Risk factors of early psychoactive substances dependence among youth

The article considers a number of factors that influence the use of psychoactive substances by young people in Russia: psychological, social, economic, medico-biological, spiritual and moral and others. The main reasons for psychoactive substance use among this age group are: neglect by parents, psychoactive substance use by parents and other relatives, abuse by parents and guardians, low family income, conflicts and lack of understanding of the age-specific characteristics of adolescents by parents, low motivation to study, low status among peer groups, youth informal groups. In addition to risk factors, protection factors – circumstances that reduce the likelihood of a person becoming involved with psychoactive substances have also been identified: a strong family, with a healthy and supportive psychological atmosphere, success in educational activities, parental involvement in the life of their children, etc.

«До талого, пацаны!»*: молодежные неформальные территориальные группировки Элисты

Introduction. The article deals with street youth gangs in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia. In the process of their development, such organized criminal groups have transformed into a special subculture with its own hierarchies, spheres of influence, lifestyles, language, and practices. The author aims to show the development of this phenomenon as a subculture in the youth milieu, describing the norms of behavior, values, and life orientations of members of particular gangs operating in Elista. Data and methods. The main research sources are field materials collected by the author by way of interviewing members of such informal groups. The analysis involved the structural-functional method, participatory observation method, method of content-analysis and interviewing. Results. There is a history to the growth of modern informal groupings in the town: in fact, they proliferated during the period of restoration of the Kalmyk ASSR with its center in Elista. Under new conditions, within urban environment informal street gangs were formed on the principle of shared territories, which was in fact the most typical kind of such groupings in the country at large. For the younger generation, the street served as a space of masculine brotherly unity based on bodily practices, as well as on similar ideas, views, and concepts. In the period between 2000 and 2010, some of the informal units represented qualitatively new forms of organized criminal youth groupings; these were characterized by dominance practices, power relations, and age hierarchy. Although the youth (patsan) companies were not part of the criminal thieves’ subculture, they maintained to a degree this connection and found ways for organized criminal activity.

Empowerment of Semi Formal and Informal Sector in Realizing A Cheap and Environmentally Friendly Alternative Energy of PLTSa Sumur Batu Business Process

The development of PLTSa has become a government priority program to overcome electricity needs and reduce the amount of waste in Indonesia. However, the program also harms informal groups who earn a living and survive through collecting plastic waste. The objective of this paper is to design a PLTSa business process that not only aims to generate electrical energy and overcome the problem of landfills but also accommodate the needs of informal groups. The situational analysis is conducted using PESTLE and SWOT to enhance a business process canvas that is beneficial to all stakeholders by recommending business innovation for PLTSa. Society as a source of waste is entitled to sort out the waste according to the specified category. The Semi-formal group of workers assist the government in the process of collecting, recycling the waste, and finally selling it to third parties. In addition to building PLTSa, government should provide waste management facilities and infrastructure and simultaneously developing an application for elaborating B2B and B2C business processes including collecting waste and selling recycled products. PLN is appointed to be in charge of buying electricity generated by PLTSa and selling it to the community at a reasonable price. The semi-formal groups of workers are expected can improve their business performance and willing to realize environment waste free. The community will be supported with the cheaper electricity bill, while the government will not be burdened with the operational costs of PLTSa.

Do informal groups threaten organizations? Comparing group conflict management styles with supervisors

This research aims to identify the role played by informal groups in organizational conflict. The existing literature mainly focuses on the effects of informal groups on the behaviors of employees, such as resisting management and disobeying instructions. However, studies that specifically measure how informal groups affect the behaviors of their members in handling conflicts with supervisors are lacking. This research uses quantitative methodology. Data were collected using the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory II survey. The participants were 316 workers in various American organizations. The results were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, and the two-samples z-test. The results show that employees who belong to informal groups use the dominating style more frequently than do employees who do not belong to informal groups. However, they do not always use dominating styles; occasionally, they tend to use compromising and integrating styles as well. Age has a significant impact on the relationship between informal groups and integrating and dominating styles. There is also a relationship between gender and avoiding style among employees who belong to informal groups. However, there is no preference for a certain conflict style among the three types of informal groups. The results have implications for management science, including human resources and organizational behavior. However, the research applications may be limited for employees in collectivist societies that are different from American (an individualistic society). The relationship between informal groups and conflict style with supervisors has not been studied before. Thus, this research focuses on not only the five conflict styles but also the influence of demographic variables to comprehensively understand this relationship.