Youth and its role in modern society. Youth and youth policy

Lesson topic: “Youth in modern society" (slide 1,2)

Goals and objectives of the lesson: characterize youth as separate social group; reveal the main features of adolescence, establish the social roles performed by young people; identify social functions and features of the social status of young people in modern society; determine the main features and reasons for the existence of the modern youth subculture; teach students to independently identify the problems of modern youth; continue to develop analytical skills social problems, compare opinions on social issues, draw conclusions, rationally solve cognitive and problematic problems, reveal with examples the most important theoretical positions and concepts of the social sciences and humanities; practical application of knowledge acquired in class in Everyday life.
Lesson type: lesson of new knowledge.

Equipment: L.N. Bogolyubov “Social studies”: textbook for 11th grade. - M. “Enlightenment”, 2014, §18; collage “What is it like, modern youth?”; slide presentation “Youth in modern society”; presentations by students “Youth subculture”, “15 facts about modern youth”; laptop, projector, screen.

During the classes

Organizing time.

Teacher's word: Good afternoon guys, dear colleagues. I am glad to welcome you all to the social studies lesson.

We continue to consider Chapter 2. “Social sphere”.

Teacher's word: Today in class we: (slide 3)

Students read aloud:

Let us characterize youth as a separate social group;

Let us reveal the main features of adolescence, establish the social roles performed by young people;

We will identify the social functions and features of the social status of young people in modern society;

Let us determine the main features and reasons for the existence of the modern youth subculture;

Let’s learn to independently identify the problems of modern youth;

We will continue to develop the ability to analyze social problems, compare opinions on social issues, draw conclusions, rationally solve cognitive and problematic problems, reveal with examples the most important theoretical positions and concepts of the social sciences and humanities;

Let's apply the knowledge gained in class in everyday life and in practical activities.

II . Updating and motivating knowledge.

Teacher's word: And to do this, let us turn our attention to the basic concepts and categories of the social sphere.

Questions for discussion (slide 4):

1. Define the concepts of “social stratification”, “social group”, “social status”.

2. List the grounds (criteria) of social stratification.

3. What social groups exist in modern society? What social groups do you belong to?

4. What does the concept of “social mobility” mean, what are its types?

Discussion of questions by students.

Teacher's word: Well done guys, now listen carefully to the following statement.

Teacher's word (slide 5)....Speaking before a meeting of the Dortmund Medical Society (1979), Dr. Ronald Gibson began his report with four quotes that belonged to a philosopher, a poet, a politician and a priest.

To the philosopher:“They (young people) today love luxury, they have bad manners and no respect for authority, they disrespect elders, loiter and gossip constantly. They argue with their parents all the time, they constantly interfere in conversations and attract attention to themselves, they greedily swallow food and harass teachers ... "

Poet:“I have lost all hope for the future of our country if the youth of today take the reins of power tomorrow. These young people are unbearable, unrestrained, simply terrible.”

Politician:“Our youth have been corrupted to the core; they will never be like the youth of old times. The younger generation of today will not be able to preserve our culture.”

Priest:“Our world has reached a critical stage. Children no longer listen to their parents. Apparently, the end of the world is not far away.”

Teacher's word: Do you agree with this description of modern youth?

Teacher's word: The paradox is that the first statement belongs to the philosopher Socrates, who lived in 470-399. BC e. The second - to the first famous ancient Greek poet Hesiod, who lived in the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. The third was found in a clay pot that had been kept for 3,000 years in the ruins of Babylon. The last one is to the Egyptian priest. The papyrus scroll with this inscription is about 4000 years old. It is also curious that all these great civilizations perished.

How do young people live today? How do others treat her? Some representatives of the older generation believe that a significant part of modern youth does not live, but lives, does not work, but earns extra money, does not work, but pretends. Is it so? Let's try to deal with this problem in today's lesson.

Teacher's word: I suggest you consider the following lesson plan (slide 6):

Plan.

1. Youth as a social group.
2. Youth is the renewing force of society.
3. Youth subculture.
4. Is it easy to be young? Problems of modern youth.

III . Learning new material.

1. Youth as a social group.

“Take a position” (What do you think? slide 7):

How are young people different from other social groups?

Who is included in the youth category by age?

Teacher's word (slide 8).

The youth- a large socio-demographic group, identified on the basis of age characteristics, characteristics of social status, socio-psychological properties, which are determined by the system, culture, patterns of socialization, education of a given society. The age limits of youth are from 14-16 to 25-30 years.

The boundaries of youth are individual for everyone. There are circumstances in life that force a person to grow up earlier. And there are adults who have physical and mental traits characteristic of childhood - infantilism. Therefore, very often young people say “old people” or “eternal” youth. But, one way or another, the conclusion can be drawn as follows:

YOUTH is a feeling that necessarily manifests itself both in a person’s appearance and behavior.

Teacher's word: Let's turn to statistics (slide 9).

Out of the total world population of 7.584 billion people. the young population is 1.8 billion people. There have never been so many young people on Earth before! Along with young people, the demand for education and jobs is growing.

Almost 90% of all young people live in the developing world - countries in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

In Afghanistan, Nigeria, Chad and Uganda, 50% of the population is under 18 years of age!

The share of youth in the developed world continues to decline.

Teacher's word: What social roles do young people perform? (slide 10)

- Features of social status (slide 11), write down in a notebook.

2. Youth is the renewing force of society.

Youth is the engine of progress, and youth is the future. Is it so? What is the youth of today? What can older generations learn from her? How has the age of new technologies and the entertainment industry changed young people?

Presentation of the work “15 facts about modern youth.” (slide 12)

Teacher's word: Are there sufficient grounds to assert that youth are the renewing force of society?

YES, because...

NO, because...

Teacher's word: Based on existing ideas and acquired knowledge, let’s fill out the collage “What are modern youth like?” (slide 13)

3. Youth subculture. (slide 14)

Teacher's word: Certain social groups are characterized by special features of consciousness, behavior, and lifestyle. They create their own cultural niche - a subculture. Young people were no exception - they also created their own culture. Youth subculture is a phenomenon characteristic of the industrial and post-industrial stage of development of any type of culture. It performs the functions of socialization of young people, solves problems of generational conflict and obeys the uniform laws of development.

Presentation of the message: “Youth subculture.” (slide 14)

Teacher's word: What motivates young people to create a subculture?

4. Is it easy to be young? Problems of modern youth. (slide 15)

Teacher's word: And now we will try to figure out the rhetorical question “Is it easy to be young?” What problems do today's youth face? How does she try to solve them, how does she live, what does she root for, what does she think about?

Presentation of results (video);

Sociological survey (slide 16)

- “10 sentences” homework (timed).

IV . Fixing the material.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION (slide 17):

2. How do a person’s social roles change in his youth?

3. What does the concept of “youth subculture” include? Why is it necessary to have such crops?

4. What problems do modern youth face in their lives?

V . Summing up the lesson.

1. Answer in one sentence: “What does it mean to be young”? (slide 18)

2. “House of Life” (slide 19)

Teacher's word: Each age has its own mission, its own goals, goals, and values. Each of us builds our own house of life. If we imagine our life as a house, then what should youth be - the foundation, the roof, the walls?

Youth is the foundation, and what “bricks” you lay, what “cement” you use, will determine your “House of Life”. And it will depend only on you what you get in your old age: a shack, a good-quality house or a palace?

VI . Reflection. (slide 20, 21)

1. Young people are heterogeneous, have different goals and value orientations.

The main feature of the social situation of young people is its transition. Young people are mastering new social roles: worker, student, citizen, family man, and the like. They are looking for their place in life, often changing their field of activity.

2. Youth is one of the hidden resources that exists in any society and on which its viability depends. The survival and pace of progress of each country are determined by how significant and developed this resource is, how mobilized it is, and how fully it is used.

3. Youth is the renewing force of society. This is the sociological function of youth.

4. In the lives of modern young people there are many problems that require attention and resolution.

5. Young people are characterized by a creative attitude towards the surrounding reality, a desire to change the world, to live in a new way, and a tendency to unite in informal groups.

6. It is impossible to judge unequivocally about modern youth.

7. The problem of youth has been relevant at all times.

VI І . Homework. (slide 22)

Textbook paragraph 18, p. 194-204.

Write an essay: “Get rich when you’re young, and live when you’re old!”

Teacher's word: Thank you very much for the lesson, all the best to you!

Youth in modern Russian society.

1. Youth and the formation of a new Russia.

The high speed of political, economic and social changes in the 90s had (and are) influencing the situation and development of Russian youth. Today, it is obvious that differentiation processes prevail among young people. Moreover, differentiating factors appear more visibly than integrating factors. This is primarily due to the fact that in the conditions of a radical transformation of Russian society, profound changes are taking place in its social stratification, one of the features of which is social polarization based on property stratification.

IN social structure new groups appeared: entrepreneurs, bankers, small traders and “shuttle traders”, new Russians and new poor. New trends have emerged among workers and peasants related to attitudes towards one form of property or another. Between layers of the working class and peasantry, differences in income, economic and political interests are deepening.

Young people belong to each stratum and social group to a greater or lesser extent. That is why the fundamental criteria for the social differentiation of youth are the social origin and their own social position of young people. Possessing the social characteristics of different communities, they differ in material capabilities, value orientations, image and lifestyle. The analysis shows that the most important characteristic of modern Russian youth is the increased stratification by socio-economic indicators.

The internal differentiation of young people is determined not only by social parameters. In addition to stratification, researchers distinguish such types of differentiation as age and subcultural. Among young people, there is a need to study the specifics of group relations, the peculiarities of the formation of needs and goals, the role and place of various layers of youth in the formation of a new society. Knowledge of specifics is one of important conditions developing a scientific approach to solving youth problems, implementing social and youth policies.

At the same time, the value-based approach to the study of the whole variety of common connections and patterns has been and remains no less relevant. younger generation, as an organic subject of the development of society. It is this approach that distinguishes a number of major works published in the 90s. In them, youth are considered as a social-democratic group with characteristic social, age, psychological properties and social values, which determine the level of socio-economic, cultural development, and characteristics of socialization in Russian society. This view contributes to a deeper understanding of youth problems, a differentiated approach to youth as an internally heterogeneous and at the same time specifically special social group. However, as rightly noted by the Ural researchers Vishnevsky Yu.R., Shapko V.T., the increasing differentiation of young people actualizes the problem of identifying integrating factors, characteristics and integrity.

Among the factors in the sociological definition of “youth,” researchers consistently identify:

Age limits and socio-psychological characteristics.

Specifics social status, socio-cultural behavior.

The process of socialization as the unity of social adaptation of youth in individualization.

The general conclusion of researchers from the Research Center for IM, made in 1993, remains valid: “Each subsequent generation of Russian youth is worse than the previous one in terms of basic indicators of social status and development.” This is expressed primarily in the trend of a reduction in the number of young people, which leads to an aging society and, consequently, a decrease in the role of youth as a social resource in general.

From 1987-1996 Six million fewer children were born in the country than in the previous ten years. The number of youth under the age of 16 has decreased by three million.

The demographic situation is complicated by something new in Russian reality - an increase in murders and suicides, including among young people.

Number of murders and suicides in the Russian Federation (1990-1995)

The reason is the emergence of complex personal and life situations.

Filed by Gen. According to the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, 10% of graduates of state institutions for orphans commit suicide, not being able to adapt to living conditions. The numbers of suicides in the army leave a depressing impression. In 1996, 526 people voluntarily gave up their lives. The reason is the unresolved socio-economic and everyday problems.

Secondly, there is a tendency for the health of children and adolescents to deteriorate. The growing generation is less healthy physically and mentally than the previous one. On average in Russia, only 10% of school graduates can consider themselves absolutely healthy, 45-50% of them have serious morphofunctional abnormalities.

Thirdly, there is a tendency to expand the process of desocialization and marginalization of young people. The number of young people leading an asocial, immoral lifestyle is increasing. For various reasons and to varying degrees, these include: disabled people, alcoholics, tramps, “professional beggars,” persons serving sentences in correctional labor institutions who strive to be socially useful citizens, but due to social conditions cannot become one. There is lumpenization and criminalization of youth.

Fourthly, in the trend of decreasing opportunities for youth to participate in economic development. Statistics show that the share of young people among the unemployed remains high. In 1994 it was 35.5%, in 1997 - 35%, from total number unemployed.

The labor market is characterized by a significant flow of labor from the state to the non-state sector of the economy. By moving into the field for positions that do not require professional knowledge, young people risk their future well-being without ensuring the accumulation of intellectual property - professionalism. Moreover, this area of ​​employment is characterized by a very high degree of criminalization.

Fifthly, there is a downward trend in the social value of labor and the prestige of a number of professions important to society.

Sociological research recent years They state that in work motivation, priority is given not to meaningful work, but to work aimed at obtaining material benefits. “Big salary” - this motive turned out to be decisive when choosing a place to work.

Modern youth have a trait that shows that most of them want to have a good income, while not having a profession or desire to work. This happens due to the fact that young people lack incentives to work.

2. Youth in the sphere of criminal influence.

The problem of criminal influence on young people recently cannot but worry the Russian public.

Ural region and, above all, the Sverdlovsk region over the past five years have established themselves as zones of increased crime. Large penitentiary institutions are located here, where large numbers of prisoners, including minors, are serving their sentences.

“Criminal showdowns” between local mafia clans in Yekaterinburg have been the focus of the entire country for a long time. From this point of view, the analysis of the forms of criminal influence on young people in the region where it has become widespread seems relevant both theoretically and practically.

IN Sverdlovsk region Every year about 10 thousand crimes are committed by young people and teenagers. In just five years (1990-1994), the increase in the number of crimes was more than 170%. Among criminal offenses, every fourth is committed by young people and teenagers. Sharp jump youth and teenage crime was observed in 1992 - 1993. Another aspect of the spread of criminal influence is related to the extent to which young people are exposed to youth and juvenile crime. 78% of the young people surveyed have encountered various types of crime among youth and adolescents over the past two years. Only every fifth gave a negative answer.

Among the offenses, mercenary crimes attract attention - theft, extortion of money, fraud. When analyzing statistical data, the volume of acquisitive crimes is currently growing rapidly.

This depends on the fact that differentiation occurs among young people and for the majority of young people, parents cannot give what they would like, taking into account their needs. But they themselves cannot get this due to the fact that they do not have a specialty or work skills. young people do not want to get an education just because they have no prospects after receiving an education.

Currently, more and more young people are using drugs. Maybe this comes from the hopelessness of realizing their potential or from the fact that, due to a lack of understanding of the seriousness, they were involved in this by people interested in selling drugs.

3. The problem of drug addiction among young people.

It is known that social consequences addictions are severe. Drug addicts drop out public life- labor, political, family, due to physical, social degradation of the individual. Drug addiction inevitably affects a whole range of phenomena alien to society. This includes difficult-to-treat psychophysiological human diseases and the shadow economy, caused by the natural, growing demand for drugs and illegal ways to satisfy it for personal gain, and crime, violence against individuals associated with the distribution of drugs and illegal enrichment.

Youth is the main bearer of the intellectual and physical potential of society; it has great abilities for work, technical and cultural-artistic creativity, productive activity in all spheres of human existence;

Young people have a great social and professional perspective; they are able to master new knowledge, professions and specialties faster than other social groups of society.

The fundamental issue when considering the role of youth in society is the question of youth as the subject and object of social change. Entering life, a young person is subject to the influence of social conditions, family, educational institutions, and later, in the process of growing up and transitioning to more mature phases of development, he himself begins to significantly influence society. That is, youth acts as a subject when they influence society, giving away their potential, at the same time they are an object, since social influence is directed at them with the aim of their development. Young people act as an object both to society and to themselves.

Without a doubt, youth are a very important part for Chuvashia and for Russia as a whole, since they are the most active component of the state. Young people are best suited to introduce new technologies, innovations and reforms. They are mobile and full of strength, so Russian state interested in ensuring that the younger generation is involved in the economic life of Russia and political... More recently, our country has passed the economic crisis, and is now at the stage of stabilization, so young specialists in the field of economics are simply necessary for Chuvashia. It follows that the state should be interested in the formation of a viable and healthy new generation, because youth are the “salvation” for the state in terms of creating a family and eliminating the demographic crisis.

In a word, Chuvashia in our time is doing everything for the successful development of the younger generation - the rest depends on us. Determination and ambition are the main components happy life and a secure future, so it is important to choose your path correctly now, because Youth is not eternal and goes away every day... Refusal bad habits, worthy occupation, finding a job you love will help you change your life for the better. The future of Russia is in the hands of young people and this should always be remembered.

YOUTH is a socio-demographic group identified on the basis of age parameters, characteristics of social status and socio-psychological qualities.

One of the first definitions of the concept of “youth” was given in 1968 by V.T. Lisovsky:

“Youth is a generation of people going through the stage of socialization, acquiring, and at a more mature age having already acquired, educational, professional, cultural and other social functions; depending on specific historical conditions, the age criteria of youth can range from 16 to 30 years.”

Later more full definition was given by I.S. Konom:

“Youth is a socio-demographic group, identified on the basis of a combination of age characteristics, characteristics of social status and socio-psychological properties determined by both. Youth as a certain phase, stage of the life cycle is biologically universal, but its specific age framework, the associated social status and socio-psychological characteristics are of a socio-historical nature and depend on the social system, culture and the patterns of socialization characteristic of a given society.”

In developmental psychology, youth is characterized as a period of formation of a stable system of values, the formation of self-awareness and social status of the individual.

Consciousness young man has a special sensitivity, the ability to process and assimilate a huge flow of information. During this period, they develop: critical thinking, the desire to give their own assessment of various phenomena, the search for argumentation, original thinking. At the same time, at this age some attitudes and stereotypes characteristic of the previous generation still remain. Hence, in the behavior of young people there is an amazing combination of contradictory qualities and traits: the desire for identification and isolation, conformism and negativism, imitation and denial of generally accepted norms, the desire for communication and withdrawal, detachment from the outside world.

Youth consciousness is determined by a number of objective circumstances.

Firstly, in modern conditions The process of socialization itself became more complex and lengthened, and accordingly the criteria for its social maturity became different. They are determined not only by joining an independent working life, but also by completing education, obtaining a profession, real political and civil rights, and financial independence from parents.

Secondly, the formation of social maturity of young people occurs under the influence of many relatively independent factors: family, school, work collective, means mass media, youth organizations and spontaneous groups.

The boundaries of youth are fluid. They depend on the socio-economic development of society, the achieved level of well-being and culture, and people’s living conditions. The impact of these factors is really manifested in the life expectancy of people, the expansion of the boundaries of youth age from 14 to 30 years.

Since ancient times, the formation of society has been accompanied by the process of socialization of new generations. One of the main problems in the socialization of young people is that they either accept the values ​​of their fathers or completely abandon them. More often the latter happens. Young people believe that the social values ​​that their “fathers” lived by lose their practical significance in any new historical situation and, as a result, are not inherited by their children.

Today, the main task of the survival of Belarusian society is to solve the problem of maintaining social stability and transferring cultural heritage from one generation to another. This process has never been automatic. It always assumed the active participation of all generations in it. It is necessary to remember that it is at a young age that a system of value orientations is formed, the process of self-education, self-creation of the individual and establishment in society is actively underway.

In today's rapidly changing, dynamically developing world, young people have to decide for themselves what is more valuable - enrichment by any means or acquisition of high qualifications that help them adapt to new conditions; denial of previous moral norms or flexibility, adaptability to new reality; unlimited freedom of interpersonal relationships or family.

Values ​​are a relatively stable, socially conditioned attitude of a person to the totality of material and spiritual goods, cultural phenomena that serve as a means of satisfying the needs of the individual.

Core values ​​include:

1. Humanity;

2. Good manners;

3. Education;

4. Tolerance;

5. Kindness;

6. Honesty;

7. Hard work;

8. Love;

Young people have acquired a number of new qualities, both positive and negative.

The positive ones include:

1. The desire for self-organization and self-government;

2. Interest in political events in the country and region;

3. Concern for the problems of national language and culture;

4. Participation in organizing your leisure time;

5. Focus on self-education;

Negative qualities such as:

1. Tobacco smoking, drug use and teenage alcoholism;

2. Doing nothing;

3. Sexual experimentation;

4. Infantility and indifference (nihilism);

5. Uncertainty and unpredictability;

Several important sociocultural conditions for successful personal socialization can be identified:

1. Healthy family microenvironment;

2. Favorable creative atmosphere at school, lyceum, gymnasium;

3. Positive impact fiction and art;

4. Media influence;

5. Aestheticization of the nearest macroenvironment (yard, neighborhood, club, sports ground, etc.)

6. Active involvement in social activities;

Social adaptation is a controlled process. It can be managed not only in line with the influence of social institutions on the individual during his production, non-production, pre-production, post-production life, but also in line with self-government. IN general view Most often, there are four stages of personality adaptation in a new social environment:

1. the initial stage, when an individual or group realizes how they should behave in a new social environment, but are not yet ready to recognize and accept the value system of the new environment and strive to adhere to the previous value system;

2. the stage of tolerance, when the individual, group and new environment show mutual tolerance to each other’s value systems and patterns of behavior;

3. accommodation, i.e. recognition and acceptance by the individual of the basic elements of the value system of the new environment while simultaneously recognizing some of the values ​​of the individual and group as the new social environment;

4. assimilation, i.e. complete coincidence of the value systems of the individual, group and environment; Full social adaptation human includes physiological, managerial, economic, pedagogical, psychological and professional adaptation.

Specific points of social adaptation technology:

* it is only human nature to create special “devices”, certain social institutions, norms, traditions that facilitate the process of his adaptation in a given social environment;

* only a person has the ability to consciously prepare the younger generation for the process of adaptation, using all means of education for this;

* the process of “acceptance” or “rejection” by individuals of existing social relations depends both on social affiliation, worldview, and on the orientation of upbringing;

* a person consciously acts as a subject of social adaptation, changing his views, attitudes, and value orientations under the influence of circumstances;

Social adaptation is the process of an individual’s active mastery of the social environment, in which the individual acts both as an object and as a subject of adaptation, and the social environment is both an adapting and adaptable party.

Successful social adaptation of the individual requires the maximum expenditure of the individual’s spiritual energy.

Youth is the path to the future that a person chooses. Choosing the future, planning it is characteristic young age; he would not be so attractive if a person knew in advance what would happen to him tomorrow, in a month, in a year.

The general conclusion: “Each subsequent generation of young people is worse than the previous one in terms of basic indicators of social status and development.” This is expressed, first of all, in the trend of a reduction in the number of young people, which leads to an aging society and, consequently, a decrease in the role of youth as a social resource in general.

The demographic situation is complicated by something new in Belarusian reality - an increase in murders and suicides, including among young people. The reason is the emergence of difficult personal and life situations. According to data, 10% of graduates of state institutions for orphans commit suicide, not being able to adapt to living conditions.

Firstly, the unresolved socio-economic and everyday problems.

Secondly, there is a tendency for the health of children and adolescents to deteriorate. The growing generation is less healthy physically and mentally than the previous one. On average, in Belarus, only 10% of school graduates can consider themselves absolutely healthy, 45-50% of them have serious morphofunctional abnormalities.

Recently, among students there has been a clear increase in the number of diseases such as:

1. mental disorders;

2. peptic ulcer of the gastrointestinal tract;

3. alcohol and drug addiction;

4. sexually transmitted diseases;

Some young people, due to an unbalanced diet and decreased physical activity, gain excess weight, spend little time outdoors, and do not participate in sports and recreational activities.

Thirdly, there is a tendency to expand the process of desocialization and marginalization of young people. The number of young people leading an asocial, immoral lifestyle is increasing. For various reasons and to varying degrees, these include: disabled people, alcoholics, tramps, “professional beggars,” persons serving sentences in correctional labor institutions who strive to be socially useful citizens, but due to social conditions cannot become one. There is lumpenization and criminalization of youth. * students consider themselves to be low-income.

Fourthly, there is a trend towards decreasing opportunities for young people to participate in economic development. Statistics show that the share of young people among the unemployed remains high. The labor market is characterized by a significant flow of labor from the state to the non-state sector of the economy.

By moving into the field for positions that do not require professional knowledge, young people risk their future well-being without ensuring the accumulation of intellectual property - professionalism. Moreover, this area of ​​employment is characterized by a very high degree of criminalization.

Fifthly, there is a downward trend in the social value of labor and the prestige of a number of professions important to society. Sociological research in recent years has stated that in work motivation, priority is given not to meaningful work, but to work aimed at obtaining material benefits. “Big salary” - this motive turned out to be decisive when choosing a place to work.

Modern youth have a trait that shows that most of them want to have a good income, while having neither a profession nor the desire to work. This happens due to the fact that young people lack incentives to work.

The problem of criminal influence on young people has recently been of concern to the Belarusian public. Among criminal offenses, every fourth is committed by young people and teenagers. Among the offenses, mercenary crimes attract attention - theft, extortion of money, fraud. When analyzing statistical data, the volume of acquisitive crimes is currently growing rapidly. This depends on the fact that differentiation occurs among young people and for the majority of young people, parents cannot give what they would like, taking into account their needs. But they themselves cannot get this due to the fact that they do not have a specialty or work skills. Young people do not want to get an education just because they have no prospects after receiving an education. Currently, more and more young people are using drugs. Maybe this comes from the hopelessness of realizing their potential or from the fact that, due to a lack of understanding of the seriousness, they were involved in this by people interested in selling drugs.

Social characteristics of youth. Youth is a socio-demographic group, identified on the basis of age parameters, characteristics of social status and socio-psychological properties. IN different countries, in different social strata the point of view on the processes and indicators of personal maturation is not the same. In this regard, the age limits of youth are not strictly unambiguous and are determined by different researchers ranging from 14–16 years to 25–30 or even 35 years. As a rule, this period of a person’s life is associated with the beginning of independent labor activity, gaining material independence from parents, civil and political rights. Some scientists add more...
signs such as marriage and the birth of the first child.

Note that the age at which youth begins does not coincide with the age at which childhood ends, the duration of which is defined as 18 years and is enshrined in international documents such as the Declaration and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Boys and girls in our country receive a passport at the age of 16, and this means society recognizes their civic maturity. Youth is a specific phase, a stage in the human life cycle. During this period, a feeling of uniqueness and individuality appears. Based on young people’s awareness of their capabilities and aspirations, comprehension of previous experience, an internal position is formed and they are searching for their place in life.

In a person’s youth, a number of important events occur that influence changes in his status. This is not only getting a passport, but also graduating from school and serving in the army. In their younger years, many people are in active search profession that is significant to them, complete their education, establish themselves as specialists, and thereby determine their new position in society. Youth is called the time of formation. There is an opinion that up to 40 years of age a person works for authority, for a name, and after 40 years of age it is more likely that authority and name work for a person.

The formation of a young person’s personality is carried out under the influence of family, school, public organizations, informal associations and groups, media, labor collectives. In general, young people today begin to be independent much later than their peers in the past. adult life. This is due to the complication of work activity, which entails an extension necessary deadlines training.

In terms of socialization, the period of early adolescence occupies a special place. It includes boys and girls who are approximately 16–18 years old. Many at this age are quite capable of making responsible decisions and are psychologically ready for this (for example, choosing friends, educational institution etc.), although full legal capacity occurs only at 18 years of age.

Acquiring full rights and responsibilities changes the status of a young person and significantly expands the range of his social roles, which undergo significant changes in adolescence. If the roles of a child and a teenager are mainly related to family (son/daughter, brother/sister, grandson/granddaughter), school (student/student), various forms leisure activities (participant in a sports section, a hobby group), then in youth new ones appear: employee, student, husband, wife, mother, father, etc. Friendship, love, work experience help young people for the first time feel like truly adults, ideally they form the ability to be with another person in a relationship based on trust, support and tenderness. However, difficulties in socializing young people can lead to psychological breakdowns. First of all, the gap between the desire to most likely achieve and the inability, reluctance to achieve goals through painstaking work has a negative impact. It’s good if there is willpower, hard work, patience, if a person is not spoiled.

There are often cases when modern young people, on the one hand, want to remain children for as long as possible, shifting worries about themselves, and even about their young family, to their parents, and on the other hand, they demand to be treated as adults, seek non-interference in their personal life. Such behavior is called infantilism. Infantilism(from Latin infantilis - infantile, childish) - this is the preservation in adults of physical and mental traits characteristic of childhood. Such traits are emotional instability, immature judgment, irresponsibility, and capriciousness. This condition is sometimes a consequence of diseases suffered in early childhood, or some other reasons that led to excessive guardianship on the part of parents or loved ones. But if you are already an adult, then take the trouble to actually be one and be fully responsible for yourself.

A person feels young as long as he is capable of creativity, can change, rebuild himself and at the same time be responsible for everything he has done. There are people who feel young not only in their mature years, but also in very old age. Youth prolongs doing what you love, in which there is interest and creative activity, as well as healthy image life. The feeling of youth is manifested both in appearance and in a person’s behavior. “A man is only as old as he feels,” says a well-known aphorism.

Youth subculture. The desire to communicate with one’s peers leads to the development of a specifically “youth” identity and lifestyle – a youth subculture. Under youth subculture refers to the culture of a certain young generation, characterized by a common lifestyle, behavior patterns, group norms and stereotypes. As a special subculture, it has its own goals, values, ideals, illusions, which do not always and accurately replicate those dominant in adult society; it even has its own language.

The reasons for the formation of a youth subculture are the desire of people of this age to isolate themselves, first of all, from their elders, the desire to belong to some community of peers, and the search for their own path in the “adult world.” Both formal and informal youth groups are emerging. Formal groups are officially registered and are often led by adults. The motives that encourage one to join one or another group, one or another youth trend are different. This is, first of all, a desire to gain mutual understanding and support, to feel stronger and more protected; sometimes it is also a desire to feel power over others.

There are many types of youth groups and associations. Some of them are characterized by aggressive initiative based on rather dubious or even asocial value orientations. Primitivism and flashy visual self-affirmation are also popular among some teenagers and young people. For some young people, external shocking is often the most accessible form of self-affirmation.

Some groups actively oppose themselves to the adult world. Call public opinion most often expressed in the features of clothing and fashionable additions to it. Sometimes direct antisocial acts are committed (hooliganism, fights). In this case, society is faced with deviant behavior.

IN youth subculture how in a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, in turn, smaller, but nevertheless rigidly formed subcultures (punks, ravers, rockers, skins, football and music fans, etc.) stand out.

At the same time, among young people, amateur social groups aimed at constructive solutions to specific social problems are becoming increasingly authoritative. These include environmental movements, activities to revive and preserve cultural and historical heritage, providing mutual support (soldiers who fought in “hot spots”, disabled people, etc.); The activities of volunteers who help people who are especially in dire need are also important.

Social mobility of youth. Young people are the most active, mobile and dynamic part of the population.

Social mobility call the transition of people from one social group to another. In this case, a distinction is made between horizontal and vertical mobility. Horizontal mobility– is the transition of a person to another social group without changing social status, for example, divorce and education new family, transfer to work in the same position from one enterprise to another, etc. Vertical mobility associated with moving up or down the steps of the social ladder. This, for example, is a promotion or, conversely, a demotion, or even loss of a job. A private entrepreneur can go from being a small owner to becoming the owner of a reputable company, but he can also go bankrupt.

In modern society, the intensity of the processes of horizontal and vertical mobility is increasing sharply. The reason for this is the dynamism of social life, rapid transformations in the economy, the emergence of new professions and types of activity and the curtailment, even disappearance, of many old, once quite respectable industries and corresponding jobs.

Today, a young person entering an independent life must be prepared for the fact that he may have to retrain, master new activities, and constantly improve his skills in order to be in demand in the labor market. Many young people will need to consider options for moving to another city or changing careers to work in a rural area. The fact is that young people often lose in competition with qualified and experienced older workers who already have good reputation. It is no coincidence that in many countries youth unemployment rates are especially high.

At the same time, on the side of young people is the speed of reaction to changes taking place in the labor market. It is easier for young people to master new professions generated by scientific and technological progress. They make decisions more easily than older people to move to a new place of work and residence, start a business, undergo retraining, etc.

The acceleration of the pace of social life entails the transformation of youth into an active subject of economics, politics, and culture. Youth activity is also clearly manifested in the sphere of politics, since all ongoing political processes directly or indirectly affect the lives of young people and their position in society. Society and its power structures focus on young people as the most promising age category in terms of pursuing a social and professional career.

Young people are in many ways the way society has raised them. At the same time, she, as a rule, has her own common sense, the intention to receive a quality education, and the desire to work for the benefit of herself and others.

Questions and assignments.

1. What factors influence the determination of the age limits of youth? Why does the age at which youth begins not coincide with the age at which childhood ends?

2. What is the contradictory nature of the socialization of young people?

3. There are many different classifications of youth groups and associations. So, according to the nature of motivation for amateur performances, they are divided as follows:

· aggressive initiative, which is based on the most primitive ideas about the hierarchy of values, based on the cult of persons;

· shocking amateur performance, which consists of “challenging” aggression on oneself in order to be “noticed”;

· alternative initiative, consisting in the development of models of behavior that contradict generally accepted norms;

· constructive social initiative aimed at solving specific social problems.

What motives for joining youth groups and associations can be considered positive? Which of these types of amateur activities, in your opinion, are socially acceptable? Give specific examples of youth groups with these types of amateur activities.

4. What, in your opinion, is the role of youth in the development of modern society?

5. Create a verbal “portrait” of a typical young man in our country. Indicate his life plans, mastered social roles, etc. Think about what qualities you personally lack?