Military intelligentsia. Extremity of the service and culture of border guards in the North Caucasus

Abstract

The author has investigated the border guards as a socioprofessional group of military intelligentsia, which is endowed with a special culture. The border guard culture is generated by professional qualities and actions of armed protection and safeguarding the State border of the Russian Federation. The author believes the features of that culture give grounds to define and explore it as the form of subculture inherent in the group. The research methodology is developed and the main content of the border guard subculture is substantiated following an analysis of the investigations in the subculture sociology, the border science and extreme situation psychology. It includes the terminal value of “life” and the terminal norm of “institutionalized violence”, the instrumental values of courage, fighting capacity, discipline, efficiency and others. It also contains the manifestation of those qualities in actions as the daily service norms. The research methodology includes 12-point scales of expert assessments of the facts extremity, professional qualities, values and standards of performance. Guard subculture is estimated at the extremity level which reaches a maximum as “extreme” and “hyperextreme “. It is a prerequisite and a factor of adequate actions of border guards, a source of professional qualities.