Psychological adaptation servicemen to service and combat activities in conditions of armed conflict
The activities of many commanders and chiefs of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are connected with ensuring the adaptation of military personnel both to service and combat activities in the conditions of an armed conflict, and their subsequent rehabilitation, which requires them to be balanced, purposeful and continuous work.
Adaptation of military personnel to the conditions of combat activity
The term "adaptation" is extremely broad and is used in various fields of science. In general, adaptation is manifested in the emergence of opportunistic forms of human behavior, with changes in the situation. Psychologists use this term as a definition of a constant process of active adaptation of the individual to the socio-psychological conditions of existence. In other words, adaptation is understood both as a process and as a state. At the same time, the state of stable psychological adaptation and re-adaptation are distinguished.
Sustainable psychological adaptation is the process of adapting all mental functions of a person to the psychological climate of new environmental conditions in order to obtain maximum satisfaction, self-disclosure, reduce emotional stress, etc. This state a serviceman experiences in his usual habitat and service before participating in an armed conflict.
Armed conflict is the most powerful factor in the disorganization of mental activity that regulates the behavior of a serviceman in familiar conditions. He has new mental reactions. This disorganizing impulse is a signal that turns on the mechanisms of regulation and compensation, resulting in the organization of a new level of mental activity of the individual in accordance with the changed conditions of its functioning. This condition is called the re-adaptation of the personality of a soldier.
Psychological re-adaptation is a process of transition from a state of stable adaptation in the usual conditions of service and life to a state of relatively stable adaptation in the conditions of service and combat activity during an armed conflict. This process goes through several stages.
The preparatory stage of adaptation takes place when a serviceman assumes or knows about the upcoming departure to the zone of armed conflict, and in terms of time it coincides with the preparation of units for participation in hostilities.
In terms of content, this stage is cognitive in nature. The serviceman accumulates information about the environment of the forthcoming stay, the conditions of combat activity. The most important condition The formation of an adaptive state at this stage is the activity of commanders and superiors, aimed at bringing to the military personnel timely and reliable information about upcoming events.
Depending on the level of motivation to perform service and combat missions in an armed conflict, the cognitive behavior of a serviceman can be active-purposeful or passive. At the same time, a necessary condition for a serviceman to choose one or another type of cognitive strategy is his individual-personal qualities.
The stage of starting mental stress corresponds to the period of service and combat activity of a serviceman upon arrival in an armed conflict zone, but before participating in combat clashes with the enemy (pre-combat excitement). A similar condition may be experienced by an athlete before the start of the competition. This stage can be considered as the trigger mechanism for the re-adaptation process. At this time, there is an internal mobilization of the mental resources of a serviceman for their future use in combat conditions.
Mental tension, however, performs a constructive, mobilizing function only when the serviceman has a sense of relative confidence in himself and in his abilities, formed in the pre-combat period and correlated with the individual qualities of the individual. Otherwise, tension grows against the background of increased anxiety, colored by negative experiences, which will subsequently also manifest itself in a negative way in the subsequent stages of adaptation.
The stage of acute mental reactions of entry is the stage of the adaptation process, at which a serviceman, performing combat missions in an armed conflict, directly begins to experience the stress factors of combat. The time parameters of this stage, as a rule, do not exceed 2-3 months. On the this stage the serviceman begins to experience a state of frustration and the adaptation mechanism is activated.
1. The stage of re-adaptation or transition to a state of relatively stable adaptation to combat conditions;
2. The stage of unstable mental activity, which in turn can lead to profound mental changes.
The second way is the most dangerous for the psyche of a serviceman and is characterized by a state of maladaptation, which can be expressed in inadequate response and behavior of a serviceman, due to the functioning of his psyche at the limit of regulatory and compensatory capabilities or in an outrageous mode. In this case, as a rule, the serviceman needs specialized psychological and medical assistance.
Thus, dividing into two paths that are opposite in their result, the adaptation process determines the well-being of the completion of the service and combat activities of a serviceman in a military conflict.
With the development of the process of re-adaptation in a favorable direction, the serviceman enters the stage of the final mental stress. The characteristic content of this stage is a kind of preparation of the psyche of a serviceman for the return of old forms of functioning and reactions. The completion of the participation of a serviceman in the performance of combat missions, his preparation for departure from the zone of armed conflict to the place of permanent deployment are accompanied by symptoms of anxiety and tension in anticipation of the moment of returning to peaceful service activities.
The stage of acute psychic exit reactions in terms of its functional significance is to some extent similar to the stage of entry reactions. The return of a serviceman to the place of permanent deployment again implies a restructuring of his mental reactions and mental activity. The reason for this is the discrepancy between the expected servicemen and the actual conditions that they face upon arrival from the zone of armed conflict. This is largely due to post-traumatic changes in the structure of the personality of the serviceman himself, which occurred after his participation in hostilities. This stage is characterized by a wide range of behavioral responses from a return to a state of stable readaptation to maladaptive, asocial behavior.
The individual possibilities of each serviceman for successful re-adaptation in the conditions of an armed conflict are different. Their range ranges from a very high ability to quickly and successfully realize their adaptive potential to a complete inability to adapt to service and combat activities in a given environment (potential tendency to maladaptive states). Based on this, a necessary step in the psychological support of the adaptation processes of servicemen before leaving for an armed conflict zone is the diagnosis or assessment of their adaptive abilities.
Psychological adaptation of combat veterans
An equally important stage in the activities of officials in the psychological support of the adaptation processes of military personnel is their work on the psychological adaptation of veterans of armed conflicts after their arrival in places of permanent deployment. The success of this kind of activity largely depends on the strict observance of the general principles and rules for the psychological adaptation of military personnel who participated in hostilities. Commanders and superiors engaged in such activities should be aware of:
1. Before starting work, it is necessary to devote sufficient time to develop your own idea of \u200b\u200bpsychological adaptation and, first of all, determine what you need to rely on in pursuing the goals of adaptation - on external activities or on internal resources.
Activity (both external and internal) in itself is a unique way of adaptation and, regardless of the final result, creates the prerequisites for restructuring the regulatory system, that is, in the process of spending one’s own resources, a mechanism for their replenishment is developed in parallel.
2. It is necessary to turn to the analysis of one's own life and professional experience. What helped to find a way out in new, non-standard situations of interaction with people (the ability to listen, patience, the gift of persuasion, goodwill, curiosity, the ability to discern the strengths of another, encourage him to take action, etc.) will also help with work with military personnel who took part in hostilities.
3. It is necessary to carefully study the legal framework that defines and regulates the rights of combat veterans, especially the additional rights and benefits of these military personnel. Due to the fact that these military personnel, as a rule, are highly sensitive to the violation of their rights, and sometimes even tend to exaggerate them, demanding special treatment, a good knowledge of the legislative acts will prevent possible conflicts and encourage veterans to use the benefits provided to increase the success of adaptation processes. .
4. You should know the essence and content of the basic psychological concepts in the field of adaptation of military personnel who took part in hostilities (stress condition, post-traumatic syndrome, combat stress factors, diagnosis of adaptation problems, rehabilitation, prevention of stress disorders, etc.). This will allow you to talk with social work specialists, psychotherapists, rehabilitators in the same language, to carry out the necessary interaction in this work.
5. You also need to establish a relationship constructive interaction with organizations dealing with the problems of military personnel - veterans of hostilities (stationary medical institutions, public organizations, social services, centers of medical and social assistance, etc.).
The issues of the success of the psychological adaptation of servicemen who participated in hostilities largely depend on the coordination of actions by a wide range of specialists.
6. Work on the psychological support of the process of adaptation of veterans should be purposeful, planned and phased. To do this, it is necessary to clearly understand the content of the stages of adaptation processes.
7. It is necessary to adequately assess and, if necessary, correct your personal attitude (social attitude) and professional position in interaction with this category of servicemen. If necessary, you should correct your position using one of the proposed methods:
To get acquainted with the achievements of veterans who have successfully overcome the traumatic syndrome caused by participation in hostilities;
Find the positive consequences of the participation of this serviceman in an armed conflict;
Set yourself up for constructive interaction;
Try to "destroy" their negative associations associated with the perception of servicemen - veterans of military operations;
To present the serviceman with whom you work successfully adapted as a result of his professional activity;
Analyze how your current attitudes towards working with a serviceman were formed and whether they are the result of learned stereotypes of thinking;
Make sure that you are professionally able to distinguish the external attributes of the veteran's behavior from his internal position.
8- It is necessary to establish a trusting-constructive contact with a serviceman - a participant in hostilities, to choose the right style and methods of interaction. If possible, all obstacles to this process should be eliminated. A correct assessment of facial expressions, gestures of the interlocutor, simple and understandable questions asked by you will encourage him to complete and frank statements. There is no need to rush things and demand from the soldier immediate answers to your questions. You should not give up if a trusting contact with a veteran does not develop immediately - there may be many reasons for closeness and distrust on the part of the interlocutor.
Remember that dialogue allows you to accurately determine the source and essence of the problem, clarify the feelings and emotional state of a veteran soldier, increase his self-esteem and activity in resolving problems.
9. The military personnel themselves should be involved in psychological adaptation activities. It must be remembered that solving the problems of adaptation is possible only if the serviceman himself is an active participant in the adaptation process and strives for a new social and service integration. As a rule, a soldier makes every effort to implement a decision that he made on his own.
10. It is important to study the personal psychological characteristics of a serviceman who is a participant in hostilities. Specific life and service-combat circumstances, physical factors leave an imprint on a person’s personality, lead to increased sensitivity, a change in self-esteem, specific fears and experiences, demobilization of forces, etc. motives for behavior. Understanding these issues will help to know the general characteristics of the behavior of military personnel - veterans of military operations, signs of manifestation of post-traumatic disorders. Knowledge of the psychological characteristics of a serviceman participating in hostilities contributes to the acceleration of establishing contact with him and the adequate choice of an effective strategy and methods of his psychological adaptation.
11. The organization and conduct of professional activities for the psychological adaptation of military personnel - participants in hostilities are most effective only when a specialist strictly observes the key principles of working with a military personnel.
The main principles of psychological support of adaptation processes are:
True physical and mental health is not about meeting someone else's standards, "being like everyone else," but about coming to terms with yourself and the real facts of your life.
A serviceman who has experienced the impact of combat stress factors in the course of service and combat activities cannot erase this part of his experience from life. He cannot stop acting, thinking and feeling in a new way in a short period of time, based on the combat experience gained. Therefore, it is important that the soldier from the very beginning recognize the existence of special feelings, Miguels, images and reactions in himself.
Attempts to advise a soldier to distract himself, to stop thinking about the past military operations, may run into an increase in feelings of inferiority and “abnormality”. Combat experience is unique, and the one who has it, of course, differs in his attitude from his colleagues who did not fight. This experience should be raised from the depths of memory and realized, which should be the first real step towards sustainable readaptation in peaceful conditions of service.
Sustainable readaptation occurs when everything that happened to a serviceman in the conditions of performing service and combat missions in an armed conflict zone is integrated into an experience that can be used in peaceful service conditions.
Combat experience leads not only to negative, but also to positive consequences in the post-combat period, which include experiences of military brotherhood, rethinking the value of one's own life, relationships with loved ones, expanding the boundaries of a veteran's capabilities, etc.
The next step on the path to sustainable readaptation may be to work out such a question as “What did the war teach me?”. Veteran's reflections together with a specialist lead to gaining access to their own psychological and physical resources, the strengths of their combat experience.
Every behavioral reaction, every symptom, "abnormal behavior" was of vital importance, was originally effective ways achieving a specific goal (for example, to anticipate a blow, distract from pain, maximize the mobilization of psycho-physiological resources and ultimately destroy the enemy and survive).
It is necessary to proceed from the fact that everything a soldier has learned in the war can be useful in an extreme situation. It is impossible to completely discard the program of behavior chosen by the serviceman just because in peaceful service activities its manifestation may look inadequate and ridiculous (for example, vigilance and alertness unmotivated by the situation in harmless, from the point of view of environmental conditions, situations). By the veteran himself, these behavioral responses may be considered "abnormal".
Restoring the meaning of "abnormal behavior", it is possible to teach a soldier to recognize the primary signals that precede the occurrence of such reactions, and then develop the skill of controlling them.
12. You should learn to maintain your own psychological balance and performance. Many veterans, experiencing uncertainty, anxiety and other negative feelings in the process of communication, can express them outwardly, so a specialist who has not built up psychological protection in time is exposed to direct negative emotional infection. In this regard, it is necessary not only to know the signals of manifestation negative emotions but also to be able to build ways to protect against them.
It must be remembered that the greatest success in solving the problems of psychological adaptation of military personnel can be achieved while in a calm state of mind. Maintaining one's own balance is not only taking care of one's own mental health, but also a necessary condition for work efficiency, an important professional quality.
13. Along with perseverance and ingenuity, patience must be shown in achieving the ultimate goal - psychological readaptation.
14. Remember that you can always find your own, non-standard way to solve a problem.
1. In the introductory speech, it is necessary to reveal the relevance of the topic under study, its place in the system of knowledge about the psychological adaptation of military personnel to service and combat activities and the specifics of working with combat veterans, determine its purpose and emphasize the relevance during the upcoming seminar after it.
2. When considering the first question, it is necessary to define the concepts of adaptation, re-adaptation, readaptation, pay attention to the importance of the stages of the course of adaptation processes among military personnel in the course of their service and combat activities in the area of armed conflict and understanding each of the stages.
3. In the course of considering the second question, it is necessary to achieve an understanding by the audience of the essence, principles and rules of the professional activities of officials in carrying out psychological support of readaptation processes, to aim them at their strict and precise implementation.
5. During the seminar, it is recommended to consider and discuss two main questions:
The activities of commanders and chiefs to identify signs of maladaptation of military personnel - participants in hostilities.
Forms and methods for diagnosing maladaptive states of servicemen in the pre-combat and post-combat periods.
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6. Solovyov I. Post-traumatic stress syndrome: causes, conditions, consequences. Provision of psychological assistance and rehabilitation. - M., 2000
Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Lecturer at the Military University,
Lieutenant colonel
Vladislav Glebov
1.2 The readiness of military personnel to act in extreme
situations as a psychological problem
An extreme situation is "such a complication of the conditions of life and activity, which has acquired special significance for an individual, a group."
In the activities of military personnel, extreme situations often arise. The problem of personality behavior in an extreme situation and ways to overcome stress, coping with it have been actively developed in psychology since the second half of the 20th century. The developments of scientists on this issue are widely used in military psychology.
The study of the behavior of military personnel in extreme situations was carried out by foreign and domestic scientists.
W. Thomas and F. Znanetsky believe that the totality of economic, social, religious and other values of a person affect her mental state at the moment. Proceeding from this, each specific activity of a person is a decision by her of a certain situation.
It is important that a serviceman find a way out of this situation, maintain a high level and efficiency of activity, despite the complication of the situation of activity and the occurrence of great mental stress.
In connection with the problem of overcoming an extreme situation by a person, preserving her ability to act effectively in a given situation, the term “coping behavior” appeared in psychology, which is interpreted as coping behavior or psychological overcoming. Coping behavior implies an individual way of coping with a difficult situation in accordance with its significance in his life and with personal and environmental resources, which largely determine human behavior.
The concept of "coping" is interpreted differently in different psychological schools.
The first approach is neopsychoanalytic. Coping processes are considered as ego processes aimed at productive adaptation of a person in difficult situations. The functioning of coping processes involves the inclusion of cognitive, moral, social and motivational structures of the individual in the process of coping with the problem. In the event of a person's inability to adequately overcome the problem, protective mechanisms are activated that promote passive adaptation. Such mechanisms are defined as rigid, maladaptive ways of coping with a problem that prevent an individual from adequately orienting himself in reality. In other words, coping and defense function on the basis of the same ego processes, but they are opposite mechanisms in overcoming problems.
The second approach defines coping as personality traits that allow the use of relatively constant response options to stressful situations. A. Billings and R. Moos identify three ways to cope with a stressful situation:
1. Evaluation-oriented coping - coping with stress, which includes an attempt to determine the meaning of the situation and put into action certain strategies: logical analysis, cognitive reassessment, etc.
2. Coping aimed at the problem - coping with stress, with the aim of modifying, reducing or eliminating the source of stress.
3. Coping aimed at emotions - coping with stress, which includes cognitive, behavioral efforts with which a person tries to reduce emotional stress and maintain affective balance.
In the third approach, coping acts as a dynamic process, which is determined by the subjectivity of experiencing the situation and many other factors.
R. Lazarus and S. Volkman defined psychological overcoming as cognitive and behavioral efforts of the individual aimed at reducing the impact of stress. The active form of coping behavior, active coping, is the purposeful elimination or weakening of the influence stressful situation. Passive coping behavior, or passive overcoming, involves the use of a different arsenal of psychological defense mechanisms that are aimed at reducing emotional stress, and not at changing the stressful situation.
R. Lazarus identified three types of strategies for coping with a threatening situation: Ego defense mechanisms; direct action - attack or flight, which is accompanied by anger or fear; coping without affect, when there is no real threat, but potentially exists.
According to S. Volkman and R. Lazarus, coping performs two main functions:
Emotion regulation (emotion-targeted coping);
Managing problems that cause distress (problem-focused coping).
Both of these functions are carried out in most stressful situations. Their quantitative ratio depends on how stressful situations are assessed.
D. Gallagher hypothesized that the assessment of an event depends on the amount of resources available to the individual to cope with this event. If an individual evaluates resources as insufficient, inadequate, then the event is perceived as a threat. Usually stress-resistant people adequately assess their resources and perceive stressful events as changes.
A. Nezu, T. Zurilla, M. Goldfried were the first to describe the process of psychological resolution of problems caused by an extreme situation by a person, or the coping process. This was a theoretically important moment in the study of the formation of active coping behavior - strategies for solving problems.
1. Orientation in the problem, connecting the cognitive and motivational components for general familiarization.
2. Definition and formulation of the problem, its description in specific terms and identification of specific goals.
3. Generation of alternatives, development of numerous possible solutions to the problem.
4. Choosing the optimal solution to the problem.
5. Implementation of the solution with subsequent verification, confirmation of its effectiveness.
The development of the problem of coping behavior of the individual in crisis situations made it possible to identify destructive and constructive strategies for coping with stress, which was an important moment for the development of recommendations and training programs for individual and group psychological preparation of military personnel for an adequate response in extreme situations.
L.D. Bitekhtina, studying the behavior of military personnel in extreme situations, came to the conclusion that it is largely due to their personality traits. The perception of a situation by a soldier and assessment of the degree of its difficulty, extremeness is influenced by the following factors: the degree of positivity of self-esteem, self-confidence, the level of subjective control, the presence of positive thinking, the severity of motivation to achieve success, and others. The behavior of a serviceman in an extreme situation is determined by the peculiarities of his temperament (anxiety, response rate, etc.) and his character (the severity of certain accentuations).
Exploring the dependence of the behavior of military personnel in extreme situations on personality traits, L.D. Bitekhtina came to the conclusion that stress tolerance has wide individual differences, which do not allow one to clearly define the limits of the maximum possible stresses common to everyone. According to L.D. Bitekhtina, psychological factors - individual qualities, abilities of a serviceman, his skills, readiness, attitudes, general and special training, his character and temperament - in difficult environment do not add up arithmetically, but form a certain complex, which is ultimately realized either in a correct or in an erroneous action.
Actions in emergency situations (often fighting), a threat to life require a serviceman psychological stability, perseverance, initiative and discipline. According to V.N. Smirnov, psychologically trained servicemen in a combat situation develop a characteristic combat excitement, sharpening their attention, memory and thinking, which contributes to the activity and purposefulness of actions. In military personnel who are not psychologically and professionally trained enough, under the influence of negative feelings arising in an extreme situation and the general state of the psyche, the reaction may slow down, coordination and stability of movements and actions will be disturbed, attention and memory will be weakened. This reduces and jeopardizes their performance.
When determining the suitability of a recruit for service in certain troops, it is necessary to determine and take into account, along with the characteristics of mental processes and personality traits, his potential ability to develop and maintain readiness for active action in extreme situations.
The psychological readiness of a serviceman to act in an extreme situation, according to V.N. Smirnova suggests:
A warrior's awareness of responsibility for the fate of the Motherland, relatives and friends; self-confidence, their comrades, military equipment and weapons;
The desire to fight, the desire to test oneself, overcome one's weaknesses, achieve victory over the enemy.
The main signs of the psychological readiness of a serviceman to act in an extreme situation are: lack of fussiness or, conversely, isolation; prudent, even behavior; clear, error-free execution of orders and commands; normal physiological state (pulse rate, respiration, etc.).
V.N. Smirnov distinguishes three levels of the state of psychological readiness of military personnel to act in an extreme situation: low, medium and high.
A low level is manifested in the fact that a warrior is not confident in himself, he has no desire for confrontation, he is indecisive, overly fussy or closed, makes mistakes when executing the simplest commands.
The average level is characterized by a combination of confidence in oneself and others with a lack of desire for confrontation and decisive action. A warrior makes minor mistakes when executing commands, his physiological state is close to normal.
A high level is distinguished by the desire to fight, the absence of doubt, the desire to test oneself, to achieve victory over the enemy or over the situation. A warrior cannot stay at this level of psychological readiness for a long time. The protective mechanisms of the human psyche and physiology work.
Therefore, it is very important that military personnel be able to maintain an average level of readiness before acting in an extreme situation (combat operations), and achieve a high level of psychological readiness during the transition to action.
To maintain psychological readiness for action in an extreme situation, methods of psychological self-regulation can be used: self-persuasion, self-hypnosis, control of imagination, attention.
Self-persuasion is the warrior's proof to himself of the need to maintain a high level of readiness. When distracting thoughts and desires appear while serving on a combat post or performing another combat mission, a soldier needs to imagine as clearly as possible the possible negative consequences of weakening vigilance.
Self-hypnosis, like self-persuasion, is carried out by military personnel consciously and uses the word as the main influence. Self-hypnosis can change the state of a person due to his faith in himself and his abilities.
To keep soldiers alert and active, military psychologists recommend very clear and concise self-instructions:
"I am attentive and focused";
"I am calm and confident";
"I am in complete control of my behavior and situation," etc.
These self-instructions are peculiar models of the desired state. way multiple repetition warrior of pre-prepared verbal formulas, they are easily "introduced" into his subconscious and begin to immediately determine his state.
Imagination control significantly enhances the effect of verbal forms of self-hypnosis. By controlling your imagination at a combat post, you can create an image of the desired result of your activity. It is necessary to emotionally imbue the content of verbal images.
Attention management is closely related to imagination. The direction of attention has a strong influence on the vigilance of a warrior. Being out of conscious control, attention can distract a person by switching to another object that is not related to the performance of a combat mission, which can lead to serious consequences. It is important for a soldier to develop the habit of suddenly appearing a strong stimulus (interference on the screen, a dangerous sound, a person or animal beyond the observation boundary) not to fix all his attention on this object, but at the same time to observe in other directions, which just may turn out to be the main ones. In a combat situation, it is recommended to keep attention on objects related to the performance of a combat mission, and not be distracted by secondary stimuli.
Thus, the behavioral reactions of servicemen in extreme conditions are variable values, depending on the characteristics of the nervous system, life experience, professional knowledge, skills, motivation, etc. Combat training allows a soldier to acquire military knowledge, develop combat skills and abilities - the basis of confidence in himself, and psychological preparation equips him with the ability to maintain psychological readiness to take immediate action in an emergency.
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And participation in psychological experiments. Organization and content of psychological work 11. General organizational and methodological management of psychological work in the Armed Forces is carried out by the Main Directorate educational work Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Main Directorate of Educational Work). The Main Directorate of Educational Work cooperates on...
The work has a rich arsenal of methods for influencing the consciousness and behavior of soldiers in peaceful conditions and in a combat situation. Question 2 Practical use information and educational work for the formation of moral and psychological stability (on the example of the activities of the Ground Forces). Under daily activities ground forces refers to the purposeful process of maintaining...
Climate in military collectives; forecasting socio-psychological processes and phenomena, developing proposals for managing them, etc. 2.3 Features of the professional ethics of a military psychologist A military psychologist is called upon by all his professional activities to contribute to the creation of favorable conditions for the comprehensive development of the personality of military personnel, members of their families and ...
The healthiest contingent of young people in our country is called up for active military service in the ranks of the Armed Forces. This involves serving not only in normal, but also in extreme conditions of life. Modern views about the psychological and socio-psychological consequences of extreme effects on military personnel are traditionally considered in two main directions: firstly, from the point of view of their impact on the effectiveness of combat activities and, secondly, from the point of view of maintaining the mental health of soldiers.
Each serviceman reacts to the impact of extreme factors depending on his constitutional characteristics, different susceptibility to external, including energy-informational influences, ethnicity, time spent in the extreme zone, environmental and climatic features of places permanent residence.
An important role in the process of adaptation to the service is played by psychological and psychophysical readiness, therefore, for the effective fulfillment of assigned tasks in stressful conditions of life, the formation of a soldier's personality is no less important than the purposeful formation of technical skills and physical qualities. Psychophysical readiness is determined by the level of development of the necessary general mental and special physical qualities: strength, speed, agility and endurance, coordination of movements, resistance to stress, the ability to withstand the effects of extreme factors, as well as the development of psychomotor abilities that allow finely regulating the quantity and quality of motor actions.
Despite the interest of military psychology in the problem of personality adaptation to ordinary and extreme conditions of service, there is currently no unified theory of adaptation of military personnel, which leads to ambiguity in the definition and content of the adaptation process. An analysis of the literature has shown that an increase in adaptation in extreme conditions is considered as an adaptation of a person to life in a stressful situation, based on the concept of the general adaptation syndrome of G. Selye and extreme conditions of life of a person V.I. Lebedev. Adaptation is understood as a process of formation of mental reactions of a person, a system of relations that are adequate to the requirements imposed by the environment on a person.
Based on a systematic approach in studying the interaction of the organism with the external environment, the work of domestic and foreign psychologists, one can understand that adaptation is a universal human ability that has external (motor) and internal (personal-psychological) manifestations that interact structurally and functionally, forming a single adaptability. In different mental states (including extreme ones), different psychomotor subsystems are formed, which are the result of a response to external influences. Psychomotor provides control mental processes under stressful task conditions. With the improvement of motor regulation of activity, a higher-level control is formed, which ensures adequate self-regulation in interpersonal relationships and activities. This indicates the possibility of targeted development of qualitative and quantitative indicators of adaptive processes.
The relevance of the study is due to the lack to date of a unified scientifically based concept of psychological adaptation of military personnel to extreme conditions of service, which can significantly increase the level of success in performing activities (effective performance of combat missions), as well as preserve the health of the most complete male population of the country.
The problem of the study is due to the need to develop the ecological consciousness of military personnel in extreme conditions of service and the lack of a unified concept of adaptation. The most effective way to overcome this contradiction is to study and generalize the features of the psychological adaptation of military personnel to extreme conditions of service.
The object of the study is the socio-psychological features of the influence of an extreme environment on the ecological consciousness of servicemen.
The subject of the study is the socio-psychological features of the ecological consciousness of servicemen, expressed in the internal (personal-psychological) and external (psychomotor) aspects of a single process of adaptation to extreme conditions of service.
The purpose of the work is to study the socio-psychological characteristics of the ecological consciousness of servicemen who are in extreme conditions of service.
Research hypothesis: depending on the psychological characteristics of the personality of military personnel, extreme conditions of service have an impact on the ecological consciousness of military personnel.
Research objectives:
1. To analyze theoretical and methodological approaches in the study of the influence of an extreme environment on the ecological consciousness of servicemen.
2. Conduct an analysis of the environmental perceptions of servicemen.
3. Determine the leading type of motivation for interaction with natural objects military personnel.
4. Determine the level of subjective attitude to the nature of military personnel.
5. Reveal the level of aggressiveness of military personnel.
6. Determine the level of stress resistance and social adaptation of military personnel.
7. Reveal the relationship between personality characteristics in extreme conditions and the ecological consciousness of servicemen.
The novelty of the work is:
1. In specifying the objective social conditions and factors of the extreme environment that affect the ecological consciousness of servicemen.
2. In developing tools and conducting a study of the environmental consciousness of servicemen.
3. In the process of empirical analysis revealing patterns of changes in the ecological consciousness of servicemen.
The collection of the results of the socio-psychological study was carried out in the 25th fire department of the 6th OGPS of the city of Tula in the period from 03/01/2007 to 05/15/2007.
Employees of the 25th fire department of the 6th OGPS of the city of Tula in the amount of 20 people acted as the experimental group, cadets of the 5th year of the Tula Artillery School in the amount of 20 people acted as the control group.
The following methods were used in the study: observation, conversation, questioning, testing (the "Alternative" method, the "Dominant" method, the test for determining the level of aggressiveness of A. Assinger, the method for determining stress resistance and social adaptation of Holmes and Rage, the test for self-assessment of the stress resistance of a person).
The obtained data were processed using mathematical and statistical methods.
graduate work
The period of reforming the Armed Forces is characterized by a significant increase in attention to the problem of reliable and efficient functioning of a person in extreme conditions of military service. mental disorder and physical health young soldiers inevitably entails the emergence of various manifestations of maladaptive behavior in them and leads to pronounced functional stress, and as a result, to a decrease in the success of training.
From the analysis of psychological literature on the problem of adaptation of young soldiers to military service, two main directions have developed in understanding the essence of the personality to the impact of new stimuli or to changed conditions of activity and life in general. (A.A. Talankin, G.D. Khakhanyan, G.D. Lukov, N.D. Fedenko, V.G. Demin, M.I. Dyachenko, S. Kabele, A.I. Aleksandrov, L.F. Zheleznyak, N.N. Moroz, I.E. Boikov, Ya.V. Podolyak, etc.).
Proponents of the first direction consider the main content of adaptation to be habituation, change (logic) of the old dynamic stereotype and the formation of a new one. The legitimacy of such an approach is beyond doubt when assessing the biological, physiological, psychophysiological and psychological adaptation of a person to certain conditions of life and activity, including military service.
The second direction: which is based on the reasoning that in the process of adaptation, a person not only adapts to the environment, but also actively interacts with it, adapting it to himself, changing it in his own interests (M.P. Korobeinikov, F.I. Mingoshov , V. I. Kovalev, A. D. Glotochkin, K. K. Platanov, L. G. Egorov, V. P. Petrov, A. L. Yablonko, S. S. Musuchkov, and others). This approach makes it possible to adequately understand the essence of the activity of the individual in the process of its adaptation in the social macro- and microenvironment, to distinguish between the concepts of biological and social adaptation as interrelated, but multilevel phenomena.
Proponents of the first approach, disagreeing with this understanding of adaptation, argue that in this case there is a fusion of the concepts of adaptation and socialization of a person. So, Andreeva notes that “there is clearly a competition between the concepts of adaptation and socialization ... The involvement of these concepts in a common problem for them, apparently, is the basis for some authors to use them as identical. This reason alone cannot be considered sufficient.
But rightfully raising the question of the need to distinguish between these concepts, D.A. Andreeva somewhat simplifies the essence of human adaptation, believing that it is only overcoming difficulties through addiction, mastering a new business.
Understanding the essence of a person as the totality of all social relations, a product of activity and learning, analysis of psychological literature allows us to assume that both the first and second approaches correctly, but one-sidedly, understand the process of his adaptation. After all, “adaptation” is a form of adaptation of a person as an organism. The process of his adaptation as a person can proceed both in an adaptive form and in the form of "active mastery" of new types of activity and the conditions for their implementation. The dialectic of the manifestation of these forms is determined by the nature of the interaction of subjective, psychological factors and objective conditions for the course of human adaptation, and therefore adaptation is characterized by wide variability.
In the process of adaptation of the personality, new properties and qualities are not so much acquired, as the existing ones are rebuilt. Understanding the essence of adaptation allows us to consider that adaptation is an element of human socialization. After all, socialization is understood as “a complex multi-level process of formation of the main personal qualities individual, necessary for him to live in society, as well as the assimilation of a certain system of knowledge, norms and values that allow him to function as a full member of society. Mastering new types of activity and behavior by a person in the process of his socialization necessarily implies adaptation to them.
The essence of the adaptation of young soldiers to military service, as to special conditions is to bring the subject of adaptation - the young soldier - into optimal conformity with the requirements of the military collective (object of adaptation). The content of psychological adaptation is the process of choosing and implementing such modes of behavior and forms of communication that make it possible to harmonize the requirements and expectations of the participants in an adaptive situation under conditions of compatibility (incompatibility) of the basic values of the individual and the military collective. Cognitive, emotional, motivational, and behavioral components of personality psychology are involved in the process of psychological adaptation. psychological adaptation depends not only on the characteristics of the adapting personality, but mainly on the qualities of the military collective, on its type: emerging, formal or true. At the same time, the specifics of the psychological adaptation of young soldiers will be determined by the coincidence or non-coincidence of the value orientations of the individual and the military collective. Therefore, it is important to note here character traits the army environment in which a person got, but the features of his socio-psychological status: which are determined by the requirements of the charters and orders of the commanders, and not by his desires and inclinations. And sometimes contrary to them. He must give up a number of habits and skills, temporarily postpone the implementation of life plans or change her tactics. .
So, having got into new conditions, a person has the first impressions associated with a sharp change in the image of "I". Everything changes: appearance (new haircut, clothes); the name is replaced by the title and name of the unit; life and daily routine change, etc. But the most powerful experiences - from the realization that the individual cannot fully control himself, suddenly ceases to be a decision-maker. Nobody here knows him, and most importantly, he does not have the opportunity to restore his individuality, even at the level of performing elementary actions (time is regulated from eating to watching TV). Everything is subject to a routine, and it must be followed in order to avoid a sanction for disobedience - the main "sin" of a soldier. The purpose of such a socio-psychological organization is to subdue a person, to accustom him to the fulfillment of any orders: a soldier should not think, but instantly obey the requirements of commanders. Of course, such a situation with its radical novelty causes stress. The way out of it is that many soldiers try to find meaning not in the actions themselves, but in their precise, impeccable execution. As a result, criticality in relation to others and to oneself decreases, as well as the general intellectual level.
Especially in the first months of service, it is difficult to satisfy even the most basic physiological needs, not to mention other levels of needs ( constant feeling hunger, lack of sleep, unsatisfied sexuality, lack of security and social connections, love, identification, etc.). The need for self-esteem is also not realized: there is no success, recognition, approval, or these needs, due to their specific understanding in this environment, are not perceived by the individual as adequate.
Satisfaction of needs is often transferred to the realm of fantasy: memories of the past and ideas about the future. Moreover, ideas about the future are conceived in a different time perspective: from the onset of a new period of service to post-army life. The strict official routine is partly realized in alternative rituals, which are a surrogate form of fulfilling the needs of identification, self-respect, and success.
Many military personnel hallmark becomes conformity, i.e. what surrounds him is incomprehensible or unacceptable, and refusal to follow established procedures instantly leads to a variety of sanctions, from which it is almost impossible to escape. Therefore, the demonstration of loyalty to commanders is the main feature of the adaptive behavior of a young soldier; it is expressed in the form of a response to any claims, which is widespread in the army: “Guilty! I'll fix it!" This conformity causes further submission to the authority of the old-timers when a soldier moves from a training unit to a place of further service. The practice of punishing a group for violations of one leads to the fact that soldiers of the same service life often control the observance of traditions, so failure to comply with the rules entails not only a deterioration in relations with old-timers or officers, but also with their group.
The ritualization of life has an important influence on the adaptation of young soldiers. The most important of the informal rituals in the life of military personnel are "rituals of transition", meaning entry into another "age" and, therefore, "social" group, characterized by a new list of rights and obligations. This change is accompanied by various ritual actions. These rituals may include the so-called "beating off" soldiers with a belt according to the number of months that have yet to be served, the transfer of part of the food from the "old" to the "young" on certain days, and much more. Of particular importance is the ritual “One Hundred Days Before the Order” (on transfer to the reserve), symbolizing the transfer of power, for a day “young” and “old” can change roles. Then all the orders of the "young" are carried out by the "old" unquestioningly and even joyfully.
Following informal rituals makes it possible to realize some suppressed needs in a surrogate form, promotes awareness of rights and obligations in this socio-cultural environment; allows from time to time (at the moments of the ritual game) to relieve the psychological stress caused by the rigid regulation of life; helps streamline the struggle for dominance among military personnel of different conscriptions.
The periods of service are also of great importance, but the third quarter of the service is very significant, where there is a weakening of the confrontation in the system of relations "young" - "old man", allows you to take a place away from conflicts, this is, as it were, an intermediate stage. However, even here there are clear rules: rights and prohibitions (for example, it may be forbidden to give personal instructions to soldiers in the second quarter of the service). The fourth quarter of the service gives military personnel the opportunity to demand the respect they need for themselves. The group is aware of the common interests and sources of their implementation. Strength is in unity. The object of influence is young replenishment. It is very difficult to break such a tradition: how much they had to endure before, dreaming of subsequent compensation for humiliation, so the “old-timers” even commit crimes, seeking, as they think, justice.
The last months of service - after the order for dismissal to the reserve and until the end of the service. This is a period of preparation for civil life (within the framework of informal ritualization military ranks"demobilization" is usually replaced by the address "citizen"). "Dembela" - the most authoritative people in the barracks, they are almost excluded from the relationship of domination - submission, their status rests on "respect for old age."
Each period of service has informal iconic designations, there can be dozens of such differences that are not visible to the uninitiated.
Semiotics denotes the length of service and therefore the status of a soldier.
And at the same time, the social structure of the army, oriented towards external coercion, strict centralization, unquestioning obedience, is gradually losing its legitimacy in values. Values cease to be an effective means to achieve institutional goals and objectives.
A person, in order to successfully fulfill his professional duties, must have a certain set of individual psychological properties that act as adaptation factors. F. Pearson (1908) is the founder of such a scientific-psychological approach to the problems of a person's professional development. According to his approach, each profession corresponds to a certain set of psychological and physical qualities of the individual, and the success of professional activity and satisfaction with the profession are directly dependent on the degree of compliance of individual qualities with the requirements of the profession. Personal structures and professional requirements for a person in real life are highly variable, not stable. Attempts to take into account and measure the individual psychological characteristics of a person in order to predict effective adaptation to any area in different time was undertaken quite widely (Berezin F.B., Kulagin B.V., Leontiev A.P., Podolyak L.V., Samoilova V.A., Simonov P.V.,). The individual characteristics of the subject are important factors, since they, as it were, model (build) adaptation processes when certain factors or environmental conditions change (Treasurers V.P.,).
Often, changes in the value orientations of young soldiers affect the moral and psychological state in the process of adaptation.
So a negative attitude towards military service, the ability to evade it, impunity for these offenses - this is the idea formed by young man before being drafted into the army, in new conditions during the period of getting used to new conditions of life - it is significantly enhanced, even when faced with minor difficulties, the resolution of which can develop into interpersonal conflicts.
Conflict in relations with each other is mainly associated with the shifting of their duties to colleagues, and contributes to the manifestation of maladaptive behavior.
Analyzing maladaptive behavior, we can distinguish two main types of it:
1. Negative - aggressive, which is characterized by a negative attitude towards the army and everything connected with it - commanders, colleagues, military life, etc. As an opportunity to influence others - aggressive behavior, attempts at disobedience, increased conflict, an attempt to leave the unit without permission.
2. Anxious - depressive, which is characterized by isolation, self-isolation from the military team, immersion in one's own experiences, decreased mood, gloom, slow movements, sluggishness, lack of determination, perseverance. Self-blame feeling own inferiority- the main indicators of attitude towards oneself, this type of personality maladjustment is fraught with suicide attempts, unauthorized abandonment of a military unit, as the only, in the opinion of this person, opportunities to get rid of life's difficulties and negative experiences.
The division into these two types of deviant behavior is purely arbitrary. However, in the course of adaptation of young recruits, certain tendencies in the behavior of military personnel are manifested.
Observations of young soldiers show that the types of behavior described above may not be the result of personality maladjustment to new, army conditions. They can also appear for other reasons: due to character accentuation (excessive expression of individual
character traits representing extreme variants of the norm, bordering on psychopathy), serious costs of education, unfavorable development of the personality due to various reasons, incl. pathological heredity of past diseases, especially neuro-psychic, brain injuries, etc. .
The call for military service, the novelty of the situation, for the perception of which the young person has not developed an adaptation reaction, breaking the usual and well-known activities - all this creates truly extreme conditions that can be considered as a stressor, and their impact on a person as a strong stressful influence. . In the literature, there are many scattered indications of a possible positive aspect of the impact of an extreme situation on a person: “amazing psychotherapy” by V.A. Ananiev, "catharsis" in L.A. Grimak, the metaphenomenon of "active humanization" by L.A. Kitaeva-Smyka, "successful coping" with stressful events in V.A. Lischuk.
The concepts of all authors are united by the idea that in moments of unusual experiences something happens to a person that allows him to realize new facets of reality, advance in personal growth, see life in its true light: People who have passed the test of shock, as a rule, create a new form of their existence, starting with the understanding of their usual connections, through the knowledge of their stable connections, ending with the knowledge and use of the necessary connections, i.e., essential ones. The essence lives by the necessary connections, and the necessity is determined by the constitutional program (model) of health development.
Thus, an extreme situation in some cases can be considered as a kind of catalyst for personal growth. The same idea is formulated from the standpoint of the theory of adaptive norm: the norm of adaptation of a particular organism cannot change significantly, however, the norm of mental and especially social adaptation can expand as a result of the transition to new level existence, and this is due to living situations associated with "shocks".
But everyone knows that extremeness does not always turn out to be its positive side for the individual: often a person who has experienced severe stress, as it were, recedes in his personal development, becomes more maladjusted, infringed and suffering than he was before this event. The emergence of post-traumatic stress disorder syndrome is the most striking illustration of such a "regression".
The individual severity of stress to a large extent depends on a person's awareness of his responsibility for himself, for others, for everything that happens in extreme conditions, from the psychological attitude to one or another of his roles.
In fact, a person's adaptation to extreme conditions is largely determined by the highest adaptive psychophysiological levels that he has, and the use of certain adaptation strategies is determined to a large extent by the characteristics of the person's mental make-up.
The restructuring of the motivational complex leads to the strengthening or formation of professional interests, inclinations, ideals, beliefs among conscripts, the emergence of new perspectives and life goals. Their skills, abilities and habits undergo significant changes. Those of them that meet the requirements of behavior in part develop, those that do not meet - weaken and disappear. The methods and techniques of its implementation, which are absent, but necessary for the activity, are being actively formed. The ideas of young men about behavior in new conditions are expanding and deepening. The psychological neoplasms that appear as a result of this restructuring allow military personnel to carry out official and social activities in terms of part. And this, in turn, testifies to the growth of their adaptability in the military unit.
Strengthening the motivation of the activity of young military personnel makes them need to develop ideas, skills, abilities and habits for its implementation, constant professional improvement of their personality, which is directly related to self-exercise and other methods of self-education, which are psychological mechanisms for its implementation. All these mechanisms are interconnected and interact, determining the psychological content, forms of activity of human behavior in new conditions, directly affecting his mental health.
A serviceman is considered mentally healthy if he is sufficiently mature, mentally developed, internally balanced, able to master a military specialty, join a military team and overcome the mental and physical exercise without suffering permanent health problems.
Ideal mental health is not only the absence of mental illness, but also the exclusion of any prerequisites for it (the so-called "zero probability of illness"). Between perfect
mental health and mental illness, there are a number of intermediate conditions (levels of health), characterized by varying degrees of risk of mental pathology.
In this row there are persons with neuropsychic instability i.e. a state of mental maladjustment, which are characterized by a tendency to disrupt optimal functioning and adequate personal (or behavioral) response in conditions of emotional stress. Prevention and early recognition are the main links of practical psychoprophylactic work in a military unit.
Conclusion by chapter
Thus, adaptation processes are aimed at maintaining balance within the organism and between the organism and the environment and are associated both with the self-preservation of the functional level of a self-regulating system and with the choice of a functional strategy for achieving the goal.
The process of adaptation of an individual to military service by conscription is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, designed to ensure the formation of a complex of mental reactions that determine the adequate behavior of the individual and its effective interaction with an unusual environment of existence, which is psychogenic in nature.
The conducted research shows that in the course of adaptation of conscripts, their psychological properties and qualities are restructured in accordance with the requirements of new activities in a military unit.
The development of the adaptation process is ambiguous in its final result and significance in terms of the success of its completion.
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