SOCIO-CULTURAL FACTORS OF ESCALATION OF VIOLENCE IN RUSSIAN SCHOOL

Abstract

The most dangerous tendencies in modem Russia are social stratification and marginalization of the population. The children are particularly vulnerable, because their socialization occurs in the absence of clear moral and ethical guidelines. An increase in childhood aggression is due to the fact that the Russian school being one of the key social institutions has been experiencing a severe crisis. Financial difficulties and endless educational reforms, the deterioration in teacher’s performance since 1990s caused by a sharp decline in the prestige of the teaching profession have placed the Russian school in a dangerous situation where school violence is common. The article is based on the results of a large-scale questionnaire survey conducted among schoolchildren. To study the level and potential for violence in typical Russian schools, fourteen major socio-cultural factors were singled out. The most important ones include violent socialization in the family, the influence of the media, the level of children’s insecurity in everyday life, regular use of illicit drugs and psychoactive substances, the perception of the «threshold of danger» in students’ behavior. To prevent school violence, a system for resolving intra-school conflicts, a network of social contacts and relationships between all participants of school life should be developed; new educational and recreational policies to target children of different ages with regard to their biopsychosocial characteristics should be designed.