Image and social portrait of a police officer

Shatskaya Ekaterina Aleksandrovna PhD in Sociology Associate Professor of the Department of Philosophy and Social and Humanitarian Disciplines of the East Siberian Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation 110 Lermontov str., Irkutsk, Irkutsk region, 644082, Russia Katerina_shat@mail.ru Other publications by this author

At the end of the XX century, a new reality firmly entered our lives, which presented fundamentally different requirements for everyday life. This is due not only to profound changes in socio-economic life and socio-political changes, but also to a large-scale increase in the information flow. It is no coincidence that the modern era is increasingly referred to as the time of the Internet. The introduction of social networks today increasingly makes us think about the need to form a positive image, not only of individual citizens, but also of organizations. It should be noted that after the turbulent and chaotic 1990s, the Russian state increasingly seeks to form a positive image both as a whole and of its individual integral parts, among which law enforcement agencies occupy an important place.

For a long time, much attention has been paid to creating a bright image of the police. So in the Soviet period, these were wonderful concerts on Police Day, and a whole series of feature films ("Experts are investigating", "Police Sergeant", "Inspector of Criminal investigation", "Traffic police Inspector", "Petrovka, 38", etc.). However, already in the years of Perestroika, when there was a massive The "denigration" of not only Soviet history, but also of our entire state, the image of both the Soviet militia and the Soviet army caused negative emotions among citizens. It is no coincidence that in this regard, during the reform of 2009-2011, among other things, the name of the militia was replaced by the police. However, despite the measures taken, there is no doubt about the importance of forming a positive image of police officers. These circumstances determine the relevance of studying the image of a police officer and drawing up his social portrait.

Turning to the issue of the image and social portrait of a police officer, let's focus on the essential understanding of these terms. Image is a complex concept, firstly, it combines the external and internal manifestations of a person, which reflect his professional qualities, behavior in a team and society ^[9]; secondly, image is a public image that has an emotional coloring and takes the form of a stereotype ^[8]. It should be noted that in scientific publications there are different approaches to the consideration of image, for example, manipulative ^[4], acmeological ^{[1, 5, 6, 7, 13]}, philosophical and sociological ^[18]. This diversity is explained by the ambiguity of the term "image" itself.

In our opinion, O. A. Feofanov interprets the concept of image quite succinctly, considering it as a reflection of a phenomenon perceived by us, in which we intentionally focus our perception on certain aspects of this phenomenon" ^[16]. In other words, when forming the image of the studied object, we consciously endow it with additional characteristics (social, psychological) that are not (or do not fully reflect) the real properties of this object, but have social significance for its perception.

Following the views of S. Scribner, the concept of "image" can be correlated with the concept of "fashion". Fashion is characterized by rapidly changing ideas, which, thanks to the mass media, become characteristic of modern societies ^[10].

Thus, the image or ideas about an object are subjective, but the totality of subjective judgments gives reason to believe about the collective perception of this object. At the same time, different social groups may have opposite images of the same object.

The term "social sweat" is more often used in sociology. In the history of sociological knowledge, the theoretical basis for the emergence of a social portrait was the concept of ideal types by M. Weber. This concept is based on the process of creating a characteristic image of the studied object. There is no fundamental interpretation of the concept of "social portrait", however, it is possible to identify important components of the proposed term: social role, social group, social status. When studying a social portrait, a certain group is interviewed that has something in common, for example, status (student, pensioner), profession, occupation. At the same time, the social portrait cannot be positive or negative. He characterizes the studied group according to objective data, answering the question "What should a representative of a particular social group be?" In other words, this is an ideal idea of a representative of a particular profession, a social group characterized by a set of certain qualities, a style of behavior, a lifestyle.

In scientific research, there are other ideas about the social portrait of a police officer. For example, S. A. Alekseev, D. A. Shpilev, E. N. Shlyagina focus attention on social well-being and problems of concern to police officers when studying this issue ^[2]. Of course, satisfaction with monetary allowances, housing conditions, organization of service, career growth, etc. are the most important components of professional work. However, it seems to us that a citizen, choosing the profession of "Policeman", initially determines possible benefits for himself (for example, early retirement), motivating himself to serve, or enters the service, guided by other beliefs. In addition, we note that not all employees in the future may be affected, for example, by job promotions, increased pay, working conditions, etc.

Based on some differences in the interpretation of the concepts of "image" and "social portrait", we note that image is a subjective perception of an object, and a social portrait is its objective characteristic. However, it is possible to formulate the general features of these categories. Firstly, the image and social portrait are of a collective nature, they are characterized by a mass consciousness, not an individual one. Secondly, image and social portrait have a communicative nature. Thirdly, the image and social portrait depend on the cultural and historical cycle. From this point of view, the image can be interpreted as a kind of social portrait.

D. G. Perednya's opinion is interesting: "when starting to improve the image of the Russian police, it is advisable to carry out a procedure for segmenting objects of regulatory influences, since this will ensure the targeting of impacts and save resources" ^[12]. As we see it, in order to obtain the most objective information about the image of a police officer, it is necessary to organize the collection of information about employees from different groups separately. For example, depending on the social role performed, the source of income, gender and age characteristics (students, pensioners, the self-employed, individual entrepreneurs, employees of budgetary spheres, citizens of young, middle and older ages, etc.). This need is explained by the ideological characteristics of people of different social groups. In addition, the perception of a police officer as a representative of state power is formed on the basis of communication experience, representation in the media, and the expectations of society itself. And scientific research just makes it possible to understand how the image of a police officer is constructed or deconstructed.

The problem of forming a favorable image of a police officer is not new. This topic occupies a special place in the scientific research of Russian scientists. For example, one cannot disagree with the opinion of K. K. Shatalova ^[17] that the formation of the image of a police officer is based on high professionalism. At the same time, it is quite difficult for a simple layman to assess the set of professional qualities of a police officer. It seems to us that the assessment of activity takes place on the basis of satisfaction when contacting the internal affairs bodies. It is quite difficult to give an objective characterization of sociability, empathy, intelligence, honesty, fairness of a police officer, etc.

I. E. Shirshov rightly notes that the idea of a police officer is steadily associated with stereotypes of mass consciousness: negative social qualities of a policeman ^[19]. In this context, the media plays a role. The broadcast images of police officers in modern films and TV series often present him to the mass perception as a helpless, indecisive, corrupt official. Of course, responsibility in full cannot be shifted to the shoulders of the film industry, but still, what you see and hear affects the perception of a police officer in real conditions. We believe that the image of something positive will not form by itself. This requires painstaking work. In one of the research papers, an analysis of the artistic image of an employee of the internal affairs bodies is given ^[15]. Let's pay attention to the character traits of the artistic image of a policeman: changeability of mood, rudeness, impoliteness, isolation, irritability, uncertainty, lack of purposefulness, courage, strength and courage, cunning, good breeding, demanding, professionalism, virtue.

The results of the 2018 survey of the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion on the prestige of professions require attention. The places are distributed as follows: doctor, scientist, businessman, government officials, military personnel. The profession of a teacher, journalist, and policeman received a small number of votes ^[3].

Despite the fact that the level of trust in police officers has a positive trend according to the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Research Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia" from 51.7% in 2022 to 53.3% in 2023 ^[11], a set of measures is needed to raise the prestige of the service. For example, by holding military sports events with schoolchildren ^[14]. The interaction of police officers with schoolchildren and students on security issues is useful not only from the point of view of informing young people, but also forming a positive image of the employees themselves.

Having considered the concepts of image and social portrait, we consider it possible to designate "self-image" in the supplement. The term "self-image" itself is not a new concept. The classification of types of image, including self-image, was proposed by E. Simpson, and subsequently found its reflection in the works of other scientific figures. In the general understanding, self–image is an opinion about oneself, an assessment of one's qualities based on personal experience and self-esteem. We believe that such self-assessment actions will favorably affect the image of a police officer.

The interest in self-image is caused by several factors, among which the most important are:

- changing the basic moral values of police service;

- the unconscious choice of the profession of "Policeman";

- lack of life experience among young police officers.

It is a well–known fact that any professional work leaves its mark on a person. In our case, the activity of a police officer is associated with a number of adverse factors (risks to health and life, irregular working hours, a special communicative environment, etc.), which are not compensated by the amount of monetary allowances and social benefits. For example, let's give the data obtained in the course of working in training sessions with citizens who first joined the internal affairs bodies. For most, the priority value orientations are family, children, parents, career, friends, material values, self-development and, of course, health, which a significant number of young employees do not think about due to their young age. It is important to understand how value preferences change during the service and whether there are opportunities to implement them. The problem of studying the motivation for choosing the profession of "Policeman" is acute. As we see it, police officers need to focus their attention on developing self-analysis skills, be ready for self-development, understand the need to know their strengths and weaknesses, and, accordingly, work on themselves. In our opinion, this is an important direction in becoming a professional, and, as a result, the reflection of personality in the profession, which has a beneficial effect on the formation of a positive image of a law enforcement officer.

To summarize. The scientific concept of the social phenomenon "image" does not have an unambiguous interpretation today. However, priority areas can be identified, the implementation of which will affect the image of a police officer. These include: the formation of the moral values of the service, increasing the personal interest of the personnel of the internal affairs bodies in professional and personal development, conducting explanatory conversations with young people about the activities of the police, the formation of senior management in the internal affairs bodies. While the social portrait covers the broader public perception, expectations and role of a police officer in society. It is a collective understanding of responsibilities, responsibilities, and behavior within a community.

It seems to us that the relationship of such terms as "image", "social portrait" and "self-image" will provide an opportunity to understand the image of a police officer more deeply. To do this, you need to answer the questions:

1. What should a police officer be like in the views of members of society, what set of qualities should he possess, what kind of behavior should he demonstrate both on and off duty. This is the basis for the formation of a social portrait. Let us pay attention to the qualities shown to the servants of order, prescribed in the Charter of the Deanery or the Police of April 8, 1782, which have not lost their importance in modern society: common sense, goodwill in the administration of the entrusted, humanity, loyalty to service, diligence for the common good, joy about the position, honesty and selflessness.

2. Whether or not the police officer meets the requirements. This is a subjective attitude towards a representative of the government (image). Perhaps one of the most difficult tasks in research work on the study of the image of a police officer, since various factors influence the formation of an opinion about someone or something.

3. What measures does the employee himself take to adequately realize his professional ambitions – self-image.

In our opinion, such a unified approach will make it possible to form a professional personnel core in the police environment, which will positively affect the general ideas about law enforcement officers, increase the prestige of the "Policeman" profession.