A sense of security (psychological safety of the individual) arises when a person consciously and, while maintaining responsibility, influences the circumstances of life in order to provide conditions for his mental balance and harmonious development.
What is security? This is a state of protection of the vital interests (needs) of the individual from internal and external threats.
According to E. Schomburg, the basic needs of life are:
- Safety;
- Self-esteem;
- Recognition, approval, feeling of success;
- Experience positive memories.
Social security is a state public relations, in which a person can independently, without interference and outside pressure, freely choose and implement his strategy of behavior, spiritual, social, economic and political development.
Psychological security of the individual is the security of the psyche of each individual, his mental health, spiritual world. Violation of any of these components leads to destabilization of the internal state of mind person. The reasons for destabilization may be:
- Psychological trauma and disasters.
- A sharp change in values and moral principles as a result of certain circumstances.
These situations can lead to:
- Loss of an active life position.
In this case, a person seeks to ensure a state of protection with special “defense mechanisms”: subconscious, conscious and supraconscious psychological defenses (more about defense mechanisms. These mechanisms are designed to “numb” negative emotions, primarily fear, but at the same time they can veil or distort reality. In this case, the feeling of fear is replaced by a feeling of inexplicable anxiety.
Feelings that enslave us and make us passive are unacceptable: constraining sadness, despair, fear, anger, superstition. The joy of the thirst for freedom, forcing us to become stronger and more perfect through the satisfaction of our desires, gives us the confidence that even being chained, we will be free and powerful if we do not stop thinking. Benedict Spinoza.
Conscious and responsible influence on the circumstances of one’s life in order to provide conditions for one’s peace of mind and development assumes that a person is ready for any external changes, including the fact that changes may turn out to be unforeseen, and a combination of circumstances may be unfavorable. He sees cause and effect and is aware of his participation in the current situation (high level of subjective control), understands his thoughts and feelings, and is aware of his attitude to certain events. Social security assumes that a person has no fears about the people around him, no impressions that there are any threats from them, and no assumptions that such threats may appear in the future. A person is open to contacts, he trusts people and expects the same from them.
The state of security and peace of mind for the future is largely ensured by the disclosure and realization of one’s capabilities. Creative activity begins with what has meaning for the creator himself, and only later does the product of creativity acquire meaning for other people. Such success practically provides a person with self-esteem and self-confidence. According to some experts, highest level human development begins when creative activity turns to the person himself - the personality creates itself. A self-made man is a person who has made himself in the deepest sense of the word; he is an autonomous, well-organized, self-regulating personality. Psychological safety of a person who owns his inner world, in this case it is considered absolute.
The feeling and state of security is achieved in two ways - the above is the “path in spite of”, i.e. becoming a Self-made man despite weaknesses, obstacles, difficulties, victory over oneself.
The second path - no less, and maybe more effective - is the “path in the name.” It gives not just a feeling of security, but also a state of inner harmony, the right to be yourself, to follow your own path in life.
You are already familiar with its components. Firstly, it is trust in yourself, in your thoughts, feelings and actions, complete acceptance of yourself. And as a result, trust in the world.
Unconditional acceptance and self-love give you a sense of security, freedom for self-expression, feeling, and activity that you consider appropriate for yourself and appropriate in a given situation.
Self-trust, self-acceptance, self-love brings the understanding that you are always responsible for your actions, while no one should be responsible for you, and you do not have to be responsible for the behavior, thoughts and feelings of other people.
The presence of independent choice, a conscious attitude towards one’s actions, behavior in the name of success and happiness, and not because of avoiding a threat (psychological or physical) - all this gives a feeling of safety and security.
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Currently in scientific circles Research devoted to the problem of psychological safety is becoming increasingly important. At the same time, this phenomenon can be considered from the point of view of environmental safety and from a personal aspect. In the majority modern works various personal characteristics related to human safety in a given situation are considered. At the same time, it is quite difficult to identify a specific set of personality traits and qualities that certainly ensure a person’s security in society. However, we can talk about individual characteristics that, to a greater or lesser extent, guarantee a person’s adequate perception of changing external conditions.
Baeva I.A. notes that in modern research dedicated to security issues, this concept has different interpretations. “In some, security is the quality of a system that determines its capability and ability to self-preserve. In others, it is a system of guarantees that ensure sustainable development and protection from internal and external threats. Most definitions confirm that security is aimed at preserving the system and ensuring its normal functioning.”
In the works different years the problems of creating conditions under which the environment would be psychologically safest were studied. Significant contributions to the understanding of environmental psychology were made by: V.V. Avdeev, B.G. Ananyev, G.M. Andreeva, I.V. Dubrovina, E.I. Isaev, E.A. Klimov, B.F. Lomov, V.A. Levin, M.V. Osorina, A.A. Rean, V.I. Slobodchikov, D.I. Feldstein, E. Fromm, D.B. Elkonin, V.A. Yasvin et al.
The issues of modeling a psychologically safe educational environment, creating conditions in which a person feels protected, is able to satisfy basic needs and function freely, were dealt with by such scientists as I.A. Baeva, M.R. Bityanova, N.V. Gruzdeva, Ya.A. Komensky, G.A. Mkrtychan, V.I. Panov and others.
At the same time, psychologizing the environment, increasing the pedagogical and psychological competence of teachers and parents will not lead to unambiguously positive results in the development of a child’s psychologically untraumatized personality without taking into account his individual characteristics, personal properties and qualities, as well as his inclinations to demonstrate psychological stability and resilience. All this determines the need to consider the psychological safety of the child’s personality in the educational process.
There are several interpretations of the concept of “psychological safety of the individual.” Often, psychological safety of an individual is considered as a separate scientific branch that studies the patterns of adequate reflection of danger and constructive regulation of behavior in order to preserve the integrity and stability of a person or group of people as psychological systems. With this interpretation of this process, the central phenomenon becomes “external threat”/“dangerous situation”.
Research conducted in this direction focuses on studying external factors, provoking psychological insecurity and trauma to the child’s personality. In this case, we can say that the target of psychological and pedagogical influence in this approach will be the so-called “risk factors” that pose a psychological danger to the physical and mental health of the child. Here, teachers, psychologists and parents should concentrate on identifying, understanding and reducing the impact of such factors. In our opinion, this is almost impossible to do. Just one attempt to classify all possible micro- and macro-factors that threaten the psychological safety of an individual will never be considered completely satisfactory by scientists. On the other hand, such a final classification of threat factors is not possible for reasons of individuality and lack of constancy of personality. In other words, the same situation can be perceived ambiguously not only different people, but even by the same person to be assessed as safe-neutral-dangerous in different periods.
In this regard, there is a need for a more detailed consideration of the individual psychological characteristics of the child’s personality, which contribute to the feeling and manifestation of the psychological safety of the individual, regardless of the factors influencing it.
In this approach, the psychological safety of an individual is manifested as “its ability to maintain stability in an environment with certain patterns, including psychotraumatic influences, resistance to destructive internal and external influences, and is reflected in the experience of one’s security/insecurity in a specific life situation.”
In science, there are several basic approaches to the formation of psychological security of an individual.
Representatives of the psychoanalytic approach propose to form the psychological security of the individual through working with psychological defenses (A. Freud); through overcoming the inferiority complex (A. Adler); by adjusting or improving already established models of safe behavior (E. Erikson).
The behavioral approach (from the English behavior) involves taking into account the subjective nature of the child’s experience of the state of danger and safety (M.K. Jones). This approach proposes to form behavior that promotes psychological safety through a series of psychotrainings (D. Utson); through the system of social learning (A. Bandura); positive reinforcement of constructive behavior (B. Skinner).
Representatives of Gestalt psychology contributed to the theory of the formation of psychological safety. For the development of the theory of psychological safety, K. Levin’s concept of living space, which in turn is part of the “field theory,” was of particular importance. According to T.V. Exacousto, from the point of view of security psychology, an attempt to study the field of possible events and the field of forces undertaken by K. Levin can be perceived as an attempt to determine the level of safety/unsafety of certain systems.
A special place among approaches to the formation of psychological security of the individual is occupied by the existential-humanistic direction (S. Muddy, K. Rogers, V. Frankl etc.), within this direction, we can talk about the possibility of modern psychology to understand the psychological security of an individual as a person’s desire to satisfy the basic need for security through social self-realization. When a person is seen as capable of creating his own destiny, gaining active life experience, responding to dangers with a conscious system of behavior, and, thereby, resisting them.
Analysis large quantity scientific works allowed us to identify components, or indicators of psychological safety of the individual:
1. Personal stability in the environment, including during a traumatic period.
Security is understood as a manifestation of various material and social systems to remain stable in the face of various negative phenomena (N.N. Rybalkin).
The ability to control yourself, manage your behavior (Yu.S. Manuylov)
— The ability to manage your emotions (Yu.S. Manuylov)
— Self-confidence, self-esteem (L.I. Bozhovich)
— Personal orientation (L.I. Bozhovich), focus on achieving collective goals (V.E. Chudnovsky)
— Ability to establish interpersonal relationships (A.N. Leontiev)
2. Resistance (vitality) to external and internal influences.
Security is understood as a personality property that characterizes its protection from destructive influences due to internal resources of resistance (I.A. Baeva).
— Self-satisfaction, self-confidence (L.A. Regush, E.V.
Expressiveness, cheerfulness (L.A. Regush, E.V. Ruzu)
— Emotionality, tendency to empathy (L.A. Regush, E.V. Ruzu)
— Sense of control (S. Muddy)
— Involvement (S. Maddi), manifested in the presence of life goals (S. Ionescu)
— Challenge (S. Maddi), having ideas about how to behave in a given situation (S. Ionescu)
— Communication skills, sociability (N.Garmezy)
— Positive experience in solving problems (A.S.Masten, K.M.Best, N.Garmezy)
3. Experience of personal security/insecurity. Security manifests itself as an individual’s experience of positive/negative mental states, the absence/presence of anxiety, anxiety
— Mental states (A. O. Prokhorov)
— Emotional concern, anxiety (V.L.Marishchuk)
4. Operational efficiency
Psychological safety is considered through an indicator of the effectiveness of the activity in which the person is involved (I.A. Baeva)
The presented components of psychological safety of the individual require separate scientific study in the direction of identifying their age-related dynamics, relationships and individual characteristics of manifestation. At the same time, there are already works that directly indicate the need for the earliest possible formation in a child of such personality traits and forms of behavior that will allow him to preserve his “I”, socialize, adapt, and in some cases protect himself from negative external influences .
Thus, modern parents, teachers and scientists are faced with the question of optimal ways to form (develop, preserve) the psychological security of a child’s personality. At the same time, the analysis of approaches and directions in psychological theory and practice allows us to talk about significant differences in the basic premises, and, consequently, in the mechanisms and means of forming the psychological security of the individual.
L.M. Kostina (St. Petersburg)
Continuity of psychological science in Russia: traditions and innovations: Collection of materials of the International scientific and practical conference dedicated to the 215th anniversary of Herzen University. - St. Petersburg: Publishing house of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. A.I. Herzen, 2012.
Problems of psychological safety of the individual – the sphere of safety psychology. This is a branch of psychological science that studies the patterns of adequate reflection of danger and constructive regulation of behavior in order to preserve the integrity and stability of a person or group of people as psychological systems. Under reflection of danger V in this case refers to the determination of its degree, i.e. qualification. Regulation of behavior involves the application of necessary measures to eliminate the hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level.
Within the framework of safety psychology, the following are studied:
Mental processes generated by human activity and affecting its safety;
Mental states of a person affecting life safety;
Personality properties that affect the safety of activities.
A situation in which there is a sufficiently large possibility of an accident occurring is usually called dangerous.
Dangerous situations often arise unexpectedly, and therefore their causes and ways out of them are not always fully understood. The level of awareness of a possible danger largely depends on the chances of its occurrence. Thus, there may be a distant threat to life - an earthquake in an area with low seismic activity; living in dangerous areas (for example, near active volcanoes); unexpected threat - attack by a criminal, terrorist attack etc. The degree of awareness of the situation and the adequacy of behavior in the event of an unexpected threat to life are largely determined by the innate characteristics of the individual, his attitudes, type nervous system and a number of other psychobiological indicators. It is not always possible to teach a person to behave correctly in unforeseen life-threatening situations, so people often find themselves unprepared to act in them.
A dangerous situation that contributes to the destabilization of a person is called exclusive. The psychological characteristics of an existential situation (in extreme terms, an emergency situation), depending on the type of situation, will be determined by a combination of disrupted fields of adaptation (identity, territoriality, temporality, hierarchy). We can say that the hallmark of an emergency situation is the violation of territoriality, temporality, as well as the degree of violation of all four fields of adaptation as a whole. This may be the case when the vector of destruction is directed from the outside - loss of a reference group (identity), destruction of the habitat (territoriality), injury, mutilation, death (temporariness) - or from the inside, when the vector is directed outward, in this case we are talking about degree of personality maladjustment.
Personal security is determined by three factors: human factor, environmental factor, security factor (Fig. 1). The first two are considered basic. Human factor- This various reactions person at risk. Wednesday traditionally divided into physical and social. IN social environment, in turn, distinguish macro- and microsocial levels. The macrosocial level includes demographic, economic and other factors affecting a person, the microenvironment includes his immediate environment (family, reference and professional group, etc.). Security factor- These are the means that people use to protect themselves from alarming and dangerous situations. They can be physical and psychological (psychological defense mechanisms). The level of security depends on the degree of constructiveness and activity of human behavior and activity. At the same time an important condition constructive behavior is the adequate socialization of instincts, needs and motives for activity, that is, the satisfaction of human needs in a socially acceptable way.
Rice. 1. Personal security structure
Objective reality modern life is such that a person constantly has to deal with emergency situations that may be the result of an accident, natural phenomenon, disasters, natural and other disasters. They often result in loss of life, damage to human health or environment, significant material losses and disruption of human living conditions. Events last decades suggest that the frequency and extent negative consequences unexpected emergencies will increase. Therefore, people’s readiness to take risks, their behavior in extreme situations, and reactions to unexpected changes require constant study in order to ensure safety.
Human factor. Ideas about the meaning of a phenomenon or action are formed in a certain social environment. However, each person interprets the generally accepted idea of the significance of a dangerous situation in his own way. This interpretation is based on psychological characteristics specific person. Thus, the attitude towards a dangerous situation consists of the meaning of danger, which is attributed to it by society, and its personal meaning for a person (Fig. 2).
Rice. 2. Factors in shaping attitudes towards a dangerous situation
The components of personal meaning are intellectual and emotional perception. A person not only assesses the degree of danger - it causes emotional distress in him. The emotional side of the attitude towards a dangerous situation consists of significance-value and significance-anxiety. Significance-value determines the experiences caused by the expected or achieved success in activity. Significance-anxiety defines experiences generated by difficulties, dangers and consequences of a situation, as a rule, this is a feeling of anxiety. Anxiety is caused by difficulties, dangers and possible consequences of the situation. A person who has had a negative experience in the past of getting out of a dangerous situation may have an increased level of anxiety. And not only as a reaction to a real danger, but also a possible one, regardless of the degree of its threat. On the other hand, anxiety is also caused by the lack of professional and life experience, lack of self-confidence and safety.
An individual’s awareness of a situation as highly dangerous can cause him excessive anxiety and contribute to a decrease in his psychophysiological capabilities. If the danger is recognized, but not overestimated, then it can contribute to the mobilization of forces.
Thus, degree of influence of a dangerous situation defined:
The individual’s attitude to the situation, which consists of its significance for him, the experience of being and interacting in it, as well as the result of this interaction for the individual;
The social significance of the situation, the indicator of which is the public assessment of the danger of the situation and its consequences both for the individual and for society as a whole. Personal security depends on his ability to self-regulation.
There are four factors, or levels, that determine the possibilities of self-regulation:
Biological properties of a person, manifested in unconscious regulation;
Individual characteristics mental reflection and mental functions of a person;
Experience, skills, knowledge, and ability to solve various problems safely;
A person’s orientation, i.e. his motives, interests, attitudes, etc.
The last two factors are formed in the process of training and education. Their effect intensifies as professional and life experience grows. A person’s creative abilities also play a significant role, allowing him to use new methods of safely solving a problem in a wide variety of unexpected situations. An accident can occur not only due to lack of experience, but also due to negligence - as a result of failure to use available opportunities due to underestimating the complexity of tasks and overestimating one’s qualities. The reasons for careless behavior can be incomplete information about dangerous factors, distracting circumstances, excessive self-confidence, which can lead to a decrease in attention, caution, and neglect of rules and means of protection. Carelessness increases the possibility of danger.
For the safety of the individual great value also has the ability to overcome a dangerous situation with minimal losses. This skill is formed in the process of life.
22 26 ..Psychology of personal security
Personal security of a person and his psychology. In the prevention of criminal events, a certain place belongs to the understanding by the person himself of the need to ensure personal safety. It is based on the picture of the world that he formed for himself, and the place that he consciously or unconsciously assigned to himself in this picture. The more objectively and accurately a person reflects the laws that govern the processes and states of things happening around him and with himself, the safer his position in the world around him. This is based on knowledge of the laws of existence, but no less, and often higher value has an accurate intuitive feeling or understanding general direction the course of events.
Of particular importance is the ability foresee the consequences of developing situations, in which a person finds himself, especially if these consequences are colored by a sense of danger both for himself and for the people associated with him. For example, concluding dubious transactions can bring disaster to persons completely uninvolved in it. The best defense against danger is the ability to anticipate it, both in the situation itself and in its consequences, and take the right actions. However, no less effective means protection may also be inaction, i.e. the absence of any or at least expressed actions in response to the current situation.
Any action introduces additional disturbances into the situation, and if its consequences are not realized, then the results can be unexpected, including dangerous. The difficulty of not taking any action (inaction) is that some situations seem to touch, draw in a person, and provoke him to react. At the same time, they arise and develop according to their own laws, which are not always well known to man. Situations can be exhausted or die out on their own, without active intervention. Therefore it is important be able to assess the moment when action is inevitable and a necessary way to respond.
A powerful means of ensuring personal safety can be knowledge of psychological patterns that govern human behavior. Let's point out some of them.
At every moment of his life, a person finds himself included in a certain socio-psychological context, in a certain system of interactions and relationships between people, regardless of whether he is aware of it or not. His behavior is determined by the degree of awareness and understanding of real relationships and strongly depends on the degree of their subjective distortion. The higher the degree of such distortion, the less the results of his actions fit into the general context, therefore, the higher the degree of tension of the situation, and hence the sharp increase in the likelihood of an acute and potentially dangerous reaction.
Every person has a basic system of personal values that he strives to preserve, strengthen and protect. The main one of these values is self-esteem, which is manifested in how a person behaves towards others and what he expects (or demands) from others in relation to himself. Potential danger is initially felt as a threat to self-esteem. Being infringed, this feeling can push a person to the most extreme actions.
The main regulators of interpersonal behavior are such moral and psychological formations as conscience, shame, guilt and responsibility. They are all essentially interconnected, but the primary and deepest is the feeling of shame. A person with a defect in the sense of shame or with its complete absence is unpredictable in his actions and is completely asocial. For him, the experiences of guilt and responsibility do not exist, and the corresponding words are an empty phrase. The danger often comes from this particular category of people, and they most often do not recognize themselves in this capacity.
Informal events have a strong influence on people's behavior. social norms, existing in the circle where people are brought up and live. Ultimately, they reflect the living conditions of people, established traditions, customs and mores, and together express the culture of a given community. Society is highly differentiated by the nature of these norms and the strength of their impact. Informal cultural traditions sometimes they differ so much that it is almost impossible for representatives of different communities to understand each other: what is allowed (or at least not prohibited) in one culture seems barbaric and savage to representatives of another.
General principle relationships different cultures - mutual respect, unconditional acceptance of the norms of another community. Only in this psychological context is a conflict-free existence possible.
In the social conditions of the current stage national history the problem of finding a position of personal security is only getting worse. Not everyone can surround themselves with bodyguards and purchase an armored car. The weapon of the majority must be another means - knowledge of the mechanisms of relationships between people and a much more thorough understanding of one’s position in a poorly ordered flow of events and their consequences.
Studying the question of why a person becomes object of aggression, leads to a general conclusion: because he became an obstacle to the action, the achievement of some goal by another person. This is based on several factors and circumstances, primarily the loss of control over the development of the situation. The loss of such control is not an accidental circumstance and is caused either by an unconscious desire to provoke aggression against oneself and gain the opportunity to provide active resistance, or by reasons of a deeper order. The latter include a generally increased victimization of a given person regarding certain conditions. The tendency to become the target of attack is caused mainly by thus that this person is the bearer of some hidden guilt, regardless of whether he is aware of it or not. Therefore, attacking him (physically or psychological form) is rather a punishment for something that may not be directly related to the situation in which it occurs. The true roots lie somewhere else or in a different plane. This is about the same as the diseases that some people get and which do not respond to any treatment. Such patients themselves almost never realize the causes of their misfortunes, but look for them in something else - in living conditions, other people, etc. Hospitals and prisons are filled with such people. Forming protection against falling into such situations is a matter of very serious and lengthy work, carried out, as a rule, together with another person, in particular, with a qualified psychologist, psychotherapist, etc.
What is psychological safety is, first of all, a set of measures taken by a person himself aimed at protecting the psyche and maintaining mental health, emotional stability, healthy thinking and behavior.
Psychological safety of the individual includes the prevention of mental illness, high tolerance to frustration and stress, constant psychological development personality, adequate worldview (attitude towards oneself, others and the world as a whole), and most importantly, the psychological safety of a person (child or adult) depends on the autonomy (freedom) of the individual.
Autonomy includes a person’s ability to adequately, without illusions, be aware of the present (here and now), the ability to have close relationships and the ability to be spontaneous, i.e. by yourself.
Compliance with these measures of psychological safety almost automatically leads a person to success, prosperity and desired happiness in all spheres of life.
How to achieve psychological safety of the individual
In order for you to always be psychologically safe, you first need to get rid of your negative life scenario (for those who are unlucky). Those. change patterns of thinking, feeling and behavior unconsciously learned (programmed) in childhood in certain critical, stressful, similar and repeated situations.
Also, in order to achieve psychological safety, it is necessary to get rid of depressive, neurotic, phobic and other mental and emotional personality disorders (if any).
It is necessary to increase tolerance to frustration (bummer expectations), change the attitude towards stressful situations, increase self-esteem and make the I-position in life positive.
After this, you can come to autonomy (personal freedom) and be in psychological safety.
You can work on yourself through training, psychological exercises and various psychological techniques, in some, not severe cases, or seek help from a professional psychologist, psychotherapist or psychoanalyst.
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