. The individual here does not belong to himself, he is absorbed by the collective.
3. Do you agree with the statement that the beginning of individuality is more developed in a woman, and the personality is more developed in a man? Give reasons for your answer.
Agree. Individuality is a manifestation in physical space The essence of a woman is her soul, therefore individuality contains the true charm and beauty of a woman. For most men, getting out of the state of selfishness takes a very long time.
4. Confirm or refute this judgment: " Modern Sciences They proceed from the fact that each individual person personifies all of humanity. He is unique with his individual characteristics, at the same time, we repeat it, because it contains all the revealing features of the human race."
A true man is a universal man; he contains within himself the whole of humanity. However, being in a damaged state, driven by egoism, which contains alienation from other individuals, people protect themselves in their isolation and are unable to even see the unity of the human race, cannot accept and contain all of humanity. The unity of humanity is not an empty concept, it has a real basis in human personalities. It depends on how a person lives whether he unites or divides all of humanity.
5. Below is a judgment. Read it carefully: “Resocialization is the assimilation of new values, roles, skills instead of old, insufficiently learned or outdated ones. It includes a lot: from classes to correct reading skills to vocational training workers. Psychotherapy is also a form of resocialization: people try to find a way out of conflict situations, change your behavior" (Spasibenko S.G. Generations as subjects public life//Social and political magazine. 1995. N 3. P. 122). Do you think it is correct or not? What is called resocialization and what types human activity do they relate to her? Give reasons for your answer.
Resocialization (lat. re (repeated, renewed action) + lat. socialis (social), English resocialization, German Resozialisierung) is repeated socialization that occurs throughout the life of an individual. Resocialization is carried out by changes in the individual’s attitudes, goals, norms and values of life.
Resocialization can be just as profound. For example, a Russian who emigrated to America finds himself in a completely new, but no less diverse and rich culture. Unlearning of old traditions, norms, values and roles is compensated by new ones life experience. Entering a monastery presupposes no less radical changes in lifestyle, but spiritual impoverishment does not occur in this case either.
7. Prove or disprove this position: Personality is the result of a correctly occurring process of socialization. Socialization is a lifelong process of learning social norms and the adoption of cultural norms.
Personality development can be viewed as the progressive transformation of a given organism as it copes with new situations. Also, when considering a person’s personality, they also take into account such properties that can be described in social or socio-psychological terms, where the psychological is taken in its social conditioning and fullness. Socialization is more than formal education as it involves the acquisition of attitudes, values, behavior, habits, skills imparted not only by school but also by family, peer group, and media.
Problem for discussion
Different opinions are expressed about the personality of the “gray” student. Some say that he is a quitter, a stupid person. Others are a person who doesn't know much. And still others believe that this is someone who does not want to study himself, interferes with others and also boasts of his ignorance (for more details, see: Lisovsky V.T. Soviet students: Sociological essays. M., 1990.P.295). So who is he - the “gray student”?
If there are 60-100 people in a lecture hall, of which at best half are ready to study, then, firstly, this significantly complicates the lecturer’s task, and secondly, the other half definitely interferes with those who want to learn. And let me disagree with the fact that they won’t do anything bad for the country: they went to university because they have to, and they’ll go to work at a company because they’ll get a job. Of course, with work it is more difficult, they are more likely to be kicked out than expelled from the institute, but still I have often seen people who do not want to work at all and do not know how, and for some reason they are kept (the reasons are always different, but there is always a paradox!) . So they still cause harm.
Problem tasks
3. American sociologists have identified a connection between socialization methods and people’s willingness to accept the values of society. For example, depending on how boys and girls see their parents - overseers or helpers - they either rebel against the existing system of power or easily join it. Those who receive little support but a lot of discipline (especially from fathers) often become non-conformists in matters of religion, and many of them rebel, pitting their own values against those of society (see: Smelser N. Sociology // Sociological research. 1991. N6. P.131).
Is it right to regard such a result of socialization as a failure and a threat to society?
Socialization with iron necessity implies adaptation. Traditional education also prepares a person to adapt to changing conditions, at least with the attitude of learning to learn. Almost any traditional value system includes, to one degree or another, tolerance for other people's beliefs and lifestyles. This is vital for survival, especially in a world that is sharply decreasing due to demographic situation world. The traditional value system also includes recognition (at least ideally) of the legal equality of members of certain social groups, and this recognition gradually expands in the course of history to the idea of legal equality of all members of society. Thus, the ideal conformist is a degenerate case. IN pure form- of course, but we are talking about settings and considering ideal cases. Yes, by at least one value, namely: the value of guaranteeing personal freedom, should be included as a core value in the conformist’s system of changing values. In these conditions, a way of life based on the dictates of fashion (on political and other beliefs, on ways of organizing the way of life, including friendly relations, interests, ways of spending time, etc.) replaces a lifestyle formed on the basis of personally acquired value orientations. What will happen, as is observed in the modern world, will be the spreading of society into separate social groups that have nothing in common with each other and oppose each other with increasing aggressiveness, while civil society as a whole is gradually losing its significance.
4. At the XII World Sociological Congress (1990), the concept of postmodernism was presented as one of the leading ideas. It is a development of the theory of the major German sociologist Max Weber about two types of society - traditional and modernist. In a traditional society, human behavior is regulated by traditions, according to the principle “do as they did before you.” In modernist society, behavior is governed by the principle of rationality, reasonableness and efficiency social behavior. In a postmodern society, which, according to many Western sociologists, is being formed today, the principles of behavior are the interests of the individual, the collective, the people, the goals that they set for themselves, and the means that they choose. Think about what principles govern your behavior, the behavior of the majority of members of Russian society today? What type of society - traditional, modernist, postmodernist, or some other - does our society belong to?
Modernization is, first of all, a process during which the economic and political capabilities of a given society increase: economic through industrialization, political through bureaucratization. Modernization has great appeal because it allows society to move from a state of poverty to a state of wealth.
An important component of the postmodern shift is a shift that turns away from both religious and bureaucratic power and leads to a decrease in the importance of any types of power and authority. For obedience to authority comes with high costs: the individual’s personal goals must be subordinated to the goals of a broader subjectivity. But in the face of uncertainty tomorrow people are more than willing to do it.
The rise of postmodernism is the opposite of the authoritarian reflex: postmaterial values characterize the most protected segment of advanced industrial society. They developed in the context of historically unprecedented economic growth and welfare states that arose after the Second World War.
8. Every adult plays many social roles, which often leads to intra-role, inter-role and personal-role conflicts. Analyze the accumulated experience of student life and name typical conflicts various kinds. What methods of resolving these conflicts are most successful?
Among university students, there are 4 most common conflict situations in conflict interactions: 1) discrimination by a student with more pronounced personal characteristics a student with less pronounced personal characteristics; 2) the fact of personally significant ingratitude; 3) the factor of a subjective differentiated approach; 4) pronounced competition.
Ways to resolve these conflicts. Influenced study group, in the process of socialization and psychological training program aimed at increasing the effectiveness of communication, minimizing and resolving conflict situations among university students with dominant aggressive style behavior in conflict, the development of empathy is observed, identification decreases in students with a dominantly passive style, and reflection decreases in university students with a dominantly aggressive style of behavior in conflict, as a result of which, in the educational community, there is a decrease in leveling between aggressive and passive styles of behavior in a conflict situation.
loneliness social psychological emotional
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