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Файл:Social adaptation of persons with disabilities in the conditions of professional activity. Textbook for students in the field of training 08.04.01 Con.pdf
4. PERSONAL RESOURCES AND ADAPTATION
Main aims and outcomes
As a result of studying this material, you will learn:
– how perceptions of the urgent problem of adaptation have evolved;
– what stages a person goes through in the adaptation process;
– what factors influence the success of adaptation;
– what adaptation outcomes are known.
Keywords: adaptation, maladaptation, difficult situation, over-adaptation, re-adaptation.
4.1. Developing a scientific approach to adaptation
4.1.1. History of the study of human adaptation
The term ―adaptation‖ translates from the Late Latin ―adaptatio‖ as adaptation. We are talking
about man‘s adaptation to his environment. This issue has been important throughout time.
The world is constantly changing. It can be cyclical and predictable. For example, repeating
phases of the day and seasons. Changes may be sudden. In both cases, the task of survival is valid.
Both on the level of individual and the population. In order to do this, notions of the world were
developed, allowing for the creation of an appropriate way of life.
This way of life depends on many circumstances. For example, geographical and climatic conditions.
These include rules, norms and ways of preserving health and interacting with nature and other people.
These norms, rules and ways were implemented through specific actions and their complexes, rituals.
S.L. Rubinstein noted that man differs from other living beings by having his own history. In psychology,
human activity is recognized as an instrument that changes reality. Changing reality is imprinted in the
products of human material and spiritual culture, which are passed on from generation to generation.
Thus, in ancient India, the source of normal life and human adaptation to the environment was
inner harmony: knowledge of the essence of being, renunciation of pleasures. The ancient sacred texts
of Hinduism, written in Sanskrit, identify man with nature, which defines the path to such harmony.
In ancient China, the way of adjustment was to live fully in the present, in the present moment,
and to conform each person to ―his nature‖, to his individuality.
Ancient Greek philosophers saw human adaptation in man‘s ability to think, analyse (Heraclitus),
expediency, wisdom (Empedocles). Anaxagoras believed that man was passive, ruled by chance, his role
in adapting to the surrounding reality was denied.
Democritus gave decisive importance to man‘s attitude to the situation, which determines
whether he is happy or not. It is essentially an adaptive outcome. Aristotle believed that man‘s actions
are oriented towards happiness and everyone sees it in his own way.
Zeno‘s approach is close to the modern one: the main thing is to live in harmony with nature
through the development of health and mind. These are the physiological and psychological aspects
of adaptation. There is one ―but‖: Zeno asserted the predestination of life.
Medieval Europe was guided by Christian tenets: denying the needs of the human body, focusing
on the problems of the soul. Individual activity is sin (Aurelius Augustine). Moreover, Pierre Abelard
defended the right of the individual to autonomy in his actions.
The Renaissance was dominated by the ideas of humanism: man is the creator of his life
(C. Salutati, L. Alberti); obstacles are opposed by the will and energy (Machiavelli). This is the basis
of active adaptation. And J. Calvin was rather a fatalist.
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In the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, the New Age and the Enlightenment, problems in
general and issues of adaptation in particular were approached empirically, through sensory experience.
Hence the calls for strenuous activity, cognition, curbing of passions. At the same time, there was talk
of renunciation of vain aspirations for life (Schopenhauer) and of predestination, because freedom is
a delusion (Nietzsche).
Thus, thinkers of previous eras have outlined a broad approach to understanding one‘s place in
the world and the problem of adaptation to it: through external activity, i.e. the transformation of the
environment, and internal through self-regulation.
4.1.2. Scientific understanding of the problem of adaptation
The concept of adaptation was introduced into scientific usage in the second half of the 18th
century by Hermann Aubert to denote the increase and decrease of light sensitivity during changes
in illumination.
Later it was used to refer to one of the fundamental properties of all living things — the ability
of living organisms to change their functional organisation and behaviour in accordance with their
environment.
General and specific patterns of adaptation are studied by many sciences. These include biology,
medicine, psychology, sociology, management and many others. The biological sciences began to
describe the mechanisms of adaptive behaviour in the animal world.
Claude Bernard was one of the first to study the functioning of the living organism from a holistic
and systemic perspective. He suggested that any living organism lives by its ability to maintain an
equilibrium state for its existence, that is, certain favourable parameters of its internal environment.
Physiologist Walter Cannon called this state homeostasis. It is the mobile equilibrium state of a
system, maintained by resisting internal and external factors that disturb this equilibrium.
One of the central points of the doctrine of homeostasis is the notion that every system strives
to maintain its stability. Physiologists I.M. Sechenov and I.P. Pavlov presented adaptation as a function
of the nervous system, the senses and the body as a whole.
In modern sociology, adaptation is seen as the process and result of an individual‘s active adaptation
to the conditions of a new social environment.
In psychology, psychologists of different schools have recognised adaptation, but there is no
single universally accepted definition. Here are examples of some. G. Eysenck defined adaptation in
two ways. First, as a state in which the needs of individual and the requirements of the environment
are fully satisfied, there is harmony between them.
Secondly, as a process of achieving this harmonious state. Adaptation as a process is connected
with changes of environment and organism, first biological. L.S. Vygotsky asserted the priority of
cultural development over psycho-physiological development.
A.A. Rean points out that adaptation is a process and result of internal changes, external active
adaptation and self-change of an individual to the new conditions of existence. He sees adaptation
in two ways: as a process and as a result.
Moreover, the individual in the course of adaptation actively changes the environment and the self.
In the course of this adaptation new formations (mental qualities) are formed. That is, adaptation
can also be seen from a third perspective, as a kind of property.
Thus, adaptation is now understood through internal, external manifestations and is viewed in a
multifaceted way: as a result, a state, a process, a property of the individual.
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4.1.3. A modern approach to understanding adaptation and maladaptation
Man appears as a totality of two systems — biological and mental. As a representative of the
biological world, man is subject to the general laws of biological organization: in the process of biological
adaptation, his body‘s protective and adaptive mechanisms are activated; the possibility of maintaining
the integrity of the body as a system in a constantly changing environment and maintaining life activity
at a stable level is realized.
While preserving their biological nature, humans have expanded their adaptive capacities by
becoming social. Social adaptation is considered fundamental in relation to all other types of adaptation
and is understood as integration.
Closely related to social adaptation is psychological adaptation, which is caused by the social nature
of changes in the environment and human consciousness. Psychological adaptation is a process arising
in response to a significant novelty of the environment, involving the motivation of an individual‘s
adaptive behaviour, the formation of a goal and a programme for his/her behaviour.
We have already mentioned that science considers adaptation from the point of view of human
activity, or rather, the activity vector, distinguishing several types.
A.A. Rean distinguishes four types of adaptation: outward vector, i.e. active influence of a person
on the environment; inward vector, i.e. active change by a person; if the first two strategies are not
effective, a person actively seeks a new environment; the most common is the probability-combined type,
which involves choosing one of the three above options, depending on the situation.
Within the biological disciplines, concepts such as pre-adaptation have been introduced. It is a set
of external and internal conditions that allows a certain group of individuals to be more adaptable.
Later, the concept of post adaptation is also introduced — a broader adaptation to conditions already
mastered, i.e. the development and maintenance of behaviour despite future changes in the environment.
So far, we have talked about process of adaptation that take place gradually, ensuring an individual‘s
successful existence under relatively stable conditions. In practice, however, we often see a very
different picture.
The active development of society promotes abrupt, dramatic changes that interrupt the smoothness
of the adaptation process. The need then arises for so-called secondary adaptation or re-adaptation.
Re-adaptation is the process of restructuring a person under fundamental changes in the conditions
and content of their life activity. When a person is incapable of re-adaptation, maladaptation occurs
and neuro-psychiatric disorders are not uncommon.
N.I. Pirogov noted that some recruits from Russian villages, who had saved in Austria-Hungary
for a long period, had nostalgia that resulted in death without visible somatic signs of illness.
The concept of re-adaptation was introduced because of the wide variety of life situations in which
a person may find himself or herself.
When a person returns from unusual to normal living conditions, the dynamic stereotypes formed
in the new conditions are destroyed, and it becomes necessary to restore the previous stereotypes,
i.e. to readapt.
Thus, persons who have worked in expeditionary conditions in the Far North for 10–15 years
and then moved to big cities for permanent residence, return to hydro meteorological stations having
failed to adapt to normal living conditions. Similar difficulties are encountered when returning home
by emigrants who have lived in a foreign country for a long time.
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4.2. The dynamics of adaptation
4.2.1. Stages of adaptation
According to H. Sellier, the process of adaptation is linked to the formation of a general adaptation
syndrome and includes three stages:
1) the anxiety stage is characterised by a shock phase and a counter current phase. If the severity
of the stressor is significant, the anxiety stage may end in death of the organism;
2) the resistance stage;
3) with prolonged exposure to a stressor, the previous one moves to the exhaustion stage.
Psychophysiology and psychology also distinguish a preparatory stage. E. Tolman introduced
the notion of the ―adaptive act‖, which is ensured not only by the present situation, but also by some
anticipation of the result.
A person collects information that allows him/her to get an idea of new, often extreme conditions,
understands the tasks that he/she has to solve in these conditions, learns professional skills, ―gets into‖
role functions, develops skills that ensure joint activity, and establishes a system of relations with
other people.
The approach of known extreme conditions increases mental tension. This manifests itself in
distressing experiences, a subjective slowing down of the passage of time, sleep disturbances and
autonomic changes.
This describes the stage of initial mental tension. Among the reasons for increase in mental tension
when approaching the above barrier are clearly traced information uncertainty, anticipation of a possible
collapse, and mental replaying of appropriate actions when it occurs.
Mental tension is associated with intensive involvement of the emotional-volitional sphere of
the personality. When overcoming the barrier that separates normal from altered conditions, especially
those involving life-threatening situations, positive emotional experiences arise, accompanied by
increased motor activity.
Each time the psychological barrier is overcome again, the emotional reactions are smoothed out
and stenicised. This is due to complete information supply. The stable mechanisms of adequate reactions
to stressors are formed.
4.2.2. Factors for successful adaptation
All the factors influencing the success of adaptation processes are divided into two groups: subjective
(age, gender, physiological and psychological characteristics) and environmental (working conditions,
mode of activity, nature of activity, features of social environment) (B.G. Ananiev). We will consider
these factors structurally according to the studied types of adaptation: physiological, psychological, social.
Physiological factors
Physiological factors include age, type of nervous system, state of health, biological structure (gender)
and climate and geography. Let us consider some of them.
Type of nervous system. Research has shown that the leading characteristic influencing the course
of the adaptation process is emotional stability-instability, that excessive excitability interferes with
the adaptation process, as does abnormally strong ―inhibition‖.
Biological structure (gender). Comparative data on the adaptation of men and women reveals
the importance of the socio-psychological aspect in women, personal characteristics change mainly
in the emotional and communicative block. Men, on the other hand, adapt primarily to activity, engaging
in communicative and volitional resources of personality.
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Psychological factors
Psychological factors include abilities, motivation, character traits, habits, self-development ability,
self-esteem, value orientations, psychological attitudes and others. Let us consider some of the factors.
Motivation and it’s structure occupy a special place among psychological factors of adaptation.
Especially success motivation. Its predominance over motivation to avoid failure contributes to both
effective mental adaptation and successful performance.
Self-esteem. A sharply inflated self-esteem can create a zone of constant failure, reducing motivation.
Low self-esteem leads to passivity, fear of responsibility, a tendency to set too easy tasks, an underestimation of the subjective probability of success, and the disorganising effect of failure. Inadequate
self-esteem becomes an obstacle to adaptation.
Social factors
Social factors include basic and vocational education, professional knowledge, skills and abilities,
professional qualifications, position, nationality, marital status, financial situation.
For example, professional qualifications and seniority. Qualified professionals have less cause
for anxiety, their motivational core is largely formed, and they have developed the foundations of
the necessary professional knowledge, skills, abilities and adaptation stereotypes. Experience absorbs
the results of search and discovery, trial and error and success. It constitutes an arsenal of adaptation
possibilities.
Marital status, level of income. Family well-being can both enhance performance and limit time
and creativity. Financial stability is a significant factor in the domestic component of adaptation.
4.2.3. Impact on successful adaptation factors
Physiological, psychological and social adaptation factors all function together, a conditional
division helps to explore this learning material, but it is important to understand that an impact on
one of these factors affects all the others as well. We will now look at examples of the impact on the
entire human adaptation system through physiological factors.
The human body is inextricably linked to the external environment. The external world perceived
by man is perceived through sensations. Psychophysiological mechanisms of sensations are represented
by the work of analyzer or sensory systems, which allow a person to reflect the signals of the world,
create images on this basis and operate with them. The senses have been used by humankind since
ancient times and have a powerful therapeutic effect in the process of adaptation.
The visual analyser is affected by light and colour therapy methods. Daylight, sunlight, is vital for
humans, as it plays a decisive role in metabolism. Different colours are physically electromagnetic waves,
differing in their length and intensity, affect the nervous system and change the psycho-emotional state.
The auditory analyzer is affected by sound and music therapy methods: the use of noise and
sound stimuli and musical compositions as a means of healing.
The olfactory analyser is affected by aromatherapy methods. Because of the nature of the olfactory
analyzer system, fragrances are directly linked to emotions. Signals from the olfactory receptors
reach the centre of the brain, often bypassing the control of consciousness. They alter mood, mental
performance, behaviour and current activities.
Touch is affected by massage and self-massage.
Exposure through motor activity. The underlying therapeutic premise for the development of these
techniques is the thesis that body movement is the basis of all life manifestations, including cognitive and
emotional ones. Motor activity is closely linked with breathing patterns. In this context, physical activity
is the least costly and most accessible way of influencing a person‘s adaptive capacity in everyday life.
The holistic approach to understanding the human being as a holistic creature, in which the work
of body and soul represent a single system and are not separated from each other, forms the basis
of methods of influencing the human being through movement, breathing.
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The study of muscular activity and human movement in all its manifestations is the science of
kinesiology. The main part of kinesiology — biomechanics — deals with both mechanical, physiological
and psychological basis of movement of living beings. The theoretical basis of this science was contributed
by the concept of ―physiology of movements‖ of the famous Soviet psychologist and physiologist
N.A. Bernstein. Extremely relevant in therapeutic physical training, sports and work psychology.
Three forms of exposure through motor activity can be distinguished: functional, conflict-oriented,
interactive and multimodal.
Functional methods optimise psychophysical functions. For example, expressiveness, muscle
relaxation ability.
Conflict-oriented movement therapy methods began with the work of W. Reich. The better-known
name is body-oriented therapy. He emphasised the relationship between ―character structure‖ and bodily
expression. Muscle tension (according to Reich it is a ―muscular armour‖) is caused by unresolved
problems, negative experiences, and blocked (unresponsive) emotions. Movement and breathing release
this tension, emotions are released, and there is a sense of physical and psychological release.
4.3. Signs, characteristics, types of maladaptation
4.3.1. Man and the environment
Humans are part of the world around them and are constantly influenced by environmental factors.
These can be roughly divided into two large groups: natural and social.
Natural factors
This includes factors of living and non-living nature. A distinction is made between biotic and
abiotic factors. Abiotic environmental factors include air environment, atmospheric pressure, light
radiation, magnetic fields, ambient temperature, weather factors and others. Human have adapted to
different climatic and geographical conditions, to cyclical changes in nature. Biotic factors include
all the diversity of fauna and flora, including pathogens.
Social factors
Traditionally, social factors are considered to be the various activities, conditions of human activity.
These are the contexts of interaction with other people. Adaptation to the social environment is
social adaptation. It has already been mentioned and will be covered in detail later.
B. Helpach, the founder of environmental psychology, distinguished three circles in the human
environment: the natural environment or ―geopsychological factors‖; the social group or ―psychosocial
factors‖ environment; the world of buildings and structures or the techno-psychological environment.
Each of these three types of factors influences the personality in two ways — through the person‘s
reflection on the meaningful content of the impressions received and through psychological changes
related to physiology. These are, for example, the particularities of movement in urban environments
and the mechanisms of perception of environmental elements.
In the light of the ecological concept, the anthropogenic environmental factors that arise because
of human economic activity can be singled out separately. Particular attention is paid to the problem
of pollution, the specifics of human life in urban conditions, near industrial zones.
The acuteness of the problem is due to the direct impact of anthropogenic factors of the environment on
human health. Man creates living conditions for himself and experiences the negative consequences of this.
The environment is therefore a very broad concept. We assume that the environment is a set of
conditions. Everything that surrounds a person and plays actual or potential role in his life. Obviously,
we are talking about two-way influence: the environment affects the person, the person affects the
environment. Environmental factors ensure survival and development.
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Stereotypically, the comfort and safety of the environment is implied. However, in the course
of life, there are many occasions for stress in the form of difficulties and hardships. Let us find out
whether they help or hinder development.
The success of adaptation is determined by internal and external factors. External environmental factors
include the natural and social environment. Man-made elements related to the arrangement of the space
around a person in the course of civilisation and technogenic factors also belong to the environmental factors.
The internal factors of adaptation include everything that is connected with a person‘s personality:
cognitive sphere, emotions, will, and much more.
Maladaptation is associated with overloading of adaptation mechanisms. The combination of
measures aimed at identifying the causes and conditions contributing to maladaptation, as well as
the development of measures to prevent it, constitute the prevention of maladaptation.
Under the influence of physical training and a set of recreational activities it is really possible
to change the direction of the adaptation and maladaptation process.
Psychohygiene and psychoprophylaxis support the work of internal factors of adaptation, prevent
pathological processes of the psyche.
Our ability to work is affected by our willingness to overcome obstacles and adapt to changing
conditions. It is an indicator of successful adaptation. It is sometimes called work capacity.
Work capacity is the level of the body‘s functional capacity, characterised by the efficiency of
the work done in a certain period of time. It is a person's ability to perform a specific activity within
given time limits and performance parameters.
Mental performance depends on many factors. For example, temperament type, general body
condition, time of day, environment and biorhythms. In or-der to maintain performance without detriment
to health, it is important to orient oneself to one‘s own characteristics in order to organise one's activities
in a health-preserving way.
After carefully studying this section, talk to yourself about the main thoughts and ideas again.
If you have any questions, write them down. Compare your thoughts and ideas with the outcome
after completing the topic. Test your knowledge after studying the topic.
4.3.2. A person in a difficult situation
To begin with, situations of difficulty are often perceived as problems. Synonyms of the word
―problem‖ are not only a hindrance, obstacle, difficulty, unpleasantness, pain, but also a task, a riddle,
a question, a case. Agree that these groups of words have different connotations. However, we will
come back to that.
In the context of adaptation, any new situation becomes difficult. The uncertainty of novelty
carries a potential threat to one‘s comfort, health and life. Their own or those close to them. Other
factors such as monotony, disruption of daily biorhythms, loneliness, group isolation and many others
are also mentioned. The intensity of the difficulties increases when several factors combine.
Note that we judge a situation difficult when it generates negative feelings. Above all, anxiety.
It is an anticipatory emotion. It signals a high degree of significance of what is happening in relation to
possible future consequences. However, this is only in the future, and anxiety is experienced here and now.
Human activity is saturated with difficult situations of certain duration and short-term stressors
of varying severity. Personal attitudes and assessments of events, situations, physical and social variables
of the external world are taken into account in classifications of stressful influences.
Conflict is also a typical example of a difficult situation: a clash of opinions and interests. In conflict
situations in the family or work sphere and in difficulties in building informal communication, adaptation
disorders were much more frequent than in effective social interaction. A separate category of conflicts
that create difficult situations are intrapersonal conflicts. We will talk about them separately.
To summarise the description of difficult situations, once again we should note that a person‘s
own decides a lot. One can perceive a problem as a failure and despair, or as a challenge and cheer up.
For example, the founder of the doctrine of stress, H. Sellier, believed that nonspecific adaptive
activity in the biological system always exists. Complete freedom from stress means death, so stress
acts as the taste and aroma of life. Optimistic.
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4.3.3. Signs of maladaptation
We already know that the negative outcome of reactions, behaviour in difficult situations is
maladaptation. From a biological point of view, this phenomenon is the overstretching of adaptation
mechanisms and the violation of the organism‘s adaptation to various environmental conditions. Visible
signs of maladaptation are various manifestations of morphological, functional and psychological nature.
In the physical condition, for example, overweight or underweight, asthenic physique, low strength
and speed, reduced endurance, limited body flexibility, reduced muscle strength and efficiency may
be identified in the maladapted individuals.
The most frequent changes in the circulatory system are found in the functional systems: low or
high heart rate, blood pressure fluctuations, deterioration of the cardiovascular system with altered
regulation mechanisms. In the respiratory system, a limitation of the respiratory function and a decrease
in resistance to oxygen deficiency are noted. Vegetative status and adaptive capacity also change.
Hyper excitability, tremors in the extremities, sleep disturbances and general weakness may occur.
The maladaptation is also manifested by a decrease in motor function. In this condition, the person
is unable to perform physical activity appropriate to their age and gender. This condition is called
―psychophysical maladaptation‖.
Psychological and social signs of maladaptation are expressed in disorders of the emotional and
mental spheres and disorganization of activities. For example, there are marked dysfunctions such
as anxiety, irritability and tearfulness, memory impairment, thought and speech disorders, reduced
attention span, interpersonal disagreements and conflicts.
The consequence can be serious health problems up to and including hospitalization, exacerbation
of chronic diseases and the emergence of new ones, severance of social contacts, dismissal, and loss
of meaning in life.
The measures to stabilize the current maladaptive state, as well as to exit from it and prevent it,
are the ways of influencing the factors of successful adaptation described above. They include both
a physical and psychological component. They can be used to change the direction of the adaptationmaladaptation process.
There is a view that adaptation and maladaptation processes in human populations occur continuously
and independently of environmental conditions and necessarily guide evolutionary development.
Avoiding difficult situations means giving up on life. Difficult situations and their consequences are
a lesson to us, a challenge. We have the resources to overcome them. This is how we evolve, crystallise
our essence. It is important to reflect on ourselves as a useful part of valuable world, to realise our roles
and tasks, to understand what happiness is for us.
After carefully studying this section, talk to yourself about the main thoughts and ideas again.
Compare your thoughts and ideas with the outcome after completing the topic. Test your knowledge
after studying the topic.
SUMMARY
1. Adaptation is an urgent problem, as it is fundamentally linked to survival.
2. Human adaptation occurs at the physiological, psychological and social levels through external
and internal manifestations.
3. Maladaptation is a negative outcome of adaptation.
THINK ABOUT AND ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS
1. Which views on adaptation are closest to your own?
2. What environmental factors are most significant for being human?
3. What do you think is the reason for the negative outcome in difficult situations?
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5. INTERACTION IN PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
Main aims and outcomes
As a result of studying this material, you will learn:
– what the essence of social adaptation process is;
– what components of social adaptation are taken into account in the assessment;
– what stages and types of social adaptation exist;
– how social adaptation is special for people with disabilities.
Keywords: social adaptation, macro-micro level of social adaptation, objective, subjective levels
of adaptation.
5.1. Social adaptation types and features
5.1.1. Features of social adaptation process
A human is an almost perfect example of how to adapt to environments, different in climate,
flora and fauna. An excellent example is how vibrant the conditions in which people live in different
corners of the planet are: neither the constant cold nor the sweltering heat are ever a hindrance. Yet,
our habitat is not limited to climatic features.
Despite the high adaptive capabilities, instability and dynamism of the modern world require
increased mobility. Social adaptation of a person is a relevant problem of a risks-producing society
as it defines the emotional and psychological comfort of an individual. Getting into different conditions
of existence, a person is forced to constantly interact with others and assume different social roles.
Social adaptation means a complex and continuous process in which an individual or entire
groups adjust to the social environment in which they plan to realize themselves.
These can be either completely new conditions or familiar situations that have been changed
under the pressure of economic, political, spiritual, ideological or social forces. In addition, socialization
implies not only active participation in the adoption of socially significant rules, norms and values,
but also their subsequent transfer to other inhabitants of the social environment.
Sociologists and philosophers define social adaptation as a kind of criterion for the society evolution.
The neglection of norms, vague social rules, which the individual will later accept are the pathology
of the society.
It is noteworthy that the concept itself is being adapted by researchers. Although social adaptation
is widely studied as an independent object of research (in biology, philosophy, sociology), there is
no unified scientific term, no certain criteria or indicators today.
Socialization is divided into two processes: one affects the methods of adaptation from birth to death,
the rules of behavior are formed by the close circle (parents, relatives, friends) — which is an objective
process; the second is related to a person‘s personal qualities, views and beliefs, without taking into
account age characteristics or position in the society — and this is a subjective process.
Adapting, a person becomes a participant in new connections — interactions, and if they are stable
enough, then the goals that he or she sets for themselves, adapting, will be implemented more successfully,
and their susceptibility to stress will be minimal.
5.1.2. Social adaptation stages
Due to the fact that social adaptation is a process that takes place over time, the question arises
about its stages or steps. For example, Polish sociologists distinguish four stages:
1) initial, when an adapting individual learns only the behavioural rules, while the value system
of the new environment is not internally recognized by them;
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2) tolerance, when both the environment and the individual recognize the equivalence of each
other‘s behavioural standards;
3) adaptation, ―accommodation‖ is associated with mutual concessions: not only the individual
recognizes and accepts the value system of the environment, but also the latter representatives recognize
some of individual values;
4) assimilation, when an individual completely abandons old patterns and values and sincerely
accepts new ones.
The above-given periodization can be used in full only in the cases of a cardinal divergence between
the individual orientation and the new environment. However, since such a situation occurs relatively
rarely, it is advisable to make some adjustments to it.
Stage 1 — balancing. It is characterized by a minimal degree of individual involvement in the
process of adaptation to a new environment. The ―newcomer‖ gets acquainted with the new environment,
looks closely at the team, establishes contacts, catching the specifics of the local psychological
atmosphere. At this stage of adaptation, a kind of ―balance‖ is established between the environment
and the individual; they show mutual tolerance for each other's value system and behavioural stereotypes.
Stage 2 — pseudo-adaptation. Distinctive features of this stage are a combination of external
adaptability to the situation with a negative attitude to its norms and requirements, a contradiction
between orientations, views, beliefs, interests, on the one hand, and real actions or behaviour, on the other.
The individual knows how he or she should act in the new environment, how to behave, but internally
in the consciousness does not recognize this and, where he/she can, rejects the system of values accepted
in this environment, adhering to his/her former one.
Stage 3 — adjustment. It is based on the recognition and acceptance of the basic value systems
of the new situation and is associated with mutual concessions. The individual renounces certain values,
while limiting to some extent his/her independence and freedom of decision.
Stage 4 — assimilation. A characteristic feature of the stage under consideration is the psychological
reorientation of the individual, i.e. the transformation of previous views, attitudes, orientations in
accordance with the new situation, a significant change in behavior patterns. The stages or levels of social
adaptation discussed above state different degrees of an individual‘s involvement in a new situation.
An individual can consistently go through all the stages, gradually adapting to the social environment,
from the stage of balancing to the stage of assimilation, or he/she can pass one of them or stop at
one of them.
Let‘s consider a model in which social adaptation is presented in the form of a kind of algorithm.
The algorithm for the course of social adaptation represents successive interconnected stages.
Stage 1. Adaptive shock.
Stage 2. Mobilization of adaptation resources.
Stage 3. Response to the ―ecological challenge‖.
In the first, shock stage, this model describes a disruption caused by unforeseen circumstances that
rapidly change the social context. An individual or a social group is not ready for this kind of influence.
They become disoriented and experience painful conditions. It takes time to understand and evaluate
what happened. This is a period to determine the necessary information for adaptation and the sources
of such information, to understand what is happening in the social environment, and to identify the pros
and cons. This is a period of preparation for mastering changed environmental conditions.
At the second, mobilization stage, if it was possible to ―survive‖ the social shock, comprehension
of the changes that have occurred and their consequences occurs. This is the stage when it becomes
possible to get together, tune in and begin searching for or developing ways to overcome the discrepancies
and difficulties that have arisen in new circumstances.
At the third, response stage, the strategy developed at the previous stage of social adaptation is
implemented. A social adaptation strategy will be successful if the characteristics of a person or social
group, together with environmental factors, are taken into account.
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