WHAT IS VANDALISM IN THE OPINION CONTEMPORARY RUSSIAN YOUTH?

Abstract

The work is devoted to the matter of perception of vandalism by representatives of contemporary Russian youth. Basing on the findings of recent sociological and psychological research, the authors note that scientists often describe Russian social reality as a conducive to various forms of vandal behavior among young people. However, the research focus is shifted towards analysis of the forms of vandal behavior of young people and the social factors that can stimulate such behavior. The understanding of vandalism by young people often remains outside analytical interest of psychology and sociology. So, there are a lot of questions both questions about the awareness of the vandal behavior of the Russian youth, and about the meanings of such behavior. Using the data of their own sociological research, the authors aim to reveal the typical understanding of vandalism of contemporary young Russians. During their research, the authors conclude that the interpretation of vandalism among Russian youth is extremely superficial. Young people do condemn vandalism as a phenomenon. But the most of them do not perceive many forms of harmful activities as an example of vandalism. And this makes their understanding of vandalism very flexible.