An elderly person who has entered a boarding school is in a new social situation for him. From this point of view, the adaptation of an elderly person in a boarding house can be described as the development of new social norms. This development begins with orientation, acquaintance, study. At the same time, the social situation in the process of adaptation of an elderly person is quite diverse. On the one hand, these are the premises of the boarding house - the admission and quarantine department, the living room, the dining room, the rest room, the club room, the library, the physiotherapy exercises room, the labor therapy workshops, the physiotherapy room, etc. - they have certain functions to provide an elderly person living conditions, nutrition, communication, work, treatment, education (expansion of horizons), entertainment, etc. In this variant, the social situation ensures the maintenance of health and the satisfaction of vital needs. On the other hand, the social situation of living in a boarding house is aimed at satisfying the activity needs of older people, ensuring their active lifestyle, emotional and psychological tone, and psychophysiological functioning adequate to their age. At the same time, the social situation of living in a boarding house is universal, since it includes a general idea of ​​a house of residence, free services, general and medical care, social and domestic arrangements as a situation of moral and psychological reliability and stability.

It should be noted that the awareness and development of this universality social situation does not come to an elderly person immediately, it takes time, psychological restructuring, installation on the inevitability of mastering this social situation. This will be the social adaptation of an elderly person to the conditions of living in a boarding house.

The social adaptation of elderly citizens to living conditions in a stationary social institution has a peculiarity, which is explained by the problems of older people that they face in the transition from home living conditions to the conditions of a boarding house.

One of the main problems is the severe state of health, limited ability to move. G. Tetenova notes that recently the requirements for the organization of the entire work of boarding schools have changed significantly, which is due to the sharp “aging” of the contingent of these institutions, primarily due to applicants who are at an older age; an increase in the number of seriously ill people living in them; increased demands for care, medical and other types of services. The last factor is especially important, since statistics show that 88% of people living in boarding schools suffer from mental pathologies, 67.9% have a limitation in motor activity: they need constant help; 62.3% are not even able to partially support themselves, and among those entering these institutions, this figure reaches 70.2%. The most common diseases among the elderly are diseases of the circulatory system and the musculoskeletal system.

In this regard, the medical and social direction is a priority in the social adaptation of older people. At the same time, it must be remembered that in this age period there are two groups that are not identical in their psychological and medical condition - these are people from 60 to 70-75 years old and 75 years and older. For older people in the first group, it is typical to maintain a fairly high level of activity of motivational components, the most significant problem for them is a violation of socio-psychological adaptation and psychological discomfort. For older people in the second group, medical problems associated with poor health, weakness and the need for constant care for them come to the fore.

Another problem of older people entering a boarding school is due to their mental state. Changes in the psyche in old age are manifested in insanity - the extinction of the body's vital activity due to atrophy of the cerebral cortex. This is manifested in impaired memory for new events while maintaining the reproduction of old ones, in attention disorders (distractibility, instability), in slowing down the pace of thought processes, disorders of the emotional sphere, in a decrease in the ability to chronological and spatial orientation, in motor disorders (tempo, fluency, coordination ). This disease is accompanied by extreme exhaustion, loss of strength, almost complete cessation of mental activity. Many diseases of the elderly are the result of their lifestyle, habits, nutrition. Exceptionally complex and at the same time delicate are the problems of hopelessly ill old people.

serious problems social adaptation elderly people when they move from their usual home environment to the conditions of a stationary boarding institution are social adaptation and social and environmental orientation.

Social adaptation includes the organization of the life of an elderly client in new conditions for him in a boarding school. It includes the correction of his everyday habits, which ensures relative independence in the performance of household functions and the implementation of sanitary and hygienic measures. Very often, elderly people with disabilities become dependent on outside help for the simplest needs, therefore, in the course of social adaptation, a process of social and domestic arrangement is carried out: the organization of the dwelling, the living environment of an elderly person with appropriate devices. These can be systems of lifts for the care of bedridden patients, systems of handrails and support brackets for taking a bath, special supports that make it easier to put on shoes, gentle ramps instead of thresholds, etc. The process of social adaptation involves not only providing older people with these devices, but also teaching them how to use them. In the course of this process, the motivation for self-service is strengthened, the mindset is nurtured to achieve maximum independence and independence.

The need for social and environmental orientation of older people is due to the fact that the physiological changes that occur in the body during aging (decrease in visual acuity and hearing, loss of certain skills, inability to great physical exertion, etc.) lead to the fact that an elderly person feels feels uncomfortable, especially in the new conditions of living in a boarding house, where there are a lot of new objects, objects, people. The purpose of social and environmental orientation is to teach an elderly person the skills of independent living and social communication.

In the social adaptation of older people when they move from their usual home environment to a stationary residential institution, there is a problem with their social orientation, which means the social circle of an elderly person, his involvement in group and collective activities, forms of leisure.

For an elderly person who finds himself in the new social environment of a boarding house, it can be quite difficult to establish communication with workers and other residents. The new environment and communication style of other people can lead to the fact that an elderly person closes in on himself, does not want to talk, share his problems. This can also be facilitated by a feeling of rejection from relatives and friends, resentment towards them for being placed in a boarding school, as well as confusion associated with separation from the usual home environment. In this case, an important element of social adaptation is occupational therapy and socio-cultural rehabilitation, which satisfies the needs for information, communication, work, leisure services, and accessible forms of creativity blocked in the elderly in the first weeks of living in a boarding house. Socio-cultural and labor activities are the most important socializing factors that contribute to the communication of older people, the development of adequate behavioral reactions in them, the desire to follow the daily routine, the norms and rules of behavior adopted in the boarding house.

An elderly person, entering a boarding house, "goes through" certain stages: admission and stay in the quarantine department (10-12 days), settling in a living room, staying in an institution for the first six months.

From the first days of their stay in a boarding house, elderly people find themselves in a situation that does not correspond to their ideas about this institution. By the time they entered the boarding school, most of them had elementary information about this institution, obtained from various sources (from relatives and close acquaintances, doctors and employees of social protection agencies). As a rule, information is formal, in some cases distorted, and ideas about consumer services, organization of work and leisure were incomplete. Insufficient information caused and maintained increased anxiety and uncertainty about the future among older people, which in turn adversely affected their subsequent adaptation to new conditions.

Despite the fact that the decision to enter a boarding house is made independently and consciously, more than half of the elderly people entering the admission and quarantine department of the institution, until the last moment, experienced hesitations and doubts about the correctness of the step taken. These fluctuations are associated with two motives: fear of change and ignorance of specific living conditions. Admission to a boarding school is regarded as a recognition of one's own inferiority, the inability to fulfill one's needs in the usual way. Such a negative assessment of admission to a boarding house is formed and supported by an assessment of one's own social status, which is characterized by older people as uncertain and is rated extremely low.

In the first days of elderly people's stay in a boarding house, such questions arise as lack of awareness about their future life, lack of an image of the future, and uncertain social status. At the same time, features are revealed that indicate a decrease in the pace of mental activity, a weakening of attention and memory, a decrease in the ability to navigate in new conditions, a decrease and bifurcation of self-esteem, a low level of self-esteem, and an anxious background of mood. All this testifies to the presence of an intrapersonal crisis in the elderly, which complicates the process of socio-psychological adaptation and contributes to the emergence of a maladjustment reaction.

After a 2-week stay in the admission and quarantine department, the elderly are resettled in rooms at the place of permanent residence. They face the problem of forced adaptation to new conditions with a long-term perspective. The search for a new life stereotype, the blurring of goals, forced communication with strangers, not always pleasant people, strict regulation of the daily routine - all these circumstances lead to the crisis of the first month of adaptation. The first 3-4 weeks of stay in the boarding house, connected with the transfer to a permanent place of residence - in a room with other clients of the boarding house, are the most difficult. When transferring an elderly person to a department and settling him in a room with neighbors, there are often difficulties in cohabitation. Many of them are related to the concept of "crowding". Crowding is a complex psychological phenomenon that occurs when several people stay relatively close and not isolated from each other for a long time together. With crowding, people form a single idea of ​​\u200b\u200b"own" and "foreign" territory. An invasion of someone else's "own" territory can cause acute stress, accompanied by sharp negative emotional experiences. The concept of "own" and "foreign" territory is formed at an unconscious level, it is not expressed. Often the person himself does not understand what is happening to him; breakdowns occur.

After 6 months of staying in a boarding house, when the problem of the final decision arises: to live in this institution permanently or return to the familiar environment, i.e. into a home environment - there is a critical assessment of both the conditions of the boarding house and their ability to adapt to them.

If the social adaptation of an elderly person to the conditions of living in a boarding house is unsatisfactory, then his mood deteriorates, he becomes indifferent, homesick, for relatives and friends, feels a sense of hopelessness and helplessness. The external manifestations of this state are emotional instability: tears, irritability, irascibility, etc. condition of the elderly.

The fact that the social adaptation of an elderly person to the conditions of living in a boarding house is successful is evidenced by psycho-emotional stability, a state of satisfaction, the absence of distress, a sense of threat and the absence of a state of emotional and psychological tension. An elderly person is active in communication, in activities, performs regime moments, participates in group and collective forms of work and leisure. Characterizing a socially adapted client of a boarding house, one can say that this is a person characterized by psycho-emotional stability, experiencing a state of satisfaction, lack of distress, a sense of threat and a state of emotional and psychological tension. Such a client is able to regulate his behavior in interaction with others, his behavior receives their approval and support, he is sociable, capable of effective communication.

Thus, the main problems of social adaptation of older people during their transition from their usual home environment to the conditions of a stationary residential institution are medical, social and psychological problems, as well as problems of social adaptation and social and environmental orientation. Numerous studies in many countries show that an active lifestyle, a balanced diet, normal social conditions, and active communication contribute to the achievement of deep and healthy old age. All this can provide its customers who find themselves in a difficult life situation, a stationary institution for social services for the elderly and disabled, provided that their social adaptation to the conditions of a boarding house is successful and taking into account its main problems.

The study of the quality of life of older people living in boarding schools is given much attention in the world. This is the subject of a series of studies by domestic scientists. in the US since the 1970s. there are “Ombudsman programs for long-term care”. Practice confirms the relevance of the UN’s goal of “allowing aging people to live in their own families”, since in boarding houses an elderly person finds himself in a difficult situation: on the one hand, a sharp change in the environment, on the other hand, the transition to collective life, the need obey the established order, fear of loss of independence. This aggravates the instability of the neuropsychic state, causes a depressed mood, self-doubt, and one's actions have a negative impact on the state of health. Dressed in the same robes, deprived of their own corner, the old people experience complete depersonalization. Elderly people living in boarding schools mainly complain about the quality of care for them, food, violation of their rights.

According to V. Shabanov, the improvement of the work of Russian nursing homes for the elderly in terms of their social adaptation to new living conditions is associated with a reduction in the average number of residents and an increase in the area of ​​bedrooms to sanitary standards per bed. The average capacity of a boarding house of a general type for 13 years has decreased from 293 to 138 places (more than 2 times), the average area of ​​rooms for living has increased to 6.91 sq.m. The above indicators reflect the trend of disaggregation of existing stationary social service institutions, increasing the comfort of living in them. In many ways, the noted dynamics is due to the expansion of the network of boarding houses of small capacity.

Practice shows that in nursing homes for the elderly and disabled in Russia, medical care is currently provided, a number of rehabilitation activities are carried out: occupational therapy and employment, leisure activities, etc. Here, work is being carried out on the social and psychological adaptation of older people to new conditions, including informing about the boarding house, the elderly clients living in it and newly arrived elderly clients, about the services provided, the availability and location of medical and other offices, etc. The features of the character, habits, interests of incoming older people, their needs for feasible employment, their wishes in organizing leisure activities, etc. are being studied. All this is important for creating a normal moral and psychological climate (especially when resettling people for permanent residence) and preventing conflict situations, and therefore for the success of the social adaptation of older people when they move from their usual home environment to a stationary boarding institution. .

Positive experience practical work for the social adaptation of older people to new living conditions is available at the Budgetary Institution of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Yugra “Darina Nursing Home for the Elderly and Disabled” in the city of Sovetsky. The process of support is carried out constantly throughout the entire period of stay of an elderly person in a boarding house. Here, a technology has been developed and successfully applied, consisting of 3 stages of social and pedagogical support for the social adaptation of older people.

At the first stage of an elderly person's stay in a boarding house, the issues of stress relief are solved. At this time, it is advisable to inform the elderly person about the working conditions of the institution, about the offices and services, about the services that are provided in it. To bring “up to date” also means a statement of the rights and obligations of an elderly person, informing him about events, the daily routine.

The second stage is the creation of conditions that are comfortable for living. The conditions for the positive socialization of older people are created in the course of the interaction of individual and group (collectives) subjects in three interconnected and at the same time relatively autonomous processes in terms of content, forms, methods and style of interaction: the organization of social experience, education and individual assistance. The organization of social experience is carried out through the organization of life and life of the elderly; their interaction in public organizations, support and mutual aid groups. The education of the elderly includes enlightenment, that is, the promotion and dissemination of culture; education of the elderly in various areas (adaptation to a new way of life, sports and health education, hobbies, leisure, religious education, etc.); stimulation of self-education. Individual assistance is implemented in the process of assisting an elderly person in solving problems, creating special situations in life for his positive self-disclosure, as well as raising his status and self-respect.

At the first and second stages, prerequisites are created for socio-psychological adaptation, the ultimate goal of which is not only to stay, to live quietly in new conditions, but also to actively live the elderly, prolong active longevity.

At the third stage of the stay of an elderly person in a boarding house, two main areas are implemented: occupational therapy, including creative therapy, and the development of the activities of public associations of the elderly, volunteering, etc. This is how the participation of older people in employment and meaningful socio-cultural leisure is organized. The most effective form of socialization of older people in boarding schools is employment therapy, i.e. the use of a variety of activities, not necessarily of a professional nature. These are activities in which the individual interests and inclinations of an elderly person are realized. There are such types of employment as labor, public, leisure, communication, self-service. All these types of employment are aimed at prolonging the creative socially useful functioning of older people. One type of employment is occupational therapy.

Sociocultural activity, i.e., the active participation of older people in cultural, mass, leisure activities, is an important component of social technologies in the adaptation of these categories of citizens in boarding schools. All these activities are aimed at maintaining emotional tone, awareness by older people of their socially useful role, activation of psychological and physical resources, strengthening interpersonal relationships, distraction from painful thoughts, etc.

Employees of the nursing home for the elderly and disabled "Darina" in Sovetsky believe that this is one of the effective social technologies in the activities of a stationary institution of social services for the elderly, which is a continuous process of accompanying an elderly person by specialists with an appropriate level of training and professional competence, activating personal capabilities of an elderly person in solving social problems, as well as harmonizing social relations in a new team for him.

There is a positive experience of practical work on the social adaptation of older people to new living conditions in all stationary social service institutions of the Yaroslavl region. Constant diagnostics of the level of social adaptation of older people living in boarding schools in the Yaroslavl region shows that it has a wide range of manifestations. In particular, from normal socio-psychological adaptation with a prolonged positive effect (improvement of physical, mental and social health, the formation of positive attitudes towards living in a boarding house) to a pronounced negative pathological adaptation (deterioration of the psychosomatic state, deep depressive states, hyperadaptation or hospitalism). , possibly fatal). In the case of negative social adaptation, older people use marginal (withdrawal, indifference), less often aggressive-conflictogenic and hyperadaptive (hospitalism syndrome) strategies of adaptive behavior. As a rule, the types of socio-psychological adaptation and the types of strategies for adaptive behavior largely depend on the individual biopsychosocial characteristics of older people, living conditions in specific boarding schools and the socio-psychological climate in them.

As a result, the social adaptation of an elderly person to the new conditions of living in a boarding house is a multifaceted, complex, long-term process, it must be continuous. In this social process, various specialists creatively interact within the framework of constant and systematic patronage of an elderly person in the process of his entry into the society of a stationary institution and the implementation of an individual social trajectory of his life for a given period.

Various experiences show that the necessary activities should be directed to many aspects of social adaptation, i.e. not only training, but also a complex manifestation of the types of socialization, both medical and psycho-functional.

Chapter 2. Analysis of activities for the social adaptation of older people in a stationary institution (on the example of AUSO "Ulan-Ude Complex Center for Social Services "Doverie") population ""Trust"

Autonomous institution of social services "Ulan - Ude complex center of social services for the population "Doverie" is located at the address: Republic of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude, st. Mokrova, 20 11 .

The institution is intended for the residence of elderly people (men over 60 years old, women over 55 years old) who have partially or completely lost the ability to self-service and / or need social rehabilitation, who do not have established medical contraindications for admission to an inpatient social service institution.

The founder is the Ministry of Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Buryatia.

Since January 2011, a new direction of work has become possible within the framework of the project - the conclusion of lifelong maintenance contracts with dependents with single pensioners. At the choice of the client, on account of the rent, he is either provided with improved living conditions and social services in the institution, or the rent is paid directly on a monthly basis. To date, there are already six such people in the institution. Another innovation is the combination of two forms of social services that are different in content and ideology: non-stationary and stationary, the purpose of which is to provide senior citizens with high-quality and diverse, including new social services, using the wide possibilities of an autonomous institution - a boarding house for the elderly and disabled .

The institution has such a service as a temporary stay. She is in high demand. Relatives, leaving on business trips, on vacation or during the period of repair work in the apartment, can temporarily arrange their old people in our institution. Medical staff conducts daily health monitoring: measurement of blood pressure, body temperature.

The Center does everything to help people cope with difficulties, adapt to our time, a time of frequent changes and changes. Today, elderly and disabled people who apply to the institution can be sure that they are not threatened by old age deprived of attention and care.

In 2013, the 90th anniversary of the founding of the institution, which preserves the traditions of caring for people, was celebrated.

The institution has a significant impact on the solution of social issues in the city of Ulan-Ude, solves the pressing problems of many citizens, provides specialized medical and social assistance in order to improve and maintain health. "Affirmation of faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person"- this is the motto of the Center, founded in 2010 on the basis of AUSO Ulan-Ude boarding school for the disabled and the elderly.

319 people live in the institution. (as of 01.03.15)

The Department of Social Rehabilitation creates and maintains conditions for a decent life for older citizens, the establishment of harmonious relations with the social environment, the expansion of the possibility of social communication and social activity of older citizens.

Social work specialists, psychologists, occupational therapy instructor, librarian, social workers provide social advisory, socio-pedagogical, socio-psychological services. When working with the elderly, the department’s specialists contact the doctor and medical staff using data from the medical history, past life, get acquainted with the client’s health, mobility, self-care abilities, involvement in cultural and leisure activities and employment.

The Center is faced with the task of not only creating conditions for a decent life for older citizens, but also establishing harmonious relations with the social environment, expanding the possibility of social communication and social activity of older citizens.

If a citizen is recognized as in need of social services in a stationary form, within 3 working days from the date of the decision to recognize a citizen in need of social services in a stationary form, the Commission of the Ministry draws up an individual program based on the needs of the citizen in social services. The individual program includes: forms of social services, types, volume, frequency, conditions, terms for the provision of social services, a list of recommended social service providers, social support activities.

The technology for implementing the integration of older people and people with disabilities into society provides for the following steps:

1. Comprehensive medical and social rehabilitation;

2. Occupational therapy - from self-service to socially useful work;

3. Public life: participation in the Public Council;

4. Social and cultural life: participation in creative studios, interest clubs.

To create conditions for socialization, innovative methods of social rehabilitation of clients are used, aimed at expanding the circle of contacts, relieving feelings of loneliness, maintaining activity and meaningfulness of life, providing psychological comfort and adaptation of an elderly person and a disabled person to new living conditions.

The successful adaptation of the client is influenced by his good mental state - a feeling of complete mental, physical and social well-being.

Psychologists of the department have developed and successfully apply psychological programs: "Adaptation", "Psychological correction of aggressive behavior", "Contact interaction with the elderly and senile", which allow clients to form adequate self-esteem, find effective ways to resolve conflict situations and adapt to new conditions .

The institution has a room for psychological unloading to provide psychological assistance and conduct relaxation classes and trainings.

In the department social technologies and work with the media, weekend tours and the Siberian Trail are held weekly, in which elderly people, veterans from different districts republics.

In order to increase the coverage of elderly citizens and disabled people with social services, interaction is being carried out with municipal authorities, the Center for Social Support of the Population, the city's medical and preventive institutions to attract clients to the medical rehabilitation department. Closely interact with members of the Republican Council of Veterans of War, Labor, Armed Forces, and Law Enforcement Agencies. In 2012, 8 districts of the republic were covered, the residents of which were given the opportunity to use the center's rehabilitation services.

Also, active cooperation is carried out with the Councils of Veterans of the Soviet, Zheleznodorozhny and Oktyabrsky districts of Ulan-Ude, including the Council of Veterans of the LVRZ, the Instrument-Making Plant, the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant, Art. Divisional, ROSTELECOM OJSC, Steklozavod settlement, Zabaikalsky settlement, Aeroport settlement, Tulanzha settlement, Left Bank settlement, Soldatsky settlement, Istok settlement, Zarechny settlement, Universities - BSU, ESGUTU.

Organizational work was carried out with the chairmen of 35 territorial public self-governments to inform the population about various types of social services provided on the basis of the center.

The Department of STiRS carried out a lot of work with the media to place information material about the activities of the institution. During the existence of the department, 9 articles were published in newspapers and magazines, a plot was filmed for the television program “Vesti Buryatia” of the BGTRK TV channel, information materials (leaflets, posters) were placed in clinics, pharmacies, Federal State Unitary Enterprise Russian Post, etc., weekly information about the activities of the institution is posted on the site of the center and the site of the MSZN.

Thus, as a result of the vigorous activity of the department for interaction and joint work with veterans, public organizations, TOS, TMO of Ulan-Ude and the Republic of Belarus, it was possible to achieve high results in work.

The department, not resting on its laurels, will continue to improve the existing forms of social services for the population, as well as the development and implementation of innovative forms and methods 12 .

The problem of socialization and socio-psychological adaptation of older people is currently one of the most relevant not only for psychological science, but also for society as a whole. The study of the features of the course of the crisis of old age in people in different social and social situations makes it possible to identify new, hitherto unknown factors and patterns of the genesis of the psyche. From the point of view of social practice, for a society, especially a society in transition, the psychological comfort and stability of a large group of people, which has been increasing in recent decades, serve as important indicators of social structure and a factor of social stability.

Changes in the living conditions of aging people in connection with the transition processes in society, as well as retirement, have put them in front of the need to adapt to these processes. Despite the fact that these processes have been studied for more than one year, the mechanism of adaptation to life in old age is actually out of the attention of researchers, even at the conceptual level.

The current social situation throughout the world, a focus on youth, an active lifestyle, and a philosophy of achievement make this demographic stratum the most vulnerable. The social and psychological situation of the elderly in economically unstable regions is especially difficult. As a rule, the words old age and the elderly carry a negative semantic meaning, often being synonymous with the words "flawed", "obsolete", which is reflected in the self-awareness of the elderly and the attitude of the younger segments of the population towards them.

The change in psychosocial status in old age differs from previous ones in this narrowing of the range of possibilities, both physical and social; and consists of several stages: the onset of old age, retirement, widowhood. Satisfaction with life and the success of adaptation to the onset of old age depend primarily on health. The negative effect of poor health can be mitigated through the mechanisms of social comparison and social integration. Also an important role is played by the financial situation, orientation to the other, acceptance of change. The reaction to retirement depends on the desire to leave the job, health, financial situation, the attitude of colleagues, as well as the degree of planned retirement. Widowhood tends to bring loneliness and unwanted independence. At the same time, it can give a person new opportunities for personal growth. At the same time, the meaning invested in the events that take place by a person is often more important than the events themselves.

At the same time, there is not the slightest doubt that the problem of the socialization of older people not only exists, but is also more significant for this age period compared to the previous one. Successful socialization of the elderly is one of the main conditions for maintaining High Quality their lives. The psychological component of lifestyle is one of the most acute and currently little studied problems associated with older people. Quite a lot is said about the economic and medical problems faced by older people. But the level of medical care and material support does not directly correlate with the level of psychological comfort and the optimal lifestyle for a person. This is also proved by the fact that issues related to the psychological state and socio-psychological adaptation of the elderly, first of all, began to be investigated in the most developed and economically prosperous countries, where pension provision and medical care for the elderly are at a fairly high level. The difficulty lies in the fact that if economic and medical issues can be resolved centrally and in a standard way for all people of a certain age group, then psychological problems should be solved individually, on the basis of personal qualities elderly person and social situation.

Surveys conducted by scientists, sociologists and officials responsible for working with older people have shown that among the most important issues associated with raising the standard of their own lives, older people note loneliness, health and economic problems. Thus, despite the relevance of the quality of medical care and income, almost all older people suffer from psychological problems: disruption of their usual lifestyle, lack of attention from society and loved ones, loneliness.

Speaking about social adaptation in relation to the elderly, M.D. Alexandrova gives the following definition: “Social adaptation is understood as how old people who have acquired new qualities due to age adapt to society, and how society adapts old people to itself. Old age is called the “age of poor adaptation”, which occurs as a result of various somatic and mental changes in personality, as well as in connection with changes in family life and the environment," studying the problems of adaptation of older people to the status of a pensioner using a personality-role approach, suggested that the social adaptation of the elderly consists in entering a circle of roles corresponding to the status of a pensioner.

The daily, routine life of the elderly is usually non-role-playing, and the unstructured situations of later life cause depression and anxiety, as the elderly feel a vacuum of social expectations and a lack of norms for them. Fair enough elderly age called the stage of systematic social losses and lack of gains. "The main tasks of life are fulfilled, responsibility decreases, dependence increases. These losses are associated with illness and physical infirmity. These losses and their correlates of dependence, isolation and demoralization increase progressively in later life." They clearly show the older person a decrease in participation in social life and an increase in their marginality.

Another factor determining social adaptation is the value norms, standards, traditions of society as a whole and the elderly in it, since adaptation cannot be studied outside of the functioning of social relations in general, outside of objective social processes. From the point of view of V.S. Ageev, "the success of adaptation in new conditions is directly related to the success (speed, volume, "accuracy") of mastering stereotypes new group"At the same time, the processes of group identification and the assimilation of group stereotypes run in parallel and cause one another, i.e. stereotypes begin to be assimilated if a person identifies himself with the group, fully realizes himself as a member of it.

The success of adaptation depends on the degree of status and role certainty, which is directly proportional to the level of social identity, i.e. the degree of identification of a little man with certain cultural, national, social and age groups. In the mass consciousness, the role of a pensioner, a widower, or simply an elderly person is very unclear, and there are no corresponding role expectations in society. Loss of roles and, as a result, role uncertainty demoralizes the elderly. This deprives them of their social identity often renders Negative influence for psychological stability.

Since the target function of the process of social adaptation is the self-preservation of the "society-family-individual" in their relationship and development, the adaptation of older people is a complex entity, it consists of many components and its criteria are:

• - at the level of society - the degree of convergence of value orientations of various sex and age groups of society and the degree of coincidence of auto- and heterostereotypes of the elderly;
• - at the group level - the degree of role adaptation, the degree of positivity of social identity, the degree of incorporation (the closure of the elderly in their immediate environment);
• - at the level of personality - adaptation to the very process of aging and the degree of positivity of personal identity.

Studies of the process of psychological adaptation of older people were carried out in line with not only social psychology, but also in domestic gerontology. For example, in the adaptive-regulatory theory of aging developed by V.V. Frolkis, reveals the provisions that, simultaneously with the processes of age-related destruction and disorganization in old age, the development and strengthening of adaptive-regulatory processes aimed at survival, increasing viability, and increasing life expectancy takes place. With regard to mental aging, notes N.F. Shakhmatov, this is expressed in the formation in old age of a new active life position, reflecting the reassessment of past values, the revision of past attitudes, the development of a certain attitude towards one's own aging. With favorable forms of mental aging, the way of life is fully adapted to the external and internal conditions that have changed in old age. In the case of unfavorable, painful mental aging, the issues of adaptation of older people become clinical problems.

Only a small number of older people will pass the negative phase of the crisis of old age. Most of them need the attentive and qualified help of specialists, loved ones and society as a whole. In our country, it is easier to use public opinion to organize assistance to people of advanced age than in many countries of Western Europe. This is explained by the fact that in our society there are fairly stable positive stereotypes of older people, in which their experience, knowledge and ability to withstand difficult everyday situations are positively assessed. This means that it is possible for older people to form an attitude to their importance for the young, to help them, and for the young to accept this help, and not so much in the household, but in professional and social activities.

The need to find an adequate scope for the activity of the elderly is also connected with the fact that the peak of the social activity of the elderly coincides with the pre-retirement period (for men aged 56-60 years, for women from 50 to 55 years). According to V.V. Patsiorkovsky, this is due to the increased tension that arises in connection with the inevitable release from employment. However, it can be assumed that the reason lies in the peculiarities of the course of the age crisis, in the process of self-awareness of the individual, as a result of which there is a reassessment of goals, values, interests and needs. With retirement, an elderly person changes the number of social groups with which he interacts, which entails a qualitative transformation in self-awareness. For example, family members expect that after retirement, an elderly person will pay more attention to household chores, but a retired person is not only not oriented to the household, but also gives a low rating to this way of spending time. V.D. Shapiro, on the basis of research, also notes that the most common negative effect of stopping work is an increase in the load on the house and, at the same time, a feeling of uselessness. Most likely, housework is not considered by older people as socially useful. In addition, according to L.P. Lipova, they feel cut off from the team. Joint activities of social significance restore the autonomy and independence of the elderly person, compensate for the decrease in personal social potential, therefore, in the periods preceding old age, the elderly gravitate towards an active social life. Antsiferova L.I., notes that older people want and can be useful to society. The elderly are conservative, dogmatic in the event that they are not engaged in labor activity, especially related to creativity.

Therefore, younger members of society often refuse to follow the advice of older people, and even more so they do not always understand their experiences. The search for a way out of this circle makes older people want to communicate with their peers. What attracts attention is the relevance of contacts with peers, and not with members of one's family. At the same time, many older people also seek help and understanding from peers, and not from relatives. This is also due to the economic situation of the young, who often cannot fully take care of their elderly parents, and also to the fact that, as in adolescence, the other generation does not understand them well. Thus, to overcome the problems that arise, to find a way of adequate socio-psychological adaptation to the situation in which they are, older people can rather communicate with peers who face the same problems, have approximately the same life experience and stereotypes of perception. At the same time, of course, it is necessary to take into account the fact that the group of older people is heterogeneous in terms of social composition, life experience, stereotypes and evaluative standards, and therefore communication must be established among people with similar social status, common value orientations and attitudes.

The expansion and deepening of communication becomes an indispensable condition for socialization at this age. The difficulty of forming new personal contacts is due to the fact that many older people experience communication difficulties. Basic research shows that in most cases, older people suffer from communication disorders and from conflicts related to this area. Two-thirds of the elderly who sought help at the institute's psychiatric outpatient clinic spoke of contact problems.

With external contact, older people are not always psychologically ready to make new acquaintances, not always and not everyone has a direct need for contacts. Many of them have adapted to loneliness, being satisfied with superficial forms of communication. The authors note the specifics of the interaction of older people with each other. Thus, they seek to avoid disappointment in acquaintances, noticing the smallest details of the behavior of others, which often do not correspond to their idealized standard. Older people are afraid of being misunderstood, afraid of disappointment and emotional upheaval, they assume failures in communication, and as a result avoid it, although they suffer from its lack.

Incomprehensible to many young people, the political activity of the elderly, their participation in rallies and demonstrations is often explained by the desire for communication, sometimes unconscious. Not all older people behind this rally aggression have a conscious choice of social position; rather, it is nostalgia for youth and the desire for stereotypical behavior. The opportunity to establish contacts with peers in other, more socially acceptable forms, would significantly reduce this socially unsafe activity, which is often used by certain groups in their political interests. Finding the best ways of corrective work with this group of older people is an important task not only for psychologists and gerontologists, but also for sociologists and politicians.

Studies show that there are several ways to compensate for the emotional stress that older people are in, to increase their level of socio-psychological adaptation. This is communication with nature, passion for art (both in terms of creativity and in terms of perception), the emergence of new significant activities, new interests, perspectives (this is especially important for people over 70 years old).

Empirical evidence suggests that communication with nature, pets (cats, dogs, and others), care for indoor flowers, gardens and gardens significantly reduce the level of tension, compensate for the lack of communication of an elderly person. In people who spend a lot of time in nature, the fear of loneliness is less pronounced, the level of aggression is lower, and a depressive state is practically not observed.

The passion for art also has an equally significant impact. Older people who often go to the theater, the conservatory, visit museums and exhibition halls are mentally much more stable and less prone to depression than their peers who are indifferent to art. It can be assumed that these interests, entering the structure of the personality, form a stable motivation that does not change with the crisis and is not subject to dynamics depending on the status, social circle and other age factors. Such behavior becomes the lifestyle that gives stability to the adaptation process as a whole.

For the psychological adaptation of elderly and old people, the time perspective is very important. It has been empirically established that with age, the desire for the future decreases, but [if the activity of a person is limited only to solving the problems of today, then its psychological organization is impoverished, since a person can solve more complex problems according to his creative capabilities. The progressive development of the individual as a way of existence is ensured by the manifestation of activity in resolving contradictions between the changing conditions of life and the real possibilities of satisfying needs and interests. Therefore, although older people are more likely to be oriented towards the past, when planning certain activities, orientation to the future is also possible. At the same time, a long-term perspective, as a rule, does not have the same effect as a short-term one, from about six months to a year and a half. Such a perspective allows a person to make certain plans, relieves depression and fear of death, helps to overcome illnesses, as it gives confidence in the future and opens up real goals in it for even old people to achieve.

The problems of socio-psychological adaptation and socialization of older people that we have considered show that there are many contradictory positions in their Decision, which is associated with the presence of numerous and diverse concepts of personality and its genesis. Some of the factors influencing the psychological stability and activity of older people have been described by us above. However, it must be recognized that in order to interpret the late period of a person’s life as a period of personality development, it is necessary to conduct targeted studies of the features of self-identification, an analysis of the “I-image” and the degree of its integrity, adequacy and awareness in older people, and changes in the type of activity of an elderly person. The study of the role of creativity, different lifestyles, communication in the process of socialization, the influence of these factors on the degree of frustration and mental stress in old age, together with an analysis of the degree of influence of social changes on the integrity of the individual, will help solve this problem.

In addition, it is legitimate to raise the question of a broad scientific justification and practical implementation of the idea of ​​permanent (continuous) education in relation to older people. Knowledge of the basic patterns will contribute to the socio-psychological adaptation of people in the later period of life, help organize preventive and preventive measures with them. corrective work that will give effective results.

Thus, those psychological changes that occur in the process of aging make it a priority to study their dynamics and the characteristics of the social behavior of the elderly. Since one of the leading mechanisms that ensure the integrity of the individual and the predictability of his activity is social adaptation, this problem comes to the center of research interests.

Summing up the results of the first part of our work, we note the following.

The aging of the Russian population as a socio-demographic process, which coincided with the processes of reforming society, is not a consequence of an increase in life expectancy and occurs simultaneously with an increase in the overall mortality of the population, accompanied by an increase in the dependence of older people on the economically and socially active population. In the conditions of the transitional stage of social and economic development, the problems of older people are not always solved consistently. economy and social sphere while the conditions for a decent life for all older people are not fully provided. There are significant regional differences in the situation of older people.

Changes associated with the processes of modernization of the structure of society affect the position and social well-being of older people who find it difficult to adapt to dynamically changing economic and socio-cultural conditions. To do this, they need help that takes into account the significant, differentiation, complexity of their problems, the diversity of needs and requests.

Old age is characterized by specific problems: deterioration in health, reduced ability to self-service, "pre-retirement unemployment" and reduced competitiveness in the labor market, unstable financial situation, loss of the usual social status. Elderly women are in an unfavorable position, which is significant while maintaining a long-term disproportion between the male and female population. The proportion of older people is quite large. among migrants and persons without a fixed place of residence and occupation.

The onset of old age is a source of social risk for an individual, the problems of older people have objective grounds, are long-term in nature and require constant attention, finding additional material, human and other resources in the framework of a special state social policy for older people, new for modern Russia.

Problems of social adaptation of older people in the post-labor period. Irzhanova A.A., Suprun N.G., Magnitogorsk State Technical University named after V.I. G. I. Nosov.

annotation
This article discusses the problems of social adaptation of older people in the post-labor period. The author, relying on existing methods and theoretical knowledge, analyzes the problem and, based on this, suggests possible options for solving it.

Keywords: pension, elderly people, post-work period, social problems

In modern Russia, as well as throughout the world, a progressive increase in the number of elderly people has recently been observed, and the need to maintain an active life in the post-work period is one of the topical topics of modern scientific research.

According to the classification of the WHO and the Gerontological Association, the elderly are people aged 60-74 years, the elderly 75-90 years old, the centenarians over 90 years old.

One of the turning points in a person's life, which entails the most important changes in his way of life, is retirement, that is, the transition of life to the post-work period.

The post-labor period is the completion of one active phase of a person's social life and the beginning of another, which differs sharply from the previous one.

The entry of a person into this period should not be understood only as a phenomenon clearly established in time, it can last for a long time, since the process of restructuring the consciousness of a person who is at the pre-retirement stage of life begins long before the actual cessation of work.

One way or another, changes in life contribute to a change in a person’s behavior and his way of life, his relations with other people are re-formed, values, attitudes towards reality, etc. are rethought. A person consciously or unconsciously prepares for the role of a pensioner. Based on this, the person can either accept or reject the new role.

The transition of a person to a group of older people significantly changes his relationship with society and such value-normative and philosophical concepts as: the meaning of life, kindness, happiness, and so on. The lifestyle of people is changing significantly. Previously, older people were associated with society, production, engaged in social activities, and in the post-labor period they lost their former social roles. The break with work and former life has a negative impact on the health, vitality and psyche of older people. And this is natural, since an active life position is a source of longevity and a condition for maintaining good health. But pensioners are not often hired, so they are forced to be unemployed.

Due to age characteristics, it is difficult for older people to adapt to changing socio-economic conditions, especially in the post-work period.

Very often, older people retire psychologically unprepared for their new position and a new stage of life. Such unwillingness to change negatively affects the process of their social adaptation, social activity and personal satisfaction.

A special role is played by the general dynamism of older people. Among pensioners who lead healthy lifestyle life, maintain high physical and especially social activity, the level of adaptation is much higher than among pensioners leading a passive lifestyle.

It should be noted that the elderly, as a special category, have a number of socio-psychological problems that hinder the process of adaptation:

- a sharp decrease in social activity;

- deterioration in health;

- the growth of lack of demand in the family and the surrounding society;

- loneliness, loss of communication with the workforce, forced inactivity;

- inability to find application for one's creative powers;

— a limited circle of communication with interesting people;

- the inability to organize their time and leisure;

- Lack of interesting social work.

As a result, most older people feel a decrease in their social status, lose their orientation in the modern socio-cultural space, and their social contacts are also difficult. This partly explains their depressive state of mind, which has negative consequences not only for the pensioners themselves, but also for the people around them. In order for older people to move into the post-work period as easily as possible, they need to successfully adapt to the new conditions.

Social adaptation has been used in science for a long time and widely. At the same time, the scope of its application is not limited to any one, specific branch or direction of scientific knowledge.

Social adaptation of the elderly is considered as a multifaceted and multifaceted process, as a result of which a new quality is achieved in the life of an elderly person. Under the influence of the process of social adaptation, it is possible to restructure the consciousness of the individual, which will be able to carry out vigorous activity in new conditions.

We can talk about a large number of psychological and physical factors affecting the process of social adaptation of older people. There is no single and universal way of adapting to old age. The influence is exerted by both the personality of the person himself, his behavior, habits, the need for social contacts, and the usual lifestyle. So for some people, living together with children and grandchildren is optimal, for others - independence, independence and the opportunity to do what they love.

In order for the adaptation process to be successful, it is recommended to take into account the psychological characteristics of older people and have knowledge in the field of social adaptation in general.

When participating in the process of social adaptation of an elderly person in the post-labor period, it is important to remember that the process in question is a system of the following stages:

1. Adaptation shock. It is understood as a general disorder of the functions of an elderly person, due to some kind of shock of a sociogenic nature, caused by a sharp violation of the usual interaction with the external environment. This is one of the most painful stages of social adaptation. It is at this stage of social adaptation that the elderly first encounters the need to master new elements of the social environment and recognizes their positive and negative sides.

2. Mobilization of adaptive resources. Here, for older people who have managed to survive the stage of adaptive shock, there comes a stage of deep understanding of the situation and concentration of efforts on a conscious search for a way out of it. This stage is associated with an active, conscious search, choice and development at the behavioral level of new models of life. The elements of the adaptive potential can be such characteristics of the subject as the level of education and qualifications, demographic and social status, socio-psychological characteristics, and so on. It is the presence of an adaptive potential in an elderly person and his characteristic features that determine his ability to master the situation and get used to it.

3.Answer to the "environment challenge". This is the final stage of the process of social adaptation of an elderly person who has retired. Its content is the implementation of a specific model of behavior and activity that is chosen by an elderly person, taking into account their own adaptive resources and capabilities, ideas about what is happening, as well as the main characteristics of the social environment in which the process of social adaptation takes place. At the same time, it is necessary to remember that the choice made by an elderly person does not have to meet the requirements of the environment.

The successive change of the main stages of social adaptation involves the use of various mechanisms at each of them, each of which is distinguished by its originality and adaptive capabilities, which solve the problem of adaptation to new conditions of one's life with their help.

It should be noted that older people, due to their psychological, physiological and social characteristics, are less susceptible to social adaptation and perceive changes in life more sharply than the younger generation.

For successful social adaptation, it is necessary to know and take into account the psychological characteristics of the elderly in the post-labor period. This will help build competent work with the elderly, find mutual language with this category, objectively assess the situation, identify the causes of social discomfort, and outline real ways to solve the problem.

Links to sources

1. Kovaleva NG Way of life as a factor of adaptation to life in retirement // Psychology of maturity and aging. - 2004. - N 2. - S. 34-53.
2. Sokolinskaya EV Gender aspects of the quality of life in elderly and senile age // Psychology of maturity and aging. - 2006. - N 1. - S. 94-108.
3. Suprun N. G. The quality of life of the elderly as social problem// Modern developmental psychology: main directions and prospects of research. – Materials of the international scientific conference on October 20–21, 2015/ – C. 171-174.
4. Khristenko O. V. Changing the value orientations of elderly people in modern Russia // Humanitarian and socio-economic sciences. - 2006. - N 2. - S. 70-72.
5. Shendrik I. Adaptation vice versa: how to prepare an employee for retirement // Kadrovoe delo. - 2010. - N 9. - S. 68-75.

Problems of social adaptation of the elderly

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• Introduction
• Chapter 2 non-working pensioners
• 2.1 Description of the study program
• 2.2 Description of methods
• Chapter 3. Analysis and interpretation of the results of the study of socio-psychological adaptation of working and non-working pensioners
• 3.1 The results of the study on the methodology for diagnosing socio-psychological adaptation by K. Rogers and R. Dimon (Appendix 3).
• 3.2 The results of the study according to the methodology "Self-assessment of psychological adaptation" (Appendix 4)
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Applications

Introduction

One of the trends observed in recent decades in the developed countries of the world is the growth in the absolute number and relative proportion of the population of older people. There is a steady, fairly rapid process of reducing the proportion of children and young people in the total population and increasing the proportion of the elderly.

Thus, according to the UN, in 1950 there were approximately 200 million people aged 60 and over in the world, by 1975 their number had increased to 550 million. According to forecasts, by 2025 the number of people over 60 will reach 1 billion 100 million people. Compared with 1950, their numbers will increase by more than 5 times, while the world's population will only increase by 3 times (8; 36).

According to the UN, the proportion of older people in the population of developed countries is already up to 20%, and the aging process of mankind is accelerating.

The main reasons for the aging of the population are a decrease in the birth rate, an increase in the life expectancy of people of older age groups due to the progress of medicine, and an increase in the standard of living of the population. On average, in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, life expectancy for men has increased by 6 years over 30 years, and for women - by 6.5 years. In Russia, over the past 10 years, there has been a decrease in average life expectancy.

Change in the social status of a person in old age, caused primarily by the cessation or restriction labor activity, changes in value orientations, the very way of life and communication, the emergence of difficulties in the social, domestic, psychological sphere, dictates the need to develop special approaches, forms and methods of work of a psychologist with older people with the aim of their successful socio-psychological adaptation to new living conditions.

This is especially important due to the fact that in Russia at present the elderly have become the most socially unprotected category of society.

The need to maintain an active life in old age is one of the topical issues of modern society, both Russian and foreign.

However relevance studying the socio-psychological adaptation of older people in our country is also due to an objective deficit of targeted government programs on the socio-psychological adaptation of various groups of the population, which undoubtedly leads to persistent maladaptive states, depression and suicide.

Socio-psychological adaptation can be defined as "the process of establishing the optimal correspondence of personality and environment in the course of the implementation of human activity, which allows the individual to satisfy actual needs and realize the significant goals associated with them, while at the same time ensuring that the maximum activity of a person, his behavior, and the requirements of the environment "(15; 73).

The psychological meaning of adaptation may be to get rid of the feeling of fear, loneliness, or to reduce the terms of social learning (training), when, based on social or group experience, a person gets rid of the need for trial and error, immediately choosing a more appropriate program of behavior.

The effectiveness of socio-psychological adaptation directly depends on the organization of micro-social interaction. In conflict situations in the family or industrial sphere, difficulties in building informal communication, adaptation disorders are noted much more often than in effective social interaction.

social psychological adjustment elderly

Item research: features of social and psychological adaptation of working and non-working pensioners.

An object research: socio-psychological adaptation.

Target: compare the features of socio-psychological adaptation in working and non-working pensioners

Hypothesis: we assume that the level of social and psychological adaptation of working pensioners is higher than that of non-working ones.

Tasks:

1) to study theoretical approaches to the problem of socio-psychological adaptation in modern psychology;

2) to identify the psychological characteristics of the elderly;

3) choose methods of empirical research in accordance with the purpose and hypothesis;

4) to determine the features of social and psychological adaptation of working and non-working pensioners.

Methodsresearch:

methodology for diagnosing socio-psychological adaptation by K. Rogers and R. Dimon;

methodology "Self-assessment of psychological adaptability".

Student's t-test was used to assess the significance of differences.

The study involved 15 working pensioners aged 55-70 and 15 non-working pensioners of the same age.

Chapter 1. Theoretical approaches to the problem of socio-psychological adaptation of older people

1.1 The problem of socio-psychological adaptation in modern psychology

In foreign psychology, the neo-behaviorist definition of adaptation has become widespread, which is used, for example, in the works of G. Eysenck and his followers.

They define adaptation in two ways:

a) as a state in which the needs of the individual, on the one hand, and the requirements of the environment, on the other, are fully satisfied. It is a state of harmony between the individual and the natural or social environment;

b) the process by which this harmonious state is achieved (20; 84).

Behaviorists understand social adaptation as "a process (or a state achieved as a result of this process) of physical, socio-economic or organizational changes in group-specific behavior, social relations or culture" (20; 89). In functional terms, the meaning or purpose of such a process depends on the prospects for improving the survival ability of groups or individuals, or on the way to achieve meaningful goals. The behaviorist definition of social adaptation refers primarily to the adaptation of groups rather than the individual.

"Social adaptation" is also used to refer to the process by which an individual or group achieves a state of social equilibrium, i.e. lack of experience of conflict with the environment.

According to the interactionist concept of adaptation, which is developed, in particular, by L. Philips, all varieties of adaptation are due to both intrapsychic and environmental factors. The interactionist definition of "effective personality adaptation" contains elements that the behaviorist definition lacks. Interactionists give this name to that kind of adaptation, upon reaching which the individual satisfies the minimum requirements and expectations of society. According to L. Philips, adaptability is expressed by two types of responses to environmental influences:

a) accepting and responding effectively to those social expectations that everyone meets according to their age and gender;

b) flexibility and efficiency in meeting new and potentially dangerous conditions, as well as the ability to give events the desired direction for themselves (20; 91).

In this sense, adaptation means that a person successfully uses the created conditions for the implementation of his goals, values ​​and aspirations. Such adaptability can be observed in any field of activity. Adaptive behavior is characterized by successful decision making, taking the initiative, and clearly defining one's own future.

The main features of effective adaptation, according to interactionists, are the following:

a) adaptability in the field of "non-personal" socio-economic activity, where the individual acquires knowledge, skills and abilities, achieves competence and mastery;

b) adaptation in the sphere of personal relationships, where intimate, emotionally rich ties with other people are established, and successful adaptation requires sensitivity, knowledge of the motives of human behavior, the ability to subtly and accurately reflect changes in relationships (20; 93).

Another important feature of the interactionist understanding of adaptation should be noted: representatives of this area of ​​social psychology distinguish between adaptation and adjustment. So, for example, T. Shibutani writes: "Each personality is characterized by a combination of techniques to cope with difficulties, and these techniques can be considered as forms of adaptation (adaptation). In contrast to the concept of "adaptation" (adjustment), which refers to how the organism adapts to the requirements of specific situations, adaptation refers to more stable solutions - well-organized ways to cope with typical problems, to techniques that crystallize through a successive series of adaptations "(24; 163).

Behaviorists use the term "adjustment" for all cases, which is an expression of their biological approach to human mental activity. The interactionist approach, as presented in Shibutani's book, indicates that a distinction must be made between situational adaptation and general adaptation to typical problem situations. Here one can see the idea that general adaptation (and adaptedness) is the result of a successive series of situational adaptations to repeated situations.

The psychoanalytic concept of adaptation was specially developed by the German psychoanalyst G. Hartmann, although the issues of adaptation are widely discussed in many works of Z. Freud, and the mechanisms and processes of protective adaptation are considered by Anna Freud.

As a psychoanalyst, G. Hartmann recognizes the great importance of conflicts in the development of personality. But he notes that not every adaptation to the environment, not every process of learning and maturation are conflict. He considers it possible to introduce the term "conflict-free ego sphere" to denote the totality of functions that at any given moment has an impact on the sphere of mental conflicts. Noting the lack of knowledge about this area, G. Hartmann includes here such phenomena as fear of reality, defensive processes to the extent that they lead to "normal" development, resistance, the contribution of protective processes to the displacement (displacement) of the goals of instinctive drives and others

Adaptation, according to G. Hartmann, includes both processes associated with conflict situations and those processes that are included in the conflict-free sphere of the Self.

G. Hartmann and other psychoanalysts distinguish between adaptation as a process and adaptation as a result of this process. A well-adjusted psychoanalyst considers a person whose productivity, ability to enjoy life and mental balance are not disturbed. In the process of adaptation, both the personality and the environment are actively changing, as a result of which adaptability relations are established between them (20; 94).

Modern psychoanalysts distinguish between two types of adaptation:

a) alloplastic adaptation is carried out by the same changes in the external world that a person makes to bring it in line with his needs;

b) autoplastic adaptation is provided by personality changes (its structure, skills, habits, etc.), with the help of which it adapts to the environment (7; 74).

G. Hartmann adds one more to these two actually mental varieties of adaptation: the individual's search for such an environment that is favorable for the functioning of the organism.

Psychoanalysts attach great importance to the social adaptation of the individual. G. Hartmann notes that the task of adapting to other people confronts a person from the day of his birth. He also adapts to the social environment, which is partly the result of the activity of previous generations and himself. A person not only participates in the life of society, but also actively creates the conditions to which he must adapt. Increasingly, man creates his own environment. The structure of society, the process of division of labor, and the place of a person in society together determine the possibilities of adaptation, as well as (in part) the development of the self. The structure of society, in part through training and education, determines which forms of behavior are more likely to provide adaptation. G. Hartmann introduces the concept of "social compliance" to refer to the phenomenon when the social environment, as it were, corrects adaptation disorders in such a way that forms of behavior that are unacceptable in some social conditions become acceptable in others. Opportunities to meet the needs and development provided by society to adults and children are different and have a different impact on them. Social compliance is manifested primarily in relation to children, as well as those suffering from neurosis and psychosis.

Proceeding from this, G. Hartmann considers the process of human adaptation to be multilayered, and the idea of ​​the level of adaptation underlies the concept of human health.

In general, the psychoanalytic theory of human adaptation is currently the most developed. Psychoanalysts have created a broad system of concepts and discovered a number of processes by which a person adapts to the social environment. However, in general, the psychoanalytic theory of adaptation bears the stamp of the biologization tendencies of psychoanalysis, it is based on Freud's ideas about the structure of the psyche, its instances (It, I, Super-I) and their interactions (20; 98).

In Russian special literature, the following (wider) understanding of social adaptation is found: it is "the result of a process of changes in social, socio-psychological, moral-psychological, economic and demographic relations between people, adaptation to the social environment" (20; 99).

So, for example, F.B. Berezin believes that human society is not just an adaptive (similar to biological), but an adaptive-adaptive system, since human activity has a transformative nature (7; 65).

According to A. Nalchadzhyan, the development of a full-fledged scientific definition socio-psychic adaptation of the individual is possible only on the basis of the idea of ​​ontogenetic socialization. The definition of this concept should reflect the real and extremely complex process by which the individual turns into a person with some basic features of socio-psychological maturity. Ontogenetic socialization can be defined as "such a process of interaction between the individual and the social environment, during which, finding himself in various problem situations that arise in the sphere of interpersonal relations, the individual acquires the mechanisms and norms of social behavior, attitudes, character traits and their complexes and other features and substructures. , which in general have an adaptive value" (20; 83). Each process of overcoming problem situations can be considered a process of socio-psychological adaptation of the individual, during which she uses the skills and behavioral mechanisms acquired at previous stages of her development and socialization or discovers new ways of behavior and problem solving, new programs and plans for intrapsychic processes.

Socio-psychic adaptability can be characterized as "such a state of relationship between the individual and the group, when the individual, without prolonged external and internal conflicts, productively performs his leading activity, satisfies his basic sociogenic needs, fully meets the role expectations that the reference group makes of him. , is experiencing a state of self-affirmation and free expression of their creativity. Adaptation is that socio-psychological process that, with a favorable course, leads a person to a state of adaptation" (15; 58).

In problem situations that are not related to the experience of obstacles to achieving the goal, adaptation is carried out with the help of constructive mechanisms (cognitive processes, goal setting, goal setting, conformal behavior). In a situation where the presence of external and internal barriers is felt, adaptation is carried out with the help of protective mechanisms (regression, denial, reaction formation, repression, suppression, projection, identification, rationalization, sublimation, humor, etc.)

Constructive mechanisms allow you to adequately respond to change social conditions life, using the opportunity to assess the situation, analysis, synthesis and forecast of events, anticipation of the consequences of activities. M.I. Bobneva (1978) identified the following adaptation mechanisms:

social imagination - the ability to understand one's experience and determine one's destiny, mentally placing oneself within the real framework of a given period of development of society, and to realize one's possibilities;

social intelligence - the ability to perceive and capture complex relationships and dependencies in the social environment;

realistic orientation of consciousness;

orientation to due (9; 52).

Protective mechanisms are a system of adaptive reactions of the individual, which allows reducing anxiety, ensuring the integrity of the "I-concept" and the stability of self-esteem by maintaining the correspondence between ideas about the world around and ideas about oneself.

There are the following methods of psychological protection:

denial - ignoring traumatic information;

regression - a return to ontogenetically earlier, infantile strategies of behavior (tearfulness, demonstration of helplessness);

reaction formation - replacement of unacceptable impulses, emotional states with opposite ones (hostility is replaced by softness, stinginess by wastefulness, etc.);

repression - elimination of painful events from the sphere of consciousness (usually it is carried out in the form of forgetting);

suppression - more conscious than during repression, avoidance of traumatic information.

More mature protection mechanisms are:

projection - attributing to other people properties, qualities, causes of behavior that are denied to oneself;

identification - identification with a real or fictional character in order to attribute desired qualities to oneself;

rationalization - the justification of certain actions, the interpretation of events in order to reduce their traumatic effect on a person (by analogy with sour grapes);

sublimation - the transformation of the energy of instinctive drives into socially acceptable ways of activity ( artistic creativity, invention, professional activity);

humor - reducing tension by appealing to humorous expressions, stories, anecdotes.

In addition to the actual adaptation, deviant and pathological adaptation are distinguished. The concept of "deviant adaptation" combines the methods of adaptation of the individual, ensuring the satisfaction of his needs in an unacceptable way for the group. There are two forms of deviant adaptation - non-conformist and innovative. Non-conformist deviant adaptation often leads to conflicts with the group, innovative (creative) deviant adaptation is accompanied by the creation of new ways to resolve problem situations. Pathological adaptation is a process that is carried out with the help of pathological mechanisms and forms of behavior and leads to the formation of neurotic and psychotic syndromes (7; 113).

Along with various forms of adaptation, there is the phenomenon of disadaptation. Disadaptation is called "a process that leads to disruption of interaction with the environment, aggravation of the problem situation and is accompanied by interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts" (7; 117). Diagnostic criteria for maladjustment are violations in professional activity and in the interpersonal sphere, as well as reactions that go beyond the norm and expected reactions to stress (aggression, depression, autism, anxiety, etc.).

According to the duration of the influence on the personality, temporary, stable, situational and general stable maladaptation of the personality are distinguished. Temporary adaptation is associated with inclusion in a new situation in which it is necessary to adapt (going to school, to work, having a child, retiring, etc.). Stable situational maladaptation is associated with the inability to find acceptable ways of adapting to specific conditions when solving problems (in the conditions of professional activity, in the field of family relations and etc.). General sustainable adaptability is a state of a person's stable inability to activate defense mechanisms (7; 119).

The causes of the state of maladaptation are:

1) experienced psychosocial stress caused by divorce, professional problems, chronic diseases, retirement, etc.;

2) experienced extreme situations - traumatic situations in which a person participated directly as a witness, if they were associated with the perception of death or its real threat, severe injuries and suffering of other people (or one's own), while experiencing intense fear, horror, feeling helplessness ( similar situations cause a special condition - post-traumatic stress disorder);

3) unfavorable inclusion in a new social situation or violation of established relationships in the group.

The state of maladaptation may be accompanied by deviations in the behavior of the individual; then there are conflicts that do not have an obvious reason, inadequate reactions, refusal to comply with instructions, in relation to which there was no opposition before. Such prescriptions are designated by the terms "social norm" and "social value". Social norms and values ​​are the regulators of people's social behavior. A social norm is a model of what should be, a generally valid rule of behavior established by social groups and society.

Abnormal behavior is called deviant or deviant (from Latin deviatio - deviation, evasion). S.G. Maksimova gives the following definition: "Deviant behavior is a form of disorganization of the behavior of an individual or a category of persons in society, which reveals a discrepancy between established expectations, moral and legal requirements of society" (15; 128). Such behavior is regulated by a system of norms not accepted by this group. "Positive deviation" correlates with creative abilities and the desire to implement them. "Negative deviation" is expressed in such forms of behavior as lies, deceit, rudeness, inaction, aggressiveness, alcoholism, etc.

The success and speed of adaptation are not the same for different people. In this sense, it is customary to talk about the degree of social adaptation or maladaptation of an individual. Since social adaptation takes place in the conditions of social interaction of people, the degree of adaptation of the subject to a group or society will be determined, on the one hand, by the properties of the social environment, and on the other hand, by its own properties and qualities. The social (or environmental) factors that determine the success of adaptation include the homogeneity of the group, the significance and competence of its members, their social status, the rigidity and uniformity of the requirements, the size of the group, the nature of the activities of its members. To personal or subjective factors - the level of anxiety, competence of a person, his self-esteem, the degree of identification with a group or other social community and adherence to it, as well as gender, age and some typological features.

Soway, the problem of socio-psychological adaptation is an important area of ​​scientific research, developed by representatives of various areas of psychology. The adaptive concept can be considered as one of the promising approaches to a comprehensive study of a person.

1.2 Psychological characteristics of the elderly

According to the WHO classification, aging (old age) lasts for men from 61 to 74 years, for women - from 55 to 74 years. From the age of 75 comes old age (advanced age). The period over 90 years is longevity (elderhood) (4; 35). We rely on this classification in the empirical part of our work.

The social criterion for transition to old age is often associated with the official retirement age. However, in different countries, for various professional groups, for men and women the retirement age is not the same (mainly from 55 to 65 years).

Other socio-economic indicators of the “threshold”, the transition to older age, are a change in the main source of income, a change in social status, and a narrowing of the circle of social roles.

Quite significant is the distinction between the so-called "young old age", "third" age (usually up to 75 years) and "old old age", "fourth" age (after 75 years). The distinction is based on the application of a functional criterion - the ability for an old person to lead an active and independent life or need outside care. Psychological criteria for completion, exhaustion of the period of maturity and transition to old age are not clearly formulated. The resolution of this issue is largely associated with a discussion about the specific life tasks of this period and the essence of the crisis of transition to late adulthood and old age (4; 37).

The crisis on the border of maturity and old age is dated at about the age of 55-65 years.

Sometimes the crisis of older age is called pre-retirement, thereby highlighting as the main determinant such a social factor as the achievement retirement age or retirement. Indeed, at the present historical stage, the onset of the official retirement age serves as a marker event for the beginning of the old age period. Retirement radically changes a person's lifestyle, including the loss of an important social role and a significant place in society, separation of a person from his reference group, narrowing of the social circle, worsening financial situation, change in the structure of psychological time, sometimes causing an acute state of "resignation shock". This period is difficult for most aging people, causing negative emotional experiences. However, the individual severity and intensity of the experience of the pension crisis vary greatly depending on the nature of work, on its value for the individual, on the degree of psychological preparedness of a person, his personal characteristics and life position that has developed in previous years. So, parting with hard physical work or an unloved professional occupation can be completely painless, even joyful, like liberation and the opportunity to do something else, more pleasant. L.I. Antsyferova concludes that, based on the totality of characteristics (level of activity, strategies for coping with difficulties, attitude towards the world and oneself, life satisfaction), two main personality types of older people can be distinguished (6; 120). Elderly people of the first type courageously survive retirement, switch to a new interesting business, tend to establish new friendships, and retain the ability to control their environment. All this leads to their experience of a sense of satisfaction with life and even increases its duration. Elderly people of the second type are characterized as passively related to life, experiencing alienation from others. They have a narrowing of the range of interests, a decrease in intelligence indicators on tests, a loss of self-respect, a feeling of uselessness and personal inadequacy.

Another point of view on the crisis of transition to old age is that it is, first of all, an identity crisis, an intrapersonal crisis (16; 32). Its premises are related to the fact that the signs of aging, as a rule, are noticed earlier and more clearly by others, and not by the subject himself. The processes of physiological aging due to their gradualness are not realized for a long time, the illusion of "immutability" of oneself arises. Awareness of aging and old age is unexpected (for example, when meeting with classmates) and painful and leads to various internal conflicts. The discrepancy between the aged body and the unchanged consciousness of the individual leads to attentive fixation on the sensations of one's own body, observation of it, listening to one's body. Sometimes the identity crisis caused by the awareness of old age is compared with adolescence (there is also the task of developing a new attitude towards your changed body), but the crisis at a later age is much more painful. “The world is finite, the world is twisted, the world is closed, and it is closed on Vasily Mikhailovich. At sixty, the fur coat is heavy, the steps are steep, and the heart day and night is with you. He walked and walked, from hill to hill, past shining lakes, past bright islands, overhead - white birds, underfoot - motley snakes, and came here, and ended up here; it's gloomy and deaf, and the collar is choking, and blood is hoarsely running. Here - sixty. All this, all already. Grass does not grow here. The ground is frozen, the road is narrow and rocky, and only one inscription shines ahead: exit. And Vasily Mikhailovich did not agree "(Tolstaya T.N. Krug).

Old age in the concept of E. Erickson marks the completion of the previous life path (10; 77). The reference environment for an older person, according to E. Erickson, is "humanity", "people of my type." The main modalities of behavior are "to be what you have become", "to be aware that one day you will cease to exist." The essence of the psychosocial crisis of personality in old age is the achievement of the integrity of the ego. The possibility of a "successful" transition to senior psychological age Erickson connects with the positive resolution of previous age crises. The integrity of the individual is based on summing up the results of his past life and realizing it as a single whole, in which nothing can be changed. Wisdom is defined by Erickson as "a certain state of mind, as a look into the past, present and future at the same time, freeing the history of life from accidents and making it possible to establish a connection and continuity of generations" (10; 78). Wisdom is the highest attainment of old age. The resolution of the final crisis requires deep inner work, search, and not humility and passivity in accepting the inevitable end. If a person feels that he has not achieved the goals he aspired to, or cannot bring his actions into a single whole, then there is a fear of death, a feeling of hopelessness, despair. The resolution of the end-of-life identity crisis can be captured in the words: "I am that which will outlive me." R. Pekk, developing Erickson's ideas, argued that a person needs to overcome three sub-crises (or resolve three conflicts) in order for the feeling of wholeness (fullness) to fully develop.

1. Reassessment of one's own I in addition to a professional role or some other social role. You must be able to move on to a new consideration of yourself, your uniqueness, not through the prism of one role (professional or parent), but from other positions.

2. Awareness of the fact of deteriorating health and aging of the body, the development of the necessary "indifference", tolerance. Successful aging is possible if a person can adapt to the inevitable physical discomfort or find an activity that will help him to distract himself.

3. Overcoming concerns about the prospect of imminent death, accepting the idea of ​​death without horror, extending one's own life line through participation in the affairs of the younger generation (10; 79).

The role reorientation of an elderly person is combined with the need to learn to give up leadership positions in the family and professional activities to younger ones. B. Livehud wrote about this, linking overcoming the crisis of old age with the discovery of new meanings of life, spiritual values. Then the observation of the young, entering the period of the highest achievements, will bring joy to a person, and not envy and the desire to put spokes in the wheels (10; 81).

In the integral periodization of the general mental development IN AND. Slobodchikov and G.A. Zuckerman considers old age as the fifth, final stage of development - "universalization" (10; 83). Universalization is understood as going beyond the limits of individuality and at the same time entering the space of general and superhuman, existential values. Special areas of activity - work on the completion of what can be completed, and on the acceptance of incompleteness (imperfection) of oneself and the world. A characteristic feature is the voluntary rejection of initiative as an impatient impulse to untimely events.

In the given periodization, the norm of mental development is understood as an indication of the highest possibilities, the peak achievements of a given age. How older age, the less frequently real life of a person, a set of age characteristics introduced into the periodization scheme is found. In this sense, the authors consider only the rarest unique biographies of people about whom they say: "A man for all time!" as examples of the norm. These are the lives of the saints, the lives of A. Schweitzer, J. Korchak, A. Sakharov, i.e. people who have changed the well-deserved glory of professionals to obscure service to universal values. In the personal biographies of most people there are many examples of non-compliance with normative development, examples of stopping, regression, reaching the level of everyday functioning. "Each period of life has its own meaning, its own task. Finding them and yourself in them is one of the most important tasks of adapting to life," wrote E. Stern (2; 178). The developmental goals of development in old age can be summarized as follows:

adaptation to age-related changes - bodily, psychophysiological;

adequate perception of old age (opposition to negative stereotypes);

reasonable allocation of time and purposeful use of the remaining years of life;

role reorientation, rejection of old and search for new role positions;

opposition to affective impoverishment associated with the loss of loved ones and the isolation of children; maintaining emotional flexibility, striving for affective enrichment in other forms;

the desire for mental flexibility (overcoming mental rigidity), the search for new forms of behavior;

striving for inner integrity and comprehension of the life lived (2; 181).

Soway, the elderly are a special group, which is extremely heterogeneous in terms of psychological characteristics. The solution of age-related problems of development by this group of people largely depends on the level of their socio-psychological adaptation.

1.3 Features of the socio-psychological adaptation of the elderly

The process of socio-psychological adaptation in old age depends both on personal qualities and on the social situation of development and the type of leading activity.

The central characteristic of the social situation of development in old age is associated with a change in social position, with retirement and removal from active participation in productive work. The limited and negative nature of the "cultural standards" of old age that exists in society and the uncertainty of social expectations regarding an elderly person in the family do not allow us to consider the social situation of an elderly person's life as a full-fledged situation of development. When retiring, a person is faced with the need for an important, difficult and absolutely independent choice in resolving the question: "How to be old?" The active, creative approach of the person himself to his own aging comes to the fore. The transformation of the social situation of life into a situation of development is currently the individual personal task of each elderly person (25; 103).

Preparation for retirement, considered as the development of readiness for a change in social position, is a necessary moment of mental development in old age, as a focus on schooling at the age of five or six, or as career guidance, professional self-determination in youth.

The solution of the universal problem of "living / experiencing old age", the choice of an aging strategy is not considered narrowly, as a kind of one-time action, it is a protracted, perhaps for years, process associated with overcoming several personal crises. On the threshold of old age, a person decides for himself the question: should he try to maintain old ones, as well as create new social ties, or move to life in the circle of interests of loved ones and his own problems, i.e. move on to life as a whole individual. This choice determines one or another strategy of adaptation - the preservation of oneself as a person and the preservation of oneself as an individual. In accordance with this choice and, accordingly, the adaptation strategy, the leading activity in old age can be aimed either at preserving the personality of a person (maintaining and developing his social ties), or at separating, individualizing and “surviving” him as an individual against the background of the gradual extinction of psychophysiological functions. . Both variants of aging obey the laws of adaptation, but provide a different quality of life and even its duration (12; 189).

The “closed loop” adaptation strategy manifests itself in a general decrease in interests and claims to the outside world, egocentrism, a decrease in emotional control, a desire to hide, a feeling of inferiority, irritability, which over time is replaced by indifference to others. Approximately such a model of aging is spoken of, describing "passive aging", behavior of the type of "egoistic stagnation", loss of social interest. The alternative is to maintain and develop multiple links with society. In this case, the structuring and transfer of life experience can become the leading activity in old age.

Options for age-appropriate types of socially significant activities can be the continuation of professional activities, writing memoirs, teaching and mentoring, raising grandchildren, students, social activities.

Preserving oneself as a person presupposes the possibility to work hard, to have diverse interests, to try to be needed by close people, to feel "engaged in life."

A.G. Leaders believes that a special "internal work" to accept one's life path, to rethink what has been experienced in the conditions of the impossibility of real significant changes in life and performs the function of leading activity in old age (14; 131).

Among a number of factors that determine the social and psychological status of an elderly person, the degree of his adaptation, an important place is occupied by the factor of physical health, physical activity, the value of which is the higher, the older the age.

Physical disadvantage is an important cause of dissatisfaction with life in old age. Frequent consequences of this are the impoverishment of feelings, hardening, a progressive loss of interest in the environment, a change in relationships with loved ones, a decrease in all types of self-esteem. However, the attitude towards one's own aging is an active element of mental life in old age. Moments of awareness of the fact of physical and mental age-related changes, recognition of the naturalness of sensations of physical ill health constitute new level self-awareness. Tolerance or intolerance of an elderly person to the limitation of physical strength and capabilities, to physical weakness with painful sensations reflect their attitude towards their own aging.

The strategy of active coping with difficulties reveals a conscious attitude to age-related changes that continue to emerge over the years. This new position is more dependent on the person himself. For example, it can be an ironic look at oneself - an old man, a playful agreement with the loss of former physical capabilities, with painful sensations. L. Seneca in his "Moral Letters to Lucilius" (letter XXX) writes about his contemporary historian, a follower of Epicurus - A. Basse: "He is exhausted in the fight against old age, she oppresses him too much for him to rise. But our Basho is cheerful in spirit This is what philosophy gives: gaiety, despite the approach of death, courage and joy, despite the state of the body, strength, despite impotence.A good helmsman sails even with tattered sails, and even when the tackle is torn off, he will adapt what is left and sails further "(Quoted in: 11; 152).

Good physical health, the moderate nature of general age-related changes, longevity, maintaining an active lifestyle, high social status, having a spouse and children, material wealth are not a guarantee and guarantee of understanding old age as a favorable period of life. And in the presence of these signs, each individually and taken together, an elderly person may consider himself defective and completely not accept his aging. N.F. Shakhmatov, in his analysis of aging, sought to show the inseparable connection between the biological and psychological aspects of aging. He insisted that favorable forms of mental aging are characterized by a harmonious decrease in physical and mental functions (with the qualitative preservation of their functioning), which is accompanied by agreement with oneself, with the natural course of events, including the inevitability of the end of one's own life. Worthy of attention is Shakhmatov's description of the motivational-need sphere and life position of older people who considered their aging to be successful, successful, favorable and even happy:

a clear orientation of these elderly people to the present. These people do not reveal any projection on the past, but also there are no stable plans for an active life for the future. Today's senile existence is accepted without any reservations and without plans to change for the better;

a tendency to revise past active goals, rules, and beliefs that first appeared at a later age. Such mental work leads to the development of a new, contemplative, calm and self-sufficient life position. The surrounding life, the current state of health, physical ailments, everyday life are perceived tolerantly, as they are;

the emergence of new interests, previously uncharacteristic this person. Among them, the appeal to nature, the inclination to versification, the desire to disinterestedly be useful to others, especially the sick and weak, are especially prominent, sometimes love for animals appears for the first time;

sustainable mental work, reflecting the desire to rethink one's past life experience, past activities from the position of an old person. Past successes in the accumulation of knowledge, honorary positions and titles lose their former attractiveness and seem of little importance. The strength and sincerity of family and kinship relationships seem unimportant. Material values ​​acquired during life are also insignificant. However, the whole system of today's attitudes of these elderly people favorably highlights the present period of their life. Examples positive attitude to life in old age can be seen in a number of self-descriptions of aging by famous and prominent personalities (Cicero, I.P. Pavlov, K.I. Chukovsky, etc.). K.I. Chukovsky wrote in his diary: "I never knew that it was so joyful to be an old man, that not a day - my thoughts are kinder and brighter" (11; 163).

Several longitudinal studies show that important aspects of personality remain unchanged during the transition from middle to late adulthood. Constancy refers, for example, to such personality characteristics as the level of neuroticism (anxiety, depression, impulsivity), the ratio of extraversion and introversion, the level of openness to experience. According to a number of authors, a new life position is rarely developed in old age. Rather, it is a sharpening and modification of an existing life position under the influence of new circumstances. The personality of the old man still remains itself. In an empirical study by American psychologists, retired or part-time men were examined. Five main types of personality traits were identified that determine one or another variant of socio-psychological adaptation or maladjustment (12; 185 - 186). 1. Constructive type - characterized by internal balance, positive emotional mood self-criticism and tolerance for others. An optimistic attitude to life persists after the end of professional activity. The self-esteem of this group of elderly and old people is quite high, they make plans for the future, rely on the help of others.

2. Dependent type - also socially acceptable and well adapted. It is expressed in subordination to a spouse or child, in the absence of high life and professional claims. Emotional balance is maintained through inclusion in the family environment and the hope for outside help.

3. Protective type - characterized by exaggerated emotional restraint, some straightforwardness in actions and habits, the desire for "self-sufficiency", reluctant acceptance of help from other people. The motto of people with a defensive attitude towards the coming old age is activity even "through force". It is regarded as a neurotic type.

4. Aggressive accusatory type. People with this set of traits tend to "shift" the blame and responsibility for their own failures onto other people, are explosive and suspicious. They do not accept their old age, they drive away the thought of retirement, they think with despair about the progressive loss of strength and death, they are hostile to young people, to the whole "new, alien world." Their idea of ​​themselves and the world was qualified as inadequate.

5. Self-accusatory type - passivity, resignation in accepting difficulties, a tendency to depression and fatalism, lack of initiative are detected. A feeling of loneliness, abandonment, a pessimistic assessment of life in general, when death is perceived as deliverance from an unhappy existence.

I.S. Kon uses the orientation of activity as a criterion for distinguishing socio-psychological types of old age. Positive, psychologically prosperous types of old age (4; 93):

1) continuation after retirement of social life, active and creative attitude;

2) arrangement of one's own life - material well-being, hobbies, entertainment, self-education; good social and psychological fitness;

3) the application of forces in the family, for the benefit of its other members; more often it is women. There is no blues and boredom, but life satisfaction is lower than in the first two groups;

4) the meaning of life is associated with the promotion of health; more typical for men. This type of organization of life activity gives a certain moral satisfaction, but is sometimes accompanied by increased anxiety, suspiciousness in relation to health.

Negative types of development:

1) aggressive grunts,

2) disappointed in themselves and in their own lives, lonely and sad losers, deeply unhappy.

Analyzing the specifics of emotional experiences in old age, M.V. Ermolaeva comes to the conclusion that the phenomenon of assessing the quality and meaning of life at this age stage is complex and insufficiently studied (4; 99). It is possible that the factors that determine satisfaction with life in old age, successful social and psychological adaptation, are different from the factors that cause dissatisfaction with it. The emotional experience of satisfaction with life in old age is associated with the assessment by older people of the meaning of their lives for others, with the presence of a life goal and a temporal perspective that connects their present, past and future. Dissatisfaction with life as a total experience is associated with an assessment of the external and internal conditions of life and consists of concern about one's deteriorating health, appearance, lack of material resources, the current lack of physical and moral support, and actual isolation. Along with life wisdom, the central psychological new formation of old age is the ability to live in the deeper layers of the soul, but this is only a possibility, the realization of which depends on the person.

Soway, various kinds of changes in a person as an individual that occur in old age are aimed at actualizing the potential, reserve capabilities accumulated in the body during the period of growth and maturity.

Further changes during the period of gerontogenesis, the success of socio-psychological adaptation depend both on the social situation in which the elderly person is located, and on the degree of maturity of a particular person as a person and subject of activity. There are numerous data on the preservation of high viability and working capacity of a person not only in the elderly, but also in old age. A large positive role in this is played by many factors: the level of education, occupation, maturity of the individual, etc. Of particular importance is creative activity personality as a factor opposing the involution of man as a whole.

conclusions:

1. Socio-psychic adaptation - such a state of the relationship between the individual and the group, when the individual, without prolonged external and internal conflicts, productively performs his leading activity, satisfies his basic sociogenic needs, fully meets the role expectations that the reference group makes of him, experiencing a state of self-affirmation and free expression of their creative abilities. Adaptation is that socio-psychological process that, with a favorable course, leads a person to a state of adaptation.

2. Elderly people are a special group that is extremely heterogeneous in terms of psychological characteristics. The solution of age-related problems of development by this group of people largely depends on the level of their socio-psychological adaptation.

3. The success of socio-psychological adaptation in old age depends both on the social situation in which the elderly person is located, and on the degree of maturity of a particular person as a person and subject of activity. There are numerous data on the preservation of high viability and working capacity of a person not only in the elderly, but also in old age. A large positive role in this is played by many factors: the level of education, occupation, maturity of the individual, etc.

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The concept of adaptation. Goals of social adaptation of the elderly

By adaptation it is customary to understand the dynamic state of the system, a certain process of adaptation to the conditions of the external environment, the relationship with the properties of a living organism that ensure the stability of this organism in a changing environment.

The goals of social adaptation of the elderly, as well as the disabled are:

• Preservation and maximum extension of the social activity of this group of people;
• Development of personal potential;
• Creation of conditions for the opportunity to spend your free time pleasantly and profitably;
• Contribute to the awakening of new interests;
• To facilitate the establishment of new friendly contacts;
• Organization of various cultural and educational events in order to meet the needs in the field of entertainment;
• Meeting the needs in the field of communications;
• Providing conditions for enhancing the personal activity of the disabled and the elderly;
• Carrying out activities aimed at supporting and increasing their vitality.

The main thing in the definition of the concept of social adaptation is certainly the essence of the adaptation process, that is, we are talking about the problem of human survival, which can be achieved through harmonious adaptation to those changed environmental conditions that surround the subject at a given time.

Definition 1

Social adaptation is the active development by a person or a group of people of a new, unknown social environment.

The concept of social adaptation is a complex phenomenon that includes both psychological aspect, as well as social.

Adaptation of the elderly in Internet homes

There are several stages of adaptation:

• Initial. It implies acquaintance and recognition of the requirements of the environment or group;
• Tolerance. The stage implies the state of a person when he does not want, but understands what is needed;
• Accommodation. It implies the adoption of rules of conduct in a given social environment or group;
• Assimilation. The final stage of adaptation, implying the full acceptance of the rules that are required in a new environment or group.

Under social adaptation is also understood the goal of the psychological process, leading, with a favorable course, a person in a state of complete social adaptability.

To achieve this result, it is necessary to bring behavior into a state of adaptiveness, the characteristic features of which are successful decision-making, the manifestation of initiative, as well as a clear definition of one's own future. Or it is necessary to actively adapt a person to the conditions of the social environment, which is a particularly urgent problem of social adaptation of the elderly and the disabled.

Of particular importance is the social adaptation of citizens who, by age, are in boarding schools.

Social adaptation consists in a number of circumstances, namely: in the limited ability of special groups of citizens to move, in some cases, in a serious state of health, as well as in old age.

Changes in the psyche of elderly citizens include impaired memory for those events that have occurred recently, taking into account the preservation of the reproduction of old events, as well as attention disorders, that is, lack of concentration, distractibility, and also violations are manifested in a slowdown in the pace of thought processes, a significant violation emotional sphere, a decrease in the ability to conduct a chronology of events and navigate in space, from the point of view of motor skills, there is also a violation of tempo, smoothness, and coordination.

Social adaptation implies such methods as: adaptation, regulation, harmonization, as well as the interaction of the individual with the environment.

Going through social adaptation, a person acts as an active subject, who adapts to the environment in accordance with his needs and requirements, aspirations and interests, and, at the same time, actively determines himself.

One of the main places in the activities of specialists is occupied by the socio-psychological adaptation of elderly people who live in stationary institutions, it was revealed that the first six months of living in an inpatient department are the most difficult for an elderly person.

Signs of an unsatisfactory passage of the adaptation period are a deterioration in mood, feelings of hopelessness, indifference and longing. Emotional instability includes such signs as irritability, irascibility, tears, and so on.

Types of social adaptation

There are several types of adaptation:

• construct type. Implies optimally adapted people who can adapt to any conditions. Needs and a clear life position are dominant here.
• Protective type. It is characterized by the fact that the needs to protect oneself are in the foreground. In general, these are adequately adapting subjects that adapt at the expense of themselves and can protect themselves on their own.
• Actively aggressive type. It is characterized by aggressiveness and inadequate perception of reality. The difficulties that occur are blamed on external circumstances, according to the principle, I am not to blame.
• Passive type of adaptation. Manifested by self-pity, states of depression, general lack of initiative.

After the period of quarantine observation, work on social rehabilitation is continued, taking into account the personal and age characteristics, as well as the state of health of the observed at this stage. big role occupies socio-pedagogical education. the efforts of the psychologist and, in general, of all the service personnel, a favorable psychological climate is maintained among the residents.

Consider the main criteria for the effectiveness of social work.

Performance criteria. A feature is the presence of a high interest of the elderly with disabilities themselves in active life, socially adaptive work.

Criteria of optimality. It manifests itself in maximum efficiency at the lowest physical cost on the part of the client.

Criteria of motivation. Manifested in the creation of conditions for increasing the activity of customers.

Manageability criteria. Manifested in the predisposition of clients to various types social adaptive work.

Systematic criteria. It manifests itself in the systematic use of each of the areas of social adaptive work.