Destructive Tendencies Research Articles

Youth participation in Zimbabwe's electoral processes post-2008: Challenges and prospects for peacebuilding

ABSTRACT This article discusses how the youth participate in electoral processes in contemporary Zimbabwe and the concomitant implications for peacebuilding. It is based on the case study of Harare covering the post-2008 period and data drawn from both primary and secondary sources. Employing the postmaterialist theory, the article argues that though destructive tendencies remained, Zimbabwean youth have mainly participated in electoral processes in beneficial ways with far-reaching implications for peace post-2008. The study found that the youth participated in electoral processes through campaigning for peaceful elections, voting, electioneering for their political parties and contesting as candidates. It asserts that youth participation in electoral processes in Zimbabwe scored some successes such as an improvement in the number of youth voters and having youth candidates resulting in some becoming legislators. The youth also faced several challenges hindering them from fruitfully participating in electoral processes. This included marginalisation, lack of resources, and a restrictive and harsh political environment. The article concludes that the youth have the potential to peacefully and significantly participate in electoral processes provided they are able to overcome the challenges they are currently facing.

Embodied intersubjectivity: Forms of psyche-soma structuring in the encounter between self and other-than-self.

This paper explores the mechanisms that lead to a destructive tendency in the formation and functioning of the psychic apparatus, to the characteristic states of subjects who are drawn to non-life. The dynamics of the primary mother-child relationship involve a structural interaction between mind and body, subject and object. The dialectic between the life drive and the death drive is conceptualized as the structuring of homeostatic dynamic equilibria, in which both drives belong to the living, provided they are kept in a non-isolated system. This conception has analogies with other disciplines that have changed their paradigms, such as neurobiology, which, for living beings in open systems, hypothesises a continuous interconnected Becoming of undivided separation and of discontinuity. In unitary psyche-soma functioning, a dynamic homoeostatic balance marks the state of health of the relating subject; or if, instead, the system is isolated, a pathological dysregulation depending on the emotional-affective vicissitudes it undergoes. Two clinical cases illustrate these dynamics. For this tendency on the level of the somatopsychic unit, the name alloiosis has been put forward, in analogy with cellular apoptosis.

A study of cyber-addictions in Ukrainian youth

This article investigates the specific manifestations of various types of cyber-addictions among Ukrainian adolescents and young adults. The Internet's increasing connectivity fosters diverse user behaviors, with potential consequences ranging from social relationship disruption and isolation to mental health disorders and physical ailments. Notably, Internet addiction frequently emerges during adolescence, hindering socialization, professional growth, and family formation. Alongside Internet addiction, the modern scientific community recognizes cyber addictions and the growing prevalence of smartphone addiction (phubbing). These addictions share a compulsive urge to remain constantly online and an inability to disengage. To examine modern cyber addictions, the study employed the "Smartphone Addiction Scale" (SAS) and the "Cyber Addiction Test-Questionnaire" (TQC), involving 316 participants aged 15-21. Results revealed distinct manifestations of cyber-addictions across gender groups, reflecting varying goals and preferences in Internet and technology use. The timely implementation of psycho-prophylactic and psycho-corrective interventions is emphasized to address cyber dependencies and prevent the development of destructive tendencies.

Meister Eckhart on the World-Shaping Power of an Equal Mind

Abstract: The focus of this essay is Meister Eckhart's references in the sixth of his "Talks on Discernment" to having an "equal mind." This rather unassuming early metaphor foreshadows many of Eckhart's better-known teachings, such as the "just man," the "ground of the soul," and the "birth of God in the soul." The goal of the essay is to demonstrate the potential of the daily practice of an "equal mind" to transform one's view of the "other," and so to neutralize the ultimately and frighteningly destructive tendency in current discourse to polarize and divide.

Страхование капитального ремонта в Российской Федерации: актуальные проблемы и перспективы

Issues of provision of housing to citizens, dilapidation of the housing stock of the country and the importance of its renovation are named among the acute problems in Addresses of the President of the Russian Federation . A wisely developed system of major renovations of apartment blocks is the most optimal problem solution. However, although the adopted measures have been advanced and timely, they could not alleviate the emerging destructive tendencies, so the legislator has brought forward an initiative to introduce a mechanism of insurance of major renovations in the Russian Federation. This idea is not new in the world’s practice and is quite efficiently implemented in foreign laws and orders, primarily in form of an insurance coverage or performance bond. Its practical implementation in Russia and prospects of successful functioning present a relevant civil task. Following the results of the study, the authors conclude that the efficiency of this novelty will depend on the level of development of its implementation, establishment of the optimal legal framework and organizational mechanism.

Interpreting the Cause of Tess’ Tragedy: Dualism

Tess is widely recognized as the "best novel" of the 19th century by British realist novelist Thomas Hardy. The female protagonist Tess of the novel has also become an immortal artistic figure in the minds of readers.Tess in the novel was born into a poor peasant family, but has the blood of a declining aristocratic lineage . So she not only inherited the humble obedience, tenacious fighting spirit, and survival ability of her grandmother's family, but also had the self-esteem and arrogance from the declining aristocrats of her father's family, as well as the tendency of self destruction. This fact about bloodline is reflected in Tess, which is the duality of her personality. This article analyzes Tess' behavior and demeanor in the novel, more importantly her reactions and choice made to certain matters of significance, focusing on her contradictions in terms of the following aspects, that is, her self-esteem and inferiority complex, her pursuit of instinctual desires, and her construction of a fortress of religious ethics in her heart, her tenacious fighting spirits and weakness in mind . It not only interprets the stubborn and weak willed personality traits of life, but also explains the decisive role of personality in Tess' tragic fate.

Биоэтическая деконструкция феномена зла

Abstract. The phenomenon of evil in modern socialcultural situation from the point of view of bioethics, interpreted as deconstruc-tion is analyzed in the article. Evil as the striving to destruct appears in the form of the dividing of whole and extreme reductionism. In social and anthropological dimensions such reductionism is expressed in the idea of the society as original chaos (war of all against all) which is caused by “evil and vicious human nature”. However this chaos is structured by means of social contract (financial order) coming out in the form of the principle of a lesser evil. Now this structuring is the process of substitution at the new type of order: sur-veillance biocapitalism. This last is the real threat not only to human existence but to the whole bios. From here is the task of the devel-oping of discourse which is able to block given destructive tendency. Such discourse is conservative bioethics as radical ethics of salva-tion, on the basis of which the global bioethos can be formed. Global bioethos is the topos of cooperation and solidarity (Great Harmo-ny). In this new social topos Homo misericordis can rise: human whose main quality is misericordia. Owing to misericordia human overcomes estrangement, enters into a dialogue, and creates the premises for the meeting with Other (the whole totality of bios).

Fire activity and deforestation in Remote Oceanian islands caused by anthropogenic and climate interactions.

Remote islands in the Pacific Ocean (Oceania) experienced dramatic environmental transformations after initial human settlement in the past 3,000 yr. Here, human causality of this environmental degradation has been unquestioned and viewed as evidence of the inherent destructive tendencies of human societies in both archaeological and popular discourse. We use charcoal and stable carbon isotopes from deep soil cores to reconstruct the dynamics of fire activity and deforestation across the Sigatoka River valley on the leeward (dry) side of Viti Levu, Fiji. Fires and pyrogenic patches of grassland predated human settlement by millennia, but the magnitude of fire activity and landscape transformation accelerated with the establishment and expansion of swidden agriculture. Regional comparisons with previous studies in Fiji and elsewhere in Remote Oceania settled between 3,200 and 2,900 yr BP reveal a similar pattern of pre- and post-settlement fire activity and landscape change. Pre-settlement fires generally corresponded to droughts, probably driven by El Niño, often correlating with drought-driven wildfires elsewhere in the region. Post-settlement, charcoal and C4 grasses increased dramatically, but nearly all major peaks in charcoal and grasses corresponded to increased El Niño activity. This indicates that fire activity and deforestation were a product of the interaction between swidden agriculture and climate rather than land use alone.

Commemorative Architecture, Periclean Athens and the Polish Revolution of 1791: Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier’s Parthenon-Inspired Temple for Warsaw

Abstract Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier’s design for the Temple of Providence in Warsaw, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s capital, is the earliest known evidence of European fascination with the Parthenon as a model for modern commemorative architecture. However, it was this proposal’s specific political context which makes it especially interesting from the perspective of classical reception studies. It was an artistic reaction of an aristocratic philhellene to the destructive tendencies of the French Revolution on the eve of the Bourbon monarchy’s abolition. The choice of the Parthenon was expressive of Choiseul-Gouffier’s admiration for the idealized heritage of ancient aristocratic republicanism and its alleged relevance to the political culture of the modern ‘republic’ of Poland-Lithuania.

Material Modernities: Aluminum in the Making of a Global Cultural Economy

ABSTRACT Although the human relationship with aluminum is short, the metal has affected our lives and societies more profoundly than perhaps any other. A light metal that does not corrode, aluminum is a key ingredient in airplanes, automobiles, and artillery—three industries that transformed twentieth-century society. As such, aluminum propelled Western modernity toward new understandings and cultural orientations within an increasingly globalized world. Yet as it became a defining ingredient of modernity, aluminum also helped entrench an unequal and racialized international order through extractive systems built on older infrastructures of exploitation. The aluminum supply chain that enabled twentieth-century modernity maps across an earlier transatlantic network that produced the enslaved human labor that was equally formative of our modern era. Racialized landscapes and labor at sites of raw aluminum ore extraction are central to Western modernity, though they are generally erased from its histories. Fully understanding Western industrial modernity requires centering the African lands and bodies that have shaped it, and correcting its destructive tendencies requires prioritizing alternative African visions.

Analysis of “The Level of Relatives’ Emotional Burnout” Measure (V. V. Bocharov, A. M. Shishkova)

Introduction. The relevance of the study is due to the need to address the issues of diagnosing emotional burnout in parents whose children have mental disorders. In theory, there are unresolved issues related to the imperfection of a reliable verification of the theoretical foundations laid down in diagnostic methods, the lack of formation of the terminological apparatus, the lack of a special diagnostic apparatus for studying the emotional burnout of parents that meets the requirements of completeness and consistency. The aim of the article is a categorical analysis of “The Level of Relatives’ Emotional Burnout” measure LREB, developed by V. V. Bocharov and A. M. Shishkova, based on the application of methods of categorical-systemic methodology. Materials and Methods. As methods of categorical-systemic methodology, the hexagram and the pentagram of Wu Xing are used. The study of parents raising children with mental disabilities is carried out by a survey method. The LREB technique is currently undergoing extensive testing. Results. In the course of the study, an analysis of publications on the stated problem was carried out, which showed that the authors use a different terminological apparatus. The phenomenon of emotional burnout of parents is called: parental burnout; parental burnout syndrome; burnout syndrome; emotional exhaustion. This phenomenon indicates that the psychology of emotional burnout is at the initial stage of the formation of a theoretical basis, as a result of which the relevance of the study is beyond doubt. Diagnosing parents raising children with mental disorders made it possible to identify the stages of emotional burnout that are relevant for their state. Discussion and Conclusion. On the basis of the use of the hexagram in the LREB methodology, a dichotomous contradiction in the dyad of resource and destructive tendencies was revealed, and the Wu Xing pentagram made it possible to identify the factors that have the strongest effect on “burnout” parents. The results of the research can be used in the development of diagnostic methods for studying the phenomenon under consideration and allow us to speak about the reliability, completeness and systemicity, developed by V. V. Bocharov and A. M. Shishkova, of “The Level of Relatives’ Emotional Burnout” measure.

Examination of the impact of cyber security on networks operations: A case of Vodafone Ghana

Computer network operations of organizations are always prone to cyber-attacks from different people, including misguided employees within the organization, due to the errors they make which lead to exploitation by cyber criminals. These people normally have destructive tendencies better known to themselves, as they would go to every extent to make sure that their nefarious intentions are achieved. It therefore, behooves on network operation technologists to innovate concrete and tested security measures to secure organizations’ network systems against hackers. The destruction could impact the activities of the organization to come to complete halt, as important information, a resource of the enterprise, may be damaged, stolen or lost. Some of these hackers may then turn around and demand huge sums of money from the organization before the stolen information may be released; likely the restored software may be tainted and therefore, different from the original state. Consequently, management of organizations should make adequate security preparations to forestall these destructive propensities of hackers. Vodafone Ghana therefore, should reinforce its security system to make sure the firewall and password systems, and access to its servers from the outside world are not compromised.

Unusual Case of Painless Osteoblastoma of Rib: A Case Report with Review of Literature

ABSTRACT Osteoblastoma is a rare benign bone tumor commonly located at spine and long bones. However, rib involvement has been reported less frequently. In this report, we describe a young adult female presenting with osteoblastoma of third rib, with the purpose of reviewing clinical, radiological, and histopathological features of osteoblastoma and emphasizing surgical resection as the treatment of choice to lessen chances of recurrence and avoid its confusion with other benign bone tumors by providing adequate tissue for histopathological analysis. Osteoblastoma is an uncommon primary bone tumor accounting for only 1% of all bone tumors. Ribs are involved in less than 5% of patients. The disease has usually a good prognosis with a tendency for local destruction and recurrence. Surgical excision remains the treatment of choice to prevent recurrences and to provide a definite diagnosis differentiating it from osteoblastoma-like osteosarcoma and other benign tumors of the rib.

ЭТНИЧЕСКАЯ ИДЕНТИЧНОСТЬ ДАГЕСТАНСКОЙ МОЛОДЕЖИ: ДИНАМИКА И СОДЕРЖАНИЕ

The last decades of the last century were marked by destructive phenomena in the interethnic sphere, so it is natural to study the transformations taking place in this area. A special place in the national sphere is occupied by ethnic identity, the forms of its existence (positive/negative), because they directly affect the nature of personal communication, form an interethnic climate, and provide stability. The analysis of indicators of reproduction of the ethnic identity of the young generation of Dagestanis shows the priority of the signs of the national language, ethno-culture and religion. It was found that the native language is of little importance for the surveyed Russian population, despite its importance for the rest of the surveyed ethnic formations. The author's hypothesis about the significance of the historical component and historical memory for the reproduction of both ethnic and Russian identities was not confirmed by the results of the study, in comparison with other markers, less in demand in the mass consciousness of Dagestan youth. The "control question" shows a change in the importance of integrators – "being a representative of your people" consists in knowing and following the national traditions and customs of your people with a significantly smaller proportion of those who designated the indicator "national language". Such a position in the attitudes of the interviewed Dagestani youth is due to the transformation of their linguistic consciousness and linguistic behavior, which clearly indicates destructive tendencies in the ethno-linguistic sphere.

Features of the expression of value-semantic determination of leadership among students of different fields of training.

This article analyzes the difference in the severity of value-semantic predictors that influence the manifestations of leadership among students. The study involved students in 5 areas of specialties: economists; political scientists; philologists; lawyers; journalists. The relevance of the study is due to a number of factors. The first is the lack of theoretical and methodological elaboration and conceptually categorical justification of the leadership problem, which makes it difficult to conduct scientific research in this area. The second is the need to educate leaders who will be important figures in modern society, in demand not only from business and production, but also from the state, which is ready to support them. The third is information pressure on young people from the outside, which provokes the emergence of new destructive tendencies. The analysis of variance is carried out. The results of testing according to 6 methods are presented by indicators of rank criteria. Students-journalists have marked the expression of value-semantic predictors. It is recommended for journalism students to actively develop and strengthen their leadership potential. It is important to be aware of your values and beliefs, as well as learn to build effective communication strategies. The revealed features of the value-semantic determination of leadership in each specialty provide a platform for creating individual and group programs of correction and development of leadership skills. These results can also be used as methodological tools in the planning and implementation of educational work with students.

Globalization as a threat to Russia's National Security

The article reveals two methodological approaches to the study of globalization processes - natural and natural-artificial. The essence of the ideology of the Western liberal understanding of globalization in the works of A. A. Zinoviev, which is often overlooked by Russian researchers, is described. The main global problems and risks are listed, contradictions and conflicts between the local and global levels of management and relations are described. Using the example of the collapse of the USSR, it is shown what globalization is on the Western liberal model and what an existential threat it poses to the national security of Russia and to all mankind. It is shown that globalization is a natural-artificial process, and not a natural one, which Western researchers convince, in the interests of the collective West, reducing the will to resist destructive tendencies. The essence of the conflict between the global and local levels is revealed, as well as the immoral and immoral aspect of globalization. The statistical data specifically shows WHAT the Russian people lost after the collapse of the USSR, in connection with the processes of globalization at the macro and micro levels. The strategic path of Russia's development in the context of global and national security is shown, new tasks for the humanities in a long evolutionary war are formulated.

Ценности как психологический ресурс студентов России и Казахстана при совладании со страхом перед COVID-19

<p>The article is devoted to exploring the resource potential of values for coping with the fear of COVID-19 and negative psychological and emotional states in a cross-cultural context. The study involved 2,310 Russian and 500 Kazakhstan students (71.2% - girls, average age 19.7 years). It is found that with the moderate level of fear among the majority of students the proportion of Kazakhstan students experiencing depression, exhaustion and nervousness due to coronavirus over the past month is less than the proportion of Russian students, which is explained by the greater orientation of traditional Kazakhstan culture towards mutual dependence and support in difficult life situations. It is established that value orientation <em>Openness</em><em> to change</em>, regardless of the country of residence, is accompanied by lower fear scores before COVID-19 and the absence of negative psychological and emotional states, while the focus on<em> Conservation values </em>is accompanied by higher indicators of fear and the presence of these psychological and emotional states. It is shown that the fear of COVID-19 encourages both Russian and Kazakhstan students to take more responsible attitude towards their own health and the health of others, to suppress their socially destructive tendencies and limit actions that harm others. It is concluded that the actualization of conservative values and the suppression of self-oriented hedonistic goals can be a psychological resource of the individual, which contributes to coping with fear and negative psychological and emotional states caused by the stressful impact of COVID-19.</p>

ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS IN RICE FARMING IN ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Risk factors such as frequent changes in input cost, drought, herdsmen activities and high degree of product price fluctuation could bring about severe loss in rice production and discouragement to present and prospective rice farmers. The study was conducted to assess the risk factors associated with rice farming in Adamawa State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: investigate risk factors that limit rice farmers from achieving maximum potential yields from rice farms and to predict the future state of rice farm output in the long run. Data were collected from 184 rice farmers using multi stage sampling techniques. Risk impact/probability chart was used to assess the potential impact of risk factors on rice output. The Markov chain model was employed to predict the future state of rice farm output. The result revealed that frequent change in input costs is a risk that its occurrence is almost certain and has high destructive tendency. The result of Markov chain predicted that in the long run more than 51% of the rice farmers in Adamawa State would produce above 10 tonnes annually. To improve rice production, it is recommended that input prices should be subsidized and stabilized by government.

Empire, Hegemony, Hyperpower?

Empire and Hegemony are among the crucial notions of science of international relations. Many scholars were investigating those concepts, and attempted to define them and estimate whether they retain explanatory value in contemporary situations of accelerated evolution of international system. Within the system governed by anarchy, those two prepositions were considered partial resolution to destructive tendencies generated within the international environment. Albeit those resolutions, it seems similar, their application required different conditions in order to become effective. Every mentioned above system is a complex and adequate answer to challenge posed by different set of features and variables generated by particular iteration of international system. The question remains: preconditions to occurrence of which system will be generated by late-Westphalian and subsequent generation of international environment? Contemporary iteration projects many individual characteristics, with regard to complexity, globalization and historical acceleration. One of the possible solutions to this issue is the recently introduced concept of Hyperpower, which could be positioned as a system in between those mentioned above. However its creation embraces new quality of international relations not yet encountered during course of history. This paper will be dedicated to the investigation of this concept and its usefulness for scientific analysis of contemporary international relations. Hyperpower embraces geopolitics and transnational in equal measures. It is product of a so-called “virtualization of state” and encompasses tools for effective interaction in both spheres of international environment. It is a generally much more passive system than mentioned above. Its activation consumes astounding amount of resources. Therefore, its primary application is in most cases passive, strictly limited to the shaping of the perception of remaining elements of international system. Keywords: Hyperpower, Hegemony, Empire, late-Westphalian international environment

Legal foundations of the national security of the Russian Federation

This article is based on the results of the historical and legal analysis of sources and documentation, which investigated the concept and structural features of the legal regulation of national security. The article identifies concepts and approaches to the formulation of the concept of "national security". The historical cross-section of the formation of the legal regulation of Russia's national security programs has also been studied. Method, methodology of the study. In the process of working on the article, relevant research tools and techniques of the general scientific type were used, as well as such methods of scientific cognition as analysis (including historical and legal, synthesis, method of abstraction and modeling, system-structural approach, functional and formal-logical methods). Thanks to the use of a system-legal approach, it became possible to build a hierarchy of existing regulatory legal acts that perform the role of regulators in matters of national security of the Russian Federation. The issues of protecting the security of the state and strengthening it serve as the foundation for protecting the vital values of the country and its interests. Due to the increase in the level of military threat and tension since 2014, as well as the intensification of this threat since the beginning of a special military operation in February 2022 by Russia in Ukraine, there is an objective need for an operational, strategic response of the state system to new military challenges and threats to the national security system of the country. The threat is the strengthening of destructive tendencies in the activities of Western states, the formation of foreign military-power infrastructure formations near the Russian borders, which can be considered as a source of risk and a possible springboard for future military operations. There is also such a type of threat as a sharp decrease in the pace of international cooperation, cooperation in various areas. Against this background, the author of this article proposes the development and adoption of a new federal law "On national Security" for the Russian Constitution.