Nationalism: Essence, Issues of Prevention and Counteraction in Bodies and Institutions of the Russian Penal System

the article considers problems of nationalist views that have recently arisen not only in Russia, but also in many states, which threatens stability in various regions. Purpose: to show that the concept of “nationalism”, being a product of modern mental civilization, is directly related to the natural and inevitable transition of mankind from life according to religious canons to life “according to their own understanding”. Results: the author believes that to effectively counter nationalist views in the Russian penal system, its employees should familiarize convicts with the formation of a family, clan, tribes, as well as customs and traditions. It is necessary to disseminate the idea that forcible imposition of one’s own language, culture, traditions, customs, the value world and norms of being on another ethnic group or people contradicts human development trends. The article shows that the concept of “nationalism”, due to a number of objective reasons related to the historically conditioned civilization mentality of ethnic groups and peoples, did not exist in religious epochs. Conclusion: the author, noting the relevance of the problem under study, points to its multidimensional nature and proposes, taking into account the results formulated in the article, to develop a special system of prevention and counteraction to nationalism in the Russian penitentiary system, with appropriate training and retraining of its employees.