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Police activity
Reference:

Formation of moral and psychological stability of police officers in cases of obstruction of their legitimate actions

Vorozhtsov Aleksandr Mikhailovich

ORCID: 0000-0002-4316-8386

PhD in Sociology

Associate Professor, Deputy Head of the Department of Fire Training, East Siberian Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia

664017, Russia, Irkutsk region, Irkutsk, Goncharova str., 30

vam1976@rambler.ru
Other publications by this author
 

 
Zhukov Viktor Mikhailovich

Associate Professor, Department of Firearms Training of Omsk Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia

644092, Russia, Omsk region, Omsk, Komarova str., 7, 1

vizhu100872@gmail.com
Other publications by this author
 

 
Orlov Vladimir Vladimirovich

ORCID: 0000-0002-4567-3167

PhD in Pedagogy

Associate Professor, Department of Physical Training, Omsk Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia

644092, Russia, Omskaya oblast', g. Omsk, ul. Komarova, 7

Orlov6767@mail.ru

DOI:

10.7256/2454-0692.2022.4.38240

EDN:

VFKNHV

Received:

09-06-2022


Published:

03-09-2022


Abstract: Employees of the internal affairs bodies in their official activities constantly face a high degree of psycho-emotional stress. In law enforcement practice, there are cases of obstruction of the performance of official duties by police officers. In case of obstruction of legitimate activities, employees of the Department of Internal Affairs may experience negative emotions. These emotions are a response of the psyche to external circumstances. Obstructing the legitimate actions of police officers often leads to conflict situations in which it is necessary to maintain balance and control over their actions or statements, and based on the current situation to make a decision in accordance with the current legislation. Obstruction of the performance of official duties, as a rule, is of a pronounced conflict nature. To increase the effectiveness of classes, it is advisable to involve experienced employees as experts in conducting a business game. This will ensure the necessary exchange of professional experience and increase the effectiveness of training. A large number of different possible situations are simulated, the social and role experience of employees participating in the training is expanded, their gradual involvement in the business game takes place. It becomes obvious that there is a need to organize work on the formation and development of moral and psychological stability among police officers and to teach them techniques for managing their emotional state.


Keywords:

moral and psychological stability, obstruction, training, self-regulation, Department of Internal Affairs officer, conflict, fire training, physical training, conflict situation, interaction

This article is automatically translated.

In accordance with the current legislation [1] the legal requirements of the employees of the internal affairs bodies (hereinafter – ATS) are mandatory for all citizens and officials. However, in law enforcement practice, there are cases of obstruction of the performance of official duties by police officers. This happens both on the street when checking documents, and in various rooms when conducting procedural actions.

According to statistics, in 2020 and in the first half of 2021, 126,990 facts of committing illegal actions against police officers were registered, of which 78 were related to an attack on the life of an employee (Article 317 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), 11,752 were related to the use of violence against a representative of the authorities (Article 318 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In 15513 cases, an insult occurred to a representative of the authorities in the performance of his official duties or in connection with their execution (Article 319 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Disobedience to the lawful order of a law enforcement officer (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation) was recorded 97567 times. As a result of these actions, more than 22.5 thousand citizens were brought to criminal and 86 thousand to administrative responsibility. At the same time, these actions are classified as obstruction of the legitimate activities of the police. 

Obstruction of the performance of official duties, as a rule, is of a pronounced conflict nature and can lead to the development of negative emotional reactions among police officers, a decrease in control over their actions or statements, the unlawful or disproportionate use of physical force, special means and firearms. Therefore, it is obvious that there is a need to organize work on the formation and development of moral and psychological stability among police officers, teaching them techniques for managing their emotional state.

The moral and psychological stability of employees is determined by the level of professionally significant personal qualities, readiness for their further development, knowledge of guarantees of legal and social protection, the ability to use socio-psychological resources when exposed to stressful factors [2]. The presence of moral and psychological stability leads to moral and psychological readiness.

The moral and psychological readiness of personnel for operational and official activities of the internal affairs bodies of Russia is a state of consciousness and psyche of employees, reflecting their focus, activity, mood and mobilization to overcome possible difficulties, ensuring the effectiveness and quality of performance of operational and official tasks [3]. At the moment of readiness, all mechanisms activating the employee's activity are activated. The psychophysiological and emotional sides of the personality are involved. There is a certain psychological attitude at a given time, usually aimed at fulfilling official duties. Such readiness of the employee is developed both within the framework of classes on moral and psychological training, and in classes on fire and physical training.

Fire training is one of the most difficult types of training for cadets of the educational organization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. The effectiveness of the indicators depends not only on the high level of possession of firearms, technical equipment, but also the psychological readiness of the cadet to shoot. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the majority of cadets feel the influence of various stress factors [4] associated with emotional and muscular tension, pronounced excitement at the firing line, fear of weapons, self-defense reflex, aiming, trigger handling, etc. Many authors have pointed out the dependence of shooting results on the psychological state [5; 6, etc.]. The necessary theoretical and practical level of fire training creates the basis for high-quality performance by cadets of their official duties as employees of the Department of Internal Affairs and observance of personal and public safety of citizens, which ensures the psychological stability of cadets and their readiness for professional activity. In this regard, the formation of moral and psychological stability of cadets is one of the most important tasks of educational organizations of the Ministry.

When obstructing legitimate activities, police officers may experience similar negative emotional states, such as confusion, anxiety, fear, anger, frustration. These states are a response of the psyche to external circumstances, the severity of which mainly depends on the individual characteristics of a person, the significance of the situation, the duration of its impact. The formation of moral and psychological stability among employees is a complex psychological process. Psychological resistance to external negative influences, problematic professional situations is achieved through self-regulation by employees of their psycho-emotional state, which includes a number of stages: the preparatory stage; the stage of task completion; the final stage.

For the formation of moral and psychological stability, such effective methods as training, business game, individual consultation, psychological debriefing, autogenic training and some others are used [7].

During the training , the following methods are used:

- problem-search method (problem formulation, search for a joint solution in a group;

- training exercises in groups;

- modeling of employees' activities (role-playing game);

- methods of "brainstorming" and discussions.

In the course of improving the effectiveness of classes, it is advisable to involve experienced employees as experts in conducting a business game. This will ensure the necessary exchange of professional experience and increase the effectiveness of training. The choice of training exercises may vary depending on the number of participants, the time frame of the lesson, the level of preparedness of young employees. To achieve the goals of the lesson, it is important to create an atmosphere of goodwill, mutual trust. At the beginning of the lesson, its theme, purpose and objectives are indicated.

For playback, situations are proposed (possibly actually arising in the official activities of participants, their colleagues) in which citizens disobeyed the lawful requirements of a police officer (provide documents for verification, stop committing an offense, proceed to a division of internal affairs bodies, etc.) [8]. It is important to note that any game action begins with modeling the simplest, from a psychological point of view, situations of employee-citizen relationships. In the future, a gradual transition is being made to modeling situations that are more intense in their psychological content, complicated by communication barriers, contradictions, disobedience to the legitimate demands of an employee (including those related to the threat to the life of an employee and the use of weapons). Thanks to this approach, a large number of different possible situations are simulated, the social and role experience of employees participating in the training is expanded, their gradual involvement in the business game takes place. In some cases, it is possible to use video recording, which increases the effectiveness of the training participants. Subsequent viewing of the video of the business game helps employees to look at their actions from the outside, assess their behavior in a situation of obstruction of their legitimate activities from various positions [9].

In a situation when, while performing official duties, an employee is faced with disobedience to his legal requirements, it is advisable to use "express" methods of managing the psycho-emotional state. These are breathing and verbal self-regulation techniques, some exercises that contribute to the rapid restoration of emotional stability of employees. The advantages of "express" methods of self-regulation are the simplicity of their application, minimal time spent, the ability to use them directly in a traumatic situation, and the rapid achievement of results [10].

Breathing techniques are a set of special breathing exercises aimed at arbitrary (volitional) change (mobilization, tone enhancement, relaxation, calming, etc.) of the functioning of mental activity. Any police officer can use them.

It is known that breathing consists of two physiological processes - inhalation and exhalation. Inhalation is physiologically associated with arousal, mobilization of the body, exhalation - with calming, relaxation, a feeling of warmth and comfort. This allows you to use breathing techniques for both relaxation and activation. With mobilizing breathing, the emphasis is on inhaling, with relaxing breathing - on exhaling [11]. In the first case, a pause is made after inhalation, in the second - after exhalation. In general, the pause emphasizes and enhances the effect of the corresponding phase of the respiratory cycle (inhalation - if necessary, activation and exhalation in an effort to achieve a relaxing effect).

Another way of self-regulation is a complex method of speech control of a person's mental and somatic state, carried out with the help of specially selected verbal formulas (words, phrases). The purpose of verbal self-regulation is to change the psychophysiological state in accordance with the conditions of the implementation of behavioral programs.

An employee, when using verbal self-regulation techniques, can:

- to concentrate on internal processes and external conditions;

- limit the access of negative experiences from the sphere of the unconscious;

- apply techniques and techniques in various situations of performing operational and service tasks, including in motion.

Techniques of verbal self-regulation can be conditionally divided into techniques of self-monitoring and self-orders. "... The technique of self-monitoring is realized by posing questions to oneself that stimulate thinking, concentration of attention on the emotional and physical state ..." [12].

"... The identification of negative signs as a result of self-monitoring - irritability, excessive tension or muscle lethargy (the effect of "wadded legs", "hands dropped", etc.), decreased concentration, panic, stupor, etc. determines the transition to psychological self-regulation by "express" methods (breathing techniques, self-assessment, etc.). Self-assessment is one of the methods of psychological self-regulation based on the stimulating effect of the word. Self-orders are realized through volitional commands given to oneself. The technique of self-demonstration ensures the determination of actions in conditions of awareness of the goal and limited time for reflection. When forming the skill of self-expression, a reflex connection develops between internal speech and action ..." [12]. In general, it is advisable to consider self-orders as a trigger signal for the implementation of practical actions.

Most of the above methods can be successfully applied in classes on fire and physical training, since the mechanism of formation of moral and psychological stability, that for fire and physical training, that for obstructing the legitimate activities of an ATS officer are similar and require the cadets to be collected, resolute.

In this regard, it is advisable to highlight the following psychological characteristics of cadets, manifested in the process of fire and physical training:

– neuropsychiatric tension in the process of waiting for a critical situation to arise and the use of firearms and an offender's attack, manifested in fear, anxiety, doubt, uncertainty;

– the need to maintain a high degree of readiness for unexpected changes in a critical situation that requires increased attention, efficiency, psychological and emotional stability;

– the need for prompt response to the actions and resistance of the offender;

– the need to quickly predict at the same time their own actions and the actions of the offender, determining the strategy of action in a particular situation;

– a sense of responsibility for colleagues and citizens in cases of terrorist or extreme danger.

Accordingly, the process of forming the moral and psychological stability of cadets should be aimed at creating an optimal psychological state and the formation of constant internal readiness during training sessions and modeling various stressful situations.

Thus, based on the above, we will highlight important aspects of the formation of moral and psychological stability in the classes on fire and physical training of cadets of the educational organization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia:

– focus on the strength of knowledge and skills of handling service firearms and combat fighting techniques, both in standard situations and in extreme ones, taking into account factors of different strength and nature of impact;

– orientation to the depth of knowledge of the factors that cause destabilizing the situation, a variety of options for the actions of offenders;

– taking into account psychological and personal characteristics, the behavior of cadets in simulated situations close to reality.

Obstruction of the lawful activities of police officers is the cause of a conflict between a citizen (a group of citizens) and a representative of the law. In this situation, the employee should learn and apply the following rules:

1. Speak calmly, convincingly, concisely. Avoid raising your voice.

2. Not to enter into an argument, not to allow manipulation ("... I just drank, but what they say about the employees....", "... Think about it, I violated a little, and yesterday I read as an employee ...").

3. Don't make excuses. You are a representative of the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, but in a particular case you are solely responsible for your decisions and actions.

4. Maintain the belief that you are acting lawfully, in the interests of ensuring public order and public safety.

5. If the situation develops in such a way that you have to answer questions from a citizen, conduct a dialogue with him, in order to reduce conflict, it is advisable to demonstrate consent at the beginning of the phrase: «…You are right that however...", "... You are right, but in our case...", etc.

6. Even if a citizen behaves defiantly, rudely, disrespectfully, do not allow an arrogant, dismissive, insulting tone. Remember that for such actions, it is necessary to apply penalties to a citizen in accordance with the current legislation, and not your personal assessment of his behavior.

7. Do not delay the phase of dialogue, when obstructing legitimate activities, promptly stop illegal actions of a citizen in accordance with the rights that are provided for an employee by law. These recommendations will help police officers to cope with the excitement, calm the situation and take the initiative when communicating with aggressive citizens[13].

At all times, a law enforcement officer had to show moral and psychological stability and calmness in any situation. In situations of maintaining law and order, when you have to interact with different categories of citizens, this ability will help you find a common language even with people who are not inclined to a reasonable dialogue. In modern realities, the moral and psychological stability of an ATS employee is the most important characteristic of his personal qualities aimed at maintaining law and order. Classes on moral and psychological, fire and physical training will contribute to its formation.

References
1. The Russian Federation. Federal Law No. 3-FZ of 07.02.2011 "On the Police" — URL:https://base.garant.ru/12182529 / (accessed 10.09.2020). — Access mode: free. — Text: electronic.
2. Afanaskin P.V. Psychological training of law enforcement officers to use firearms. // Scientific digest of the East Siberian Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. 2019. No. 1 (1). pp. 287-291
3. Problems of students' stress resistance during fire training and ways to overcome them: methodological recommendations / author-comp. M.A. Vasiliev.-Irkutsk East Siberian Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2021. – 32s.
4. Masyagin V.P. Psychological and pedagogical training of an officer-a factor of intensification of combat training / V.P. Masyagin, A.I. Chernega // Bulletin of the Baltic Federal University named after I. Kant. – 2013.-No.11. – pp.98-104
5. Zhukov V.M., Ustinova O.V., Kochurov A.G., Zaviryukha A.M. Questions of psychological preparation during shooting training. Training of personnel for law enforcement agencies: modern trends and educational technologies. Materials of the twentieth All-Russian Scientific and Methodological Conference. Irkutsk, 04-05 March 2015, pp.198-202.
6. Tikhonov I. N. The influence of the emotional state of cadets on the formation of shooting skills / I. N. Tikhonov, V. F. Vyshtikalyuk, E. V. Sivochkin // Actual problems of combating crimes and other offenses. – 2021. – No. 21-1. – pp. 216-218.
7. Psychological training of persons who were first accepted for service in the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation as a "Policeman" employee: an educational and methodological manual / O. A. Ulyanina. – Moscow: Academy of Management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 2021. – 140 p.
8. Konstantinov V. N. Improving the effectiveness of fire training methods in educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia / V. N. Konstantinov // Scientific Digest of the East Siberian Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. – 2021. Issue 4. – pp. 43-45. (Professional education). – ISBN 978-5-534-10585-8. – Text : direct.
9. Palekhin M. V. Innovative technical means of fire training training in educational institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia // Bulletin of the Volgograd Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.2009. No. 2(9). pp. 155-159.
10. Vorozhtsov A.M., Manokhina K. S. Personal safety of an internal affairs officer in an extreme situation with the use of weapons // Scientific digest of the East Siberian Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. 2019. No. 3 (3). pp. 41-44.
11. Afanaskin P. V., Vasiliev M. A. Features of the preparation of police officers for actions on the use of firearms in conditions of limited visibility. Topical issues of fire training of law enforcement officers Collection of materials of the interdepartmental conference. Editor-in-Chief O. P. Gribunov. 2019. pp. 5-7.
12. Chunosov M.A. Specifics of the use of verbal methods of psychological self-regulation by employees of internal affairs bodies // Psychology and pedagogy of official activity. 2019. No. 2. pp. 109-111.
13. Astafyev I.N. Topical issues of the implementation of legislation on administrative offenses related to disobedience to a lawful order or demand of police officers and other "law enforcement" executive authorities // Bulletin of the University "Cluster". 2022. No. 1 (1). pp. 8-18.
14. Meshcheryakova E.I., Sibirko M.A. Fire training as a condition for the formation of moral and psychological stability // Psychopedagogy in law enforcement agencies. 2011. No. 1(44). pp. 62-66.

First Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The subject of the research in the article "Formation of moral and psychological stability of police officers in cases of obstruction of their legitimate activities through fire and physical training" is the methodological support of the formation of moral and psychological stability of students in classes of fire and physical training. The research methodology is based on a competence-based approach to the professional training of police officers. It is noted that modeling situations of practical activity in professional training contributes to the training of police officers in the techniques of managing their emotional state. The work uses theoretical methods – analysis and generalization of pedagogical practices in the field of police training. The relevance of the study is determined by the importance of improving professionally important qualities related to the moral and psychological stability of police officers. It is noted that employees' self-regulation of their psychoemotional state includes three stages: the preparatory stage; the stage of completing the task; the final stage. Among the effective methods, training, business play, psychological debriefing, and autogenic training stand out. Active methods are used: problem formulation and search for a joint solution in a group; role-playing (modeling the activities of employees); brainstorming and discussion. The results determining the scientific novelty of the study include the fact that the methodological features of self-regulation are indicated as a method of speech control of a person's mental and somatic state, which is carried out using specially selected verbal formulas (words, phrases). The psychological characteristics of the cadets are highlighted, which are significant in the formation of their moral and psychological stability and manifest themselves in the process of fire and physical training. The article is written in scientific language. The article contains an introduction, which substantiates the need to organize work on the formation and development of moral and psychological stability among police officers, teaching them techniques for managing their emotional state. The main part of the article describes the methodological features of the formation of moral and psychological stability in classes on fire and physical training of cadets. The final part of the article contains rules that contribute to the formation of moral and psychological stability as an important personal quality of an employee of the Department of Internal Affairs. The bibliography contains 14 sources, including teaching aids and scientific articles. The sources correspond to the subject of the study and references are made to them in the text. Not all sources are designed according to GOST: in source 2, the indication of pages should begin with a capital letter (in the text "pp. 287-291"); in sources 6, 12 and 14, there are incorrect indications in the description "EDN MKPCAW", "EDN: GTUPAF", "EDN: OGHMFP". Also, source 14 does not specify the number of the journal and the page where the article is posted. A methodological note on the design of the material: the author of the article needs to correct the title: 1) the word "Stability" is capitalized; 2) the name is overloaded and we propose to replace it with "Formation of moral and psychological stability of police officers in fire and physical training classes." The article may be of interest to teachers of special disciplines in the training of police officers and, subject to the elimination of comments, may be recommended for publication.

Second Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The object of the research in the article is the psychological and pedagogical process of forming moral and psychological stability in the process of training cadets of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The subject of the study is specific methods of work aimed at developing the moral and psychological stability of police officers, necessary in case of obstruction of their legitimate demands. The research methodology has a pronounced analytical and deductive character: thus, from general issues of moral and psychological stability of police officers, the author proceeds to specific ways of its formation with a description of each of them separately. In the first part of the work, the conceptual apparatus is fully presented: the phenomena of moral and psychological stability and moral and psychological readiness are revealed. The work is undoubtedly relevant, taking into account the fact that there are various negative manifestations in the interaction of individual citizens with employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the performance of their official duties. The relevance of the study is emphasized by the relevant detailed statistics. The work has relatively pronounced elements of novelty, manifested in the description and disclosure of specific effective methods of forming the moral and psychological stability of police officers. The style of presentation is logical, fully meets the linguistic requirements for a scientific text. The bibliography of the work contains the optimal number of sources, taking into account the volume of the text. All the works presented in the bibliography are relevant to the subject of the study and have been published in fairly reputable publications. The advantages of the work include the high relevance of the research, the clear logic of the presentation of the material, the absence of general phrases, which makes the perception of the text quite easy and the actualization of specific methods and methods of managing the psycho-emotional state, as well as the development of moral and psychological stability in the educational process. The disadvantages of the work include the following. 1) The essence and main content of each method of work on the formation of moral and psychological stability of police officers is revealed, however, there is practically no analysis of them. So the work would benefit if not only the advantages but also the disadvantages of each method were disclosed, the conditions under which it is most effective and the situations in which one or another method is less suitable, etc. were more clearly updated. 2) As conclusions, the author presents the key areas of work with cadets and thesis rules for However, the article would benefit an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs if it considered the mechanisms of how exactly certain methods and forms of work help in achieving results within the framework of the specified rules. 3) The surnames of the authors are not presented in the text of the work at all, the wording "many authors" should be replaced by the surnames of specific representatives of the study of a particular issue. Basically, the comments are of a recommendatory nature and do not negate the fact that the submitted manuscript generally meets the minimum basic requirements for journal articles and can be published in a peer-reviewed publication after revision according to the last comment.