UDC 316.4
DOI 10.20339/AM.06-26.093
Olga V. Zueva, Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Docent, Head of the Department of Humanities and Social and Economic Disciplines at the Faculty of Investigative Training, Sukharev Moscow Academy of the Investigative Committee, Moscow, Russia, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1727-7279, e-mail: olgazueva-l@yandex.ru
The article analyzes the historical and socio-cultural determinants of the crisis of trust in the police in modern Russia, with an emphasis on the youth environment as the most receptive to cultural narratives. Based on an interdisciplinary approach integrating the methodology of historical sociology and discourse analysis, the hypothesis is explored that the persistently low level of trust is historically determined by three interrelated factors: the systemic subordination of the police to the interests of state power to the detriment of the protection of citizens’ rights.; the rooting in the mass consciousness of three key negative archetypes of a law enforcement officer (bribe taker, bureaucrat, punisher) through classical literature; and their systematic reproduction through the modern school literary canon. The study revealed a cyclical historical model in which the institution of law and order consistently reproduces the function of protecting the state from society. Qualitative content analysis of literary texts included in the school curriculum has confirmed the role of literature as a key agent in constructing and broadcasting negative social memory. Based on the conclusions, strategic recommendations have been formulated to overcome the crisis, including the reform of educational discourse, the development of a civic education policy of openness on the part of the police, as well as the formation of a positive media image through the creation of documentary and artistic projects demonstrating the police serving the people.
Keywords: trust in the police, social memory, youth, archetypes, literature, education
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