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- Stickley, Andrew
(author)
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On Interpersonal Violence in Russia in the Present and the Past : A Sociological Study
- 2006
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- For much of the twentieth century researchers in the West knew little about the phenomenon of interpersonal violence in Russia as the Soviet authorities kept the vital and criminal justice statistics of violence secret. It was not until the Soviet Union was in its final death throes that these statistics were officially released for the first time in over fifty years. They showed that at least in terms of its level of lethal violence, Russia was one of the most violent countries in the industrialized world. Since that time, the sharp rise in violent mortality that has occurred in post-Soviet Russia during the transition period has attracted the attention of many researchers in both the East and West. The studies that have resulted have done much to enhance our understanding of violence in contemporary Russia. However, there are still many questions to be answered. For example, was Russia a violent country in much earlier periods of its history and are there particular social and/or cultural processes that have been important in explaining the occurrence of violence in Russia across time?To address these and other questions I have made use of the vital statistics data of homicide from tsarist and Soviet Russia, as well as individual-level survey data on violence from the contemporary period. By doing this it has been possible to show that there was a high level of lethal interpersonal violence in Russia throughout those periods of the twentieth century for which data exist and that Soviet Russia became comparatively more violent between the end of the tsarist and Soviet periods. Moreover, alcohol seems to have played an extremely important role in the occurrence of both lethal and non-lethal violence across time. In relation to this, I have focused on the particular drinking culture in Russia as a possible explanatory mechanism for the occurrence of violence, in conjunction with the Russian state’s dependence on the taxable revenue alcohol generated – which in both tsarist and Soviet Russia prevented any prolonged attempts to act against the deleterious effects of alcohol. The high level of violence in Russian society also highlights the problems that the Russian authorities had when trying to impose order on a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. This might explain why even by the end of the Soviet period, rates of lethal violence were highest in those places (i.e. Siberia and rural Russia more generally) where the state’s presence is likely to have been at its weakest.The consequences of interpersonal violence have become a serious public health issue in contemporary Russia. The lesson that ‘might makes right’ seems to be learnt at an early age by some men who may subsequently model their behaviour on what they have witnessed in their childhood homes, with alcohol acting to facilitate the occurrence of violence in some instances. Any attempt to address the issue of violence in Russia must therefore focus on the specifics of the Russian drinking culture, as it is likely that if this can be changed, a reduction in levels of serious interpersonal injury can also be achieved. However, it may be the case, that it is not only changes in the drinking culture which are necessary, but also perhaps, the way in which violence is seen in Russian society traditionally, both by the state and its citizens – as a means of resolving both relatively minor and more intractable problems.
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| 2. |
- Stickley, Andrew, et al.
(author)
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The Social and Economic Determinants of Smoking in Moscow, Russia
- 2009
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : SAGE Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 37:6, s. 632-639
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Despite a high prevalence of smoking for decades, recent research has documented an increase in the rates of both male and female smoking in post-Soviet Russia. As yet, however, little research has taken place on smoking at the subnational level. The current study addresses this deficit by examining smoking in Moscow — the city that has been at the forefront of the entry into the Russian market of transnational tobacco corporations (TTCs) in the transition period. Methods: Data were obtained from the Moscow Health Survey 2004 — a stratified random sample of 1190 people representative of Moscow’s larger population. Information was obtained about subjects’ smoking habits and age of smoking initiation. Results: The prevalence of smoking was high among both men (55.5%) and women (26.9%), with significantly higher rates in the younger age groups. There was also a high prevalence of smoking initiation before age 15 years, especially in the youngest women (18—30 years). Logistic regression analysis showed that respondents’ age, binge drinking, locus of control and economic situation were important determinants of smoking. Conclusions: Although lifestyle factors seem to underpin the generally high levels of smoking, other things, such as its high prevalence in the younger generations and the factors associated with smoking (locus of control), nevertheless suggest that the TTCs may have played an important role in the spread of smoking in transitional Russia’s changing social environment.
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| 3. |
- Stickley, Andrew, et al.
(author)
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Institutional Trust in Contemporary Moscow
- 2009
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In: Europe-Asia Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0966-8136 .- 1465-3427. ; 61:5, s. 779-796
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Levels of institutional trust in Russia are amongst the lowest in the world. As yet, however, little research has focused on this phenomenon at the sub-national level. The current study examines trust in social and political institutions among citizens in Moscow in 2004. Results showed that levels of institutional trust are extremely low and that there were only three institutions (the church, president and hospitals) that were more trusted than distrusted. Moreover, although the effects of some demographic and other independent variables on trust stretched across institutions, several variables had a unique impact in terms of trust in the president.
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| 4. |
- Mäkinen, Ilkka Henrik, et al.
(author)
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Suicide Mortality and Agricultural Rationalization in Post-War Europe
- 2006
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In: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0933-7954 .- 1433-9285. ; 41:6, s. 429-434
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background The relationship between agricultural rationalization and suicide mortality has been little researched. On the basis of the hypothesis that agricultural rationalization leads to more suicide, this study investigated whether a general relationship could be found between structural change in agriculture and suicide mortality in post-war Europe. Method Due to the expected small size of the effect, the data were deliberately collected so as to maximize the variation in the independent variable. Annual national-level data on suicide mortality, the percentage of the work force in agricultural employment, and the unemployment level were collected from those countries and 10-year periods where the structural changes (reductions in employment) in agriculture between 1950 and 1995 had been most and least pronounced. In order to avoid confounders, the annual changes in the variables’ values were correlated with each other, adding a control for the level of unemployment, and allowing for lagged effects. Results The annual changes in the levels of agricultural employment and those of suicide mortality did not covary at all. Controlling for unemployment levels did not change this, nor could any lagged effects be found. Conclusions At the most general level, no causal relation between agricultural rationalization and suicide mortality was detected. This lack of a universal relation does not, however, preclude the possibility of the relationship existing given certain socio-historical circumstances.
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| 6. |
- Stickley, Andrew, et al.
(author)
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Homicide in post-Soviet Belarus : urban-rural trends
- 2009
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In: European Journal of Public Health. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1101-1262 .- 1464-360X. ; 19:1, s. 117-120
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is probable that a combination of factors such as high levels of poverty, the effects of alcohol consumption, as well as the poor provision of emergency medical services underlie both the high levels of lethal violence and the growing rural-urban divergence in homicide rates in contemporary Belarus. Urgent action is now needed to address the deteriorating social and economic conditions underpinning violence, especially in rural regions.
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| 7. |
- Stickley, Andrew, et al.
(author)
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Homicide in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union
- 2005
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In: British Journal of Criminology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0007-0955 .- 1464-3529. ; 45:5, s. 647-670
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- With the collapse of Communism, statistics relating to previously ‘taboo’ phenomena such as homicide became available in the Soviet Union for the first time in over 50 years. The current study builds on several recent studies of homicide in Russia by extending both its time-frame and geographical coverage. Taking data from the end of the tsarist (1910) and Communist (1989) periods, the study maps the changes that occurred in the geographical distribution of homicide rates in ‘European Russia’ across the Soviet years. While non-Russian areas tended to remain or become less violent, Russia became more violent. These differences may have had a cultural component underlying them which was further exacerbated by the role of the state in the Soviet period.
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| 10. |
- Razvodovsky, Y, et al.
(author)
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Suicide in urban and rural regions of Belarus, 1990-2005
- 2009
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In: Public Health. - : Elsevier BV. - 0033-3506 .- 1476-5616. ; 123:1, s. 27-31
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: To examine the occurrence of suicide in urban and rural regions of Belarus in the post-Soviet Period. Study design: Unlinked cross-sectional study using data drawn from four time points. Methods: Age- and gender-specific suicide data for urban and rural regions of Belarus were obtained from the Belarus Ministry of Statistics for the years 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005. The data were recalculated into seven age categories and then directly standardized. Poisson regression models were used to assess changes ill urban-rural suicide rate ratios across the four time points. Results: Between 1990 and 2000, the suicide rate rose sharply in Belarus. It started to reduce after 2000, but in 2005 it was still much higher than its initial level. The same was true for urban and rural suicide rates and for male Suicide rates in all regions combined. However, after 1995, there was a divergence between gender-specific rates in urban and rural areas. A small reduction in urban suicide rates for both genders contrasted with a sharp increase in suicide rates among trien and women in rural areas. By 2005, although suicide rates had fallen from their 2000 level for both genders in urban and rural locations, the decrease was much smaller in rural areas. These changes resulted in a deteriorating rural-urban suicide ratio across the period 1990-2005, with suicide rates among nearly every rural male age group remaining extreme after 1995. Although it is probable that a deteriorating social and economic situation has underpinned increasing suicide rates in all regions, there may be factors that are specific to rural locations, such as increasing social isolation and poor provision of medical services, that account for the extreme suicide rates now being recorded there. Conclusion: By 2005, Belarus had one of the highest suicide rates in the world. This now requires urgent intervention by the necessary authorities to ameliorate this situation in urban and, especially, rural locations.
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