Abstract: This article examines the issues of public institutional trust in modern Russian society based on the results of sociological monitoring. Special attention is given to the analysis of the structure and dynamics of trust in the context of current events and processes. The relevance of this research is substantiated by the fact that institutional trust is in a state of constant dynamic under the influence of various and diverse processes. This is especially characteristic for the transitional societies, where there is simultaneous and equal force applied by the established and situational, objective and subjective, internal and external factors. The author concludes that the structure of institutional trust reflects specific traits inherent in the Russian political culture, while its dynamic reflects the changes taking place in the society. The interaction between the sociocultural, economic and political factors is brought by the constant “shift” of trust from one institution or group to other, simultaneously insuring stability and adaptability of the institutional system to the changing environment.

Keywords: public institutions, trust, structure, dynamics, government, society, political culture, institutions, factors, causes

Abstract: The article deals with driver rehabilitation programs. This program is intended for drivers whose driving licenses have been revoked for repeated traffic offenses or for transport crimes. This program aims to change the behavior and attitudes of dangerous drivers. The program consists of 6 group meetings, each lasting 4 hours. The meetings themselves combine education and therapeutic intervention. The process includes both, the work of the instructors, as well as group effort. Typical participants of this program are DWI/DUI drivers. The rehabilitation program works in most European countries. In the Czech Republic the program is currently in trial stages. This study presents step-by-step structure of driver rehabilitation program in the Czech Republic. The authors also attempt to assess the efficiency of this program. It is always important to consider the possibilities of evaluating such measures in the implementation of any action aimed at changing the behavior and attitudes of an individual.

Keywords: traffic offenders, traffic accidents, driving skills, GDE matrix, traffic safety, evaluation of rehabilitation programs, Driver rehabilitation programs, fitness for driving, psychological examination, reckless behavior

Abstract: The paper analyses a psychological phenomenon, which indicates that certain structures of magical thinking, such as “participation” and “mind over matter”, leaked into the concepts of modern physics and cosmology. Recent psychological experiments have shown that modern rational adults subconsciously believe in the supernatural. At the same time, philosophical and psychological studies have found that there exists a deeply rooted link between magical and scientific types of thinking. Magical thinking operates at the level of the subconscious through symbolic images, where it generates draft “theories in the making”; scientific thinking filters these draft theories and selects those, which are in concord with “objective reality”. Criteria used for this selection are empirical verification via experiments and compliance of a theory with the general context of available knowledge. As physical science stepped over from the observable world into the micro- and mega-worlds, empirical verification of certain theoretical ideas through experiments became impossible. There remaining criterion - compliance with the general context of knowledge - is a lot “softer”, than empirical verification. This “softening” of the borderline between magical and scientific thinking resulted in that a subconscious belief of modern people in the supernatural filtered through into the very “heart” of physics – its theories about the origin and structure of the universe.

Keywords: Parallel universes, Participation, Anthropic principle, Belief in the supernatural, Subconscious, Copenhagen interpretation, Quantum non-locality, Scientific thinking, Magical thinking, Physics and psychology

Abstract: Adolescence as a period of establishment of sexual identity can be called one of the most complex stages of personality development, entailed with multiple difficulties emerging in such areas as interpersonal interaction and self-conception. Due to the fact that in many modern countries, including Russia, social values and views to this day pathologize and criminalize deviant sexual attraction, teenagers with the diffuse gender identity along with those who consciously refer themselves to homo-and bisexuals, are often forced to face incomprehension, rejection, discrimination, as well as overt bullying by the social environment. According to the literature data, the majority of such teenagers undergo stigmatization that naturally leads to such negative consequences as psychogenic depressions, anxiety and other stress disorders; rapidly increases the risk of autoagressive and suicidal behavior, narcotization and alcoholization, as well as victimization. The goal of this work consists in studying the role of stigma in emergence and manifestation of psychogenic depression among adolescents with homo- and bisexuality. Examinations were conducted on 70 teenagers with homosexual and bisexual orientation aged 12-16. Psychodiagnostic tool contained the Kinsey Scale, developed by the authors brief survey for evaluating the perceived stigma, as well as the Beck Depression Inventory. The results demonstrated that 90% of the examined teenagers were to stigmatization because of their sexual orientation. At the same time, as the analysis has shown, stigmatization plays a significant role in emergence of depression disorders of psychogenic nature among the aforementioned population group. The authors believe that the result of this research can be implemented in further development/modification of the models of psychotherapy and psychosocial support for adolescents suffering from neurotic and affective disorders, substantiated by stigmatization and discrimination due to hatred towards the persons with genderqueer identity.

Keywords: Discrimination, Depression, Stress Disorder, Adolescents, Sexual Orientation, Homosexuality, Bisexuality, Stigmatization, Bullying, Structural equation modeling

Abstract: The research subject is the representation of the image of the Lord in the iconographic program of the apse mosaic of the oratory of abbot Theodulf at Germigny-des-Prés. The research object is the iconographic program of the apse of the oratory at Germigny-des-Prés. The author of the program, abbot Theodulf, was the abbot of Fleury-sur-Loire, a poet, a theologian and the closest fellow of Charles the Great. His aniconic ideas played an important role in defining the way of representing the Divine Presence within the space of the church he had built. Based on the method of iconographic analysis, the author analyzes the Old Testament images of Theodulf’s mosaic and compares them with the Holy Writ. The article considers the modern ideas about the disputable iconographic program of the apse mosaic of the oratory and offers another variant of interpreting Theodulf’s program that supplements the existing interpretations. The author shows that the unseen by a human eye Glory of the Lord surrounded by cherubs is the key object of the program and a part of the composition, which symbolically means also the beginning of the Eucharistic canon.

Keywords: interpretation, cherubs, apse, the Arc of the Covenant, iconographic program, oratory, Theodulf, Germigny-des-Prés, mosaic, the Carolingian era