Likhodey E.M. The Program “Children of Russia” in 1990–1995: Towards a History of the Formation of a New Direction in Russian Policy in the Sphere of Childhood

Abstract: The article presents an overview of the development process of the program “Children of Russia” in the context of the formation of a new direction of the Russian Federation’s policy in the sphere of childhood, beginning from 1990 and ending at the first stage of the program’s realization in 1995. The study of the state’s policy in the sphere of childhood in the 1990s is becoming particularly relevant today, because the origins of the gaps currently existing – such as the ambiguity in understanding this phenomenon – lie in the initial period of the formation of the Russian Federation, since the reconstructive processes simultaneously led to progressive and positive results, regarding society in general, and to negative results, to a greater extent affecting children. The article, divided into three idea headings, identifies the conditions of adopting the program “Children of Russia” and its component subprograms, examines the content of these programs, their development, and analyzes the results of implementing the program “Children of Russia” in general and the subprograms in particular as of 1995. The methodological base of this study is founded on the principles of historicism, consistency and objectivity, which allow to comprehensively analyze the scientific-reliable facts and the relevant body of sources. The author applies the historical, comparative-historical, logical and dialectical methods. The scientific novelty presented in the article is determined by the fact that the elaboration process of the named program and the results of its implementation from the historical point of view are little-studied. In writing this article the author was able to address a wide body of sources, previously not used in scientific studies, the majority of which are archival documents from the legislative and executive powers, preserved in the State archive of the Russian Federation. In addition, the author also used data from periodicals and memoirs of participants of the described events, published by them. The conducted research has allowed to reconstruct the process of formulating the program “Children of Russia”. The results of this study can be used in preparing courses on Russian history, special courses on the history of state and law, history of policy development in the sphere of childhood, in writing textbooks and educational tutorials.

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