Value-normative system of society

The destruction of society is the loss of its ability to reproduce itself, the loss of its qualitative certainty, identity.

The collapse of Austria-Hungary at the beginning of the 20th century. and Soviet Union in the end
20th century - real examples destruction of societies: in both cases
the ability to reproduce the structural unit was lost
stva social relations in a certain area.
In the life of many societies, events were observed that put them on
brink of destruction: Great French 18th revolution in., Grazh
Danish war in the USA in the 19th century, October Revolution in Russia in
20th century - this is the most bright examples. "gg-

Let us consider the conditions under which the destruction of society becomes possible, leaving aside cases of armed seizure of territory, i.e. cases of violent external influence.

The main sign of the growing "ill-being" of the society-system is the increase deviations i.e., as already mentioned, violations of the established norms of the social order realized by individuals. This process, as a rule, is part of a more general process - anomie. This term was proposed by E. Durkheim to denote the disorganization of social life, in which the normative, institutional order in society ceases to fulfill its regulatory role: “No one knows exactly what is possible and what is impossible, what is fair and what is unfair; it is impossible to point out the boundaries between legitimate and excessive demands and hopes, and therefore everyone considers himself entitled to lay claim to everything.

The first factor contributing to the development of anomie in society - the cessation, for certain reasons, of the orientation of the majority of the population in their actions to the previously established status-role prescriptions, following the recently generally accepted norms of behavior.

The prerequisites for such a situation are often natural disasters, economic upheavals, wars in which significant masses of the population are unable to maintain their standard of living in the usual way, main problem for them it becomes a problem of physical

" Durkheim E. Suicide. - M., 1994, p. 238.

Living, suppressing all previously developed social attitudes towards the implementation of role-playing standards.

Let us give, for example, a description of the position of the masses in the period immediately preceding the Great french revolution 1789: “Unprecedented calamities, famine, poverty, fell upon the masses of the villages and cities. Driven to despair, the peasants left their homes, went to wander, raised rebellions. Here and there in different provinces of the kingdom flared peasant uprisings. In the cities, the starving poor smashed food shops and warehouses. Public excitement swept the whole country ... The peasants smashed the hated castles of the lords, "let the rooster" - they burn the landlords' estates, divide the landowners' meadows and forests among themselves ... "* The situation that developed in our country in the 90s. The 20th century, for all its external dissimilarity with the unrest of the peasants in feudal France, contained the same threat of disorganization of society. The reduction in production, part-time employment, low wages, non-payment of wages pushed people out of their usual status-role niches, provoked them to search for new types of activities that could provide an acceptable standard of living, and often physical survival.

Such expulsion has nothing to do with socio-professional mobility. The latter is a free or competitive transition of individuals from one niche to another, a change in the status-role position. Each such position is characterized by the stability of role expectations and is a link in the chain of institutionalized, normatively defined relations. Finding new status, the individual accepts new rules of interaction with others, and these rules have already been developed, known, they can be learned.

In Russia, during the last decade of the XX century. a situation was noted in which many were forced to go beyond the status-role niches offered by the generally accepted system of institutional relations. People found themselves, as it were, outside the structures of society, in a non-normative space where the mechanisms of reproduction of old societal ties do not operate. Enterprising and strong-willed, finding themselves in such a situation, found the strength and opportunity to organize themselves, create new social structures. However, such self-organization in the conditions of vagueness of socio-political values ​​often took on wild forms, sometimes carried out on the basis of narrowly selfish goals, giving rise to asocial associations, including those openly criminal in their orientation. Those who were psychologically unprepared for new situation retreated in the face of difficulties or became active participants in extremist movements.

The second factor contributing to the development of anomie - delegitimation, i.e. erosion of the original value foundations of the normative order, ensuring the integrativity, integrity of the

relationships at the societal level. The broad masses are losing confidence in the previously established system of values, which provided just recently the legitimation of the normative order. The critical attitude of many people in relation to those ideals, ideas, beliefs; which until recently seemed to them important, vital, is an important sign of delegitimization.

An important component of the process of erosion of the societal level of society-ristems is the delegitimization of political power. The loss of mass confidence in state bodies, dissatisfaction with the country's leadership sharply narrow the possibilities of legal regulation of society. Power relations begin to be based solely on coercion, violence, which cannot last long.

■»iy At the turn of the 80s - 90s, XX century. in our country, all the main signs of the erosion of the societal level of the society-system were observed: the devaluation of values ​​that legitimized normative order the Soviet system, merciless criticism of the principles of communist ideology, a new attitude to the history of the country, an increased interest in the values ​​of liberalism. Sociological research conducted in the first half of the 90s. under the leadership of I. Klyamkin *, already at that time recorded enough a high degree updating liberal values in the minds of Russians. However, these values ​​were formed not as a result of the assimilation of a really established normative order, but as a negative reaction to totalitarianism, as an orientation towards the Western way of life. Superimposed on previously internalized "normative expectations and requirements, these values ​​often bizarrely coexisted with the stereotypes of the communist consciousness. At the same time, groups remained that did not experience the strong influence of liberal ideology.

Segmentation value consciousness typical of any society. Ideological pluralism is not dangerous for society as a system in the presence of basic socio-political values ​​that legitimize the normative order, which are supported by the majority of participants in social interactions.

in the USSR in the early 1990s. there was a situation when the mass consciousness no longer accepted the old normative order, but was still not ready for the unconditional acceptance of new ones. social institutions. The split in values ​​led to the formation of competing ideas about its new image in society. The situation was complicated by the decline in the authority of the central state authorities and the growth of separatist sentiments. The collapse of the USSR was becoming inevitable. ; "*-

* History of France. - M., 1973. T. 2, p. 5. 524

* See: POLIS, 1993, No. 6; 1994, No. 2, 4-5. :t?:V

In conditions of unbalancing of the status-role and societal
many levels of society ceases to function normally and
institutional level of the system. He turns out to be incapable
nii to properly regulate the status-role relations,
since the deviation becomes massive; which leads to weakening
reducing social control, reducing the ability to effectively
apply institutional mechanisms of sanctions. In such a situation
tions self-organization, association of individuals, if and have
now and then mainly presented in the form of groups, corporate
organizations focused on the expression and protection of a narrow
group interests. The institutional level of the system, such
thus, loses its societal, universal character, race
falls on a number of segments (groups, organizations, corporations), in
each of which has its own rules and regulations.
interactions. >r -

So, anomie is a mismatch between the normative and functional requirements of the system and the real behavior of individuals, leading to the alienation of individuals from society. Society turns out to be unable to direct the behavior of individuals into previously familiar institutional frameworks, and people deprived of a value-normative orientation are in a state of either extreme excitement or deep depression, act at their own peril and risk, are guided by momentary interests and thereby cease to recreate structural elements of society

Anomia is equally detrimental to both the individual and society. The personality desocializes, loses the skills of moral, legal regulation of its behavior, motivation becomes utilitarian, primitive-hedonistic, at the level of physiological needs. Society begins to disintegrate, as once stable social ties and relationships are not reproduced.

Fortunately, anemic processes in society rarely acquire a general character, usually affecting certain types of interactions. However, any form of anomie indicates the inability of the mechanisms of the functioning of society to restore the balance of the system under the influence of the environment, and the deeper the anomic processes, the more difficult it is to restore the equilibrium state of the system.

Social control is necessary to overcome social disorganization, deviation, anomie, chaos, unrest, violations of the value-normative system of society.

Social control is a mechanism of self-regulation in social systems, which implements it with the help of normative regulation of people's behavior. Central nervous.

the system of social institution is control, without the functions of which society cannot exist. Society needs rules and norms of behavior fixed by law.

Social control performs protective and stabilizing functions. The content and mechanism of social control are power, social norms and sanctions.

Power is a form of social relations that characterizes the ability to influence the direction of activity and behavior of people through organizational and legal mechanisms. The essence of power is the relationship of leadership, domination and subordination. Power exists and functions at three levels of its social structure:

1) public, covering the most complex social relations;

2) public, or associative, uniting communities and relations in them;

3) personal, in small groups, etc. Social norm - a means of social regulation of the behavior of individuals and groups through prescriptions, requirements, wishes and expectations. Norms are models that prescribe what people should say, think, feel and do in situations of communication and activity. The norms perform the functions of integration, ordering, maintaining the processes of functioning of communities, social groups and individuals.

Norms are the obligations of one person towards another or towards others; they form a system of social relations in the group and society as a whole.

Also, norms are expectations from an individual who performs a particular role in accordance with the norm, and, accordingly, other people expect quite unambiguous behavior and attitudes.

Norms are rules of behavior, and values ​​are abstract concepts, our ideas about good and evil, justice and injustice, and so on. Values ​​are the standard for a person, and no creature can exist without a system of values.

Social sanctions are operational means of social control that perform the following functions: integration, stabilization, socialization of subjects of social structures. Sanctions can be formal or informal.

Social sanctions play a key role in the system of social control and, together with values ​​and norms, constitute the mechanism of social control.

Social control, what is it? How does social control relate to social bonding? In order to understand this, let's ask ourselves a series of questions. Why do acquaintances bow and smile at each other when they meet, send greeting cards for the holidays? Why do parents send their children to school when they reach a certain age, and why don't people go to work barefoot? A number of similar questions could go on and on. All of them can be formulated as follows. Why do people perform their functions in the same way every day, and why do some functions even pass from generation to generation?

Thanks to this repetition, the continuity and stability of the development of social life is ensured. It makes it possible to anticipate people's reactions to your behavior in advance, this contributes to the mutual adaptation of people to each other, since everyone already knows what he can expect from the other. For example, a driver sitting behind the wheel of a car knows that oncoming cars will keep to the right, and if someone drives towards him and crashes into his car, then he can be punished for this.

Each group develops a number of methods of persuasion, prescriptions and prohibitions, a system of coercion and pressure (up to physical), a system of expression that allow the behavior of individuals and groups to be brought in line with accepted patterns of activity. This system is called the social control system. Briefly, it can be formulated as follows: social control is a mechanism of self-regulation in social systems, which is carried out due to the normative (legal, moral, etc.) regulation of the behavior of individuals.

In this regard, social control also performs the corresponding functions, with the help of which the necessary conditions are created for the stability of the social system, it contributes to the preservation of social stability, as well as, at the same time, positive changes in the social system. Therefore, social control requires greater flexibility and the ability to correctly assess the various deviations from the social norms of activity that take place in society in order to punish accordingly the deviations that are harmful to society, and to encourage those necessary for its further development.

The implementation of social control begins in the process of socialization, at which time the individual begins to assimilate social norms and values ​​corresponding to the level of development of society, he develops self-control, and he takes on various social roles that impose on him the need to fulfill role requirements and expectations.

The main elements of the social control system: habit, custom and system of sanctions.

A habit is a stable way of behaving in certain situations, in some cases taking on the character of a need for an individual, which does not meet with a negative reaction from the group.

Each individual may have his own habits, for example, getting up early, doing exercises in the morning, wearing a certain style of clothing, etc. There are habits that are common to the entire group. Habits can develop spontaneously, be the product of purposeful upbringing. Over time, many habits develop into stable traits of the individual's character and are carried out automatically. Habits also arise from the acquisition of skills and are established by tradition. Some habits are nothing but survivals of old rites and celebrations.

Usually breaking habits does not lead to negative sanctions. If the behavior of the individual corresponds to the habits accepted in the group, then it meets with recognition.

Custom is a stereotyped form of social regulation of behavior, adopted from the past, which meets certain moral assessments of the group and the violation of which leads to negative sanctions. The custom is directly related to a certain coercion for the recognition of values ​​or coercion in a certain situation.

Often the concept of "custom" is used as a synonym for the concepts of "tradition" and "ritual". By custom is meant the steady adherence to the prescriptions that came from the past, and custom, unlike traditions, does not function in all areas of social life. The difference between a custom and a ritual is not only that it symbolizes certain social relations, but also acts as a means used for the practical transformation and use of various objects.

For example, the custom is to respect honorable people, to give way to old and helpless people, to treat people in a high position in a group according to etiquette, etc. Thus, a custom is a system of values ​​recognized by a group, certain situations in which these values ​​can take place, and standards of behavior corresponding to these values. Disrespect for customs, their non-fulfillment undermines the internal cohesion of the group, since these values ​​​​have a certain importance for the group. The group, using coercion, induces its individual members in certain situations to comply with the standards of behavior corresponding to its values.

In pre-capitalist society, custom was the main social regulator of public life. But custom performs not only the functions of social control, it maintains and strengthens intra-group cohesion, it helps to transmit social and

cultural experience of mankind from generation to generation, I.e. acts as a means of socialization of the younger generation.

Customs include religious rites, civil holidays, production skills, etc. At present, the role of the main social regulator in modern societies is no longer performed by customs, but by social institutions. Customs in a "pure" form have been preserved in the sphere of everyday life, morality, civil rituals and in various kinds of conditional rules - conventions (for example, traffic rules). Depending on the system of social relations in which they are located, customs are divided into progressive and reactionary, obsolete. A struggle is being waged against outdated customs in developed countries, and new progressive civil rites and customs are being established.

social sanctions. Sanctions are operational measures and means developed by a group, necessary to control the behavior of its members, the purpose of which is to ensure internal unity and the continuity of social life, stimulating desirable behavior for this and punishing undesirable behavior of members of the group.

Sanctions can be negative (punishment for undesirable actions) and positive (encouragement for desirable, socially approved actions). Social sanctions are an important element of social regulation. Their meaning lies in the fact that they act as an external stimulus that encourages an individual to a certain behavior or a certain attitude towards the action being performed.

Sanctions can be formal or informal. Formal sanctions are the reaction of formal institutions to some kind of behavior or action in accordance with a predetermined (in a law, charter, regulation) procedure.

Informal (diffuse) sanctions are already a spontaneous, emotionally colored reaction of informal institutions, public opinion, a group of friends, colleagues, neighbors, i.e. immediate environment to behavior that deviates from social expectations.

Since an individual is at the same time a member of different groups and institutions, the same sanctions can reinforce or weaken the action of others.

According to the method of internal pressure, the following sanctions are distinguished:

Legal sanctions are a system of punishments and rewards developed and provided for by law;

Ethical sanctions are a system of censures, reprimands and motives based on moral principles;

Satirical sanctions are a system of all kinds of ridicule, mockery applied to those who behave differently than is customary;

Religious sanctions are punishments or rewards established by the system of dogmas and beliefs of a certain religion, depending on whether the individual's behavior violates or corresponds to the prescriptions and prohibitions of this religion.

Moral sanctions are implemented directly by the social group itself through various forms of behavior and attitudes towards the individual, and legal, political, economic sanctions - through the activities of various social institutions, even those specially created for this purpose (judicial-investigative, etc.).

In civilized societies, the following types of sanctions are most common:

Negative informal sanctions - this can be an expression of displeasure, grief on the face, termination of friendships, refusal to shake hands, various gossip, etc. The listed sanctions are important, since they are followed by important social consequences (deprivation of respect, certain benefits, etc.).

Negative formal sanctions are all kinds of punishments that are prescribed by law (fines, arrests, imprisonment, confiscation of property, death sentence, etc.). These punishments act as a threat, intimidation and, at the same time, they warn what awaits an individual for committing antisocial acts.

Informal positive sanctions are the reaction of the immediate environment to positive behavior; which corresponds to the standards of behavior and value systems of the group, expressed in the form of encouragement and recognition (expression of respect, praise and flattering reviews

in oral conversation and in print, benevolent gossip, etc.).

Formal positive sanctions are the reaction of formal institutions, carried out by people specially selected for this, to positive behavior (public approval from the authorities, awarding orders and medals, monetary rewards, erection of monuments, etc.).

In the XX century. the interest of researchers in studying the unintended or hidden (latent) consequences of the application of social sanctions has increased. This is due to the fact that tougher punishment can lead to opposite results, for example, the fear of risk can lead to a decrease in the activity of the individual and the spread of conformism, and the fear of being punished for a relatively minor offense can push a person to commit a more serious crime, hoping to avoid exposure. The effectiveness of certain social sanctions should be determined concretely historically, in connection with a certain socio-economic system, place, time and situation. The study of social sanctions is necessary to identify the consequences and for application both for society and for the individual.

Each group develops a certain system of supervision.

Surveillance is a system of formal and informal ways to detect undesirable acts and behavior. Also, supervision is one of the forms of activity of various government agencies to ensure the rule of law.

For example, in our country, prosecutorial supervision and judicial supervision are currently distinguished. Under the prosecutor's supervision is meant the supervision of the prosecutor's office over the precise and uniform execution of laws by all ministries, departments, enterprises, institutions and other public organizations, officials and citizens. And judicial supervision is the procedural activity of the courts to verify the validity and legality of the sentences, decisions, rulings and rulings of the courts.

In 1882 police supervision was legally established in Russia. It was an administrative measure used in the fight against the liberation movement from the beginning of the 19th century. Police supervision could be open or covert, temporary or lifelong. For example, a supervised person did not have the right to change his place of residence, to be in the state and public service, etc.

But supervision is not only a system of police institutions, investigative agencies, etc., it also includes everyday observation of the actions of an individual from the side of his social environment. Thus, the informal system of supervision is a constant assessment of behavior carried out by some members of the group after others, moreover, a mutual assessment, which the individual must reckon with in his behavior. Informal supervision plays a large role in the regulation of daily behavior in daily contacts, in the performance of professional work, and so on.

A system of control based on a system of various institutions ensures that social contacts, interactions and relationships take place within the limits set by the group. These frameworks are not always too rigid and allow individual "interpretation".

Social control through socialization. E. Fromm noted that a society only functions effectively when "its members achieve a type of behavior in which they want to act the way they should act as members of this society. They must be willing to do what is objectively necessary for society" .

People in any society are controlled mainly through socialization in such a way that they perform their roles unconsciously, naturally, by virtue of customs, habits and preferences. How can women be forced to take on difficult and thankless domestic work? Only by socializing them in such a way that they want to have a husband, children and a household and feel miserable without them. How to force a person with free will to obey the laws and moral norms that restrict his freedom, often difficult for him? Only by cultivating in him those feelings, desires and aspirations that will lead to the desire to streamline his life and obey the laws of society in order to feel confusion and irritation if these laws are violated. Most of the social roles people play unsuccessfully, not because they are unable to fulfill certain role requirements, but because they either do not accept the content of the roles, or do not want to fulfill them.

Thus, socialization, shaping our habits, desires and customs, is one of the main factors of social control and establishing order in society. It eases the difficulties in making decisions, suggesting how to dress, how to behave, how to act in a given life situation. At the same time, any decision that runs counter to the one that is accepted and assimilated in the course of socialization seems to us inappropriate, unfamiliar and dangerous. It is in this way that a significant part of the internal control of the individual over his behavior is carried out.

Social control through group pressure. A person cannot participate in public life based only on internal control. His behavior is also imprinted by his involvement in social life, which is expressed in the fact that the individual is a member of many primary groups (family, production team, class, student group, etc.). Each of the primary groups has a well-established system of customs, mores and institutional norms that are specific both for this group and for society as a whole.

Thus, the possibility of exercising group social control is due to the inclusion of each individual in the primary social group. A necessary condition for such inclusion is the fact that the individual must share a certain minimum of the cultural norms accepted by this group, which constitute a formal or informal code of conduct. Every deviation from this order immediately leads to a condemnation of the behavior by the group. Depending on the importance of the violated norm, a wide range of condemnation and sanctions on the part of the group is possible - from simple remarks to expulsion from this primary group. The variation in group behavior resulting from group pressure can be seen in the example of the production team. Each member of the team must adhere to certain standards of behavior not only at work, but also after work. And if, say, disobedience to the foreman can lead to harsh remarks from the workers for the violator, then absenteeism and drunkenness often end with his boycott and rejection from the brigade, since they cause material damage to each of the members of the brigade. As we can see, social control in this case ends with the application of informal sanctions against an individual who violates the norms.

The effectiveness and timeliness of the application of social control is far from always the same in all primary collectives. Group pressure on an individual who violates the norms depends on many factors, and above all on the status of this individual. Individuals with high and low status in the group are subject to completely different methods of group pressure. A person with a high status in the primary group or group leader has as one of his main duties the change of old and the creation of new cultural patterns, new ways of interaction. For this, the leader receives a credit of trust and can deviate from group norms to one degree or another. Moreover, in order not to lose his status as a leader, he should not be completely identical to the members of the group. However, when deviating from group norms, each leader has a line that he cannot cross. Beyond this limit, he begins to experience the effect of group social control on the part of the rest of the group members and his leadership influence ends.

The degree and type of group pressure also depend on the characteristics of the primary group. If, for example, group cohesion is high, group loyalty to the group's cultural patterns also becomes high, and, naturally, the degree of social group control increases. The group pressure of loyal group members (i.e. group members committed to group values) is stronger than members of a disengaged group. For example, it is much more difficult for a group that spends only their free time together and is therefore divided to exercise intragroup social control than a group that performs regular joint activities, for example, in a brigade or family.

Social control through coercion. Many primitive, or traditional, societies successfully control the behavior of individuals through moral norms and, therefore, through informal group control of the primary group; formal laws or punishments are not required in such societies. But in large, complex human populations, where many cultural complexes are intertwined, formal controls, laws, and punishment systems are constantly evolving and becoming mandatory. If the individual may well get lost in the crowd, informal control becomes ineffective and there is a need for formal control.

For example, in a tribal clan of two to three dozen relatives, a system of informal control over the sharing of food may well operate. Each member of the clan takes as much food as he needs and contributes as much food as he can to the common fund. Something similar was observed in the distribution of products in small peasant communities in Russia. However, in villages with several hundred inhabitants, such a distribution is no longer possible, since it is very difficult to keep track of income and expenditure informally, on the basis of mere observation. The laziness and greed of individual individuals make such a system of distribution impossible.

Thus, in the presence of a high population of a complex culture, the so-called secondary group control begins to be applied - laws, various violent regulators, formalized procedures. When an individual is unwilling to follow these regulations, the group or society resorts to coercion to force him to act like everyone else. In modern societies, there are highly developed rules, or a system of control through enforcement, which is a set of effective sanctions applied in accordance with various types of deviations from the norms.



Personality as a social phenomenon is a product of the historical development of society, the bearer of human social properties. Personality can be understood as a specific individual who has reached a certain level of development, and as a scientific abstraction used to understand and explain the social properties of a person. Personality– a structural-functional model, with the help of which we are trying to get an idea of ​​​​the inner social life of an individual, taking into account his generic inherent features, as well as to explain and predict his behavior. The integrity, stability of the personal structure of a particular person is determined by many factors, among which an important place is occupied by a person’s lifestyle, social situations, therefore, the study of a particular person, the process of becoming his personality is always a historical analysis, involving a holistic biographical study of a person’s life path, his work and that influence that he had on the course of events and the fate of other people. The socio-psychological aspect of the consideration of the personality is marked by the concept of the social potential of a person; the criterion of this potential is the measure of promoting the development of spiritual forces and abilities of other people.

The structure of the individual as a social phenomenon can be characterized through the core properties of the individual, which are considered the most significant in the mass consciousness of a particular culture, nation. Such core personality traits are described by the concept of the “big five” factors:

extraversion, playfulness;

friendliness, consent;

emotional stability or psychopathization;

intelligence;

conscience, conscience.

It allows us to talk about general psychological patterns of regulation of the behavior of people of different cultures and nations. Structural units of the personality, allowing to trace, analyze all types of human activity, explain the change in his internal psychological motives, are values, attitudes, norms.

Values ​​and norms constitute a single normative system that regulates the behavior of people and social groups in society. The value-normative system is a guide when choosing a course of action, it checks and selects ideals, builds goals, and contains ways to achieve these goals. Values ​​and norms are part of the consciousness of both the individual and the public consciousness, part of culture. Values ​​are more of a sociological concept that acquires psychological meaning in connection with the analysis of the motives and actions of an individual. According to W. Thomas and F. Znaniecki, known for their joint work “The Polish Peasant in Europe and America” (20s of the XX century), values ​​are a natural object that actually acquires social significance and is or can be an object activities. Values ​​are, according to F. Znaniecki, the basis of being and create the cultural world. They are necessary to create and maintain social order. More often these are abstract ideals, i.e., a person’s ideas about ideal ways of behavior and ideal final goals. Values ​​refer, as a rule, to ideas, objects and goals that are considered desirable and the achievement of which is positively sanctioned. When we know what ideas a person serves, we can answer the question, for him he does it one way or another. Norms are more associated with ways to achieve goals, patterns of interaction and answer the question "how to act". However, norms, social rules can be considered as values ​​(for example, the norms of mercy).

Values ​​are ideas, ideals, goals that a person and society aspires to. There are generally accepted values: universal(love, prestige, respect, security, knowledge, money, things, nationality, freedom, health); intragroup(political, religious); individual(personal). Values ​​are combined into systems, representing a certain hierarchical structure that changes with age and life circumstances. At the same time, in the mind of a person there are no more than a dozen values ​​that he can be guided by.

Values– it is a social concept, the natural object of which acquires social significance and is or may be the object of activity. It is impossible to oppose values ​​and behavior (behavior reflects values ​​and itself constitutes a value). The functions of values ​​are varied. They are:

are the guideline of human life;

necessary to maintain social order, act as a mechanism of social control;

are embodied in behavior and participate in norm formation. Classification of values ​​according to G. Allport: 1) theoretical; 2) social; 3) political; 4) religious; 5) aesthetic; 6) economic. There are conflicting values.

A conflict of values ​​can be a source of development. The well-known method of their study (Rokeach) is based on the identification of two categories of spiritual values: 1) basic, terminal, stable (values-goals; for example, equality); 2) instrumental, i.e., value-means (personality traits, abilities) that help or hinder the achievement of the goal; for example, endurance, strong will, honesty, education, efficiency, accuracy. You can also divide the values ​​into actual, cash and possible. This is the difficulty in the study of values: how to move from the study of the ideals and goals desired and approved by society to the real structures of values ​​that are present in the mind?

Case studies of social values. In 1970–1971 under the leadership of V. A. Yadov, a large-scale study of the value orientations of Leningrad engineers was carried out in 9 design research institutes (11,000 people, average age - 38 years).

In the first place, as a rule, there was peace on Earth, in the second - family and work. Men showed more individual differences than women. Found dispositional shifts, changes in structure in a stressful situation (cancer patients). The following conclusions were formulated: the dominant orientation of value orientations is clearly fixed as a certain life position according to the criteria of the level of involvement, on the one hand, in the sphere of work, on the other hand, in family and household activity and leisure. Lifestyle is a decisive factor in the formation of a system of value orientations. They also reflect a professional orientation. In the study by V. N. Kunitsyna, serious differences were found in the value orientations of undergraduate students of the faculties of psychology and journalism of the university. For future journalists, love and work came to the fore in terminal values; 3rd place was taken by happiness, family life; the last place is beauty, art. For psychologists, mental and physical health, knowledge took the first place in the terminal values; in the instrumental - tolerance, self-control; future journalists have courage in defending their views, diligence. Psychologists are oriented toward family and science, while journalists are oriented toward service.

The system of values ​​reflects the essential goals, ideas, ideals of its era. The cultural-historical change in the structure and subjective significance of values ​​was revealed in the work of 1987, carried out under the guidance of E. B. Shiryaev at the Faculty of Psychology of St. Petersburg State University. 542 journalistic essays for the 30-50s and 70-80s were analyzed by the method of content analysis and a list of 23 personality traits that were mentioned most often when characterizing the heroes of these essays was compiled. Here is how the rank of personality traits in the list changed over the years.

In the 30-50s, romance and hard work were in the first place. In the 1970s and 1980s, practicality and perseverance took first place (Table 2).

table 2

E. V. Vasina studied the structural-dynamic and content-semantic characteristics of the value orientations of youth, the difference between real and socially approved values. Structural-dynamic characteristics are hierarchy, correlation of terminal and instrumental values, positive-negative asymmetry stability/variability, strength/weakness of expression. She found that between 1988 and 1990 there was an increase in the value of individual human existence and a decrease in orientation towards the broader human community. It turned out that some important values ​​are at different levels of consciousness of the individual. This is evidenced by the discrepancy between the rank and correlation structure of value orientations. A materially secure life has a low rank among the examined subjects, i.e., it is deliberately relegated to the background, and at the same time it turns out to be at the center of the correlation structure, practically the center of the entire system of value orientations. It turned out that the actual values ​​of the individual and his group are close, but do not coincide. Gender differences were found in all age groups: for girls, the main values ​​are affiliation, trusting relationships, traditional terminal values; for boys - instrumental values ​​and orientation towards self-realization and self-affirmation. An increased significance of those values ​​that a person lacks was found, which indicates their compensatory nature. Most often, compensatory behavior is associated with such personality traits as shyness, hysteroidity, and strong introversion. Satisfaction with life and relationships removes the signs of compensation.

Norms. Social norms are one of many classes of norms (technical standards and norms, etc.) that are implemented in human relationships, social interaction. They are objective, non-personalized, and do not depend on the opinions of groups and individuals. These are social standards, establishing a modal due, from the point of view of society, behavior (acceptable or prohibited), which perform the function of integration, streamlining the lives of groups, individuals, and society.

The difference between socio-psychological and sociological approaches is that sociologists study the degree of prevalence, preference and acceptability of norms in different groups and strata of society; social psychologists study the psychological content of norms and their connection with motivation, value orientations, attitudes, and other personal characteristics; formation and change of norms.

Social norms are rules of conduct that include evaluation and obligation. The main thing in the norm is its prescriptive nature, which is reflected in the definition proposed by K. B. Back and L. Festinger in 1950: norm– a homogeneous set of prescriptions by which a group affects the forces acting on the members of this group.

However, this homogeneous set of prescriptions becomes the norm only when non-compliance with the prescriptions is punished by sanctions. The functions of norms are that they suggest reasonable and proven methods of activity and ways of solving conflict situations. Compliance with the norms leads to the exclusion of the influence of random motives; they provide reliability, standardization, general intelligibility, and predictability of behavior. Norms are a means of social control and influence, they lead to balance, stabilization of social life. All social norms can be divided into universal, obligatory for all members of society (mores, customs), intragroup(rituals) and personal, individual. Personal norms are realized, as a rule, correlated with the self-concept.

Classification of norms according to R. Linton: universal, specific, alternative. Classification by D. P. Morris: absolute (taboo), conditional (etiquette), encouraging and prohibiting, as well as by type of sanctions (mores, customs, law, contract, honor, conscience). Norms are impersonal rules of conduct. The degree of their awareness and effectiveness is manifested in the fact that a person is aware of the consequences of his actions for other people and recognizes his responsibility for actions in accordance with the norms. There is also a subjective side: a person's actions in accordance with his personal norms increase his self-esteem and reduce self-criticism. Socio-psychological norms are instructions and prescriptions for behavior in appropriate conditions.

Consider the following example: a person is in a hurry to a business meeting; the time of the meeting was chosen by common consent. But on the way, his friends “intercepted” him, and he was very late. His attitude to this event shows what standards he is guided by.

1. If he says to himself: “It doesn’t matter, I’ll call tomorrow” - it means that social norms have not been developed, this is an example of irresponsible behavior (there is no feeling of guilt and shame).

2. “How could I do this? I let the person down, what will they think of our organization now” - strong guilt, social norms apply.

3. “Oh, what will my entire department and Yuri Sergeevich himself say now?” – all define group norms.

5. “He appointed me a ridiculous time, but I have to sacrifice my time” - self-justification, psychological protection, personal norms are “silent”.

customs and manners are the core of the regulatory system. Mores are more bound by the fundamental foundations of society and needs; they are taken for granted and carry an emotional load. Taboos are morals expressed in a negative way.

customs– relatively lengthy standardized actions, regarded as mandatory in appropriate situations.

But they are not absolutely required. Customs are not planned. When talking about customs (way of preparing food, its types, use of furniture, etc.), they emphasize their "soulless" habitual character. These are peculiar habits, thoughts and actions that provide a high degree of predictability of behavior in certain situations. They, like morals, are not disputed, relatively unchanged. Some customs can be violated, but complete violation is severely punished by society, up to and including exile. Rituals must be observed more strictly.

rituals associated with the most important events of the social, family and spiritual life of the ethnic group. Their essence lies in the observance of the external form, in emphasizing the obligatory nature of the regulatory rules. Ritual– a historically formed stereotyped form of mass behavior associated with mystical beliefs, which has a ceremonial character.

Rituals perform numerous socio-psychological functions that justify and explain their existence: strengthening the cohesion of the group, transmitting experience, social and labor skills from generation to generation, socialization, and, finally, a means of entertainment, recreation, and satisfaction of the aesthetic needs of group members. Such components of the collective psyche as a commonality of moral values, ways of thinking, collective moods and feelings that fill the ritual action contribute to the formation and existence of social integration. Psychological functions include the ability to regulate mental stability, create confidence in difficult crisis situations of a person’s public and personal life, and reveal positive emotions in ritual participants.

Rituals are the ceremonial part of the rite, which can be performed independently, according to the specific situation and the purpose of the group. They are of a narrow group nature, have greater regulation regarding the number of participants, the nature and sequence of the ceremony, and more severe sanctions in case of deviation of participants from the rules of conduct. Gradual learning of rituals takes place within the framework of professional and family groups, as a transfer of the necessary skills of normative behavior to the younger generation.

Norms of morality and morality also differ. Moral norms - historical norms, more stable, often idealized, can exist in the form of commandments, are of a reference nature; moral standards are not absolute and may even be immoral. Within the framework of one normative system of a particular person, internally contradictory and even mutually exclusive moral norms can coexist at the conscious and unconscious levels.

One of the theories of the development of morality belongs to L. Kohlberg, who is the founder of the Center for Moral Education and one of the founders of the International Association for Moral Education.

He developed a level concept of morality and consciousness, showing how social norms are internalized. All actions are accompanied by shame, fear, guilt - these are the regulators of human behavior associated with ethics and norms.

Fear is a biological emotion. Shame, guilt are human feelings. Fear underlies anxiety (it can be objective, social, moral). Shame is an orientation towards external evaluation. Guilt is an orientation towards self-esteem. Consider the psychological mechanisms of action of these feelings.

At one pole fear and the thought “What will they do to me?” The other pole is a sense of security. Shame“What will they think of me?” The other pole is pride, honor, glory. Guilt -"What can I think of myself now?" The other pole is the consciousness of one's rightness, one's dignity. Suppose fear is stronger than shame. These are different stages of internalization of norms - from genetically programmed reactions to individual ones: conscience and morality. Moral degradation occurs when fear overwhelms shame. L. Kohlberg states: “The essence of any morality is the respect with which a person treats the observance of the rules ...; unilateral respect gives rise to heteronomous morality, while mutual respect leads to the emergence of autonomous morality. The top of this stage is, according to Kohlberg, a sense of justice. Consider the stages of development of morality.

1. (Fear) premoral level. The basis is the child's selfishness, obedience through fear - the child is oriented towards punishment or the child is oriented towards pleasure (mutual benefit).

2. (Shame) conventional morality. Orientation to external norms, rules. The basis is shame (conformity), maintaining good relations with others, maintaining one's authority.

3. (Guilt) autonomous morality. It is based on the logical justification of the norms, regulated by a sense of guilt, based on moral principles. Orientation to public morality, individual principles of conscience, the stage of guilt is observed in a few. Moral values ​​are the basis of autonomous morality. A connection between intelligence and the level of moral consciousness has been found. We can say that there is a culture of shame (East) and a culture of guilt (Europe).

Moral consciousness is closely related to responsibility. Awareness of responsibility in the conditions of moral choice can occur in game situations, specially organized discussions, in solving the proposed dilemmas, which were developed by L. Kohlberg and his followers and formed the basis of special courses on moral education. L. Kohlberg irrefutably proved that moral perfection proceeds in stages, is influenced by adults, and can be accelerated. It is especially important that moral development under normal conditions is irreversible. Moral education programs involve a wide range of moral choice situations in life that provide an opportunity to apply new principles in practice. An important place in the regulatory system is occupied by legal norms.

Legal regulations- norms of the law - are historical in nature, neutral (equally binding), textually fixed, issued by the competent state bodies, contain a clear, unambiguous description of behavior options. The rule of law is a specific social technique, the purpose of which is for people to observe desirable social behavior under fear of coercion, which is applied in case of illegal behavior.

In common with moral standards: they are based on existing ideas about justice. The difference is that the norms of law are developed and require the mediation of a stable government, while moral norms are formed spontaneously.

Legal norms are more regulated, they are coordinated into systems of laws. Sanctions and coercion in legal norms are more stringent, including the use of force; moral standards have an estimated load. Laws are part of the law. The key concept in the definition of law is order and justice.

Each of the normative systems has its own limited scope in developed societies. In a primitive society, norms apply to the entire group. Disintegration, the absence of generally accepted norms is denoted by the term "anomie" and acts as alienation at the behavioral level.

Alienation arises as a result of the collapse and non-observance of norms in society, the weakening of intra-group ties. In psychology, the first concept appeared in 1959. In the 60s, further development of the problem took place. In contrast to sociological understanding, in psychology there is an interpretation in terms of social expectations and emotional experiences, and it is emphasized that this is a perceived property.

At the personal level, alienation manifests itself as anomie, i.e., the unformedness of norms, the absence, the decline of norms in society. Using the term "anomie", which was introduced in 1897 by E. Durkheim, R. Merton developed the foundations of the theory, believing that anomie is a special moral and psychological state of individual and social consciousness, characterized by the decomposition and decline of the system of moral values ​​and the "vacuum of ideals ". Anomie is a state of disorganization of the personality that occurs as a result of its disorientation, which is a consequence of either a social situation in which there is a conflict of norms and a person is faced with conflicting requirements, or a situation where there are no norms..

This is a characteristic of the internal state, when various disorders begin to appear in the form of depression, psychopathological disorganization of the personality, depersonalization up to suicide. E. Durkheim considers three types of suicide: selfish (-self-isolation); anomic (-disintegration of the world); altruistic (-out of dedication).

Alienation is either the removal of the individual from the outside world, or the lack of integration of the personality. At the same time, alienation does not necessarily lead to antisocial behavior, but reinforces many types of deviant behavior and hostile attitudes and is often seen as an extreme form of anomie. Thus, alienation at the personal level is a mismatch of feelings, when they cease to seem normal to the subject. Alienation can be thought of as a multi-dimensional property with five components: a sense of powerlessness and a sense of meaninglessness (not clear what to believe in, lowered expectations), lack of norms, isolation from values ​​and society, alienation from everything. Alienation is associated with dissatisfaction with work, occurs in people with low social status, low wages and education.

Specific studies of norms in domestic psychology are few. M. I. Bobneva in the book “Social Norms and Regulation of Behavior” describes her experiment in detail. The subjects are offered a hypothetical situation in a photo studio, where an hour before the end of its work, a line of 5–6 people lined up and two people appear asking to be let through due to special circumstances out of turn, i.e., a solution to the normative problem of everyday life is offered. The answer in the questionnaire consists of five alternatives: I skip both, none, one of them, a disabled person, a woman with a child. Types of behavior - altruism, formally egalitarian type, conformal or selective type, orientation towards the implementation of mutual dependence (reciprocal norms, i.e. good for good, evil for evil).

The book reveals the essence, principles and ways of implementing the paradigm of human dimensions in various social systems. It is emphasized that the starting point of the sociodynamics of all different-quality and different-scale social systems is the unique system of personality, its identification in various socio-systemic phenomena. The attention is focused on the primacy of human dimensions in the systems of education, science, culture, demographic, political, economic, managerial, information and communication, innovation, religious, spiritual and moral systems. The book is intended for researchers and university professors, graduate students, students and anyone interested in this topic.

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The following excerpt from the book Human dimension of social systems (E. M. Babosov, 2015) provided by our book partner - the company LitRes.

Chapter 4. Human orientation of the value-normative system of the individual and society

In the daily life of a person, the most important organizing and ordering role is played by the value-normative system of the individual, social communities and society as a whole. In this multifaceted and multidimensional, dynamically developing system, two mutually reinforcing regulatory flows interact - values ​​and norms. Being in organic synthesis, each of the two named components of a single integral system of regulatory influence on a person and society has its inherent specificity.

Values ​​in their essence are generalized ideas of people about significant, important objects and phenomena for them, the actions of other people, about goals and norms described by the categories of proper, noble, moral, beautiful and the like. It is in values ​​that the active, practical and interested development of the world by a person is expressed, therefore, the attitude of a person to the world - natural and social, to other people and to himself. Therefore, social values ​​are a by-product of the active world-transforming and human-forming activity of the subject, focused on the interaction of a person with the surrounding reality and the formation of ideals and norms that regulate the behavior of individuals, their groups and communities in vital circumstances. They serve for the individual and communities as a kind of criteria or standards for choosing the most important and significant alternative of orientation in a changing world for them. Such a social action, which is based on the desire to follow value standards - moral, aesthetic, religious, etc., is value-rational, since the subject of the action rationally comprehends and consistently implements his orientations.

The system of social values ​​that is being formed in society is hierarchical in nature, since their various types are arranged in a certain order and subordination in relation to each other, and their hierarchical order ensures the preservation of the moral foundations of society. However, the hierarchy of social values ​​does not remain once and for all given, but, on the contrary, changes depending on the changing circumstances in which social values ​​fulfill (or do not fulfill) their regulatory role. The problem of social values ​​is one of the most fundamental in philosophy, sociology, psychology, ethics, and cultural studies. It was given paramount importance by many prominent philosophers, starting with the famous ancient sages Socrates, Plato and Aristotle and up to the outstanding philosophers of the 20th century: the neopositivists R. Carnap, L. Wittgenstein, B. Russell, A. Ayer and others; existentialists K. Jaspers, M. Heidegger, J.-P. Sartre, A. Camus; neo-Thomists E. Gilson, J. Maritain, K. Rahner; of course, the outstanding Russian thinkers V. Solovyov, N. Berdyaev, M. Bulgakov, V. Ilyin.

The outstanding Russian philosopher of the second half of the 19th century, V.S. Solovyov, considered the idea of ​​unity based on the human-transforming mission of Christianity “as a religion divine-human." The implementation of this idea into reality, in his opinion, is called upon to orient all the actions of both an individual and the whole people towards submission to the “highest moral law”. The most important component of this human-transforming activity, the philosopher believed, should be conscience, because “the clearer and purer the conscience becomes, the more strictly it distinguishes and the more resolutely accepts good and rejects evil.” Close in meaning positions in the interpretation of the significance of values ​​were defended by N. A. Berdyaev, who argued that the key to understanding the human essence is the principle of “anthropodity”, which serves to explain a person in creativity and through the freedom of creativity, in the process of which a person becomes the center of being, turning into would be in "the sun of the world around which everything revolves."

Following the same path of philosophical comprehension of the significance of value, the Russian-Belarusian philosopher N. O. Lossky considered the achievement of the absolute fullness of being to be the highest value and the ultimate goal of personality development. According to him, the viable fullness of being "is achieved by communion with divine goodness through one's own personal creativity, free from any raid of selfishness and dedicated to the creation of absolute values ​​- moral virtue, beauty and truth.

The problem of social values ​​has become one of the central issues in sociology since its inception. It was thoroughly developed in the works of E. Durkheim, who believed that entire civilizations are formed and based on important value ideals. From his point of view, objective and subjective components are organically merged in values. On the one hand, he argued, “the same objectivity is inherent in values ​​as in things,” and on the other hand, “any value presupposes an assessment carried out by the subject in close connection with a certain state of feelings.” Durkheim proceeded from the need to build a certain hierarchy of social values, since "there are different types of values" - moral, aesthetic, religious, metaphysical, due to which "religion, morality, law, economics, aesthetics are nothing but systems of values." Value judgments derived from these systems ultimately act as value orientations for individual and collective actions of people. They then act as an integrating force in the development of society, a manifestation of its unity.

In the sociological concept of values ​​developed by M. Weber, the value motivation of actions is considered as one of the four main motives for social action. In his understanding, social action is "value-rational if it is based on the belief in the unconditional - aesthetic, religious or any other - self-sufficient value of a certain behavior as such, regardless of what it leads to." He argued that a value-rational person acts who, regardless of possible consequences, follows his convictions about duty, dignity, beauty, religious purposes, piety, or the importance of an object of any kind. Such an action is always subject to commandments or requirements, in obedience to which this individual sees his duty. And if human action is focused precisely on such value imperatives, we are dealing with value orientations in people's daily life.

T. Parsons in his theory of the systems of modern societies emphasized that one of the four functional needs of any society (or other system of action), along with the functions of adaptation, integration and achievement of goals, is the reproduction of the model. This function is realized as "maintenance of the main pattern of values ​​institutionalized in society". He considered the values ​​themselves as the main connecting element of social and cultural systems. In his understanding, value can be called "an element of the generally accepted symbolic system", acting "as a certain criterion or standard for choosing from the available alternatives of orientation." Thus, in the sociological doctrine of social systems and social action, the concept of value turns out to be organically interconnected with the concept of value orientation. “In this sense,” T. Parsons notes, “the concept of value orientation is a logical means for formulating one of the central aspects of the expression of cultural tradition in the system of action.”

In the concept of “social construction of realities”, T. Lukman proclaimed the moral order as the foundation of a reasonable social world, in which social values ​​play a special role as the universal foundations of historical social construction. According to his definition, “values ​​are the structural elements of the subjective meaning of social action. It is something that matters as a wish for a person in his future, and it is preferable to other possibilities. The act of evaluation leads, including the choice of a scheme of action (which precedes the action itself), to a decision. He believed that values ​​live in the everyday experience of a person and his social actions, reminding him of the past and laying guidelines for the future. N. Luhmann in his systemic theory of society focuses on the individual manifestations of value attitudes in people's actions that are different in nature and content. He states: "The value of value is that position from which one observes, demands, engages and finds oneself capable of acting." When it comes to observing any phenomena, processes, actions of other people, it is required, according to N. Luhmann, to distinguish between values ​​and countervalues ​​or values ​​and unsatisfactory states. When an individual performs certain actions, the value is included in the motivation insurance system. This situation leads to a fixation of the perspective of action, due to which they see better, clearer, deeper, and also further into the future, thereby increasing the effectiveness, and therefore the value of the action itself.

N. Luhmann saw one of the most significant and significant signs of social value in the fact that they arise and are realized in the communications of people with each other. In his understanding of the origins of social interactions, "the concept of values ​​symbolizes the autopoiesis of communication", and the autopoietic system is interpreted as self-referential, producing not only its structures, but also its elements by its own systemic processes. And such an approach means that "there is no transitive order of values ​​that could actually be applied, regardless of circumstances, as a stable hierarchy."

Structural features of the dynamic system of individual values ​​and value orientations organically connected with them, including in the quantification aspect, were studied by M. Rokeach. He singled out two main classes of values: values-goals and instrumental values. First of all, he attributed to the latter the most common norms of behavior in society, emphasizing, at the same time, that the most acceptable situation is when instrumental values ​​become adequate to the values-goals.

In the Soviet Union, and then in the post-Soviet countries, social values ​​and value orientations were and are being studied from a sociological perspective by V. A. Andreenkov, L. M. Arkhangelsky, E. M. Babosov, L. A. Belyaeva, N. M. Blinov , A. G. Zdravomyslov, N. I. Lapin, V. T. Lisovsky, N. F. Naumova, M. X. Titma, V. E. Khmelko, V. A. Yadov and others. Lapin, L. A. Belyaeva, A. G. Zdravomyslov, N. F. Naumova analyze the dynamics of the values ​​of the population of reformed Russia, V. A. Yadov, V. A. Andreenkov, V. E. Khmelko consider value orientations in the context of the dispositional concept personality, and E. M. Babosov, N. M. Blinov. M. Kh. Titma, V. T. Lisovsky trace the intergenerational transformation of values ​​and their implementation in the life plans and social actions of various groups of young people.

In thinking about values, it is necessary to take into account the fact that this concept itself is ambiguous. First of all, it should be borne in mind that value is a specific social relationship through which the needs and interests of a particular individual or social group are transferred to the world of various material and spiritual phenomena that are not always considered from the point of view of the utilitarian purpose of these phenomena. This concept expresses the significance (high, low, none) of the phenomena of the surrounding reality in terms of their compliance / inconsistency with the interests and needs of the individual, social community, society as a whole. The value is not rigidly fixed: it can change from era to era, from country to country and from person to person. Therefore, what for one individual is of great value, for another - little, for the third - none. With all their mobility and variability, values ​​are able to act as the goals of life and the main ways, means of achieving them, thus being regulators that determine the motivation of the individual, her behavior and activities.

One of the most important problems of axiological theories of values ​​is the realization that a person most often has no choice, in what world to live but there is always a choice how live in this world. In the modern world of global transformations and social turbulences, the problems of research and philosophical and sociological understanding of a person's value choice of his life strategy in an intensively changing society have sharply intensified. Since the being of the surrounding reality, according to the concept of M. Heidegger, is openly inquiring to the human mind, and this mind itself “stands open to the openness of being”, insofar as in the conditions of mutual openness of a person to being and being to a person, there is always the possibility for a person to choose the line of his behavior through the prism of socially developed and individually perceived by him as significant values ​​for himself. The importance of such a choice is significantly actualized in the presence of a wide fan of alternative life-meaning preferences in the non-linear, polyprobable, often unforeseen and paradoxical trajectories of social and individual development and life order generated by social transformations.

Values ​​are organically interconnected both with the intellectual and with the emotional-motivational and volitional spheres of human social activity, as a result of which they have a multifaceted structural architectonics. From the point of view of correlation with the main subsystems of the integral system of society, such values ​​as economic, moral, sociocultural, religious, political, aesthetic, legal, environmental, cognitive are distinguished. From the point of view of interaction with the subjects of the historical process, human values ​​(love, truth, beauty, morality, altruism, justice) and specific historical values ​​(equality, democracy, innovativeness, etc.) are divided. And if we consider and interpret values ​​in the context of the life position of a particular individual or social group, then five channels of modern social transformations in their value embodiments should be taken into account: a) cognitive structure the embodiment of values ​​in a person's ideas about his life: what is it now, what should one strive for in it, what should it be, for what and for what it is necessary to live and work; b) emotive-sensory subsystem: what feelings in interaction with the outside world are most preferable for a stable life position of a person; in) motivational subsystem, containing a value orientation, what motives and value determinants of behavior must be formed in oneself as meaning-determining in the choice of areas of activity; G) worldview subsystem, including the structure of scientific, religious, non-religious, atheistic values; e) vital dispositional subsystem, encompassing: active, passive, conformist personal (group) value preferences and positions. Such a structural arrangement of values ​​can be represented in the form of Fig. 4.1.

Rice. 4.1. The main subsystems of values ​​in the life position of the individual

In all these structural configurations of values, in their objective manifestations, as well as in their subjective embodiment in individual and collective-group value orientations, under the increasing influence of social transformations, significant not only quantitative, but also qualitative changes occur, including positive and negative ones. . Such heterogeneous quality of transformation processes, considered in value aspects, is determined to a decisive extent by the fact that global social turbulences intrude into their general polyprobabilistic flow in the last ten to fifteen years, leading to chaos in the socio-economic, political, socio-cultural development of not only individual countries, but and entire regions. Suffice it to recall in this connection the social turbulences taking place in the countries of Central Africa and the Middle East, in a number of Western European countries (Greece, Spain, etc.) and in neighboring Ukraine.

Such civilizational turbulences give rise to and expand the areas of distribution of negative, including axiological, trends. Let us single out the most clearly expressed axiological trends in the modern globalizing world:

1. The movement in the value orientations of individuals and groups, (primarily youth) from a collectivist to an individualistic orientation, which acts as an imperative that a person follows in his behavior and activities (for example, from in Belarusian - “grama”, in the sense of the spiritual unity of the nation) to individuality, alienation of oneself from other people.

2. Reducing the importance of moral values ​​as long-term strategic life goals and motives for everyday behavior of an individual and a social group.

3. Depreciation of the social significance of labor as a prevailing value and its predominant assessment as a means of satisfying personal needs and interests.

4. The predominance of the values ​​of wages over the value and significance of interesting work.

5. Material well-being in the value dispositions of most people, especially young people, begins to be valued above personal independence, self-affirmation and self-improvement of the individual.

6. In the widespread desire of people for high earnings, many of them often lose their moral guidelines and come into conflict with legal norms, and this reduces the significance of the conscious value-normative regulation of the individual and social behavior of the individual and various communities.

The described axiological trends in the conditions of modern social transformations can be visualized in the form of a diagram shown in fig. 4.2.

Rice. 4.2. Negative axiological trends in the context of global social transformations

Even more mobile and changeable than values ​​are value orientations. They are a set of social values ​​shared and implemented by a person (social group), acting as the goals of activity, the orientation of desires, aspirations and expectations and requiring certain means and actions to achieve them. Value orientations are elements of the internal structure of a person (or social group) formed by active creative activity and life experience. They delimit objects, phenomena, actions, etc., significant, essential for a person and / or group, from insignificant and insignificant, which allows them to be interpreted in terms of an ideal, duty, nobility, beauty, norm. In the socio-psychological structure of the personality, value orientations form the highest level of predispositions to a certain perception of the conditions of life, to an assessment of these conditions and the social actions of other people, to a certain behavior both in everyday reality (here and now) and in the long term. The regulating role of values ​​and their dynamic modifications in the behavior of individuals and groups - value orientations - is especially clearly manifested in situations that require a conscious choice and responsible decisions, entailing significant consequences and predetermining the main vector of a person's life path.

The described axiological changes do not proceed in parallel and independently of each other, but at their mutual intersections, peculiar knots of mercantilization and commercialization of such spheres of life arise, which by their very nature should not be market. They draw culture, health care, education and science into their expanding orbit, which lowers the bar for their minimum permissible activity in shaping the spiritual, moral, and value world of man. Moreover, under the conditions of multi-scale marketization, some values ​​turn into their opposite.

The high significance of value orientations is expressed in the fact that in the social interactions of people they play a role in the deeply felt and conscious value-normative regulation of the behavior of the personality of correlation, on the one hand, with the behavior of other personalities of their communities, and on the other hand, with the ideas of value prevailing in society. and not valuable, about good and evil, moral and immoral, about duty and honor. Therefore, the system of value orientations does not remain static and unchanged, but is transformed, sometimes very significantly, from one era to another, from people to people. In this regard, a sociological study of the structure of the dynamics of values ​​in various countries, including, of course, Belarus, is of great importance.

A representative sociological survey conducted in 2013 by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (1,500 people surveyed in all regions of the country) showed that the vast majority of Belarusians consider health (74.3% of the total number of respondents) and children (73.9% of respondents) to be the most valuable and significant. %). In the value hierarchy of our fellow citizens, the third most important place is occupied by a spouse, a loved one (63.3%). In fourth place was a materially secure life (56.0%), then in descending order followed by peace of mind and comfort (52.9%), professionalism in one's business (37.5%), interesting work (33.7%).

Moreover, a sociological analysis of values ​​reveals quite significant differences in the assessment of their significance by different age groups. So, for example, I estimate the social benefit of my work higher for people aged 50 and older (25.5%) than for the youngest age cohort 16–18 years old (22.4%). And in the importance of the value of material well-being, the opposite orientation is revealed: 56.0% of 16-18-year-olds highly appreciate material well-being, compared with 42.2% of people over 50 years old. More than half (52.9%) of respondents from the age cohort aged 50 years and older, and only 39.6% of the youngest respondents aged 16–18 years, are among the most important values. Above all, this value is called the most important in life by people who have already reached a fairly definite and stable social position, whose age ranges from 30 to 39 years.

Along with the characterized individual-personal value orientations and their representation in various age groups of modern Belarusian society, the value-normative regulation of people's behavior in a broader social framework that determines the value preference in the coordinate system: personality-state-society is no less significant. When considering value judgments in this perspective, it is important to emphasize that three-quarters (74.9%) of the citizens surveyed in July 2014 (out of 1,498 respondents) called the most important value the fact that Belarus has taken place and operates both within the country and in international relations as an independent state. It is noteworthy that in the youngest age group under 22, such a position in value judgments is occupied by an even more impressive share among the respondents – 78.5%. More than four-fifths of the total number of respondents (81.1%) are convinced that in the future until 2030 our country will steadily develop as an independent state, while maintaining its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

The Belarusian people attribute patriotism to the category of the highest social values, and out of the total number of respondents, more than two-thirds (68.7%) consider themselves patriots of the country. The consistently implemented principle of justice also has a high value status in Belarusian society - 69.7% of respondents are convinced that not only now, but also in the next fifteen years, the most important value imperative is and will remain the establishment of law and order, justice and solidarity in public life. , social partnership and responsibility. Almost the same number - 69.1% of the total number of respondents are convinced that not only now, but also by 2030, Belarus will be a socially just society. The importance of citizenship is also highly appreciated in Belarus - 66.9% of respondents note the importance of this particular value in uniting and consolidating people into a single state integrity.

In order for the value beliefs of the individual to correspond to the spiritual and moral development of our society, it is necessary to organically combine the development of the value orientations of the emerging individual with the leading field of activity for him, be it study, work or military service. After all, the more complex this activity, the more tightly it is included in the value-oriented interactions of individuals and social communities, and the more effectively the process of awareness by a person, on the one hand, of the high value of his own personality, and on the other hand, the more actively he is included in the assimilation of the values ​​of society, internalization them into your daily behavior.

Of course, in counteracting negative axiological trends in modern society and reducing the scale of their spread, not only value orientations, but also moral norms, which are prescriptions, society's requirements for its citizens in the form of rules, patterns of behavior necessary to harmonize personal and public interests. The norms of morality (in a broader interpretation - social norms - in their meaningful embodiment are objective, non-personalized and act in relations between individuals and their communities as standards for establishing proper (from the point of view of society) behavior, thereby performing the functions of integrating and ordering the life of the individual, social groups, societies.

If values ​​and norms operate in society in unison with each other, then a value-oriented unity arises, meaning a commonality of views on fundamental values, leading to stability and sustainability in the development of society and the state based on the consistency of people's positions in the understanding and implementation of such values ​​as Homeland, patriotism, solidarity, justice, etc.

The main social mechanism for ensuring value-oriented unity in society is the value-normative regulation of people's behavior and activities. In order for such regulation to be not only effective, but also beneficial, it must be taken into account that each individual has an individually specific hierarchy of value orientations that act as a link between the value system of society and the spiritual and moral world of the individual. Due to the uniqueness of this world, the coordination of personal preferences with the value regulators of society does not always occur without problems, it can also acquire a contradictory, even conflicting configuration. In the latter case, contradictions arise between the value-normative system of the social community, on the one hand, and the value-normative system of an individual, which focuses only on its own interests, ignoring the interests of the surrounding social environment. This is where the integration-consolidating role of value-normative regulation should manifest itself.

The main purpose of value-normative regulation in human actions and actions is to ensure that the orientation of the individual to certain values ​​is not only experienced by the subject of action as a free manifestation of his individuality, but also as an imperative dictated by society, transcendent to the individual Self, which must be followed in one's thoughts, aspirations. and actions. Such regulation is carried out at all stages of the socialization of the individual and leads to the assimilation of objectified objective forms of values ​​by the individual, recognizing them as such by his closest social environment and society as a whole. In this case, the personality internalizes social values ​​and turns them into individualized forms of value orientations and purposeful actions based on them.

The central element of the value-normative regulation of the individual and the social community is precisely the norm as a mandatory standard developed and recognized in society, a standard, a way of regulating behavior, enshrined in legal regulations, moral or linguistic prescriptions (for example, normative or profanity). When we focus on the features of the normative regulation of the behavior of individuals and social groups, it must be borne in mind that many different norms function in the interaction of people with each other. Moral, aesthetic, political, legal, technical, linguistic and other norms exist and influence the relationship between people. In turn, each of these rule-making groups can be subjected to further structuring and arrangement. In particular, in the economic sphere of people's life activity, there is a production rate that embodies the amount of production (work) that must be produced per unit of time (hour, shift, etc.). Depreciation rate, i.e., the share of the cost of funds annually attributed to expenses, the rate of accumulation, the rate of profit, the rate of consumption of raw materials and materials, the rate of time (the regulated amount of working time for the production of a unit of output), the norm of required reserves of banks, etc.

An even wider range of norms is used in the legal sphere of relations between people. In modern society, the norms of civil law, economic law, labor law, family law, constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law, customs law, international law, financial law, land law, tax law, information law are actively applied. Each of these legal norms has its own clearly defined scope of applicability, which is associated with the observance by the citizens of the country of the rights constitutionally guaranteed to them in an organic relationship with their civic duties.

At present, in connection with the deployment of the functioning of the Eurasian Economic Community since the beginning of 2015, the multifaceted and painstaking work on harmonization and unification of Belarusian regulatory legal acts with the legislation of the countries-participants of this Treaty is becoming increasingly important. At the same time, in such a coordinated rule-making, the strengthening of human orientation, the beneficialness for a person of the developed and implemented methods of rule-making is of paramount importance. And yet, no matter what, in reality, rule-making and rule-making would not be discussed, it must always be borne in mind that any highly organized and effectively operating system is always based on a system of values. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the leaders and ideologists of globalism designed according to the American model, who imposed Western dimensions of the values ​​of a unipolar world, who became more active after the collapse of the Soviet Union, unexpectedly discovered for themselves that the modern globalizing world is becoming not unipolar, but multipolar. Therefore, many Western intellectuals, in particular, the well-known British historian and political scientist Mark Mazover, argue with undisguised concern that Western values ​​are not already as victorious as they are commonly considered in the West. The current crisis in international relations, in his opinion, has at least one positive effect: it makes it possible to realize the fallacy of the ideas and theories that have long dominated the West.

Therefore, the calls coming from Western countries to the whole world to perceive the values ​​of the consumer society and transfer them to themselves in order to achieve material well-being, turn out to be untenable. We must take into account that modern civilization in a globalizing world is entering a stage of development when this world is shaken by a whole trail of interrelated crisis processes: an economic, sociocultural, anthropological crisis and a crisis of moral values. And as the main antidote to such a negative development of crisis processes, there should be an increase in the significance of the value ingredients of the human spiritual world. After all, the root cause of the crisis of moral guidelines, the decline of their role in a person's life, is rooted in his own world of values. Such a crisis brings value-oriented societies out of a state of complacency and hibernation, encourages them to actively seek and find ways and means to overcome it. Just as it is impossible to achieve human happiness without a moral principle, so it is impossible to build an effective economy and social sphere without their value-moral dimension.

And in order to achieve the desired success in this direction, it is necessary to purposefully and effectively solve several interrelated creative tasks. The main ones are as follows:

1. Through the joint efforts of the school, university, institutions of culture and science, to form and develop, starting from childhood, the creativity of thinking and human actions.

2. Strengthen the moral orientation of science, the responsibility of the scientist - both moral, professional and social - for the results of his work and the humane orientation of their practical application.

3. To limit the scale of deviant deviations in the structure of personal and social values ​​that arise under the influence of television, the Internet, social networks, mindlessly perceiving and spreading spiritually immoral stories inspired by the pernicious influence of colorfully tempting pseudo-cultural anti-values ​​that are widespread in Western countries.

4. In the formation of a spiritually and socially elevating system of value orientations, it is necessary both in educational institutions, and in labor collectives, and in the activities of scientific and cultural institutions, public organizations, to more purposefully and productively use the spiritual and moral potential of classical fiction, theater that is beneficial for a person , music, cinema, revealing all the richness of truly human qualities of a person, the creative power of her high feelings, thoughts, purity of spiritual motives.

5. The spiritual and moral experience of mutual respect, mutual influence and mutual enrichment of various national cultures accumulated both in Russia and Belarus, embodied in the value orientations of our peoples, needs more diverse development.

6. All these areas can be successfully realized in their capabilities only if spiritual, cultural, national, moral self-determination is realized, without which, as well as without patriotic love for the Fatherland, which was most clearly manifested in the heroic deeds of Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War, it is impossible to successfully resist the challenges that radical social transformations and global social turbulences pose to us in the modern world (Fig. 4.3).

Rice. 4.3. Tasks of improving the value-normative regulation of human activity

These areas of value-normative regulation, reinforcing each other in their interaction, can provide a high spiritual and energetic synergistic effect of counteracting negative anti-value trends that arise in the social transformations of the globalizing world, including in Russia and Belarus. The very multidimensional multicomponent process of improving the value-normative regulation of human actions and actions becomes an important social channel for strengthening the human-transforming and human-elevating role of the value-normative system of the individual and society.

Intermediate test 2

Overview of Attempt 1

Question 1

Informal control agents are called:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 2

The symbolic sign of which of these institutions are laws?

Choose one answer.

	a. religion;
	b. families;
	c. education.
	d. states;

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 3

The nature of behavior expected by society from the owner of a particular social status:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 4

A status that requires some effort to achieve:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 5

The institution of higher education prolongs the period of economic dependence of children on their parents and makes it difficult to form young families. What function is implemented in this case?

Choose one answer.

Wrong

Points for the answer: 0/1.

Question 6

The central indicator of the position of the individual in society:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 7

Institutional complexes, the purpose of which is to regulate the production and distribution of products and services, property relations and exchange:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 8

The original meaning of the word "culture":

Choose one answer.

	a. land cultivation methods;
	b. creation of artificial nature.
	c. mind development;
	d. rules of conduct in society;

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 9

A concept that reflects the uneven development of culture and the existence of a set of cultural patterns that are not shared by all members of a given society:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 10

Which of the following categories is not a prescribed status?

Choose one answer.

Wrong

Points for the answer: 0/1.

Question 11

What is the name of a socio-political institution that has the publicity of power, a special apparatus of control and coercion?

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 12

The communication system, carried out with the help of sounds and symbols, the meanings of which are conditional, but have a certain structure, is:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 13

Social anomie is:

Choose one answer.

	a. a historical community of people characterized by a common culture, language and territory.
	b. the position of a person in society, which is characterized by a set of rights and obligations;
	c. such a state of society in which there is a value-normative vacuum;
	d. a set of processes of change, development and functioning of society;

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 14

Violations in the value-normative system of society are called:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 15

The process of fixing social norms, statuses and roles, bringing them into a system that is able to satisfy certain social needs:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 16

The process of assimilation by an individual of social norms, rules, statuses and roles is called:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 17

Family, property, health care, state, marriage, education are concepts that characterize:

Choose one answer.

Wrong

Points for the answer: 0/1.

Question 18

Select one of the main options for institutional change. The change in the social institution occurs due to:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 19

The system of collectively shared values, beliefs, patterns and norms of behavior that distinguish one group from another is:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 20

What is a necessary element of a social institution?

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Choose one answer.

	a. T. Parsons;
	b. G. Spencer;
	c. V. Pareto.
	d. Z. Freud;

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 22

Which of the concepts is used in sociology to identify the non-natural social essence of a person:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 23

Which of these scientists proposed the theory of "mirror self":

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 24

Ideas about deviant behavior do not correspond to the social role:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 25

What is social control?

Choose one answer.

	a. supervision exercised over society by the state;
	b. suppression of dissent in society;
	c. the mechanism of self-regulation in social systems;
	d. dependence of people on the media.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 26

Which of the following is not an element of culture:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 27

What can be attributed to informal social control?

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 28

The set of cultural elements that carry a certain semantic load is:

Choose one answer.

Wrong

Points for the answer: 0/1.

Question 29

According to the theory of R. Merton, a normal behavioral reaction, according to which individuals accept the goals approved by society and the means to achieve them, is:

Choose one answer.

	a. traditionalism.
	b. conformism;
	c. deviation;
	d. adaptation;

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 30

Football fan culture is characterized as:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 31

Which of the following sanctions are negative?

Choose one answer.

	a. the end of the relationship;
	b. premium.
	c. rewarding;
	d. OK;

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.

Question 32

Social rules are:

Choose one answer.

Right

Points for the answer: 1/1.