Learned helplessness or why we are passive

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Not so long ago I came across an article showing the statistics of child seizures in America, most of all from this article I remember the phrase "American juveniles have been working for a long time and with such a society in which there is simply no one to resent anti-family injustice."

Here I would like to continue and say, so in Europe, many no longer resist and perceive juvenile justice as something normal and quite acceptable. Even in spite of the fact that in Finland, for example, disabled children are selected from quite prosperous families. And in the spring of 2016, a social experiment started in Scotland: parents were deprived of their rights in the family and transferred them to the state, and a state representative was assigned to each child, whose requirements are higher than those of the parents.

At the same time, there is a possibility that the seized children can be a resource for satisfying the needs of perverts and elites (enrichment, sex entertainment, a base for organ transplants, etc.). So, in 2016, the police in the Norwegian city of Bergen announced the disclosure of a wide underground network of pedophiles in the country (article, article).

This information caused a strong resonance in society, since a well-functioning system of removing children from their families and transferring them to foster families, often same-sex families (Barnevern), has been operating in Norway for many years. According to the Norwegian Central Bureau of Statistics, the number of children “in respect of whom a custody decision has been made” is increasing every year. In 2014, 53,008 children were seized, in 2015 - 53,439, in 2016 - 54,620.

Today juvenile justice is marching across Russia, but Russians prefer not to know about it.

Why Americans and Europeans do not resist juvenile justice, we will not consider, but what is it with the Russians, we will try to figure it out.

I would like to make a reservation right away: it is difficult to answer the question of why Russian society is passive and does not show civic activity, and the question itself is quite serious. I will try to outline only a few facts.

As you know, people are not born indifferent, indifferent, but become. I think everyone has heard at least once: “it will not change anything anyway”, “why go to the polls, they will be elected without us”, “they will do it anyway”, “what can we do”, “nothing depends on us etc. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

In 2017, the Levada Center conducted a poll, which showed: 68% of Russians believe that they are not able to influence what is happening in the country, 21% believe that they can, but to an insignificant extent, and only 5% believe in their strength …

Learned helplessness syndrome was described by American psychologists Martin Seligman and Stephen Mayer in 1967. Seligman defines learned helplessness as a state when it seems to a person that external events do not depend on him, and he can do nothing to change or prevent them. A person does not make attempts to improve his situation, although he has such an opportunity.

Learned helplessness manifests itself in three areas: motivational, cognitive and emotional. In the motivational sphere, this manifests itself as a lack of action and a desire to intervene in the situation. In the cognitive one, it is not the ability to learn how to get out of the situation. In a similar situation, a person refuses to act in advance, thinking that it will be useless. In the emotional sphere - as suppressed states, sometimes reaching depression.

According to psychologists and sociologists, 90% of Russians suffer from learned helplessness syndrome. But where did the population of an entire country get this syndrome from?

After the collapse of the USSR, massive and purposeful work began to replace the cultural and semantic code of the nation; for many, a “value breakdown” took place. A change in values is a deep and painful process, as it leads to a transformation of basic attitudes and life guidelines. The new liberal values were based on selfishness, consumerism, the accumulation of material wealth, etc. This did not correspond to the traditional way of life for a Russian person and worldview, in which such concepts as work, respect for work, conscience, honesty, community are fundamental. In addition, the Russian people are deeply spiritual, and liberal values presuppose the removal of all moral and ethical taboos. It can be assumed that for a part of the population, the transformation of values continues to this day.

The central value for Soviet people was the state: it protected, protected, and cared for. The state ensured social justice, equality, order. Today, the state transfers a number of its functions to NGOs and business, and provides services to the population (social services, educational services). A contradiction arises in the consciousness of a person: on the one hand, people no longer expect much from the state, but on the other hand, faith in the state as a guarantor of justice remains.

The existing economic, political, social, moral and ethical situation in Russia also impedes the manifestation of civic activity.

The Anglo-American anthropologist Gregory Bateson developed the concept of "double bills" to explain the mechanism of schizophrenia. The concept is good in that it can be applied not only in psychiatry, but also in the description of many social and cultural phenomena. For example, the media are actively sending us "double messages" from our politicians - conflicting statements are sent to society. For example, the president says that it is necessary to fight corruption, but an official caught for bribes and theft is released and all property is returned to him; or the government promises that prices will not rise, but they double in a month; or they say that there is no juvenile justice system in Russia, but it moves around the country, etc.

At the same time, people burdened with consumer loans and mortgages are afraid to openly criticize inconsistencies and power.

So you can lose your job for your views. In April 2017, the head of the Department of Geometry and Topology of PetrSU, Professor Alexander Ivanov, was dismissed. For several years, he criticized the unified state exam, was the author of bills on the separation of schools from the Unified State Exam.

In 2017, several cases were publicized in which juvenile technologies were used as a way to put pressure on unwanted citizens. But how many similar cases in the country are unknown. The third part of the film "The Last Bell" also shows that the guardianship authorities are a power tool. Residents of villages and towns who oppose the closure of schools in their settlements, officials threaten with the removal of children.

Ordinary citizens feel insecure against the arbitrariness of officials, fear of losing their jobs, etc., all this forms a certain type of people, more passive. Such measures provide control over the society.

Many Russians today live by the principle “this does not concern me”. Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev explains: "When the life of the majority does not go beyond the tolerable, an increase in interest in politics is not to be expected - people live a private life and solve everyday problems, while politics exists separately."

The passivity and indifference of citizens is also due to the political illiteracy of the population. And here the media play an important role. There is no need to say that the media are free and there is no censorship on television.

Many channels are promoting consumerism and hedonism. The modern Russian lives in a consumerist society, he may be well versed in washing powder, toothpaste, in applications for a cell phone, but not understand how optimization is related to the closure of schools and hospitals.

The news in the media is presented in a modified form, with a ready-made assessment, forming the viewer's desired vision of the event, as a result of which there is no need to think critically, to make an independent decision. Someone will say that there are alternative sources on the Internet, and more reliable information can be gleaned from them.

However, the 2016 survey data of the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) show that 75% of the population trust federal channels as a source of information, while only 22% of Russians trust the Internet.

American sociologists K. Kinnik, D. Krugman and G. Cameron found that ruthless reporting of bad news alienates the audience, forcing it to turn away from social problems, in other words, emotional burnout occurs. But it is precisely the large flow of negative information (in the news, in emergency reports, in films, scenes of robberies, murders, terrorist attacks) that can be watched on the screen today.

Thanks to the "censorship" on TV, part of the Russian population does not even imagine how dangerous laws and initiatives are being promoted in our country: "The Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence", which actually prohibits the upbringing of children; "Law on biometric identification of citizens" No. 482-FZ, the juvenile system continues to be actively introduced, gender ideology is promoted, etc.

Lobbyists of such laws did not launch their offensive for nothing. In their opinion, Russian society is ready: it is passive, indifferent, and will not resist.