CC BY
17
DOI 10.46741/2686-9764-2021-15-1-210-217 UDC 159.9.07:343.82
Studying Hardiness in Convicts Serving Life Imprisonment in a High Security Penal Colony
TAT'YANA V. KORNILOVA
Vologda Institute of Law and Economics of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, Vologda, Russian Federation
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1978-9294, e-mail: tatyana_vladi21@mail.ru
VYACHESLAV M. POZDNYAKOV
Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russian Federation ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9487-4435, e-mail: pozdnyakov53@mail.ru
ALEKSANDR N. BALAMUT
Vologda Institute of Law and Economics of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, Vologda, Russian Federation
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0841-676X, e-mail: balamut01@yandex.ru
Abstract. Introduction: the paper proves that when studying hardiness in lifers it is constructive to use a concept developed by Salvatore R. Maddi, in the framework of which a three-component structure of this phenomenon was substantiated and a methodology for its studying was developed. The validity and reliability of this methodology was also confirmed during its initial adaptation in the research group of D.A. Leontiev and in many studies of Russian psychologists, on samples of convicts, too. Aim: to figure out the reasons for such a variety of findings on lifers and to determine their level of hardiness and motivation for pro-social life upon release. To achieve this goal we use the findings of a comprehensive study conducted in 2020 among inmates of Penal Colony no. 5 of the Vologda Oblast Division of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia. Methods: we studied the transformation of personality of convicted lifers on a sample of 46 men (aged 28 to 64 and held in the penal colony for the period from 8 to 26 years) with the use of the Hardiness Survey, semi-structured interviews and essays - reflective self-reports of inmates on the difficulties that arise in the conditions of the correctional institution. Results: we have revealed that only one in ten convicts (10.9%) has a high level of overall hardiness, while one in four (23.9%) has a low level of overall hardiness. Among the components of hardiness, the lowest scores among the surveyed are observed on the scales "challenge" and "commitment" (37% and 30.4%, respectively). Slightly better scores are on the "control" scale (low level is observed in 26.1% of respondents), according to the data of interviews and essays, are associated with the influence of strict regime conditions. Conclusions: based on all the findings of the research, including the features of lifers' dominant experiences and motivation for prosocial life on the outside, we substantiate the criteria for assessing their psychological readiness for being released on parole and the need for anthropological proportionality in the treatment of inmates with different levels of subject activity.
Keywords: hardiness; lifers; commitment; control; challenge; correctional institutions; punishment in the form of incarceration; release of lifers on parole; lifers' personality features.
19.00.06 - Legal psychology
For citation: Kornilova T.V., Pozdnyakov V.M., Balamut A.N. Studying hardiness in convicts serving life imprisonment in a high security penal colony. Penitentiary Science, 2021, vol. 15, no. 1 (53), pp. 210-217. DOI 10.46741/2686-9764-2021-15-1-210-217.
Introduction
In the modern conditions of reforming the Russian penal system, it is relevant for penitentiary psychologists to study the destructive-ness of personality changes in convicts serving long prison terms or a life sentence. Taking into account the departmental demand, in recent years, a number of psychological studies have been conducted among convicts serving long sentences in strict regime penal colonies (V.G. Rogach, T.V. Bystrova, M.V. Ovsyannikova, etc.). At the same time, very few psychological studies on the transformation of the personality of those sentenced to life imprisonment have been implemented so far (D.N. Uzlov, 2015; Yu.V. Slavinskaya, 2018; E.F. Shtefan, 2018), although according to statistics of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, as of December 1, 2020, 1,962 people were serving criminal sentences in seven correctional colonies for those sentenced to life imprisonment and those for whom a death penalty was commuted to imprisonment by pardon [6]. At the same time, we emphasize the fact that among prisoners more than 270 people have already served a 25-year sentence and want to use their right for parole, thus the problem of identifying their hardiness and motivation for a pro-social life outside prison becomes relevant.
Publications of recent years, which are based on interviews with lifers and interviews with prison staff, argue that despite the length of time spent in cell conditions, age-related changes, and sometimes the development of chronic diseases, many convicts hope and have chances for a high life expectancy [3]. At the same time, psychologist V.S. Mukhina, who conducts a longitudinal study among this category of convicts, points out that during a life sentence and detention in a cell, a person can show both an acute desire for life and an acute desire for death, but due to their negative experiences and "prison-related social withdrawal in long-term isolation", only some of them are able to maintain a sound vision of the real situation of life imprisonment and try to do something for physical and mental survival [8, p.162-163].
Methods
In order to understand the reasons why there is such a variety of research findings on lifers, a comprehensive research among inmates was conducted in 2020 on the basis of Penal Colony no. 5 of the Vologda Oblast Division of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia (psychological testing, interviews and essays by convicts).
Forty-six convicts aged 28 to 64 who were serving a sentence of life imprisonment participated in the survey. At the time of the study, they had actually served between eight and 26 years in the penal colony. Most of them were convicted of crimes related to the murder of two and more persons, and for the totality of the cases with the use of the provision of the following articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: Article 105 "Murder", Article 131 "Rape", Article 132 "Violent actions of sexual character", Article 161 "Robbery", Article 209 "Banditry", Article 222 "Illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, or bearing of firearms, its basic parts, ammunition, explosives, and explosive devices".
The majority of respondents in our sample have secondary general, secondary specialized or vocational education (only 10.9% of respondents have higher or incomplete higher education); 15.7% of respondents are married and a third of them (34.8%) have children, but most of them are unable to maintain a relationship with their family. At the same time, the majority of the surveyed convicts (89%) note that they are supported by other relatives. We should emphasize that three-quarters of respondents (76.1%) while serving their sentences are engaged in labor activity in working rooms equipped as sewing workshops, taking into account safety requirements.
As part of the interviews of convicts, it was found that the majority of respondents (89.1%) assess their state of health as normal or bad ("I'd rather my health were better"; "each year my health becomes only worse"; "I feel lousy"; "I'm holding on for now, but I don't know what will become of me later", etc.). Respondents describe their psychological state as "typical of those in prison" and often use such words and expressions as "concern", "anxiety", "homesickness, I miss my family", "loneliness"; it is especially pronounced among people with a longer period of incarceration. Asthenic experiences in life prisoners, as shown by the interviews, are due to the influence of both isolation factors (rigidity of the daily routine, oppressive conditions of the cell, monotony) and the resulting semantic imbalance, among other things when assessing the prospects of their future existence.
Determining the choice of psychodiagnostic tools for the study of the transformation of the personality of lifers, we have taken into account the results of foreign meta-analytical reviews (d. Van Zip Smith, K. Applon 2015; K. Jarrett,
2018), and publications of domestic authors (A.S. Lugovoy, 2017; N.G. Sobolev, 2018; E.F. Shtefan, 2018; A.N. Balamut, 2019). As a result, for the purpose of studying lifers, we decided to choose a valid and reliable method "Hardiness survey", which was developed by a prominent American psychologist Salvatore R. Maddi and adapted for Russian-speaking samples primarily by the research group of Professor D.A. Le-ontiev [7].
According to Salvatore Maddi, the phenomenon of hardiness is a pattern of the structure of attitudes and skills of a person that allows you to turn changes in the surrounding reality (stressful effects) into opportunities for existential growth of a person. In accordance with the conceptually substantiated and cross-culturally proven construct of hardiness, its structure presents three attitudes: control, commitment, and challenge, as well as two sides of manifestations: psychological and activity-based [9, p. 3-9].
The analysis of publications shows that hardiness characterizes, first of all, the beliefs of a person that allow them to remain active, successfully overcome difficulties and subjectively prevent the negative consequences of severe stress. Scientists have found that a person's hardiness is associated with such positive personal characteristics as optimism, self-efficacy, and self-satisfaction [13, 15].
Previous research conducted by penitentiary psychologists among prisoners serving long custodial sentences has revealed that hardiness among inmates is initially manifested in the form of psychological readiness to overcome difficulties in conditions of the correctional institution for the sake of being able to be released on parole. In the future, hardiness can be manifested as an integral personality construct, as convicts learn to comprehend what is going on, acquire responsibility and perseverance in overcoming asthenic emotions and other problems. Thus, hardiness provides independence of judgment, communicative flexibility in a subcultural environment and readiness to take responsibility in the implementation of pro-social conduct [2, p. 32].
Results
Our data on the Hardiness Survey applied to lifers indicate that the average overall hardiness in the sample was 79.5, and it corresponds to the range of age norms. A high level of overall hardiness is found only in 10.9% of convicts. At the same time, according to their personal data, such convicts have a family, and are held
in a correctional institution for up to 10 years.
A low level of overall hardiness was found in every fourth of the examined convicts (23.9%), and these are persons who have spent from 16 to 26 years in a correctional institution. In our opinion, their behavior should be closely monitored by penal colony staff. After all, as evidenced by our research, it is the convicts with a low level of hardiness who are more often unmarried, divorced or widowed. The data from interviews with convicts with a low level of hardiness indicate that almost all characterize their psychological state as poor, with frequent manifestations of anxiety, melancholy, and concern about their health deterioration. Strict regulation of life in the colony arouses an internal protest in them or drives them into a state of apathy. Our empirical data correspond to the conclusions of scientists according to which the low manifestation of general hardiness reflects the development of a person's alienation from the outside world, and some of such factors include perceiving oneself as being "outside the flow of life", lacking faith in one's own strength, and as a result, a demonstration of weak resistance to life's difficulties.
Taking into account the complexity of hardiness as a psychological construct, we will further provide data on the severity of specific components of hardiness in convicted lifers.
The "commitment" scale in the Hardiness Survey by S. Maddi characterizes the degree of involvement of a person in life and getting satisfaction from it. According to our sample of convicts, the average indicator on this scale was 36.8. Only every eighth respondent in the sample (13%) has a high level of commitment, while every second respondent (50.4%) has a low level of commitment. We note that the data of numerous psychological studies show that a low rate on the scale of commitment often contributes to the development of depression and rejection, and the conviction that life is passing by. It is difficult for such a person to get close to new people. In the future this may lead to autism, consumption with one's inner concerns, withdrawal from reality into a fantasy world, fanatical adherence to religious canons in order to preserve one's personality.
According to the "control" scale in our sample of the surveyed convicts, the average indicator is 29.7. Only 13% of respondents have a high level of control, and every fourth surveyed lifer (26.1%) has a low level of control. The fact that lifers show insufficient control arouses concerns, because scientists have found that
due to the low level of control an individual develops a sense of helplessness and a feeling that nothing depends on their own choice, and everything is decided by other people.
On the "challenge" scale the average score for the sample was 13. At the same time, it has been found that only 8.7% of the convicts who participated in the survey are characterized by a high level of challenge, and more than a third of the surveyed lifers (37%) have a low level of challenge. The data help reveal the reasons for the difficulties in re-socializing work of the colony's staff with convicts, because numerous research data indicate that people with a low score on the "challenge" scale do not seek to draw correct conclusions from their experience (positive or negative), they regret the past, but strive to lead a quiet life and become irritated by any sudden life changes.
In terms of the attitude of lifers toward their past, present and future, these interviews show that the majority of convicts (82.6%) emphasize that they had a fairly happy childhood, and if they had the opportunity, they would have changed their life or lifestyle. However, it is worrying that many of the surveyed lifers (84.8%) are not sure that they will have a good future, or do not speak at all about the specific realities of their future.
Answering the question: "What helps you to overcome difficult conditions of living in a correctional institution?", convicts pointed out the following aspects: support I get from my loved ones, faith in God, some kind of occupation (mastering a profession, reading books, etc.), the presence of a goal that needs to be realized, as well as orientation toward such personal qualities as optimism, calmness, responsiveness, perseverance, patience, hard work, the ability to distract from a difficult situation.
Lifers assess their staying in a correctional institution as "a life lesson" (39.1%), "a combination of circumstances" (30.4%), "a misunderstanding" (23.9%), "a violation of the law" (15.2%), "an act of social injustice" (10.9%), "fate" (6.5%), "my own fault" (4.3%), and "negative experience" (4.3%). We note that the total number of respondents' answers is more than 100%, because they could choose several options from the proposed ones and simultaneously give their own answer. In general, what worries us is the fact that that many of the interviewed convicts do not speak about personal responsibility for what they have done.
The question "Do you know examples of outstanding people who went through great
trials and did not break down, but became much wiser, stronger and more resilient after that?" received many answers. It is striking that many respondents named specific persons and told their biographies with enthusiasm, among them: Soviet fighter ace Aleksey Mare-syev, Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenit-syn, Soviet marshals Konstantin Rokossovsky and Georgy Zhukov, Imperial Russian Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak, Generalissimo of the Russian Empire Aleksandr Suvorov, Russian writers Varlam Shalamov and Vasily Shukshin, Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer Sergei Korolev, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nelson Mandela, etc. They named biographical books of outstanding clergymen who had to live through long-term imprisonment (for example, I Came to Love Suffering... Autobiography by Saint Luke of Simferopol, Father Ar-seny, etc.). At the same time, a number of lifers reflecting on their staying in the colony spoke about people who had survived concentration camps with their tortures and other horrible conditions.
It was also important for us to know how those sentenced to life imprisonment themselves understand the term "hardiness". Basically, the respondents noted that hardiness is: "the ability to overcome difficulties, no matter how serious they are"; "the ability to endure life's difficulties with composure"; "the ability to overcome life's troubles and problems"; "the ability to overcome life's difficulties, perseverance in achieving the goal", "the ability to get up after a fall"; "the ability to overcome all adversities and misfortunes, "a personal quality that helps to assess situations from the right angle and make appropriate conclusions, take adequate measures"; "endurance"; "strong-willed character"; "a state in which an individual can withstand life circumstances both negative and positive", etc. In addition, respondents gave the following emotional statements: "to love life and cherish it"; "to survive Buchenwald"; "to believe, hope and love"; "to pursue the goal and maintain stability in life"; "to accept various blows of fate"; "to accept life as it is, but do not harden your heart. To believe in God and people"; "the ability to withstand the blows of fate"; "perseverance in life"; "the ability to endure all strains and hardships"; "to pass the trial with dignity, not to lose heart"; "to be able to improvise, adapt, survive"; "the will to live"; "resignation"; "to pursue the goal with confidence"; "to live by generally accepted rules and observe the law"; "not to betray one's principles" , etc.
It should be noted that some convicted lifers suggested criminal and subcultural definitions of hardiness: for example, "stubbornness", "cunning, resourcefulness", "cruelty". These opinions may indicate that those convicts perceive life as a struggle for survival with the need to take an aggressive-defensive or aggressive-offensive position. Interviews with inmates have shown that it is typical of persons who have served for more than 15 years of punishment in strict isolation, and acquire hardness of heart along with experiencing the states of "hopeless vision of the future" and "inner emptiness from the futility of my daily existence".
Interviews with convicted lifers have shown that more than half of respondents (56.5%) have not yet decided or do not plan to apply for parole, because they believe that they "will not be released anyway", "all this is a flight of fantasy", "there is no hope for release", "we are treated like dust", etc. There are reasons for convicts to think so. After all, to date, only seven of those sentenced to life imprisonment have been released. According to the Center for the Promotion of International Protection, this happened in connection with the review of sentences based on the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights [12]. However, so far there are no official data on the granting of parole to this category of persons after serving a 25-year prison term.
As part of a survey of prison officers who work with lifers, it has been revealed that it is advisable, taking into account positive foreign procedural and legal experience, to introduce the release of at least one convict who is entitled to parole, into the Russian penitentiary practice, since this is extremely important for motivating other convicts serving life sentences to reform. The staff of high security colonies point out that the possibility of a step in this direction is supported by colonies' administrations, but faces opposition by other law enforcement agencies. Besides, there is a common stereotype that if such convict is released, then soon they may commit a crime again, because they will not be able to adapt to pro-social life after spending 25 years in prison.
The analysis of relevant publications allows us to say that when dealing with life prisoners many countries use a mechanism that gradually leads them to obtaining a release on parole; it is based on creating favorable conditions in which lifers can manifest pro-social subjectivity [1; 5]. Taking into account the realities of Russian criminal legislation, the possibility of granting
a release on parole in relation to convicted life prisoners, in our opinion, should be correlated with the legal realities (substantive and procedural) for other categories of persons serving long prison sentences. So, today no one is interested in how an individual convicted for murder to a specified prison term will be able to adapt to life in society (and in accordance with Article 56 of the RF Criminal Code, the maximum prison term may be 20 years, and by a cumulation of penalties and in case of the commission of several crimes - up to 30 years). Consequently, there will be no resonant "swinging" of public opinion on the part of human rights organizations and media journalists.
In the context of the reality of those sentenced to life imprisonment being released on parole, psychological and substantive interest is aroused by the subjective opinions of the lifers themselves about the problems that may arise after their release. So, when answering the question "What problems are you likely to face upon release", the convicts named the following issues: "distrust on the part of society", "weaning from making independent decisions", "job hunting", "search for housing", "breaking socially useful ties", "communication issues with colleagues at work that may arise because of my criminal record", etc. Respondents who do not see problems in life after release (they constitute 37.4% of the entire sample!), explain this primarily by the fact that there are relatives who will support them in any situation, there will be pensions, and if there are any problems, then everything can be overcome.
The interview data concerning the motivation of convicts for a pro-social life outside prison are also of interest. According to the convicted lifers, the factors that motivate rehabilitation include "family and the desire to reunite with loved ones", "the desire to reform and not to commit any more crimes", "the desire to prove oneself right in society". There were other opinions: for example: "I committed the crime spontaneously, I am not spoiled", "I did not commit any crime", "the colony will not make me better", etc. Taking into account different opinions of convicts, including their acceptance of guilt, when assessing the degree of readiness of a lifer to be released on parole, in our opinion, it is important to proceed from two criteria: the internal criterion, associated with a positive prosocial transformation of the individual and the development of the subjective responsibility in the lifer, and the external criterion, associated with the predisposition of society to forgive and
accept a particular person serving a life sentence back into society [1, p. 123].
In order to understand the essence of the internal criterion of convicts' readiness to be released and the possibilities of their manifesting subjective activity (including "supra-situ-ational" activity, according to V.A. Petrovskii), we consider it appropriate to reveal more features of the changes that take place in inmates' self-perception and the transformation of their value-based and semantic sphere. An analysis of the essays of lifers, which were their reflexive self-reports describing their attitude toward the regime and conditions in which they serve their sentences, allows us to distinguish common features in their mood: "Every day is like yesterday, the day before yesterday and the one that was a year, three, five years ago. But it is like that if I dwell on the fact that I am in prison, around the same cell environment, I am tied to strict compliance with the regime and the "chro-nometry" of daily routine. If I look inside myself and see what is happening around me and outside prison, then of course, it is different from day to day. After all, communication with others, meetings, encounters with everyday tasks, coping with difficulties, reading books, watching TV and learning the news from the media, listening to music and so on - all this is refracted in us, causing various thoughts, emotions, desires, and then it is projected into the world around us, consciously or unconsciously..." (Convicted N);"...according to the daily regime: getting up, washing, making beds, doing morning exercises, singing the Anthem of Russia, having breakfast, cleaning, making tea, shaving, checking, getting to work, working; in the cell after work - having tea, watching TV, reading, writing letters, preparing for bed, lights out. Under such a regime there is no personal time left. That's why it's like this. Thank God for that, too!" (Convicted K.); "My day in the cell is strictly scheduled by the daily regime. It makes no sense to rewrite the daily regime, and I have no right to go beyond the regime, and in my personal time I read books. I rarely watch Tv, as there is rarely a good program at a time when we are allowed to watch TV. I also write letters to my family in my free time. I spend most of the time working in a sewing workshop, the work is interesting, you have to learn a lot of new things, it is diverting" (Convicted D.), etc.
These excerpts from the essays of convicts show that the strict schedule of daily routine in prison conditions contributes to the fact that, on the one hand, their personal discipline im-
proves and their life becomes more organized, but on the other hand, with years of repetition they can start living "automatically", doing the same things over and over. In order to help a lifer show subjective activity, psychologists need to block the dominance of operatiore actions (according to the concept of the French psychoanalyst Grard Szwec) and focus on working with value-semantic formations of personality so as to evoke a desire to diversify convicts' life in prison, help them to accumulate skills to build a constructive "version of life" (according to the concept of V.N. Druzhinin).
The analysis of the essays also shows that according to every second lifer (57.3%) the very thoughts about the upcoming release is what helps them to overcome the monotony of life in a cell and in prison. Here is what the convicts themselves write about it: "My thoughts about the first and subsequent days on the outside are associated with a completely new life that will begin with my family: my wife and daughter, my mother and other relatives and people I love. My new life will start not only with joy, but also with pain, which I want to heal by repentance to the relatives of the victim, and do everything to get forgiveness from them, helping them in everything, and I will have the resources to help them, because my friends are ready to help me get a job and support me in difficulties. My days on the outside will not be related to crime, that's for sure. It used to be a different life, a different time, a different age. Now everything is new, firm, resolute. A healthy way of life, serving God and people is all that I need for the absolute and complete happiness! And I don't see any other future for myself". However, some convicts give other, opposite opinions: "Let's get it straight: will I be released at all? I have serious doubts about it. This is Russia. And I wasn't given a life sentence to be released someday. And what is there to do on the outside? I'm all sick, halfblind, I forgot how to work, long ago. No, if I am fed, dressed, and looked after, then let them carry on doing that; and then let them bury me in some unmarked grave"; "Sorry, but I don't see my life on the outside. To dream is a sin, so there's nothing to write about"; "So I came out of the gates of this prison and immediately went to the local church to thank the Lord for believing me, while people no longer believe me, and only God trusted me with the rest of my life to prove my faith in Him by good deeds. And after I have confessed and received the Sacrament on the outside, I will get on the train and go to Father Vladimir in the village of. in the Ya...
Oblast, and I will try to get along with others. And then it will be as the Lord disposes".
The above-mentioned opinions of convicted lifers indicate that their personality can change dramatically in the harsh conditions of incarceration. Researchers from the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge conducted focused interviews with 25 former life prisoners (including two women) who spent an average of 19 years in prison and have found out that "getting used to the prison environment" often leads to the development of "post-prison syndrome", manifested in distrust of others, in difficulties in building interpersonal relationships and making independent decisions [4].
Discussion
Indeed, the punishing atmosphere typical of Russian prisons leads some convicts to regression, and forces others to think: "Am I going to die here or live here?" In the conditions of cell detention, in order to feel the pulse of life, convicts often seek to escape in another dimension - in the world of dreams and visions [8, p. 166]. However, who else in the given conditions can provide support to those convicted for life? Many scientists and employees working with convicts believe that timely socio-psychologi-cal and medical assistance, as well as external support, is important here. In this regard, the model of compassionate release, the ideologist of which was David Garland, a leading scientist in the field of the sociology of punishment and social control [14], is finding increasing support in relation to the implementation of the treatment of life prisoners. He proved it is important that prisoners should be supervised by specialists of helping professions who are able to
implement measures that ensure the prisoner's right to get immediate early release (on medical grounds: incurable diseases with a life expectancy of six to eighteen months). Besides, an individual can experience irreversible age-related changes causing them to lose independent living skills, etc., this brings to the fore the need to provide palliative medical care and hospice services to elderly and terminally ill lifers.
With regard to the relevance of expanding psychological assistance to lifers, we note that it is necessary to increase the number of penitentiary psychologists. After all, today there are often only one or two penitentiary psychologists in high security penal colonies, but they are assigned the functions of conducting psychodiagnostic and consultative procedures, taking into account modern requirements, in working with people with mental disorders, as well. In this regard, the issues of methodological support and professional development of psychologists are also relevant.
In conclusion we note that taking into account the materials of the empirical research we have presented, as well as the data from Russian and foreign publications, we can state that in the treatment of convicted life prisoners, it is important to rely on the principle of anthropological proportionality, since it allows us to determine more discretionary the wide criteria for release on parole [12], and in each individual case it is necessary to take into account the convict' personality and the interests of society. Participation of psychologists in the preparation of documents for releasing lifers on parole can be viewed from the perspective of their assessing convicts' hardiness, subjectivity and objective determinants of hardiness.
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INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHORS
TAT'YANA V. KORNILOVA - Senior Researcher at the sector for organizing and coordinating research and international cooperation, Organizational and Research Department, Vologda Institute of Law and Economics of FSIN Russia, Vologda, Russian Federation. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1978-9294, e-mail: tatyana_vladi21@mail.ru VYACHESLAV M. POZDNYAKOV - Doctor of Sciences (Psychology), Professor, professor of the department of scientific foundations of extreme psychology, Faculty of Extreme Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russian Federation. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9487-4435, e-mail: pozdnyakov53@mail.ru ALEKSANDR N. BALAMUT - Candidate of Sciences (Psychology), Associate Professor, deputy head of the Faculty of Psychology, Vologda Institute of Law and Economics of FSIN Russia, Vologda, Russian Federation. ORCID: https://orcid. org/0000-0002-0841-676X, e-mail: balamut01@yandex.ru
Received December 21, 2020
