No 1 (2015)

The article presents a historical and theoretical analysis of the main conceptions of altruism in the classical sociological tradition. The author states that the idea of altruism and morality was crucial for theories of society developed by H. Spencer, E. Durkheim, and G. Simmel, and formed the basis of their social and ontological views. However, today the problem of altruistic behavior is quite marginal for sociologists have practically stopped using the term “altruism” (coined by the sociology’s “godfather” A. Comte) in theories and explanatory models, and the studies of altruism and altruistic behavior (more broadly - morality) have gradually “migrated” to other social and behavioral sciences that made, significant progress in explaining this phenomenon. The author argues that the dominant position of T. Parsons’s social system theory in sociology is one of the reasons for such a situation; he also critically analyzes the concept of “creative altruism” proposed by P. Sorokin. The contradiction between the crucial character of the idea of altruism in classical sociological theories and its almost total oblivion in today’s sociology is emphasized in the context of the “revival” of sociology of morality.

The article outlines the key stages in the development of modern theory of migration following the historical sequence and continuity of its basic conceptual constructs’ formation. Although the author refers to the twentieth century as a chronological framework of the text, the narrative begins from the works of E. Ravenstein published at the end of the XIX century, for they laid the foundation for future theoretical studies on migration issues. In particular, many well-known scientists still use concepts “laws of migration” and “attracting and push factors of migration” proposed by Ravenstein claiming their timeless validity or, on the contrary, criticizing them for the loss of relevance in the new social and cultural realities. The author considers as milestones of the modern theory of migration the works of the representatives of Chicago school of sociology that enriched the conceptual apparatus of the analysis of migration processes and the typology of driving causes of migration; the works of S. Stouffer, G. Zipf, E. Lee and W. Lewis, W. Zelinsky and D. Massey. Finally, the article summarizes the objective trends in today’s global development that force scientists to introduce new accents in the study of migration processes, although upon closer inspection it turns out that all “new” ideas had already been formulated in early migration studies and just got a new sound in another historical period.

The article describes teenage communities as a special space of growing up. The authors examine some major transformations of the contemporary society and socialization risks generated by them in teenage communities for today’s high parental employment outside the home makes peer groups the most important agent of socialization and a key space for teenagers’ growing up. The article identifies the main socio-psychological conceptions of group dynamics, types of relationships among teenagers and functions of peer communities that provide teens a chance to grow up in a system of intergroup communications. The authors emphasize the fact that traditionally peer relationships serve as a “school” of social experience necessary for the normal format of growing up, but today communicational and recreational practices of teens and youth are increasingly “constructed” by the consumption industry. The article considers tendencies of consumerism and virtualization in teenage communities that are changing not only the shape but also the very essence of interactions and relationships among teens and youngsters; discusses the criminalization risks in these groups due to today’s mass media impact, and the risks associated with the Internet activity, such as intellectual primitivization and infantilization due to the overreliance on the Internet.

Indigenous peoples of the North form an integral part of ethnic and cultural diversity of the global civilization: in many parts of the contemporary world, there are enclaves of indigenous peoples that make their unique contribution to the regional and global development. The authors conduct a theoretical analysis of Russian and foreign scientists’ approaches to the study of the traditional worldview of indigenous peoples of the North. This study revealed the ideas that form the basis of the traditional culture of indigenous peoples, such as the four-element structure of the worldview, which includes cognitive, value-normative, emotional-volitional and practical elements that together determine a person’s readiness to a certain type of behavior in specific circumstances. The authors show on the empirical data that the hallmark of the traditional culture of indigenous peoples of the North is a strict adherence to the previous generations’ patterns of behavior - customs, rituals, forms of activity. The article concludes that the traditional culture of indigenous communities is syncretic, which is manifested in integrity, indivisibility of all forms of life, and recognition of the absolute equivalence of three major elements of the universe - “nature-society-man”.

The article considers dynamics of the young workers self-identification indicators (economic, legal, confidence in the future and life satisfaction) on the empirical data of the “Russian Longitudinal Monitoring of the economic situation and health” conducted by the HSE from 1994 to 2012 on the sample of 19,501 young workers aged 16-30. The results of the research show that Russian working youth has been changing self-identification dynamically for the youth is the most active group to integrate into society. Any negative transformation of society generates negative self-identification indicators among the working youth. Any fluctuation in the economic or political life of the country easily undermines positions of the youth, which threatens to destabilize the society as a whole. Thus, in the first years of post-soviet transformations (1994-1996) more than a half of Russian working youth passed through an identity crisis expressed in low self-esteem (due to poverty, injustice, insecurity, dissatisfaction with one’s life) and acute negativism and pessimism after the 1998 default. In 1999-2002 the perceptions of themselves and their lives among the working youth changed from negative to neutral, and since 2002 we witness the so-called period of “stability” for only every third young respondent admits low level of self-identification, while a large proportion of the working youth, on the contrary, - consistently high level.

Personnel have become a key resource of organizations in the contemporary society for the way personnel fulfills its work functions can provide important advantages in the competitive market. However, despite the fact that organizations’ management pays great attention to the development of the constructive forms of work behavior, various forms of destructive behavior in the workplace are quite widespread nowadays. The author uses the concept “destructive labor behavior” to denote such observable actions of employees that hinder achieving organizations’ aims and entail negative consequences. The article analyzes relationships between concepts “destructive labor behavior”, “social behavior” and “organizational behavior”; identifies the most common types of destructive labor behavior, such as absenteeism, theft, sabotage, lowered labor activity, and their key features; considers their negative consequences, such as decreased production, decline in the quality of products or services, conflicts in the team, tensions between workers and employers; analyzes different classifications of the destructive forms of labor behavior. The author concludes that we need a general classification of the destructive forms of labor behavior based on their grouping on three grounds: the essence of the negative consequences of the destructive behavior; the violated legal norms; the causes of the destructive behavior. Moreover, the article identifies three groups of organizational factors that can generate destructive forms of labor behavior - production factors (content, organization and conditions of work), social factors (group relations) and psychological (personal characteristics of employees) - and provides recommendations to reduce their impact on the organization.