The Psychological Aspect of the Formation of Professionalism in the
Employees of the Operational Service
Yuri Evgenievich Suslov
1,2 a
and Alexander Fedorovich Fedorov
1,3 b
1
Research Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, Moscow, Russian Federation
2
RSSU, Moscow, Russian Federation
3
Vladimir State University, Vladimir, Russian Federation
Keywords: Operational-search activity, operational officer, correctional institution, productivity, professionalism, penal
system.
Abstract: Introduction: in the work, the main attention is focused on the problem of the formation and development of
professionalism among employees carrying out operational-search activities. The authors analyze the
available scientific approaches and ideas about professionalism in operational investigative work, taking into
account its specifics. The article identifies the factors that promote or hinder the formation of operational
employees as professionals. Purpose: to identify the psychological factors of optimization of the process of
development and self-development of professionalism among employees carrying out operational-search
activities. Methods: general scientific research methods were used (analysis, synthesis, comparison,
generalization). The basis of the work was formed by the data of the survey, in which the employees of the
operational services of correctional institutions of various territorial bodies of the Federal Penitentiary Service
of Russia took part. Results: the study made it possible to identify a number of factors that negatively affect
the productivity of operational employees (psychological; organizational; professional; social). The analysis
of the results showed that the satisfaction index is high among operational employees with a high level of
productivity in their professional activities. Conclusions: the productivity of the activities of the employees
carrying out operational-search activities will contribute to the achievement of a high professional level in
their work. The results of the study will improve the level of professional training of employees of correctional
institutions, carrying out operational-search activities. The practical significance of this study lies in the fact
that the results obtained can be used to improve the quality of training of operative correctional officers. Also,
the data obtained can be used in the work of specialists of the penitentiary orientation, heads of penitentiary
institutions in methodological developments.
1 INTRODUCTION
The problem of studying the formation and
development of professionalism has always been in
the scientific and practical focus of attention, which
is due to the high importance of the work tasks being
solved. In the conditions of the modern world, when
changes in the surrounding space occur very
intensively, it becomes quite difficult to achieve and
maintain a professional level of performance of their
official duties. In addition, in addition to the
conditionally "external" changes, the achievement of
a
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9824-748X
b
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2261-6511
professionalism in the activities of operational
employees is hampered by its specifics.
The complexity and ambiguity of the nature of
this type of professional activity is reflected in the
expressed interest in it on the part of many scientific
disciplines, primarily, of course, legal. At the same
time, the psychological component is of no less
importance in operational activities. The validity of
this statement is confirmed by the ideas of specialists
who assert already at the beginning of the twentieth
century about the need for operational employees to
use psychological methods in their professional
Suslov, Y. and Fedorov, A.
The Psychological Aspect of the Formation of Professionalism in the Employees of the Operational Service.
DOI: 10.5220/0010633400003152
In Proceedings of the VII International Scientific-Practical Conference “Criminal Law and Operative Search Activities: Problems of Legislation, Science and Practice” (CLOSA 2021), pages
189-194
ISBN: 978-989-758-532-6; ISSN: 2184-9854
Copyright
c
2021 by SCITEPRESS Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
189
activities (Gugunsky A.N., 2008). This statement is
still valid today.
In this work, we would like to refer to the specifics
of professional activity and the peculiarities of the
formation and achievement of professionalism
among operational employees of correctional
institutions of the penal system of the Russian
Federation (hereinafter - UIS). The operational-
search activities carried out in the penal system are
aimed at ensuring the safety of convicts, staff of the
correctional institution and other persons. This is
expressed in the prevention and suppression of
criminal intentions and actions, as well as in the
identification and prosecution of persons who have
committed criminal acts in places of deprivation of
liberty (Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
Those. operational-search activity in the penal system
is a part of the general state system of law
enforcement, which also affects the effectiveness of
the influence of this single mechanism (Skuratov
Yu.I., 2019). Achievement of these goals is currently
difficult due to the changing conditions of the
surrounding reality, in particular, due to technical
progress. In addition to improving living conditions,
technical innovations, unfortunately, are actively
used to carry out illegal actions. So, for example, for
UIS, an urgent problem is the active use of
quadrocopters and drones for the transfer of
prohibited items (cell phones, SIM cards, chargers,
etc.) (Antipov A.N., 2018). You should also take into
account the objective need for the implementation of
digitalization processes in the UIS (Kaluzhina M.A.,
Makarenko T.D., Spasennikova M.G., Vedernikova
T.I., 2019). In order to adequately respond to modern
criminal challenges, employees need to achieve and
maintain an appropriate professional level, to become
professionals. But before proceeding to consider the
problem of professionalism of operational
employees, one should consider this phenomenon in
general terms, study the existing scientific ideas about
it.
Recently, many works have been completed that
have been devoted to the study of professionalism.
The problem of the formation of professionalism in
activity has found its reflection in a number of studies
of Russian psychologists (V.A. Bodrov, A.N. Rean,
E.A. Klimov, V.G. Zazykin, N.V. Kuzmina, A.A.
Derkach, A.K. Markova, V.D.Shadrikov). As it
becomes clear from the available works, in the
scientific space, discussions about what should be
understood by professionalism, how to objectively
assess the presence or absence of a specialist's
achievement of a similar level, as well as what
qualities a person must have in order to achieve
professionalism in the chosen activity, are still
underway. since. Various studies allow us to conclude
that, firstly, a person has general abilities that allow
him to be productive and successful in professional
activity, and secondly, each professional activity has
its own specific abilities and qualities, the presence
and development of which will allow a person to
achieve a level of professionalism in the chosen field
(Volkova T.I., 2019; Petrova E.A., Sokolovskaya
I.E., Akimova N.N., Romanova A.V., 2020).
Creativity is noted as one of the qualities of a
personality that contributes to the formation of a
professional (Ivanchenko G.V., 2005).
Also, many researchers note that professionalism
is not limited exclusively to a set of special
knowledge, skills and abilities. And that
professionalism is, first of all, a complex internal
system that includes a formed professional
consciousness, which in turn also consists of a
number of components. For example, professional
consciousness includes the knowledge of a
professional specialist about the goals, means, plans
of professional activity, parameters and norms for
assessing its results as a whole. Researchers point to
the conditionality of professional consciousness, and,
consequently, of the profession itself, by its content
(Tsvyk V.A., 2009).
Separately, I would like to draw attention to the
opinions of some authors dealing with the problems
of professionalism, claim that it lies at the basis of
civilizational development, i.e. they attach
fundamental importance to professionalism on a
human scale. The development of the state, the
effectiveness of the functioning of its main structures
directly depends on the level of professional
competence of their employees (Lebedev N.Yu.,
Lebedeva Yu.V., 2019). They also believe that a
professional person is an effective, self-organizing
system (Belov V., 2002). He is able to independently
set himself a task, the solution of which is necessary
in the context of the development of all professional
activities. For him, the actions performed are
inseparable from the result obtained, and the result
obtained is marked by an understanding of the social
importance of the work performed (Ivanova N.L.,
Petko B.B., 2020).
At the same time, it should be understood that the
development of professionalism is in a complex
ambiguous relationship with the general vector of the
orientation of the individual, and, in addition to
achieving high results in professional activity, the
reverse side of this process is the development of
various destructive consequences for the individual
(Sadovnikova N.O., Mirzaakhmedov A.M., 2019).
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Even Pitirim Sorokin noted the presence in
professional development not only of development
itself, but also a component that deforms the
personality. He noted the presence of professional
deformation in almost all types of activity, especially
if they are associated with increased risk,
responsibility, psycho-emotional overload (Temnova
L.V., Fayman N.S., 2019; Sorokin Π.Α., 1994).
A.K. Markov, F.S. Ismagilova, Yu.P.
Povarenkov, L.M. Mitina, A.R. Fonarev, E.A.
Klimov, E.F. Zeer note that the psychological
phenomenon of "professionalism" can be revealed in
the analysis of professional activity. The leading
factor in its achievement lies in the creative
orientation of the professional activity of the
operational officer of the penal system. Increasing the
professionalism of operational staff requires the use
of innovative technologies, new forms and types of
approaches to working with convicts, which can
provide an opportunity for each operational officer to
achieve professional success. The development of
self-realization and successful adaptation depend on
the quality of the professional activity of the
operational officer, the degree of his training, which
should be carried out taking into account the
requirements of the present. The psychological
direction of studying the formation of a professional
can make it possible to create new algorithms, models
and technologies for personality development
(Fedorov A.F., Suslov Yu.E., 2017).
In general, we can note the idea, common for most
authors, about the dependence of the essential content
of professionalism on the actual conditions of the
surrounding reality, which, in turn, necessitates
scientific theoretical and practical research, which
makes it possible to determine not only the semantic
content of the concept of "professionalism" at a
particular time stage, but and understand the vector of
development of ideas about it.
2 MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was based on the use of general scientific
methods (analysis, synthesis, comparison,
generalization), the results of a theoretical analysis of
scientific literature on the research problem.
Additionally, the results of an empirical study
carried out in the period from 2016 to 2017 were
analyzed. The study involved employees of the
operational service of correctional institutions of the
Voronezh, Vladimir and Ivanovo regions.
The total number of employees who took part in
the survey was 60 people.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A survey of the personal position of employees
regarding productive professional activity showed
that the majority of respondents (40%) believe that
mutual understanding is necessary in communication
and an element of trust should be present. 8% showed
that in order to develop professionalism, an employee
needs to strive for self-education, that is, an employee
must independently improve his professional level.
The success of professional activity depends on the
ability to interact with the relatives of the convicts and
with those around them.
A survey of operational staff in order to identify
the difficulties of their official activities made it
possible to identify a number of factors that
negatively affect their productivity. They referred to
them: psychological (attitudes of thinking);
organizational (a large amount of functional work,
poor communication with other services);
professional (lack of experience, knowledge, skills);
social (negative impact on the maintenance and
creation of significant social ties). Also, according to
the respondents, the factors influencing the
productivity of professional activity are influenced by
the motives for choosing a profession and
professional orientation. The attitude towards the
chosen profession has a great influence on their
professional development. The study included the
determination of the awareness of the choice of
profession, the significance of negative and positive
factors. The analysis of the results showed that the
satisfaction index is high among operational
employees with a high level of productivity in their
professional activities. In the group of subjects with a
low level of productivity in service activity, the index
of awareness is two times less.
Based on the comparison of the results on the
basis of satisfaction, awareness and sustainability of
the choice of profession, a conclusion can be drawn.
In the group of operative workers with a high level of
productivity, awareness and satisfaction were
observed with a rather low stability of this choice.
Most of the operative employees of correctional
institutions admitted that they liked the profession,
but when asked about a job change, they answered
“yes”. The empirical data obtained confirm the thesis
made by us and indicated above about the dependence
of the achievement of professionalism and the
conditions surrounding the subject of activity. In the
realities of modern society, there is an increase in the
requirements for vocational training. The determining
factor is the ability to self-education and self-
development, to actively participate in the use of
The Psychological Aspect of the Formation of Professionalism in the Employees of the Operational Service
191
innovative technologies. A new quality of
operational-search work is possible with the
participation of the professional competencies of an
operational officer of the penal system. The
employee, with his competence and professionalism,
is a key figure in the operational-search work. Moral
self-improvement contributes to the development of
professionalism (Management Psychology: textbook,
2020). In this regard, the question of the terms of
work with personnel is becoming topical. A
competent UIS employee can talk about significant
progress towards understanding the essence of
professionalism as a psychological phenomenon. The
activities of the operational officer are characterized
by high dynamism, emotional tension, intensity,
stressfulness (Polyakova Ya.N., 2017). In
professional activity, the formation of the psyche as a
whole takes place (Psychology of Management:
textbook, 2020).
Criteria of interaction were identified as a quality
that should be used in professional activities.
Motivational is the key structural criterion.
Awareness of the goal through innovation can be seen
as the employee's desire for professionalism. The
development of innovative activity depends on the
intellectual resource. The innovative activity of
operational employees should be understood as
service professional activity, which is aimed at
finding innovations in order to improve the quality
and expand the range of approaches to organizing the
training of specialists. A number of criteria for
professionalism were identified. Motivational and
communicative criterion, which is concretized using
the following indicators: the presence of a successful
orientation, the presence of tolerance. A cognitive
criterion that has the ability to develop versatile
creative activities of the employee himself, the
presence of skills, abilities and knowledge. The
indicator of the cognitive criterion is knowledge of
their professional duties and rights. The behavioral
criterion played the role of expressing the formation
of cognitive and motivational-communicative
criteria. An indicator of the behavioral criterion is the
presence of individual experience in the activity. The
criterion of professional identity was a means of
meeting his needs. The criterion of the professional
maturity of the employee showed the ability to
correlate professional requirements with the
opportunity, that is, to have the ability to self-
regulation. A high level of self-esteem, professional
skill and communicative competence reflects self-
confidence. Communicative competences can be
divided into mental, emotional and logical-
informational. These skills are useful for employees
when interacting with others.
Creative abilities, or creativity, constitute the
basis of giftedness, according to P. Torrens theory,
while in addition to internal factors (intelligence,
creativity and motivational and personal
characteristics), most psychologists include factors of
the social environment (family climate, relationships,
cultural environment) in the giftedness model (
Monks FJ 1992; Subotnik RF, Arnold KD, 1994;
Torrance EP, 1980). Willingness to innovate should
be understood as the basis of a professional position
and professionalism. The core of his self-
development and self-development in the creative,
personal and professional plan is the semantic field.
Education as a social function of the reproduction of
human quality can be understood only in the context
of culture as a socio-cultural phenomenon (Borytko
N.M., 2001).
The managerial culture of a specialist in the field
of operational-search work in institutions is a
significant indicator of the effectiveness of official
activities. The legitimacy of the interpretation of the
content of operational-search work in institutions is
determined by the understanding of its subject, that is,
what the work is aimed at, its professional activity
(Borytko N.M., 2000). The development of a person's
professional abilities is influenced by the experience
of previous generations of professionals (Artemieva
T.I., 1977). The development of professionalism
should be considered as a process of transformation
of personal resources (professional knowledge,
individual properties and abilities in this area). In
terms of professional training of specialists at the
present stage, there is a contradiction between service
practice and new requirements. Improving
knowledge about the main directions, methods, forms
and means of operational-search work in the
institutions and bodies of the penal system has a
professional orientation. Replenishment and renewal
of knowledge, development of professionally
important qualities gives a positive result. An
effective assessment system is designed for a
comprehensive analysis (Nosyreva I.G., Balashova
N.V., 2019). The leader should always be ready to
reassess judgments (Yezhova ON, 2006). It is
necessary to proceed from the importance of taking
into account the methodological impact of
approaches (Kondratyev E.V., 2012).
The choice of techniques and methods of behavior
correction provide an opportunity and help in the
process of exposure. The essence of the concept
"form of operational-search work of employees",
which consists in the use of means of influence, has
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its own specifics. The types of operational-search
work of employees (collective conversations, various
types of information) may be different. Individual
operational search work has its own direction in an
individual approach.
The subject of the research was the psychological
factors of optimization of the process of development
and self-development in the activities of employees
carrying out operational-search activities. The
indicators for assessing the productivity of the
operational officers of the penal system were:
operational-search work and individual work with
convicts.
4 CONCLUSIONS
Professional development of employees engaged in
operational-search activities can have at least two
directions: towards self-improvement and
achievement of professionalism, or towards
regression and professional degradation. In the
situation of modern intensification of social and
technical processes, the personal professional
potential of the operative employee, which
determines the success of his professional activity, is
of decisive importance in operational-search work in
correctional institutions.
The professional potential of an operational
employee is a complex that consists of objective
professional capabilities, the ability to carry out
effective activities. In the system of professional
skills, the main place is occupied by the ability to
design plans for the future, to “build” work correctly,
taking into account the perspective (Lomov B.F.,
1984). The conducted theoretical and empirical
research made it possible to identify the factors that
influence the productivity of the operational
employee, and, consequently, determine the presence
of his professionalism.
For employees carrying out operational-search
activities with a high level of productivity, the choice
of a profession is determined by an internal need,
prestige relative to other positions in correctional
institutions. Employees carrying out operational
investigative activities with a low level of
productivity had a factor of randomness in the process
of choosing a profession.
The productivity of the development of the
professional potential of an operational employee
depends on who is communicating with
(communication with experienced and gifted
colleagues), such communication will help to
introduce into practice the results of the activities of
experienced workers.
The practical significance of this study lies in the
fact that the results obtained can be used to improve
the quality of training of operative correctional
officers. Also, the data obtained can be used in the
work of specialists of the penitentiary orientation,
heads of penitentiary institutions in methodological
developments.
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