Social Value Systems Research Articles

ПУБЛИЧНЫЕ ДИРЕКТИВЫ КАК ЧАСТЬ ЛИНГВИСТИЧЕСКОГО ЛАНДШАФТА СОВРЕМЕННОГО КИТАЙСКОГО ГОРОДА

Public signs which manage people’s behaviour in public places are an integral part of the linguistic landscape of any city. They not only reflect the existing system of social values, cultural norms and standards, but also play a role in their formation by exerting unconscious and repeated influence on the mentality of citizens. The article examines the linguistic and sociocultural features of the texts of Chinese public signs. The tendencies to soften communicative intent in the texts of public signs, to implement the principle of courtesy, to reject ready-made formulas and clichés, to use the implicit forms of inducement intent expression are noted.

Regional Literary models and the Contemporary Canon of Croatian Children’s Literature

When balancing between ideologies and aesthetic values, literary canon, despite it primarily signifying a specific list/rule, is understood to be an “imaginary totality” (Guillory 1993) and a permanently active and socially conditioned process (Bourdieu 1993). That is the direction of discussing and examining the canon of Croatian children’s literature taken by Croatian theorists who focus on the social, historical and ideological context as well as changes reflected on the system of desirable social values, and consequently on shaping the canon of children’s literature. Croatian children’s literature is an ideal example of it due to its existence within Yugoslav children’s literature. On the other hand, very little is said about the regional characteristics of Croatian children’s canon as a cultural capital constructed within the new circumstances of the nineties. These characteristics were created by “reshaping the canonical tables” (Težak and Marušić 2015), which also secured a more significant position of regional poetics and politics. Examining the concept of literary regionalism, Brešić (2004) finds merit for the existence of separate literary poetics with respect to geographical space and discusses the characteristics of Slavonian regional literature as a model of autonomous structure from the perspective of history and theory of literature. In doing so, he considers space a crucial category which conditioned the dispersive character of Croatian literature. The concept of literary regionalism interpreted in such a way allows for a discussion on poetic features of regional literary texts unique by their historical, cultural and linguistic journey determined by space. Therefore, starting from the “identity of a place” (Brešić 2004) as a fusion of space and culture, the paper analyses regional topics within the canonical body of work based on anthologies and overviews of Croatian children’s literature. It also establishes their affiliation to a regional literary model, defines the characteristics of a local entity (Sablić-Tomić and Rem 2003), whereby reading the regional within the canon contributes to asserting canonical status while pushing the boundaries of defining the canon.

Radicalization—Protest Activity—Extremism: Modern Paradigms and Manifestations

The article examines the nature, basic models and manifestations of radicalization, protest activity and extremism. The authors have analyzed individual and contextual factors that foster radicalization growth and promote protest activity and extremist acts through the example of such communities as youth, migrants, representatives of LGBT communities and people held at detention facilities. The study revealed that the most significant individual factors that foster radicalization growth and promote protest activity and extremist acts are the identity crisis, loss of value orientation, lack of group identification, estrangement, deprivation. Disequilibrium of government bodies’ decisions, inconsistency between socio-economic society transformations and people’s expectations, destruction of the existing social value system, disruptive activities of radical factions aimed at social disintegration of the society, deformation of public legal awareness and forced fabrication of the mental model of personality (society) are among the most significant contextual factors of radicalization, protest activity and extremism. It is found that radicalization, protest activity and extremism are interdependent manifestations, generated by similar determining factors and based on the protest nature.

Ecological Aspects of Visual Urban Environment Design

The city is an aggregate of anthropogenic, natural-anthropogenic and natural objects that are interrelated and interdependent. Environmental problems in cities are associated with consumerism and an irresponsible attitude to nature in society. We need to find additional approaches to solving environmental problem using, in particular, the means of art and design. The article analyzes the potentialities of a material urban environment for the formation of ecological culture in society. Ecological culture is a system of social relations, moral standards, views and values relating to the relationship between man and nature. The author highlights the qualities and functions of design objects that make them ecofriendly. The ecological approach to design has become the successor and development of systemic and environmental approaches. It is characterized by an awareness of the moral and ethical responsibility of the designer and the search for professional tools to solve environmental problems. The role of art-design and its educational potential is emphasized, and the ways in which art objects produce a psychological impact on the viewer are identified.
 Keywords: ecological culture, communicative practices, design, art-design, ecodesign, sustainable development, urban environment

Любовь в системе социально значимых ценностей студенческой молодежи

Любовь в системе социально значимых ценностей студенческой молодежи

Sociološki pristup razumevanju pravoslavne verske nastave u prvom ciklusu osnovnog obrazovanja i vaspitanja

In this paper, throught the analysis of Ortodox religious education, in the curricula for the first cycle of primary education in the Republic of Serbia, explore cycle values that are directed to students to teach, accept and incorporate them into ther behavior. This research is conducted from a sociological theoretical and methodological point of wiew, according to whitch, through the study of religion, certain social phenomena and processes are known. To that end, this paper presents the basic theoretical determinations of Othodoxy in sociology, points out the process of returning religious education in Serbi and analyzes the current curricula of Orthodox religious education from the first to the fourth grade of primary school. This is about Orthodox Christianity of the Serbian style and experience, founded in the part of Saint Sava, known as Svetosavlje. In the function of this paper, an analytical descriptive method was applied, in order to identify and describe teaching contents from Orthodox religious teching, and then to determine their coherence with other teaching contents and the ruling system of social values in the Republic of Serbia. The basic starting point in these considerations is that the religious values of Orthodoxy are contained in the curricula for the first cycle of primary education characterized by traditional culture and morals. They affect: the development of awareness of belonging to the Orthodox faith, Serbian tradition and nation; on the development of religious tolerance among people and towards other confessional communities, as well as on the acquisition of religious culture among students.

Doprinos istraživanju patoloških pojava u Republici Srpskoj - Biljana Milošević Šošo: Devijantne pojave u Republici Srpskoj, Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva, Istočno Sarajevo, 2018

The article "Deviant behaviour in Republic Srpska" by Biljana Milošević Šošo, represents a scientific contribution to the study of sociopathological phenomena with special reference to the societies in the transition process. The monograph is a synthesis of the most important theoretical approaches in sociological pathology and empirical indicators of the most common forms of deviant behaviour in Republic Srpska. The author expresses her critical attitude towards the existing social-value system, which is a determinant for the emergence and development of specific forms of sociopathological behaviour in the society in Republic Srpska.

Exploring Shifting Value System of Millennial Korean College Students: Focusing on the Narrative of Study Abroad

[연구목적] 본 연구는 밀레니얼 세대 대학생들의 미래 계획 중 유학에 대한 생각을 중점적으로 분석함으로써, 세계화의 영향으로 변화하는 한국 사회에서 자란 세대에게는 어떠한 가치관의 변화가 있는지 파악하고자 했다. [연구방법] 이를 위해 국내 6곳의 대학에서 488명의 학생들을 대상으로 설문조 사를 진행한 후 해외 경험이 거의 없는 18명의 학생을 대상으로 후속 면담을 실시하였다. [연구결과] 첫째, 이전 세대에서는 전략적 이유로 유학을 생각했다면, 밀레니얼 세대는 자아실현을 위한 방편으로 유학을 생각하는 경향을 보였다. 둘째, 밀레니얼 세대 대학생들은 해외 학위가 한국 사회에서 여전히 인정을 받는다고 생각하 면서도 예전에 비해 시간과 비용을 투자할만한 가치가 있는지에 대해서는 회의적인 태도를 보였다. 셋째, 참여 학생들이 보여준 변화한 유학에 대한 생각을 바탕 으로, 한국 사회에서 개인의 만족과 행복, 그리고 자아실현의 가치가 중요해졌음을 볼 수 있었다. [결론] 이상의 연구결과를 통하여 현재 대학생들이 바라보는 한국 사회의 모습, 그들이 추구하는 삶의 방향성, 그리고 이들의 현실과 이상 사이의 거리를 파악하여 앞으로 한국 사회가 나아갈 방향을 재점검해볼 수 있다는 점에서 의미가 있다.[Purpose] This study analyzes the study abroad narrative of Korean millennial college students to examine changes in individual and social value systems in the context of globalization. [Method] To that end, a survey of 488 students at six universities in Korea was conducted and 18 students who had little experience abroad were further interviewed. [Results] The findings are as follows. First, while strategic motives such as education and employment were the main goals for study abroad in the past, our participants saw self-realization as their biggest goal. Second, while some students still highly value overseas degrees, others believed the value of foreign degrees has decreased in Korean society compared to the past, and felt hesitant to invest large amounts of time and energy into obtaining them. Third, by exploring the shifting narratives about study abroad, our study sheds light on the changing values that are shaping this generation‘s beliefs about personal life satisfaction and happiness that focus on self-realization. [Conclusion] This study is meaningful as it explored the future aspirations of the millennial generation Korean students and how they navigate the gap between their realities and ideals.

The distinctive stance of the King Reports on corporate governance from a global perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a perspective on the distinctive stance of the King Report on Corporate Governance in South Africa, 2016 (King IV) in relation to a number of other codes of corporate governance issued globally. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a comparative analysis between King IV and the codes of governance that apply in a select number of the jurisdictions, namely, Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, Nigeria and the UK. The selection of jurisdictions was done with the view of having a sample that is representative of the major global regions. Preference was given to codes that were issued or revised recently. Mention is also made of the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance where appropriate. Findings The conclusion reached in this paper is that King IV is distinctive from the codes compared to it in this paper in six respects. These include that King IV defines corporate governance as accountable leadership instead of it being a system only and is drafted for positive outcomes instead of compliance; proposes an application regime that is qualitative instead of quantitative; integrates sustainable development into its model for corporate governance instead of treating sustainability as an ad hoc-matter; has applicability across the ecosystem of all organisations instead of limited application to listed or larger companies; and has a has built in a social value system to harness broad public support instead of reliance on bottom-down enforcement. Originality/value The implications of the distinct approach to corporate governance in King IV are explained in the paper and should serve as a premise to reconsider whether the more traditional approaches to corporate governance code development are still appropriate in light of the learning as evidenced in King IV.

AXIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF MORAL AND LEGAL DECISION-MAKING

Purpose. The study seeks to clarify the preconditions for moral and legal decision-making based on the identification of axiological foundations that correlate with the moral perceptions of good and evil and psychological phenomena such as emotions. Theoretical basis of the study is to apply comparative, axiological, systemic methods. This methodological approach allows us to analyze and disclose the essence of the process of moral and legal decision-making on the basis of certain axiological prerequisites and enables to substantiate the connection between the axiological and psychological aspects of taking moral and legal decisions. Originality of the work is to broaden the perceptions of the processes and mechanisms for making moral and legal decisions, which are based on the axiological dimension, in particular on the system of reference individual and social values. The study shows that every necessary moral and legal decision taken by a person is futurologically balanced in the emotional sense, rationally reasoned and morally perceptible in the context of man’s beliefs about good and evil, and realized with necessity in the personal system of reference values that determines the style and manner of individual and social behaviour in the context of material and spiritual values and is an axiological foundation for making all types of moral and legal decisions. Conclusions. Moral and legal decision-making is a social process that is connected with such a social essence of a person as rationality, which gives an opportunity to act axiologically. A person makes moral and legal decisions in a complex way, based on the unity of the moral, axiological and psychological aspects of his worldview, which are grounded on the system of reference values.

Importance of symbol in the process of historical memory and culture preservation

Symbols lay in basis of forming historical memory and culture, creating base for the next generation. Ukrainian folk art was chosen as example of generic experience preservation. Historical memory is factor of national identity and consciousness, plays important role in system of social values, that are articulated through the frame of symbols and culture codes, as information center, that will be decoded by the next generation.Symbols creates culture memory, they transform texts, subject patterns and other semiotic structure, from one round of culture to another. Accomplished by centennial ideology traditions, symbolism and methaphorics are peculiar to folk Ukrainian art, that is indicated by author’s originality (individual display) and connection to collective folk art (generic experience display).A lot of Ukrainian folk artists become world famous: Kateryna Bilokur, Maria Prymachenko, Ivan Lysenko etc.

Stringency of environmental regulations vs. global competitiveness: Empirical analysis

At the current stage of socio-economic development of the countries in the context of numerous international summits on climate change, the emergence problem of additional regulatory and tax burdens of environmental standards is nowadays actualized, which creates new challenges and opportunities for the competitiveness of national economies. The formation of a qualitatively new model of greening national economies in the context of welfare is linked to the emergence of radically new challenges: climate change, an aging population, environmental and food crises, new demands on the quality and quantity of public goods, etc. All this requires a review of the fundamental foundations of macroeconomic and institutional analysis of welfare states in the context of the ecological vector of development. A comprehensive statistical analysis of long-term indicators of global competitiveness, environmental performance and the stringency of environmental regulations on a large sample of countries confirms the hypothesis that it is possible to internalize the significant stringency of environmental regulations in welfare states and maintain a high level of global competitiveness against the background of high quality environmental goods. The clinal nature of the country ordination according to the studied indices indicates the absence of a wide gap between countries of different clusters and the possibility of increasing the global competitiveness and quality of the environmental performance of the lower groups by strengthening the stringency of environmental regulations while improving the quality of their institutions and inclusion (through the development of education, science, culture) into the system of individual and social values of environmental preferences.

Medida de atitudes em contextos organizacionais masculinos

Resumo Compreender a persistência de concepções assimétricas assentes em estereotipia de gênero de trabalhadores é fundamental para as organizações que desejem desenvolver planos de gestão para a igualdade. O propósito deste estudo, realizado em Portugal, foi identificar se em contextos organizacionais altamente masculinizados, ou seja, majoritariamente masculinos, a estereotipia de gênero tende a ser mais acentuada. Para sua realização, aplicou-se o questionário “Men’s Polarized Gender Thinking (MPGQ)” a uma amostra de 160 trabalhadores de 2 organizações - Águas Limpas e SOS. As participações no mercado de trabalho dos homens com níveis de instrução mais elevados se articulam com atitudes mais igualitaristas, ao passo que são os menos escolarizados que menos reconhecem as desigualdades. A escolarização e a educação dos indivíduos são consideradas fundamentais, pois se destacam como importante vetor de aquisição de um sistema de crenças e de valores sociais mais igualitários. Os resultados. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que as atitudes dos homens em relação à igualdade de gênero não se distribuem aleatoriamente. Esses achados corroboram alertas lançados pelas abordagens da interseccionalidade.

Электронная демократия и гуманистические принципы

The implementation of digital technologies in to the political and legal institutions of modern society has a complex effect on the system of traditional social values. Despite the obvious threats posed by the depersonalization of labor and the competition between man and artificial intelligence for workplaces, technical progress in the modern world has no rational alternatives. The study of political and legal issues of e-democracy development by methods of discursive and meta-theoretical analysis aims to develop proposals for state regulation of the participation of civil society institutions in the political life under the rule of law. Obviously, digital technologies, on the one hand, contribute to the dehumanization of political communication, on the other hand, they make direct democracy procedures more accessible. The consequence of saving time and money in the process of conducting electronic voting can be a decrease in the level of trust between the political class and ordinary members of society who are subject to marginalization in the context of the digital divide. Humanistic principles require public authorities to protect the interests of the individual in the process of interaction with civil society institutions such as trade unions and professional associations, since digital inequality is expressed in the systemic economic discrimination of the precariat. Humanism in a representative democracy requires effective legal guarantees and should remain the main paradigm at the heart of political decisions taken in a democratic way.

Driving Forces behind Language Change. Does Danish Theory Hold up in Lithuania?

The paper presents a large-scale investigation of attitudes towards standard and dialectal speech varieties in Lithuania. It aimed at, firstly, obtaining comparable data on assessments of speech variation under two methodologically different conditions: ‘unaware condition’ (the participants being unaware of the linguistic goals of the research) and ‘aware condition’. Secondly, it aimed at testing whether the two layers of consciousness yield two different systems of social values and how the evaluations accord with changes in language usage. The theory was developed by Danish scholars whose numerous experimental studies proved the driving force role of subconscious attitudes. The investigation closely followed the Danish methodology and was carried out in 23 secondary schools in 7 regions and the capital city of Lithuania, covering almost 1.5 thousand pupils in total. The regularity of the findings, i.e. the overall tendency to overtly valorise local dialects but subconsciously to downgrade dialect accented voices, confirmed that language awareness affects assignment of values to language and must be regarded as an important explanatory factor for the scenarios of language change.

Analytical investigation of urban housing typologies in twentieth century Istanbul

PurposeTurkey has been rapidly urbanizing since the 1950s. In quantitative and qualitative meanings, the problem of housing is one of the most important subjects on Turkey’s agenda. Increasing population, rapid cultural and economic transition and the dynamics of in-migration, changes in social life, consumption patterns and value systems have made a significant impact on housing demand and supply. If we try to realize a general analytical outlook to define the basic formal and informal categories that reflect specific values pertaining to housing typology of the twentieth century, it would be possible to make a classification under the following sub-titles: formal housing-row houses, separate houses, apartment blocks, social housing, mass-housing, luxury housing including gated communities; informal housing – squatter settlements/gecekondus, slums; inbetween –apartkondus, unpermitted constructions/building extensions. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachIstanbul has been experiencing these various dynamics of planned and unplanned housing settlements in a very radical way, since the 1950s. Changing typology is examined systematically under certain periods up to now. In confronting housing needs under rapid urbanization, “types of housing supply channels” appeared and as a result, urban texture has been changing by periods. In this paper, in order to understand each of these categories and the conditions under which they have been generated, an analysis will be realized to understand the urban housing concept of Istanbul within the twentieth century urban environment.FindingsThe factors playing a role in the evolution of twentieth century dwelling forms on Istanbul will be defined, and the physical/architectural, locational, neighborhood characteristics, as well as their user profile will be examined.Originality/valueThis study is expected to contribute to the further understanding of the urban housing stock and the future trends in housing typology.

Love Them, but Get Them to Leave You - Neoliberal Ideals of Love, Romance and Family Life Imprinted on Contemporary US Cinema

Itself a very coarse and in different regions distinctly utilized term, “neoliberalism,” this paper argues, can be described as the prominent ideology in America today. Its significance is based on a distinctly American type of reverence for the economic opportunities of capitalism. As an ideology, neoliberalism transcends the capitalist nature of the market and incorporates important aspects of US identity as well as American notions of liberty and self reliance. Thereby it determines desirable human qualities and presets an appropriate social value system. Today, the Hollywood entertainment industry is by far the most impactful cultural industry on the planet. Their “motion pictures” reach audiences around the globe, their stars are famous all over the world. Just as much as Hollywood is part of the American economy and a staple of its society, it is also a significant mediator of the American self-image. The question then is: how does the neoliberal ideology function within US cinema? As one of Hollywood’s most resilient film genres, the romantic comedy surely is a formidable example of the neoliberal subconscious. This paper will establish comprehensive typologies of neoliberal ideology and Hollywood romantic comedy. These typologies will serve as tools to dissect the contents of a prototypical sample of romantic comedy texts and display specific neoliberal markers. Of course, the results of the analysis rely on interpretation. However, a previously compiled thorough theoretical body testifies to the fact that the interpretations conducted from content analysis are well-founded.

Social networks, corruption and institutions of accounting, auditing and accountability

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate institutions of accountability in Zambia in order to understand how social networks may influence such institutions not to discharge their mandates as expected from time to time. The study equally seeks to explore how social networks may perpetuate corrupt activities and compromise the functioning of institutions of accountability. Design/methodology/approach The conceptual framework adopted in this study draws on insights from social network theory (SNT) and Bourdieu’s ideas of capital to devise a critical lens for investigating network activity and its influence on the functioning of institutions of accountability. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with respondents drawn from different institutions of accountability. Social network analysis was conducted through content analysis. Findings Research findings highlight the presence of networks of a corrupt nature operating within government structures and some institutions of accountability. Manifested in the form of systemic and familial archetypes, these networks appear to be championed and propelled by senior government officials like controlling officers and other actors of a political nature including ministers and presidents. Most of these corrupt activities are organised through brokerage mechanisms that interface internal and external networks. Research limitations/implications Due to the clandestine nature of corruption activities, however, the study was unable to determine measures of centrality and density since these details were not forthcoming during interviews. Such information could only become available if willing individuals involved in corruption could be identified so that they explain who they conduct their corruption with together with the number of connections involved and the most influential individuals in those networks. Social implications This study helps us to understand that activities of a corrupt nature are often undertaken through well-connected groups and networks that make it difficult for institutions of accountability to detect and untangle such activity. The study also suggests that accountants and other accountability actors may have forgotten that accounting is not just a technical discourse for enhancing one’s economic status but is an ethical profession as well. There is a great need to put institutions in place which should hold everyone, including the president and ministers, accountable to the Zambian people in the light of wrongdoing. Dismantling the corrupt network activities inferred from the data entails a complete top-down change in systems of politics, governance, wealth distribution and social values. Originality/value This study contributes towards filling the gap of undertaking accounting research of a critical nature focussed on African contexts (Rahaman, 2010). The paper is equally an attempt at providing empirical flesh to Laughlin’s (1991) framework on organisational transformations through complementing that framework with SNT. The study is also among the first to draw on the experiences and insights of actors working within institutions of accountability to highlight accountability challenges within an African context.

Unintended human-personal self-destruction: can we save ourselves?

PurposeThis paper aims to explain the modern unintended human-personal self-destruction and the importance of diverse society-specific holistic cultures (“native cultures”) and social value systems as the remedy.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a viewpoint, as both the explanation and the proposed remedy are based on the present author’s historical, theoretical and normative considerations.FindingsFirst, the author’s interpretation of pre-modern to modern Western societies reveals that some important pre-modern Western values are given to the modern era as part of the market value system. Second, some Mercantilist ideas have strong influences on Classical economic theory and methodology. Third, the modern Western value system – the market value system – corresponds to the Core Synergism of Modern Civilization or the complex driving force of Modern Civilization.Social implicationsThis paper is designed to facilitate reflection on the excessive emphasis on economic/market values.Originality/valueThe present author’s normative framework for social value system (“integral harmony”) is used for explaining a likely remedy of the unintended human-personal self-destruction. Also, for solving the human-personal predicament, this article integrates native culture, balance and harmony into economic thinking to promote sustainable development for a viable human future. Concluding remarks provide a summary for clarification of the remedy.

SOCIAL ADAPTATION OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH EXCESS BODY MASS

Designing clothes, taking into account the timely physical, mental and physiological development of overweight children and adolescents, contributes to the harmonious development of body systems, maintaining thermal homeostasis, balanced nervous processes, and can enhance social adaptation. The study applied psychodiagnostic methods that develop motivation for a healthy lifestyle with the help of balanced clothing as a means of rehabilitation. The psycho-emotional development of children according to age groups is investigated and the wardrobe of multi-layer functional clothing that makes up the set is recommended. The ways of formation of new psychological mechanisms of activity and behavior in each age group, the formation of a system of social values, social internal position, psychological and personal readiness for systematic school education, and the active development of cognitive activity have been studied. In overweight adolescents, the predominance of a negative emotional background impedes the formation of their autonomy, perception of themselves as a free and independent person. Given the rationale for the participation of adolescents in fashion processes, possible psychological and social support. The ways of achieving the goal in designing balanced clothes, and the adaptation of children and adolescents in society are proposed. The results suggest that in parallel with the development of a mobile system "Rational wardrobe" for children with overweight, it is necessary to carry out some work on psychological support aimed at improving the positive attitude of well-being and quality of life.