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Based on the understanding of identity as an individual’s identity with the self within the cultural historical chronotope, and experienced as the feeling of belonging/ non-belonging to some communities, controllability/uncontrollability of situations and predictability/non-predictability of events, the paper describes the processes of identity transformation in the course of a technological development. Taken as the initial point, the idea of organ-extension (K. Marx, E. Kapp) and technological extension of man (S. Freud, M. McLuhan) means that technologies are the extension of a human body and its organs. The processes of technological extension assume a particular scale under condition of information society development, within which computer-, telecommunication-, transport-, bio-, nano- and other high technologies have become an actual cultural historical force that has a power to transform a human. Special attention is paid to the fact that unlike the precedent technologies that have just facilitated some or other human performance, modern technologies of information society do not only change the human topology, widen and expand human natural abilities but also really transform higher mental functions and mediate mental processes and relations between human individuals. Man becomes not only a biological and social creature but also a technological one, i.e. so called HOMO TECHNOLOGICUS. The scale and speed of cultural historical changes make the study of the technological extensions role in the transformation of identity a key point for developing ways of comprehending their role in the life of a modern person, and also for forecasting the evolution of relationship between man and machines in the future.

The paper draws attention to the large number of divorces in contemporary Russia. It is emphasized that much of them fall on the first years of marriage. However, most of the surveys conducted in recent years have shown that the family is one of the leading positions in the structure of adolescent value. On the basis of this juxtaposition, it is concluded that young people need to be specially trained for family life. Contemporary family and the school cannot cope with this task. We have carried out a large-scale empirical study in eight regions of different federal districts of Russia, the results of which are shown in the paper. Total sample amounted of more than 7,000 people. The sample included respondents from large and small cities in Russia, as well as from the villages of nuclear and one-parent families, families with 1-2 children and also large families.

The research has shown that in the structure of life values the family still occupies the first position. It was also found that the vast majority of respondents emphasize the need to be specially trained for building a family. However, only one third of respondents believe that this can be done by conducting special courses on the family and family life in schools. For the majority of the respondents, their parent family is not a guide or a pattern. The greatest impact on the youth in the process of growing up is produced by mother. Fathers, occupying the second position, prove to be outsiders with a large gap. It was revealed that a generalized portrait of the mother and the father are completely positive, i.e. they do not contain any negative characteristics. The top ten most popular qualities to describe father and mother are the following: kind, reliable, caring, responsible, family-making, smart. Other qualities of the top ten highest priorities differ.

The paper discusses topical issues of virtual reality technologies in social research, particularly when studying the processes of ethnic cultural identity, development of ethnic and racial attitudes using «virtual avatars» for managing ethnic conflicts, development of communication skills in representatives of different cultures using virtual collaboration and video conferencing. One of the key issues of the paper to discuss the necessity of post-non-classical paradigm as a conceptual framework for social research. Contemporary social studies require developing new methods, technologies and techniques at all levels of the research: from task setting to the development of new methods and result analysis. One of the most promising methods rapidly developed in recent years is virtual reality technology. The paper presents the analysis of more than 40 experimental studies performed using CAVE and HMD virtual reality systems. Their application is considered hereunder for the studies of verbal and nonverbal cues in communication, social skills training, treatment of social anxiety disorders and the development of new methods of cognitive behavioural therapy. Studies on interpersonal communication with virtual partners (i.e. «avatars») are considered. Factors affecting the communication quality of avatars, its visual and behavioural realism, problems of seeing virtual human as real partners for social interaction are discussed. Special attention is paid to the studies of racial and ethnic attitudes performed using virtual reality systems. The possibilities of practical applications of the VR technologies for shaping positive attitudes and development of communication skills in a sociocultural context are emphasized.

The paper highlights the urgent issues of complex and multifaceted social and legal phenomenon of «child abuse». The definitions of «child abuse» in family law and relevant explanations of the Supreme Court in relation to Article 69 of the Family Code are shown. Within the criminal protection of children, it is determined that erroneous and deliberately incorrect qualification of actions of those responsible for committing child abuse that occurs in the practice of the preliminary investigation and inquiry occurs due to the imperfection of criminal law, including the lack of the concept of «child abuse», which is used as a mandatory feature in the art. 156 of the Criminal Code (failure to child-rearing responsibilities). This gap in the criminal law and personnel incompetence allow the guilty evade responsibility, as they are often refused a suit, or ordered to dismiss the criminal case or termination of proceedings for various reasons. The necessity of a legislative definition of «child abuse», shall be due to the following: analysis of available scientific debate in the doctrine of criminal law, the definition of «child abuse» in Article 156 of the Criminal Code; lighting statistical parameters, confirming the high level of latency of this category of crime, but because of difficulty with their identification and qualification; generalization of judicial practice, which also does not have a uniform approach to solving the problems mentioned above, but allowed to identify the main forms of manifestation of «child abuse» as a result of which there are specific consequences of distorting the child’s personality. Summing up, for the criminal law to protect the rights of the child and the right of a practical approach, the concept of «child abuse» should be legally defined as the category of the legal institution carries risks too broad or, on the contrary, overly narrow its interpretation, which may lead to abuse in law enforcement, as well as leave the guilty unpunished, and defenseless children.

Contemporary situation with mental health is reviewed, and developments in psychiatry, psychotherapy and clinical psychology are monitored. Russian experience is discussed in the context of the world tendencies. In the situation of the unprecedented increase in psychopathology, insufficient attention has been paid to the crisis phenomena in psychiatry and psychology as well as the development of mental health institutions, which are still in need of specialists, and facilitation of health care programs for population.

The author writes about the increase in the number of patients who need psychiatric or psychological care, lack of experts in the mental health system, low psychological culture of the population, lack of early diagnosis of predisposition to psychopathology.

Multiple hypotheses on the causes of mental disorders are outlined in the paper. Among them, the theory of nervous exhaustion, the hypothesis that mental disorders are associated with impaired brain electrical activity, the theory of the special role of the frontal lobes in the emergence of psychopathology, the hypothesis of an imbalance of hormones, as an etiological factor of mental illness and others, are given account. The paper raises issues of mental disorders classification. The author also discusses the issue of chemical treatment and its isolated and uncontrolled use within mental disorders.

However, the review is incomplete and tends to be an invitation for mental health specialists to further discuss the issues mentioned in the paper.

The paper examines psychological factors victim behaviour. The definition of victim behaviour is given and it is emphasized that such conduct is not necessarily passive behaviour of the victim. Victimization and behaviour can be active and aggressive. It is shown that antisocial, deviant behaviour of children and adolescents seriously increases the risk of victimization.

Family as the most important institution of socialization is considered both as a preventing factor and risk factor of victim behaviour. The role of the family in shaping the victim behaviour is revealed in the following issues: aggressive, conflict behaviour is personal inclination or absence of the “proper” skills; interdependence of the severity of punishment and child aggression; punishment for child aggression (between siblings): what is the result?; ignoring aggression – is it the best solution?; victims of sexual violence and causes of victim behaviour; demonstrative accentuation as a risk factor in rape victim behaviour; happy family – can it be a risk factor for victim behaviour? For a long time, social deviant personality development has been believed to deal with structural deformation of the family, which is defined as a single-parent family, i.e. absence of one parent (usually the father). It is now proved that the major factor of family negative impact on personal development is not structural but psychosocial family deformation.

A really happy family, psychologically happy family is the cornerstone of preventing victim behaviour. The victim behaviour being mainly determined by personal qualities does not negate this conclusion, but only strengthens it, as the qualities mentioned above are shaped in many respects within family socialization, are determined by family upbringing styles and features of interpersonal relationships inside the family.

The paper presents the results of empirical studies of the mother interaction with preschool children. The objective of the research is to determine the peculiarities of mothers aged over 35 interaction with a child. Relevance of the research is due to a pronounced recent trend of first births in adulthood when parenthood is referred to as “late”. Means of identifying age-related features is a comparative analysis of the two groups of preschool children mothers who gave birth to their first child under to 30 years (young mothers) and those who gave birth to their first child being over 35 (“late” mother). The study involved 80 females aged 26 to 55 years with children of preschool age. Features of the emotional state of their children were also analyzed. Preschool experience of interaction in the family allowed to talk about the advantages and dangers of the “late” motherhood. The analysis of the emotional state of preschool children was conducted by projective picturesque samples, also, the mothers and kindergarten teachers who are to watch the baby for a long period of time were interviewed. The results of the study suggest that a “late” mother builds a more harmonious interaction with the children, which is reflected in their experience of the family situation well-being, and a favourable emotional state. Responsiveness of “late” mothers and also their support and sympathy allow the child to feel secure, while at the same time does not induce children’s autonomy. These children are more likely to seek help of an adult, need adult’s support, while the children of young mothers are more likely to solve problems on their own.

The paper discusses the effect of Information Technologies entering into the everyday life of a human, which is associated with the erosion of the identity boundaries. In respect of such technologies phenomenon, which is important for the structure and dynamics of identity, is revealed: the interpenetration of the two control systems. On the one hand, technology provides people with new means of control over the world, but at the same time we becomes controlled by the same technological expansion. Getting equipped with certain vital facilities, technologically advanced people become deprived of their privacy, so technology turns out to be the means of total control. Benefits that provide technological expansion have the reverse side. Extended opportunities to access information results in increasing the availability of an Internet user, a smart phone owner or a bank cardholder. Any private information in the network can be accessed by a third party without the user’s consent.

Personal deprivatization results in increased levels of anxiety, emergence of feelings of being controlled and feelings of insecurity. The agenda includes the issue of ethical and psychological repercussions of electronic monitoring, digitizing, and chipping via wearable implants. The paper discusses the risk of changing human living through invisible, widespread and standard technologies of control. It is shown in the paper that personal space violation is not always a result of the activities of the state, but is rather the result of misunderstanding the specifics of Information Technologies, as well as ways of using than by a human.

Realizing that technology is a not neutral issue with respect to the user is the basis for complying with ordinary ‘information hygiene’ and preventing violations of the identity boundaries.

Russian culture is a high-context one, where a large amount of connotations are included in the process of informational exchange. This phenomenon is reflected in the special importance of nonverbal behaviour, mostly facial expressions. At the same time, the absence of smiling in Russian nonverbal communication is emphasized in numerous cultural studies and common sense.

The article makes an attempt to show that the high-context XIX century Russian culture could be described through the importance of a smile in communication. In order to prove this hypothesis, a content analysis of the novel «Anna Karenina» by Leo Tolstoy was carried out. Results of the research demonstrated that Tolstoy used the smile quite widely as one of the elements of nonverbal behavior of Russians (more than 550 words with a root «smile» were detected; it was also shown that more than 80 different characters (of different importance and class) do smile in the novel). Additionally, to describe smiles The Great Russian writer employed a rich range of linguistic tools, often expressing several emotions at once. The main function of the smile for Tolstoy is communion (obschenie ) since the interaction between the characters is not just seen as an informational exchange, but rather an opportunity to reflect feelings. Smiles accompany the speech, and at the same time they are an independent part of communication. They coincide with the most significant events in the characters lives – birth, wedding and even death.

It is suggested that the lack of a smile, and even the negative attitude of modern Russians toward smiles, is not a traditional feature of Russian culture, but rather Soviet and Post-Soviet ones. The social changes of the XX century resulted in some transformations of the rules of nonverbal expression of emotions – during the years of the Soviet power people stopped smiling and the habit of smiling was gradually lost. The article expresses the hope for the return of a smile to the Russian culture.

The present article reports the results of cross-cultural research on the role of sociocultural factors that develop attitudes toward extremism in school students of Moscow, Russia, and Riga, Latvia. Equally, it analyzes various aspects of social activity of adolescents: their attitude to legislative sanctions against extremist activities, a tendency to express various ways of political protest, etc. Special attention is paid to the role of social and cultural factors that determine the specific features of adolescents’ attitude to extremism. We consider such factors as the degree of social distance from extremist organizations or membership of a national majority or minority, etc. The article reports on the relationship between adoption of extremist behaviour and attitudes of aggressive behaviour in various social situations, and in the situation of bullying in particular. In addition, the article presents the results of factor analysis to identify a set of features that determine not only those ones related to extremism, but also the position of the teenagers in the propensity for violence and aggressive behaviour as a way to solve their own conflicts. Also, based on the selected factors, the averaged profiles of teenagers in Moscow (Russia) and Riga (Latvia), who claimed their own relationship with extremist organizations, are shown. The main conclusions of the article can be briefly presented in the following points. In general, negative attitude towards extremism dominates in schoolchildren. It is expressed in personal non-acceptance of extremism. Social environment of teenager affects assessment of various kinds of extremist manifestations. The study revealed significant differences in attitudes toward extremism, depending on the membership of a national minority or titular nation.

In the modern world a dominant role in everyday life is played by such media channels as television, video resources and the Internet. Perception of the world is reverberated by the more indirect images of this world, whereas visuality is the formative principle of visual culture. «The «visual turn» consists in the shift of modern methods of verbal perception toward visual, or image ones.

Images are the components of the mental architecture. Image sensitivity replaces the text and sometimes it complements the text. Topical issues of visualization require modernised research methods of media images, which must be included in the broader context of interdisciplinary research.

The Internet space acquires an independent meaning, it carries a growing set of social interactions and contacts. With the development of the Internet business, the linear narratives are replaced by hypertextual and visual ones. The Internet can be viewed in “the postmodern situation» as a setting of global automation, and also as endless polyphonic communication of independent segments once a common cultural and information space. The most active Internet audience is presented by young people. Within them the formation of various subcultures and communities is inherent, there is a new system for structuring culture.

In the modern consumer society, along with other advertising media, products are increasingly becoming a source of visual differentiation and entertainment. The visual impact of online advertising is determined by the fact that it represents the lifestyle and values of the youth subculture, constructs a new perception and develops a new structure of consciousness and vision of the world of young people.

One of the fundamental factors influencing an individual’s intent to emigrate is a sense of danger that triggers the decision on settling in another country. The intent to emigrate under modern conditions is decision making in the situation of choice and is determined by perceptions of one’s own security. Security of a person is the matter of his/her own efforts. Thus security is one of the leading factors of orientation and determination in the course of obtaining the notion of the outer world.

263 respondents aged from 20 to 40 participated in the study. Four groups of respondents (those with emigration intentions and with a sense of security; the ones lacking emigration intentions and with a sense of security; respondents with emigration intentions, with a feeling of being in danger; respondents lacking emigration intentions with a feeling of being in danger) were formed on the basis of two criteria: emigration intentions and a feeling of being secure/insecure. The results show that the most significant motives for changing the settling area are life standards and search for comfort, which is explained by a pronounced dissatisfaction with social and economic situation of the native land, and low income. It is identified that the groups mentioned differ in their social psychological characteristics of life satisfaction level, sense of happiness, sense of security, motives for possible emigration, concept of emigration. The contradiction between the stated positive attitude towards those who emigrate (“a person can live where he likes”) and the semantic meaning of the “Emigration” concept (“cowardice”, “attenuation of a state”, “escape”, “rats deserting the sinking ship”) was detected in all groups of the respondents.