Kultūra ir visuomenė: socialinių tyrimų žurnalas 2019, nr. 10(2)

The World Health Association has recently made Gaming Disorder a new official behavioral addiction diagnosis, against critique of growing pathologization of everyday behaviors and discontent in gamer communities. The controversial consensus on the psychiatrists’ side raises a question about how the new diagnosis is influenced by scientists’ normative attitudes and habitual institutional methods. The aim of this article is to present the scientific discourse behind the new disorder and interpret its meaning in a broader sociopolitical context, drawing on critical psychiatry, theories of neoliberal subjectivity, and alternative notions of addiction. For this purpose, I conducted a study of 247 article abstracts on the Internet Gaming Disorder proposed in the DSM-5, employing critical thematic discourse analysis (Parker 2011) and forming code trees from the bottom up. I found most abstracts to support the validity of IGD and express confirmatory scientific attitudes. Based on the study, I claim that the main issues of the discourse are (1) strong reliance on confirmatory brain and quantitative research without theoretical grounding, for example, lack of differentiation between cause/effect and alteration/disorder binaries, (2) prescription of neoliberal norms of subjectivity, and (3) lack of attention to the social context of the disorder. This shows that scientists’ attitudes and habits are highly important for legitimizing the disorder, despite its model’s crucial theoretical weaknesses, and that more socially-aware interdisciplinary research is needed to understand the complexity of problematic gaming and come up with better ways of dealing with it than pathologization.

The language, ethnic identity and equal opportunities are important dimensions in discussions on minority rights (May 2003, 2012) and this paper focuses on how these issues are seen by informants at the schools with minority (Polish and Russian) and state (Lithuanian) language of instruction in Lithuania. The schools with Lithuanian, Polish, and Russian language of instruction are funded by state and education in national minority language is guaranteed by the Lithuanian laws. The paper focuses on how informants at the schools with different languages of instruction perceive the interrelation between school teaching language, ethnic identity and graduates’ prospects to get enrolled in the university studies. The paper is based on empirical data collected during two research projects. The first research project took place in April 2013 – June 2014 in the localities of Southeastern Lithuania, i.e. in Šalčininkai, Švenčionys, Pabradė, and Eišiškės. The second project was carried out in July 2016 – May 2018 in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, and Visaginas. The sites where the research was conducted are multi-ethnic and the schools with Lithuanian, Russian, Polish languages of instruction function there. The interviews were conducted with members of administration and teachers at these schools. At the schools with Lithuanian language of instruction the author conducted 17 interviews, with Polish language of instruction – 9, with Russian language of instruction – 17, with Russian-Polish language of instruction 1 and with Russian-Lithuanian language of instruction – 2. The data are interpreted in the framework of the theoretical perspectives offered by Rogers Brubaker (1996, 2011), Stephen May (2003, 2012), and Will Kymlicka (2000) on the state policies and minority rights, minority-majority hierarchies and relations. [...]

Alcohol consumption and alcohol related mortality rates are among the highest in Lithuania compared to other EU countries. Many epidemiological researches have been conducted in the field of alcohol related problems in Lithuania, however, this is the first study based on unique alcohol testing in the workplace database. Overall 2 626 903 alcohol workplace tests were analyzed. Routine and random alcohol at a workplace tests were conducted during the period of January 1– December 31, 2018 in different business companies in Lithuania. The results of descriptive statistical analysis show that 0.32% of all alcohol workplace tests were positive. The average blood alcohol concentration was 0.41 per mille among positive test results. Majority of positive tests (64.46%) did not exceeded 0.4 per mille – blood alcohol concentration at a workplace limit in Lithuania. The results of frequency analysis demonstrated that positive test frequency was statistically significantly higher in July (0.48%) and August (0.44%) compared to the annual average (0.32%). Frequancy analysis by weekdays results showed that positive test frequency was highest on Mondays (0.42%). Thus, positive test prevalence was higher in summer months, after weekends and national holidays. The results of our research highlighed hangover at a workplace problem related to drinking culture in Lithuania. Furthermore, routine alcohol testing system at a workplace may prevent loses of productivity and workplace accidents.

Po Antrojo pasaulinio karo Vakarų Europoje prasidėję visuomenių kultūros ir vertybių pokyčiai siejami su liberalizacija, individualizmu, hedonizmu. Tai lemia, kad vertybinė kaita visuomenėse tampa vis aktualesnė – tradicijos reikšmė mažėja, individo įsipareigojimas grupinėms vertybėms nyksta, jį pakeičia individo savirealizacija. Po karo įsivyravus taikos laikotarpiui moderniųjų valstybių kariuomenių svarba sumenko. Kariuomenes palietė organizaciniai pokyčiai ir jos perėmė civilinių organizacijų požymius. Šiuolaikinės visuomenės fone karininko tapatybė savo bruožais supanašėjo su vadybininko ar įprastinio biurokratinio tarnautojo (Nuciari 2006). Anksčiau karininko profesija buvo siejama su heroizmu, idealu, garbe ir prestižu. Karininkų korpusas buvo laikomas kariuomenės elitu, pasireiškiančiu savo lyderyste, aukštais kariuomenės etikos standartais. Šios vertybės atsispindi ir tebėra aktualios kariuomenės norminiuose dokumentuose. Tačiau karininkas yra ne tik kariuomenės atstovas, bet ir šiuolaikinės visuomenės narys. Karo psichologams atliekant vidinius kariuomenės personalo kaitos tyrimus paaiškėjo, kad pagrindinė profesinės karo tarnybos karių sutarčių nutraukimo priežastis yra nepasitenkinimas individualių poreikių išpildymu. Ši išvada liudija apie skirtingų poreikių konfrontaciją: individualių poreikių suderinamumo problemiškumas kolektyvines vertybes propaguojančioje institucijoje. Šiuolaikinėje visuomenėje karininkas patiria iššūkį, privalėdamas derinti skirtingas kultūrines kariuomenės vertybes ir šiuolaikinės visuomenės normas. Ši prieštaringų normų konfrontacija lemia ambivalencijos akumuliaciją. Tai pasireiškia kaip socialinis spaudimas, diskomfortas, kurį karininkai patiria savo kasdienybėje derindami konfrontuojančias vertybes. Straipsnyje atskleidžiama, kad ambivalencija karininko profesinėje tapatybėje pasireiškia per savirealizacijos problemiškumą, šeimos prioretizavimą, hierarchines bendravimo normas.

In my paper, I argue that the patterns of globalization should be interpreted as a functionally enclosed structurally linked locality system whose prevailing environment is represented by the global flow of symbols. My research results suggest that authenticity and algorithmization are not rival concepts of cultural reproduction. On the contrary, different localities are able to ride the waves of globalization that combine complementary strategies of algorithmization and authenticity in a standardized form. Thus, these localities adapt to the challenges of globalization that produce and combine standardized-algorithmic and standardized-authentic patterns.

The article analyzes the role of the intergenerational support in self-provision of housing in Lithuania. Changes within last decades in the field of housing policy in many Western European countries are associated with both the effects of the financial crisis that this sector suffered and the challenges posed by a shrinking welfare state. This situation as well as processes associated with changes in the labor market and demographic changes complicated the issue of self-provision of housing for representatives of younger generations. Researchers unanimously agree that older generations were more privileged in the housing sector because they had better possibilities to self-provide housing in an oversupplied housing sector or, in the case of Lithuania, to privatize it. In contrast, representatives of younger generations entering the housing market today are more vulnerable in terms of acquisition of housing ownership. Therefore, researchers consider the housing sector as one of the generators of generational differences and potential inequalities. It has been observed that the form of parental housing ownership plays an important role in the field of possibilities of material support for adult children. The disposition of housing ownership usually allows children to ensure an easier access to housing ownership. On the contrary, the access to high quality housing and especially the right of acquisition of housing ownership is much less possible for those who do not have parents or other close persons who could support their young households. In this regard, it can be argued that the transfer of intergenerational high-quality housing and particularly housing ownership may be considered as an expression of a transmission of a social and economic status which under different financial possibilities could reproduce social inequalities. [...]