Myths about Russia

This article provides an interdisciplinary theoretical analysis of contemporary social mythology and summarizes the results of an empirical study. The main groups of mythologized images of Russia in the consciousness of modern youth include: mythologized images of Russian domain and the historical perspective of Russia; symbolic and metaphorical images of Russia; and the types of social world views that young people have. The aspects of the constructive and destructive impacts of myths about Russia described in this article may be used to analyze and interpret individual and group images of Russia among young people and to develop recommendations for preventing the destructive impact of the mythologization of Russia's image on the social processes and consciousness of modern youth.     

Prevalence and Assessment of Polygamy in Uzbekistan

Research data on changes in values among young people in Russia are often unclear and are subject to conflicting interpretations regarding the importance of social versus personal interests.     

A Social Portrait of the Young People of Russia

Survey data on young people in Russia show that there is a weak relationship between their assessment of where they are in the system of stratification and their position according to material indicators. Young people are in general optimistic about improving their position and see upward mobility as possible for those willing to work hard.     

Homophobia as a Litmus Test of Russian Democracy

An analysis by Russia's leading researcher on sexuality of how attitudes toward homosexuality have changed over time, and what this may tell us about the state of politics and democratic values in contemporary Russia.     

Young people’s disillusionment with French education before 1968: sport,the school curriculum and social change

The quasi-revolutionary events of May 1968 have come to symbolize the generation gap between young people and their elders in France, and of contestation over social values, freedom and control. This article demonstrates that this discontent was apparent earlier in the decade, although politicians in charge of youth affairs either did not see it or chose not to publicize its existence. It focuses on debates relating to sport – and its incorporation into the teaching of physical education in lycées – because of its importance both within formal schooling and as an extra-curricular leisure activity. In 1966 François Missoffe, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport, launched a huge inquiry into the problems facing young people, leading to the publication of an official report in 1967 which, perhaps surprisingly, had nothing to say about unrest among young people. This article aims to access the voices of young people in French lycées by mining the contents of over 2600 files of evidence that were collected during the course of the Missoffe inquiry. We argue that it is important to measure the gap between what the political and educational decision-makers presupposed about the sporting needs of young people and the views these same young people actually expressed. The article highlights examples of young people’s disillusionment with the teaching of sport and physical education, demonstrating that this not only conveyed signs of discontent with educational institutions as a whole but also a wider desire for social change that anticipated the views of angry lycéens (school pupils) in May 1968.     

The Banality of the Past: A Sociological Perspective on Popular Russian Historical Novels of the 1990s

Abortion has always been a significant form of birth control in Russia, and currently the replacement of abortion by contraceptive devices is proceeding very slowly. The high incidence of abortion in adolescents and women who are pregnant for the first time poses the threat of future infertility and worsening health. Russia still has a high level of maternal mortality; one out of four cases is linked to the consequences of abortion, especially criminal abortion.     

Contact with Family Members and its Impact on Adolescents and Their Foster Placements

This paper discusses findings from a recently completed studyof adolescent foster care, which included a detailed assessmentof the fostering skills and supports of carers and of the contactthat adolescents had with parents, siblings and other familymembers during a long-term foster placement. Sixty-eight fostercarers, young people and their social workers were interviewedat two points in time, 3 months after the start of a new fosterplacement and again at 12 months or at the point of disruptionif this occurred earlier. Detailed questions about contact whichwere asked of foster carers, young people and their social workersenabled the researchers to make summary ratings about the quantityand the quality of contact and its effect on the young peopleand on their placements. This paper describes the contact theyoung people had with their families, its impact on them andon the foster families and how it changed over time. The findingsrevealed that contact for the majority of adolescents was problematicand had a significant impact on placement outcomes. Ways ofmanaging contact are highlighted, and the corresponding implicationsfor policy and practice discussed.     

Postcommunist Societies in Times of Transition: Perceptions of Change Among Adolescents in Central and Eastern Europe

This article examines adolescents' perceptions of the economic changes and the justice of the new "social contract" in Eastern/Central Europe. Focusing on three countries, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic, it explores the social, political, and economic environments in which adolescents came of age in 1990. Surveys conducted among high school students in each country during 1995 tapped their perceptions of the economy, the local community, and their personal beliefs about the efficacy of individual initiative and hard work. Responses differed significantly based on age, gender, social class, value orientation, and country. Older adolescents and girls were more likely to observe that economic disparities were growing in their country and to be cynical about the value of hard work. Those with socialist values also discounted the value of recent changes. Adolescents in the Czech Republic were the least cynical about economic changes, whereas those in Bulgaria were the most cynical, with Hungarian youth the least optimistic about the future.     

Understanding and working with adolescent neglect: perspectives from research,young people and professionals

This paper provides an overview of research about adolescent neglect funded by the Department of Children, Schools and Families (now the Department for Education) and the Department of Health. The paper examines what is known from literature about the causes of adolescent neglect, together with its potential consequences for well‐being. Drawing on qualitative data, the concept of neglect is explored from the perspectives of young people themselves and the professionals who work with them. Consideration is given to examples of interventions and preventative models geared towards addressing adolescent neglect. Key findings indicate that there is a need for both a re‐examination of current definitions of neglect in the light of age‐related distinctions and perspectives, and a fuller understanding of the particular needs of adolescents who are experiencing neglect. Additionally, the research highlights that there is a lack of research knowledge about neglectful parenting and the behaviour of young people, as well as limited understanding of interventions with neglected adolescents. Key themes from the research are discussed in terms of their implications for future practice, policy and research in relation to working to improve the welfare of neglected young people.     

A Mixed Methods Examination of Adolescents' Reports of the Values Emphasized in Their Families

Building on value socialization and personal values theories, this study examined adolescents' open‐ended reports of the values their families emphasize. Based on open‐ended reports of an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of adolescents, we described adolescent‐reported familial values using qualitative and cluster analysis techniques. Adolescents' open‐ended responses about the values held by their families were coded using a prominent circumplex value model, and values largely, but not completely, aligned with this model. Using person‐oriented cluster analysis on the coded data, seven distinct value clusters were identified that captured various sets of values that adolescents hear from families. Several demographic differences emerged among the clusters, and mean differences by familial value cluster were found for adolescents' close‐ended reports of values of helping others and religiosity. Results suggest that adolescents are able to articulate values emphasized in their families in ways that fit a universal structure of values; these values are related in meaningful ways to the values that they themselves want to live by.     

The Ecological Situation Through the Eyes of Russians

Survey data on comparisons between teachers in Russia and other countries show that the average Russian schoolteacher places a very high value on security and a very low value on the opportunity to enjoy life and have pleasure. Russia's schoolteachers are more often ahead of other Europeans when it comes to the importance of personal success, wealth, and power, as well as obedience and conformity to traditions, and, in contrast, they tend to lag behind when it comes to their adherence to the values of independence, equality, tolerance, helping people around them, and the protection of the environment. The authors see these orientations as cultural barriers to the successful functioning and development of Russian society.     

Intergenerational Care Perceptions of Older Women and Middle Adolescents in a Resource-Constrained Community in South Africa

ABSTRACT

This study describes intergenerational care perceptions in a resource-challenged community. Ten women (aged 60+) and eight middle adolescents (3 boys and 5 girls) participated in the Mmogo-method®, a visual data-collection method. Textual data were analysed thematically, and visual data by applying Roos and Redelinghuys (2016) proposed steps. Both groups provided physical and instrumental care to the other. Older women cared for adolescents by teaching and disciplining them, while the adolescents cared for them by obtaining an education and by showing respect. Older women felt being cared for when adolescents helped them, obeyed and complied with instructions and discipline, while the youngsters expressed it when their basic needs were addressed and school attendance was enabled. Older women’s expressions of caring about were vague, while the younger people detected, act and elicited reactions from the elders. The adopted care approach informed care perceptions. Joint intergenerational activities are proposed to discover care currencies and contributions of generational members.     

The College Student Today

There is a widespread notion that higher education in Russia these days is gradually degenerating and, in particular, that young people are rushing chiefly to run the commercial kiosks rather than to enroll in college. However, statistical figures and the leadership of the Minister of Education of the Russian Federation refute this view. In 1996 there were 216 applicants for every 100 places in institutions of higher learning (versus 217 in 1990). The greatest competition was for enrollment in the economics and juridical colleges and institutions (three applicants per place). The professions with the highest prestige are: diplomat (33 percent of tuition-paying students among the total number of first-year students), merchant (35 percent), executive (28 percent), and artist or designer (17 percent). But the critics just won't quit: Young people, they say, are going to college only because they simply don't have anything else to do. The fact that such a surge in competition would come in the second half of the 1990s was being talked about at the beginning of the decade.     

Social Policy in a Cold Climate: Health and Social Welfare in Russia

The Russian Federation faces multiple challenges for its health and welfare systems and for the development of social policy responses. This article provides a review of some of the key challenges for social policy in Russia and assesses the adequacy of the responses to date. The author surveys recent developments in health and social welfare and makes recommendations on priorities for Russia's policy‐makers and international funders. A range of public health challenges including drug and alcohol misuse, health in prisons and mental health is discussed; HIV/AIDS is singled out for particular attention. While Russia is increasingly attracting the attention of social scientists in the West, there is uncertainty about models and concepts suitable for the analysis of this complex society. Although empirical trends are largely discussed in this article, it is argued that theoretical development is required and some suggestions are made about concepts of the ‘middle range’ to assist in future analyses. Intermediate theories, such as those relating to the management of personal welfare, and development of resilience in a formerly collectivized context, are identified as having explanatory potential for this task.     

Webs of empire: locating New Zealand's colonial past

This article reports on the views of non-medical interest groups about sterilization and intellectually disabled people in New Zealand. The rationale for undertaking a study in this sensitive area is presented. Notes about survey distribution method are included and participants’ responses outlined. The study found that a majority of participants agreed that intellectually disabled people should make their own decisions about reproductive capacity. Yet a clear tension between an overall endorsement of individual choice and a majority who also considered that sterilization could be warranted in at least some cases emerged from the data. Reasons for sterilization included: the best interests of intellectually disabled people and carers; concerns about sexual health/well-being; lack of sexual control; and concerns about sexual abuse. The extent of agreement with sterilization as a desirable practice for intellectually disabled boys/men was an unexpected finding. The article concludes with questions posed to promote further discussion.     

寻找现代《民法典》:中国与俄罗斯不同的立法进程

改革前中国与俄罗斯具有相类似的政治、经济制度和法律体系.20世纪80-90年代,两国先后开始了经济体制改革,俄罗斯在改革取得初步成效的基础上,着手制定民法典,历经十几年,完成一部适应新时代发展的<民法典>,而中国至今仍未形成民法典.文章着重分析了中俄两国在寻找现代<民法典>的进程中的不同特点,以及俄罗斯的民法法典化进程对中国的启示.     

An Insider View: Knowledge and Opinions of Welfare From African American Girls in Poverty

This article presents African American adolescent girls' views of welfare and welfare reform at the cusp of welfare legislation in 1996. Interview data from a random sample of poor and low-income families indicate that adolescents have a limited knowledge of basic welfare rules. Low-income girls see welfare as an important safety net, yet they also have negative views of welfare recipients and the effects of welfare on recipients. The vast majority express agreement with work requirements, and about half believe that a discontinuation of welfare would change adolescent sexual and childbearingbehaviors. These results raise the possibility that adolescents are responding to the rhetoric and "signals" of welfare reform; alternatively, they may simply be expressing typical adolescent egocentrism and optimism.     

'Seen but not heard'– young people's experience of advocacy

This article draws on two pieces of empirical research undertaken in England with young people in public care. The research examined young people's experiences of a range of advocacy services, and the extent to which the involvement of an advocate facilitated young people's voices being heard in decision-making. The research responded to contemporary concerns about children's participatory rights, citizenship and social inclusion, set in the context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This article examines the strengths and limitations of advocacy for young people in public care and compares the different types of advocacy services that are available to young people and considers the extent to which adult perceptions of childhood and youth frame the services that are offered. It provides a comparison of the outcomes for young people who have had an advocate and those who have not. The concluding discussion argues that young people in public care feel excluded and marginalised from decision-making processes, and that advocacy has a pivotal role to play in placing at centre stage the wishes and feelings of young people.     

What changes in ‘parenting’ approaches occur over the course of adolescent foster care placements?

An overview of the parenting skills and strategies utilized by foster carers looking after adolescents was given in an earlier paper. This paper focuses specifically on the relationship between the behaviour of fostered adolescents and the quality of parenting provided by the carer. In particular, the paper considers the consequences of situations in which fostered young people have a detrimental impact on other children within the foster family, as this was an especially difficult situation for foster carers to manage. Similarly, foster carers appeared to find it difficult to maintain good parenting skills with young people who were at risk due to their own sexual behaviour although, conversely, caring for a young person whose sexual behaviour put others at risk was connected with improved parenting. The quality of parenting provided by the foster carers was also influenced by the level of stress they were experiencing, with increased levels of stress leading to poorer parenting of the fostered adolescent.