On September 17, 2026, the “Co-Author Reading” Readers’ Club, held as part of the MSUPE “Science in Publications” series, hosted the webinar “Assessment of Risks of Socially Dangerous and Self-Destructive Behavior in General Education Institutions”. The meeting was held with the support of Boiling Point.
The speakers were Oksana D. Gurina, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Lecturer at the Department of Legal Psychology and Law, Faculty of Legal and Forensic Psychology, MSUPE; Ekaterina A. Kupriyanova, Senior Lecturer at the same department; and Andrey S. Radchikov, Research Assistant at the PsyDATA Research and Practice Center for Comprehensive Support of Psychological Research, MSUPE.
The participants were presented with the results of a large-scale two-year study devoted to risk assessment and evaluation of the effectiveness of technologies for preventing antisocial behavior among minors. The study was conducted in 2024–2025 at 15 special closed-type educational institutions and was carried out by specialists from the Department of Legal Psychology and Law at MSUPE. The researchers examined the potential of the comprehensive “Ecosystem of Childhood” prevention and intervention program. The program included the experimental introduction of skills-based technologies, restorative practices, solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) techniques, and competent mentoring into psychological and educational work with adolescents at special closed-type educational institutions, including individual preventive work following assessment by a psychological, medical, and educational commission. It also included continuing professional education for institutional specialists. Oksana Gurina emphasized that the technologies were implemented by specialists from the institutions themselves.
To assess changes, the researchers developed a comprehensive diagnostic model based on the concept of an adolescent’s life position. It comprised six components: cognitive, axiological, existential, emotional, behavioral, and acmeological, with the latter related to self-regulation and development. The battery of diagnostic methods made it possible to assess subjective experiences of rejection, unmet needs, meaning-in-life orientations, self-attitude, ways of coping with stress, hardiness, susceptibility to extremist attitudes, and characteristics of behavioral self-regulation.
The study included four assessment waves. The first was conducted before the preventive technologies were introduced, while the subsequent assessments made it possible to track changes over time. At each stage, cluster analysis identified three stable groups of adolescents. The first group comprised adolescents with a prosocial life position. They demonstrated greater hardiness and more positive self-attitudes, were more aware of the consequences of their behavior, and were more willing to adhere to socially acceptable norms. The second group comprised adolescents with a situational life position. Their attitudes were unstable, and their behavior largely depended on circumstances and their social environment. The speakers identified these adolescents as a particularly important target group for preventive work: timely support can help them choose a prosocial strategy. The third group comprised adolescents with an antisocial life position, characterized by low hardiness, social pessimism, disregard for rules and laws, and a tendency to use destructive coping strategies.
The positive effects of the preventive technologies became apparent within just a few months: the proportion of adolescents with a prosocial life position increased across the institutions, while the proportion of those with antisocial attitudes decreased. The most pronounced changes were observed after the institutional specialists had received training. At the same time, different psychological characteristics changed at different rates. Experiences of rejection and unmet needs for acceptance and control can be addressed relatively quickly through consistent supportive work. Changes in meaning-in-life orientations, stress-coping strategies, and persistent destructive attitudes require considerably more time.
The speakers presented publications describing the technologies used in the “Ecosystem of Childhood” program: A Diagnostic Battery for Destructive, Auto-Aggressive, Extremist, and Antisocial Behavior in Minors and the methodological guidelines Modern Technologies and Models for the Prevention of Deviant Behavior with Proven Effectiveness.
Around 200 specialists from 35 regions of Russia, as well as from Minsk, Bishkek, and Dubossary, registered for the meeting. The speakers received numerous questions. In particular, participants discussed the application of the program in schools, specific aspects of group and individual work, motivating adolescents to undergo assessment, and opportunities for specialists to receive training through a dedicated continuing education program.
Video recording of the webinar
2026 Calendar of Webinars and Meetings of the “Science in Publications” Project