Recently we have told you about the Department of Social and Youth Policy of Altai State University. Today we want to introduce you to associate professor of this department, doctor of Sociological Sciences.
1) Your academic career began at Altai State University, where you received a degree in biology. Then you defended PhD thesis on the topic "Formation of psychological readiness of cadets of the Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for professional activity" at Barnaul State Pedagogical University (BSPU). What was the reason for such a change in the direction of study?
In the 8th grade I read A. Rukhmanov's book "To Know Yourself", which determined my interest in working with people in the broadest sense of the word. That is what I have been doing all my professional life. A person is a biopsychosocial phenomenon, and all the educational and professional directions that I implemented in my life were related to this. At the Faculty of Biology I gained a lot of knowledge on human psychology and psychophysiology. As a result, I graduated from the "Specialization in Human Psychophysiology" and defended my diploma on the topic "Studying the functioning of the cardiovascular system in people with different innate psychological characteristics". During the experiment, I measured people's electrocardiograms and conducted psychological testing. Immediately after graduating from the biological faculty I was lucky enough to get a job at the psychological center for youth career guidance. There, I first became a district consultant psychologist, then a psychologist in the department of professional adaptation and selection. After that I was the chief psychologist of the regional career guidance and psychological support service. At a certain stage, I worked as a psychologist at the diagnostic center of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Altai Territory. It was there that I managed to collect a lot of experimental material in 3 years. These data related to the characteristics of the Interior Ministry employees. At the same time, I met a doctor of pedagogical sciences and began working on a dissertation on the topic of pedagogy. It was an interdisciplinary work. There was a psychological, sociological and pedagogical part. In my opinion, the most interesting research is always obtained at the junction of sciences.
2) In 2016, at St. Petersburg State University, you successfully defended your doctoral thesis on suicide risks. Tell us more about the process of collecting materials. What sources did you attract? Who was your supervisor?
The phenomenon of suicide is complex. To study it you need to know psychology, biology, medicine, economics. I had such training. This is a very urgent problem for the whole world. Every year 1 million people commit suicide. My supervisor was the head of the department, the famous sociologist Svetlana Maximova. I am very grateful to her, because she helped me collect all the data. We have a lot of research at the department, great efficiency of experimental work. We had a large grant project to study social security and social risk. My part of the research was specifically about suicide risk. I developed questions and offered my own indicators. This study was conducted in six regions of Russia. We interviewed 4,200 people and linked suicidal tendencies to various aspects of life: economic, psychological attitudes, mood, satisfaction, health, and safety. There were many indicators that I was able to analyze. Based on them, a suicide risk model was created for each region. I also researched models by different ages: what causes suicidal tendencies at different ages. In addition, I analyzed statistics for all regions, for the whole of Russia over the past 10 years. I used this data in my dissertation. I also studied regulatory documents related, for example, to the organization of suicide rooms. One of the chapters of the dissertation was devoted to how the suicidological service is set up in Russia in general. During the defense, I managed to communicate with outstanding scientists, for example, my opponent was a suicidologist, Doctor of Law Yakov Gilinsky.
3) To your mind, why is it important for future youth professionals to study the psychology of deviant behavior? And a related question: how is the problem of suicide prevention solved in the Altai Territory?
I have been teaching for OYW students for over 20 years. I have read courses related to deviations, we have a lot of them, they relate to different aspects of deviations. These are very important subjects for students majoring in OYW, because deviations are growing and getting younger. For example, now, in the digital age, new digital deviations are emerging. There are practically no normal, 100% mentally healthy people. Therefore, it is very important to know how to work with young people with deviation. There has been an Anti-suicide service in the Altai Territory for many years, and it has an interdepartmental character. It includes representatives of medical services, the Ministry of Education, adolescent and psychiatric services, representatives of the teaching community, the police and, of course, volunteers. Also, the Center for Psychological, Pedagogical and Social Assistance to Youth has been operating in Barnaul for 10 years. They are engaged in overcoming autoaggression in adolescents of a broad plan. In addition to suicide, self–harm is now an important and difficult area – self-harm. A man does not commit suicide, but he cuts his hands endlessly, rips out his hair, hits the wall. And this phenomenon is also increasing now. This interdepartmental service meets periodically, statistics are constantly being analyzed, and cases are being analyzed in detail. There is also a psychological training service. Every year I give lectures at the center [Center for Psychological, Pedagogical and Social Assistance to Youth] for a certain category of psychologists: school, social workers, etc. We are gradually training all the specialists who can somehow influence suicide problems. At AltSU we have an additional education program for the prevention of suicidal behavior and correction. There we teach various trainings, psychological diagnostic techniques. There is also such a direction as community mentors. This is when, for example, adults of different professions begin to communicate with orphanage children. They are also trained on the topic of adolescent problems. Thus, the work on overcoming deviations is carried out at different levels.
4) In 2011 you received a letter of thanks from the rector of Udmurt State University for your active assistance in holding the All-Russian Student Olympiad in the specialty "Organization of youth work". How did this project originate and develop?
Yes, in 2011 the students and I really went to Izhevsk, where the All-Russian Olympiad on Youth Work was held. It was just beginning then, but this project was not organized by us, we were its participants. It was organized by UdSU together with Moscow State University. Since we also sell have a major in OYW, our pupils also participated in this Olympiad. I was a teacher who took them to participate in it, in various competitive tasks, and received a letter of thanks from the rector for active participation. Our students took the prize in the Olympiad in testing.