Patriotism And Civic Identity As Basis Of Professional Competence Of Military Students

Abstract

The article treats the role of patriotism in professional competence formation of novice correctional officers. It maintains that, being a personal trait and a component of civic identity, patriotism is significant both for professional formation and professional development of novice correctional officers. Krupnov’s systemic-functional approach is employed to study patriotism as an essential attribute characterizing professionalism of male and female students attending the Academy of Federal Penal Service of Russia. The results of the study enable us to assess military students’ civic identity through the prism of their patriotic feelings development. Civic identity is a dynamic structure which keeps developing throughout life. It is formed as a result of social self-identification and manifests itself through motivational, cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects. It encompasses such components as civic self-identity, moral values, social distance, and subjectivity. We believe that moral values are based on one’s social experience, moral and ethical norms, ideals and values interiorized from the outer world and subjectively processed. Patriotism, being a determinant component of civic identity, is treated as a system of values, feelings, and ideas. It secures an intricate interconnection between a human being and society, enables the development of civic duty, trust, civic dignity, and willingness to implement one’s civic vision. The analysis of patriotism shows that this career-related moral trait is either disharmoniously developed or underdeveloped in novice correctional psychologists, which signals the necessity of further development of this personal trait.

Keywords: Civic IdentityMilitary Students of the Academy of the Federal Penal Service of Russia PatriotismProfessional CompetenceSystemic Approach

Introduction

The Development of professionalism and professional competencies in any sphere of human activity serves as a basis for formation of highly-qualified specialists whose skills enable them to perform their tasks at a professional level. Professionalism can be defined as a degree to which an individual has mastered the psychological aspects of their professional activity and which enables them to meet social expectations and requirements. Professional competency, on the other hand, is associated both with external requirements and internal psychological characteristics of an individual (Malyshev, 2013; Polyakova, 2015; Raskolotkо, 2009).

Professional competency of university graduates predetermines novice specialists’ readiness to efficiently utilize the acquired skills and knowledge in the professional field. Professional competency is an integral characteristic which shows whether novice specialists are ready and willing to solve professional tasks associated with various professional activities, relying on their skills, knowledge, professional and life experience, social and cultural values, which are an inherent part of professional development (Belyakova, 2017; Lugovay & Dmitriyev, 2015).

A novice specialist working in the sphere of penal service should be qualified and self-dependent, and their personal traits should be well-formed, for it is the combination of these prerequisites that makes it possible for a correctional officer to perform their tasks professionally (Kuptsov & Karpova, 2013).

Correctional officers serve their fatherland and their nation, as well as military officers do. Professional activities performed by correctional officers demand that they should possess will, stamina (Kelly, Matthews, & Bartone, 2014; Epifanov et al, 2017), self-control and bravery (Kjaergaard, Venables, Leon, & Fink, 2013), courage and collectivism (Matthews, Bailey, Eid, Kelly, & Peterson, 2006). These qualities enable one to adapt to extreme conditions and secure professional execution of one’s duties (Dmitriyeva, 2015).

Problem Statement

In the modern world, the formation of a novice specialist whose task it is to solve socially significant problems should focus not only on the development of a specialist’s professional skills but also on the development of their civic identity as a dynamic system of internal features characterizing a person as a member of civic society, an initiator of social reform and self-improvement, responsible for the decisions which can affect society or other people’s lives (Drobizheva, 2017; Kolomeyzev & Shipunova, 2017; Aladyshkin, Kulik, Michurin, & Anosova, 2017).

Assessing civic identity, one can distinguish between formal legal identity (one can identify oneself with a certain group by means of attribution (Russians, for example)) and national identity (one can identify oneself with a certain multiethnic group, identify oneself with the whole nation in its entirety) (Arutunyan, 2009). It should be noted that one’s civic identity does not necessarily equal citizenship. Civic identity presupposes one’s self-attribution to the social and natural environment, which is especially important for novice correctional officers.

Correctional officers’ social status can hardly be improved unless we focus on their professional training guided by principles of patriotic education, moral and spiritual values. Professional training of correctional officers should focus on actualization of patriotic traditions, on stabilization of novice officers’ moral and psychological state, on improvement of career-related spiritual and moral values, on the improvement of education institutions providing career-related skills and knowledge to develop one’s personal and professional traits.

Professionalism of students attending the Academy of the Federal Penal Service can be detected in their readiness to cooperate with other novice officers, and in their ability to take independent decisions. Novice correctional officers should strive to achieve their goals in emergency situations and in rapidly changing conditions. Novice correctional officers should be able to find optimal solutions on the basis of a multifaceted analysis of situations developing in penitentiary institutions.

The creative aspects of correctional officers’ professional training, the focus on individual, self-related attitudes to the studied issues, career-related requirements, motives, interests, goals and aims, the role of career-related communication and active work in the formation of a serve as a theoretical basis for the professional formation of correctional officers.

The concept of military officers’ professional skills improvement is based on the personal-active approach, which presupposes an interconnection of personal and social goals.

In the modern world, we can hardly overestimate the role of the moral component of a personality engaged in extreme activities. The long history of Russia serves as a perfect proof that patriotism is the glue that cements together military duty, consciousness, active civil position and morality, without which Russian renaissance is impossible. The role of patriotism becomes especially significant during historical changes, when the development of social and state policies is associated with hardships and stress (wars, social conflicts, revolutionary conflicts, struggle for power, natural disasters, etc.).

If the role of patriotism is underestimated, it results in weaker social, economic, spiritual and cultural factors (Ovchinnikov, 2014).

Patriotic education of students of the Academy of the Federal Penal Service of Russia is a basis for the renewal of civil consciousness, spiritual and moral values, career-related moral and psychological traits.

Research Questions

One of the components of civic identity is moral and spiritual guidelines based on patriotism as a pivot of social consciousness and an essential personal characteristic reflecting a person’s civic position.

Purpose of the Study

Our main goal is to conduct a research of patriotism as a personal characteristic related to professional competency among students of the Academy of the Federal Penal Service of Russia (the research engages 68 female students and 50 male students).

Research Methods

The research encompasses fill-in-the blanks questions based on Potemkin’s (2009) complex research of patriotism.

Within the framework of a systemic functional approach, patriotism is treated as a comprehensive structure of motivational, conceptual, instrumental, and style variables, which ensure one’s willingness to treat the outer world and oneself through the prism of patriotic feelings. It should be noted that motivational and conceptual aspects of patriotism are realized via one’s desires, motives and attitudes towards the world and oneself, and encompass purpose-oriented, motivational, cognitive, and productive components, which enable (harmonious variables) or disable (disharmonious variables) the development of patriotism. Instrumental and stylistic aspects show the intensity of one’s motives and desires as well as the variability of methods and tools which can be used to secure and regulate one’s emotional perception and one’s activities in various spheres. Instrumental and stylistic variables encompass dynamic, emotional, regulatory and reflexive components, which can also enable (harmonious variables) or disable (disharmonious variables) the development of patriotism.

Findings

The analysis of results of the present study shows that the psychological structure of patriotism in novice correctional officers is majorly characterized by harmonious variables (with the only exception of difficulty-related characteristics). However, harmonious variables only prevail in motivational, conceptual, reflexive and evaluative components. This fact points to disharmonious development of patriotism as an essential personal and career-related characteristic in novice correctional officers.

The majority of respondents show harmonious development of social values, social-centeredness, and efficient communication. It means that patriotic feelings of these respondents are aimed at protection of their fatherland, involvement of patriotically minded people, social improvements, acquisition of new skills and life experiences, desire to be helpful to their social environment, improvement of their academic and professional skills, and social responsibility.

Less than half of the novice correctional officers focus on the realization and demonstration of patriotic behavior. They believe that only having an active civic position, one can improve social life. They attempt to represent and defend the interests of their fatherland and their social environment. They are satisfied when they focus on patriotic enlightenment, participate in activities aimed at the development of patriotism. Their patriotic feelings are characterized by a variety of sthenic emotions, such as joy, satisfaction, admiration, and pride. They feel elated when they can contribute to their social environment, when they can promote patriotic upbringing, when they can secure people’s gratitude to previous generations for their contribution to the development of the nation. Novice correctional officers believe that one’s patriotism is one’s personal business. They believe that everybody should make their own decisions concerning national welfare and prosperity.

One third of novice correctional officers can define patriotism with a certain degree of accuracy, specifying its pivotal characteristics (one’s love to fatherland, respect of national customs and traditions, respectful attitude to legal rules and norms). However, almost half novice correctional officers do not completely understand the notion of patriotism, when asked to specify its pivotal characteristics, they can only name secondary ones.

The analysis of the difficulty-related characteristics investigated shows that one third of respondents experience difficulties (anxiety, bashfulness, shyness) expressing their patriotic feelings. Another third of respondents experience operational difficulties, which manifest themselves in the student’s failure to understand the true essence of patriotism and their failure to effectively express it through their behavior.

Conclusion

The analysis of patriotism in students of the Academy of the Federal Penal Service of Russia shows that patriotism, being an essential moral, spiritual and career-related characteristic, is either disharmoniously developed or underdeveloped in novice correctional officers. The absence of patriotic feelings or their underdevelopment manifest themselves through such negative phenomena of students’ life as destructive communication, inefficient professional and interpersonal communication, depreciation of education, degrading responsibility, absence of significant goals and values.

The systematic and comprehensive social, psychological and pedagogical activities aimed at patriotic education of young people can secure patriotic development, which, in its turn, will promote communication skills, improve academic and professional skills, and ensure responsible behavior.

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