A model for the formation of psychological competence of police officers in the field of studying human motivation

Pazukhina Svetlana Vyacheslavovna ORCID: 0000-0003-3190-3520 Doctor of Psychology Professor; Department of Psychology and Pedagogy; L.N. Tolstoy Tula State Pedagogical University Head of the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy; L.N. Tolstoy Tula State Pedagogical University 300026, Russia, Tula region, Tula, Lenin, 125, office 542 pazuhina@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

Psychological competence in professional activity is a structured set of knowledge about the psyche, a person, as well as a number of individual and personal properties that contribute to the successful implementation of work, constructive resolution of psychological problems, conflicts, extreme situations, etc. ^[1].

Psychological competence formed to a high level allows a police officer to be a genuine subject of his professional activity, actively manage his own emotions, use personal resources and abilities, minimize the cost of building effective communication, etc. Psychological competence is considered as an indicator of a mature personality, is a condition for achieving the highest degree of professionalism, acts as an internal tool for successful professional activity, a predictor of effective relationships in the "person–to-person" system ^[2].

A. N. Plaksin, summarizing the views and positions of various scientists, shows that psychological competence is an important factor in improving the professionalism of law enforcement officers ^[3].

The requirements for the psychological competence of police officers are constantly increasing. Its various components are analyzed in the works of D.A. Anufrieva, N.A. Goncharova, K.D. Pashentseva, Yu.Y. Strelnikova and other scientists ^{[4; 5]}.

O. A. Ulyanina points out the need for special psychological training of police officers, noting in her book that "the performance of the main functions of the Department of Internal Affairs is impossible without taking into account the human factor and the psychological characteristics of the professional activities of employees" ^{[6, p. 7]}.

N.A. Polyakova cites the formation of skills for establishing psychological contact with any category of citizens, the development of methods of psychological influence on people, the acquisition of behavioral skills in conflict situations, the study of etiquette, and techniques of mental self-regulation as significant aspects of targeted psychological training of police officers ^{[7, p. 145]}.

F. Ch. Koblov considers the development of cognitive processes that are personally important for their professional activities, such as attentiveness, observation, professional memory, perception, and thinking, to be the main aspects that require in-depth psychological training of law enforcement officers ^[8].

However, such an important aspect as the motivational component of the psychological competence of police officers is outside the scope of research by modern scientists, although it is important for optimizing one's own professional activities, for working with other people, and for personnel management of subordinates, therefore it needs to be studied and improved.

Motivation in psychology is defined as a set of motives that cause an individual's activity and determine its direction. This is an internal psychological characteristic of a person, which is reflected in her behavior and activities. The structure of a person's motivational sphere includes needs, motives, goals, attitudes, interests, drives, and values.

The central category in the motivation system is the concept of motive. The word "motif" comes from the French "motif" and the Latin "moveo", which literally means "to move". Accordingly, it is an incentive to activity that is associated with satisfying the needs of the subject, the impulse that gives a person the strength to move towards the goals set before him. In this definition, the connection of motives with all the components of the psychological structure of activity is clearly traced, which, according to A. N. Leontiev, includes needs, motives, goals, conditions, tasks (a meaningful layer), as well as operations from which actions are formed and, as a result, the whole activity (a structural block) is formed. Therefore, if we want to study the issues of the deployment of a subject's activity, influence it in order to improve, change, correct, or deal with its disintegration, then in all these cases it is important to analyze not only externally observable acts of behavior, but above all the substantive side, i.e. to study the motives underlying their needs. and so on .

The main part

To increase the level of psychological competence of police officers in the field of motivation, we have developed a theoretical model and technology for its implementation during a special training course - a refresher course.

The theoretical and methodological basis of the model was the personality-activity approach, the founders of which in Russian psychology are B. G. Ananyev, L. S. Vygotsky, I. A. Zimnaya, A. N. Leontiev, S. L. Rubinstein, and others, according to which a personality is considered as a subject of activity, which itself is formed in activity and in communication with other people., begins to determine the nature of their own activities and communication ^[9], and the principles associated with it: taking into account personal requests, professional interests, and students' experience; practice-oriented approach to solving specific life situations from the work of police officers, analyzing specific cases, creating effective recommendations; developing students in various types of educational activities (cognitive, research, transformative through the organization of subject-to-subject interaction of juniors with seniors, experienced and novice employees in pairs, microgroups, teams for the joint solution of educational tasks; the refraction of the studied material and methodological solutions through the personality of the listener (at the same time, the entire organization of the educational material, the methods, techniques, methods, exercises and they are refracted through the prism of the student - his needs, motives, age, experience, abilities, activity, intelligence and other individual psychological characteristics).

The theoretical concepts of motivation that we used to create our model were the scientific works of E. P. Ilyin, A. N. Leontiev, A. Maslow, and others.

The model we have developed is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Model of increasing the level of psychological competence of police officers in the field of motivation

In accordance with the presented model, a program on the topic "Motivation" was developed.: what is it and how to work with it?", which included four interrelated blocks: "Types of motives", "Criminal motivation", "Motivation" and "Self-motivation", and technologies for its implementation.

The content of the first topic considered approaches to defining the concept of motive, the connection of motives with human needs and emotions, the formula of motive, the hierarchical structure of motivation, key characteristics of motivation (orientation, strength, perseverance), types of motives distinguished for various reasons (understood, actually acting, meaning-forming; conscious and unconscious; internal and external and etc.), psychological mechanisms of the emergence of need from need and motive as an objectified need (according to A. N. Leontiev) ^[10] and others. When studying this block, such forms as problem lecture, visualization lecture, interview lecture, methods of group discussion, educational cooperation in pairs, experience analysis, and identification of types of motives in presented situations proved to be effective.

The second topic was devoted to criminal motivation. The motives of the crime were considered as motives determined by internal needs and interests that cause a person to commit a crime; the goals of the crime were considered as idealized representations of a person about the criminal result that he seeks to achieve by his actions (according to G. G. Shchikhantsov) ^[11]. The significance of the motive of the crime for the correct qualification of criminal behavior was revealed. The content of the motive was analyzed as an optional feature of the subjective side of the crime, and the classification of the motive's influence on qualifications was studied. During business games, case analysis, and analysis of statistical data, the types of criminal motives were identified: negative, neutral, and positive; intentional (revenge, greed, financial difficulties, fear, vanity, jealousy) and unintentional (chance, arrogance, carelessness); the specifics and frequency of occurrence of motives for murder, computer crimes, and terrorist activities were established. (and others according to the types of crimes); the motives that aggravate the punishment were considered. The psychological characteristics of the criminal's personality types were given based on the motive of the crime.

During the study of the third topic, the listeners got an idea of motivation as a process of influencing another person in order to encourage him to take certain actions by awakening certain motives in him. The question "How to motivate subordinates?" was discussed, and the effectiveness of specific material (bonuses, salary increases, housing, etc.) and non-material motives (promotion, empowerment, recognition of merit, etc.) was analyzed. In the course of role-playing games and the use of other interactive technologies, methods of motivating employees were studied: argumentation, criticism, role imposition, mentoring, moral stimulation, involvement, support, authoritative opinion, remuneration, order, personal example, imitation, infection, persuasion, criticism, etc., the possibilities of their application in various situations and in relation to different subordinates as a means of stimulating their professional activities. The conditions and mechanisms of effective motivation by police officers of the population were considered.

The fourth topic concerned self-motivation. The problem of lack of self-motivation and its causes was raised. Internal and external motivators were considered. The statements of reputable people regarding self-motivation were discussed, and their own positive motivators were formulated. The formula of internal motivation was analyzed (clarity of purpose - resources to achieve it: external and internal - a plan in the form of steps). The relationship between self-motivation and success in activity was considered. The psychodiagnostics of one's own motivation and abilities were carried out. A wheel of balancing life goals was being drawn up. The students developed recommendations on the issue : "How to motivate yourself?", they shared their own findings and experiences.

As a result of the implementation of the advanced training course program, all students were assessed for the knowledge component of competence (a test of academic achievement was used for this), personal (the results of psychodiagnostics were taken into account), activity (case analysis, effectiveness of participation in course activities).

Conclusion

Thus, knowledge of a person's motivation is an important component of a police officer's psychological competence. Increasing its level is associated with the elaboration of each of its components: knowledge, personal, activity. With the help of the model we developed and the program for its implementation, we tested an effective technology, which was reflected in the positive dynamics of the studied components. An important condition was the combination of thoughtful content, focused on the practical needs of police officers, and the interactive technologies used for its personal and activity development.