Forms and methods of drug prevention among youth: the problems of "old-style" work

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

Annotation

УДК 178.8-053.6:616-084

FORMS AND METHODS OF DRUG PREVENTION AMONG YOUTH: THE PROBLEMS OF "OLD-STYLE" WORK

Kolomoets Sergey Dmitriyevich - history teacher at Ulyanovka (Ist - ІІІrd stages) Secondary School of Aleksandriya District Council, the head of youth and teenage organization "Tarpan".

Kolomoets Aleksandr Dmitriyevich - candidate of sciences in Law, Professor of the Department of Law of the Kirovograd Institute of Interregional Academy of Personnel Management.

The paper is devoted to the issues of drug prevention among youth. The author reveals new forms and methods of prevention in the given sphere, highlights new directions of its functioning considering the priorities and emphasis shifts in counteracting the spread of drug-addiction.

Keywords: prevention, warning, forms, methods, drug-use, internal affairs' organs, youth, youth and teenage organizations.

ФОРМИ І МЕТОДИ ПРОФІЛАКТИКИ НАРКОМАНІЇ В МОЛОДІЖНОЇ СЕРЕДОВИЩІ: ПРОБЛЕМИ РОБОТИ "ПО СТАРОМУ"

Стаття присвячена аналізу проблем здійснення профілактики наркоманії в молодіжному середовищі. Розкрито основні форми та методи профілактики у зазначеній сфері, окреслено нові напрями її здійснення з урахуванням змін акцентів та пріоритетів у протидії розповсюдженню наркоманії.

Ключові слова: профілактика, попередження, форми, методи, наркоманія, органи внутрішніх справ, молодь, молодіжно-підліткові організації.

ФОРМЫ И МЕТОДЫ ПРОФИЛАКТИКИ НАРКОМАНИИ В МОЛОДЕЖНОЙ СРЕДЕ: ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАБОТЫ "ПО СТАРИНКЕ"

Статья посвящена анализу проблем профилактики наркомании в молодежной среде. Раскрыты основные формы и методы профилактики в указанной сфере, обозначены новые направления ее осуществления с учетом изменений акцентов и приоритетов в противодействии распространению наркомании.

Ключевые слова: профилактика, предупреждение, формы, методы, наркомания, органы внутренних дел, молодежь, молодежно-подростковые организации.

Introduction

Formulation of the problem. The problem of drug-addiction, especially by the youth, is one of the most acute in our society. In spite of the fact that much attention is given to its solution on different levels, it takes up a large scale. According to the data, the amount of drug-addicts in Ukraine equals about 110 thousands, the majority of them being under 30 years old [1]. At the same time, considering the latency of the phenomenon, the actual amount of drug-addicts and illegal drug-traffickers may reach about 1 million people. We believe this number to be much increased because nowadays young people do not even consider using so-called "soft drugs" (for example, marihuana smoking) as drug-addiction.

Analysis of recent research and publications. The problem of crime prevention highlighted in the writings of Yu.M. Antonian, O.M. Bandurko A.A. Habiani, V.O. Hlushkov, A.A. Hliiev, M.M. Holodniuk, I.M. Danshin, O.M. Dzhuzhy, N.M. Dorohykh, V.N. ZyrIanov, O.F. Zelinskyi, V.S. Zelenetskyi, O.M. Kostenko, I.V. Korzun, I.P. Lanovenko, F.A. Lopushanskyi, M.P. Melentieva, O.S. Mihlin, A.A. Muzyka, V.P. PIEtkov, V.M. Trubnykov, O.Ya. Svietlov, G.S. Semakov, V.V. Skybytskyi, V.M. Smitiienko, V.A. Serebriakova, Ye.V. Sereda, S. Yu. Fareniuk, T.A. Shulezhko, O.N. Yarmysh and other scientists.

Preventing spread of drug addiction in Ukraine in general and youth in particular, studied in the works of N. Maximova, V. Orzhehovskyi, O. Yaremenko, O. Balakyreva, V. Lazorenko, S. Nikitenko, A. Serdiuk, V. Shapovalov, L. Filonenko, K. Lisetskyi, L. Kolesov, M. Okarynskyi, O. Panchenko, O. Pylypenko and others.

Analyzing scientific journals, media materials, we can conclude that most of publications deal with either statement of facts and calls for struggle against this "global evil", or with the theoretical aspects of this problem's research and practical issues of combating drug-distributors (users). Statistical reports of law-enforcement organs frequently show the number of seized drugs, of blocked channels of drug-import into the territory of Ukraine, and of the apprehended (mostly sellers, many being drug-addicts as well) for illegal drug-trafficking. All given information suggests that the struggle is being held not with the problem itself, but merely with its consequences.

Statement of purpose of the article. The aim and the object of the study is to analyze the practice of crime prevention activities, forms and methods of preventing drug abuse among youth, that exist, the effectiveness of measures to combat drug abuse and try to determine the best ways to increase the level of combating this criminal phenomenon.

The main material of the research

It is well-known that drug-trafficking occupies the first place in the world in profits and illegal money turnover. Therefore, even the most radical measures in combating this phenomenon in any country will bring no expected results without performing a complex of preventive activities and without a proper cooperation of all state organs, non-governmental organizations and international community. Taking into account today's situation, in particular corruption in Ukraine, imperfect legislation in the sphere of counteracting illegal turnover of narcotic and psychotropic substances, poor logistics and provision of law-enforcement organs, including internal affairs' organs, etc., we can state that preserving such state of affairs, the drug-addiction is becoming a number one threat not only for the society, but for the national security of our state.

That is why one of the solutions to this problem is its complex prevention, which in the first place should be aimed at eliminating causes of drug-consumption.

As we know, offence prevention in criminology is divided into two types: general social and special criminological. The measures of both first and second type may be applied on several levels of offence prevention [2, p. 94-95].

Criminology references indicate that general social measures counteract general reasons of crime, creating favorable conditions for offence prevention on the special criminological level. In its widest sense the general social prevention covers the complex of social, economic, legal and organizational measures, aimed at improving population's life standards, stabilization, reduction of social tension in society, education effectiveness, and cultural awareness of citizens. As S.V. Nikitenko points out, although these measures are not specifically aimed at offence prevention, they still have positive consequences in combating crime and its causes [3, p.95].

Activities of the second level include implementation of prevention impact upon certain social groups (microenvironment) where conflicts occur and negative phenomena take place. drug prevention youth method

The third level involves individual educational work aimed at positive change in value orientation of persons facing unfavorable conditions of formation or persons already prone to commit offences, in order to overcome their antisocial beliefs and attitudes, to foster respect to the law and norms of behavior accepted in society.

Certainly, the clear distinction of different levels of offence prevention is impossible to conduct, but the "core idea of general offence prevention is the idea of an impact upon determinalizational offence complex that determines its specifics" [3, p.8].

Considering the specifics of such scientific work, we will confine just to the several aspects of drug prevention among youth. This age group is not randomly selected. According to some records, about 70 per cent of drug-addicts are people under the age of 30 [4].

First of all, preventive work must begin at primary school. As practice shows, the lower age limit of persons who have tried drugs, is around 10-11 years old now.

Secondly, it is necessary to improve forms and methods of drug prevention. Their analysis shows that they have hardly changed in recent years. Among them are conducting preventive disputes with specialists, meetings with ex-drug-addicts (which has a definite negative feature of approving the myth about addiction curability), working with "risk groups" and vulnerable families, social advertising, publication of articles on the topic in mass media, film production on the given topic, etc. Surely, all these measures positively contribute to drug prevention, but their efficiency decreases with the time. We believe that the existence of formal approach to such measures should also be taken into account. We are confident that most of people (probably, all of them) who have tried drugs for the first time, new about their extreme malignancy, but for different reasons the corresponding attitude hasn't worked out. This means that the basics of precaution to non-commitment of such acts have not been laid in their minds.

In some cases the attempts are being made to influence the minds of youth and their attitude towards drugs by the newest prevention methods, such as organizing "Stop Drugs" actions, different KVN festivals and so on. And again, appreciating their positive influence, sometimes we realize that they have a quite opposite effect. This is confirmed by the attitude of both participants and audience to these activities. Youth social networks are filled with messages about using alcohol and drugs during such activities, sarcastic gratitude for the "free music" and facts of drug-addiction among music band members Easy to figure out, what has a better effect: either word messages of a famous singer to fight drugs (which are later taken as purely formal) or his own example of drug-using.

Needless to say, the authors have a considerable experience in training school and student KVN teams. It is often assumed that making fun of the drug-addicts in such performances has positive effect and is a certain kind of drug prevention. We think that it is not always true, while the character's comedy is quickly forgotten, and the subconsciousness of the spectators preserves the state of affect from drug-using, in which the character experienced all those "funny" things, and later on the spectators may wish to have their own experience of the kind. Therefore, we believe that certain limits should be put and explanations to such performances should be made not only while conducting different youth activities, but on television, radio, and Internet as well.

From our point of view, the introduction of training technologies in drug prevention is considerably positive. This allows influencing efficiently not only one person, but a certain group as a whole. Besides, representatives of law enforcement structures and NGOs often take part in such activities which ultimately allows:

to cover a large area and involve a bigger amount of people with such activities (NGOs have a national and regional network);

to determine in a short time the activity direction and object, to form a team of coaches who will involve large diversified audience into educational, informational and training programs (nowadays NGOs use innovation technologies and methods which allow to work "in anticipation");

to introduce changes into current legislation (NGOs closely cooperate on the international level, have experience analyzing best practices, and, importantly, have powers and may lobby different changes into legislation);

to provide financially for conducting such activities (NGOs have a substantial experience in fundraising participating in different international projects);

to provide actual assistance to drug addicts (unfortunately, today state agencies and bodies of internal affairs are not able to give it in the fullest, because such patients require complex legal, psychological and medical assistance).

Third, we believe, that youth social networks, where drug-selling offers are often made openly, should become a separate research object. The emphasis should be made not only at "hunting" distributors (which should definitely also take place) but, first of all, at forming certain youth group culture and trends that would contribute to anti-drugs ideas. As a rule, such task requires considerable efforts from all subjects of illegal drug turnover counteraction that is why the authors call scientists, practical workers and the public for an open discussion on the topic.

Forth, the prevention work in this sphere among school and college students should be conducted both on professional and voluntary basis. But consistency must be its main condition, because one-time activities will have a minimum effect in this field. Quite often these days people name closing up different activity clubs and sports clubs for children functioning in our country before the USSR collapse, as one of the major causes for different negative phenomena spread. Partially agreeing with that statement we would like to point out that without proper education and target settings the participation of a person in such activities may bring negative effect. For example, if the former member of a martial arts club uses his experience for committing offences like hooliganism, robbery, etc.

Fifth, and important prevention aspect is involving people, which it is targeted at, as its direct participants. With efficient organization, planning, pedagogical and scientific support and informal approach to such activities their positive impact will increase greatly. An example of it is the experience of a new-type teenage youth organization "Tarpan" (hereinafter TYO "Tarpan") which has operated since 2004 in Ulyanovka (1st - IlIrd stages) secondary school of Aleksandriya District Council in Kirovograd region (Ukraine).

The first significant feature of TYO "Tarpan" is its wide range of activities. Structurally the organization is divided into "local lore division" and "environmental division" which are closely connected not only with each other but with a "tourist association", "intellectual league", "sports league", "literary studio" and others. Thus, a teenager has many options of participating in the TYO activities, which would mostly correspond to his interests, needs, preferences and likes. Hence, the interest in organization's activities continues.

Secondly, the absolute freedom principle of an individual to participate in any activities conducted by the organization is predominant. Only having a conscious desire the TYO member joins the common activity, therefore he demonstrates high level of teenager's self-esteem, discipline and effectiveness during the activity.

Flexibility and diverseness in TYO work allow involving young people from different social strata and groups, ranging from recognized leaders in education to teenagers registered for their behavior at school or even have a record at internal affairs bodies. One of the priorities for the head of "Tarpan" is attraction to organization's work and as members of the unstable and prone to delinquency children and teenagers. Namely, one of the efficiency criteria of any organization's activity is the number of participating "risk group" teenagers. The majority of such teenagers took part in summer local lore tourist camp in 2005 (68, 3 per cent) and summer eco-tourist camp in 2006 (72, 4 per cent). Similar attempts are being made during organization and conduct of other TYO activities. Actually, the idea of this organization's creation grew out of the desire to "take teenagers off the streets", to minimize negative social influence of outdoor companies, and to counteract antisocial attitudes and commitment of offences.

During TYO events and activities the "social rehabilitation" principle is being applied. Its implementation experience has been disclosed by us in several publications [5; 6], and it presupposes not only formation of teenager's high civic consciousness level, and, therefore, of legal culture, but also provides psychological support to the personality during its formation Such support is reflected in establishing the corresponding communication environment, developing certain tastes and inclinations, positive (primarily legal) self-consciousness and ability for further self-expression and self-realization.

Generalized experience of TYO "Tarpan" was published in the bulletin of Kharkiv Human Rights Group "Human Rights" [7].

Conclusions and recommendations for further research

The problem of drug prevention is extremely complex and combines many interrelated aspects, such as social, legal, economic, medical, psychological and political. That is why it requires complex solution, in particular, conducting legal measures, social support and rehabilitation of drug-users, and assisting them during the treatment. We believe that the priority for any activity of drug counteracting subject must be its prevention.

Bibliography

1. Drug Distribution in Ukraine: Basic Shemes - Access Mode: http://tor4.ru/news/narkostmktura-ukrainy-osnovnye-skhemy - Screenshot Title.

2. Nikitenko S.V. Prevention of Mercenary and Mercenary-violent Offences Committed by Women with Drug-Addiction. Thesis ... candidate of sciences in Law: 12.00.08 / Nikitenko Stanislav Vladimirovich. - Kharkov., 2004. - 214 p.

3. Tokarev A.F. General Warning in the Activity of Internal Affairs Organs. - M., 1995. - 30 p.

4. Drug-abuse Threatens Ukraine with Humanitarian Catastrophe - Access Mode: http://podrobnosti.ua/society/2005/02/09/179269.html - Screenshot Title.

5. Kolomoyets S.D., Social Rehabilitation in Educational Work with Juveniles / A.D. Kolomoyets, S.D. Kolomoets // Legal Education and Offence Prevention among Teenagers and Youth. Digest of Scientific Articles / edited by N.A. Isayeva, E.V. Markovicheva - Oriol: Oriol State University, CJSC PC "Offset Printing ", 2008. - P.33-42.

6. Kolomoyets S.D. Practical Application of Social Rehabilitation Measures while Educating Juveniles/ O.D. Kolomoets, S.D. Kolomoets A.D. // Bulletin of Zaporizhia Law Institute. - 2007. - №3. - P.130-145.

7. Kolomoyets S. Teenage and Youth Organization "Tarpan" as an Example of New-Type Extracurricular Youth Organization / S. Kolomoets // Human Rights. Civic Education / Bulletin of Kharkiv Human Rights Group. - № 18 (454), June, 2007. - P. 2-8.

Размещено на Allbest.ru