Instituto de Estudios Políticos y Derecho Público "Dr. Humberto J. La Roche"
de la Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas de la Universidad del Zulia
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Vol. 41, Nº 76 (2023), 378-399
IEPDP-Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Políticas - LUZ
Socio-philosophical analysis of
Ukrainian legal mentality in the context of
European integration processes
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46398/cuestpol.4176.22
Оleksii Shtepa *
Svitlana Kovalenko **
Olha Koban ***
Oleksandr Holovko ****
Vira Aksyonova *****
Abstract
The aim of the article was to carry out a socio-philosophical
analysis of the legal mentality in the context of European
integration processes. Comparative and observational methods
were the main methodological tools. The research revealed that
the legal mentality of the EU population is characterized by
respect for the law, human rights and freedoms. The rights of the individual
are recognized as priority over the rights of the state. The Ukrainian legal
mentality is characterized by legal nihilism, legal idealism, statism, anomie,
detachment from legal culture and ambivalence. It is concluded that, the
consolidation of civil society with public authority during the military
aggression of the Russian Federation indicates positive changes in the
legal mentality. There are some positive changes in the attitude of the EU
population towards the future EU membership of Ukraine. Increased legal
awareness is a necessary component for the development of Ukraine’s
legal mentality. The current achievements embodied in the national and
European legal mentality in the EU countries can be guidelines for Ukraine
to achieve its goal of European integration.
* PhD of Philosophical Sciences, Senior Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of History and
Geography, Poltava V. G.Korolenko Natiоnal Pedagogikal Universiтy, 36000, Poltava, Ukraine. ORCID
ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0500-3000
** Lecturer, Cycle Commission of Humanitarian Training, Poltava Applied Oil and Gas College of the
National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”, 36021, Poltava, Ukraine. ORCID ID:
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5622-6357
*** PhD of Law Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Theory and History of law and the state,
Educational and Scientic Institute of Law, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 04070,
Kyiv, Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3997-5740
**** Doctor of Law Sciences, Vice-Rector, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, 61000, Kharkiv,
Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1459-5434
***** Doctor of Рhilosophy Sciences, Professor, Department of Law and Social-Humanitarian Disciplines,
Faculty of Aviation Management, Flight Academy of the National Aviation University, 25005,
Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7242-9311
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CUESTIONES POLÍTICAS
Vol. 41 Nº 76 (2023): 378-399
Keywords: collective unconscious; determinants of behavior; statism;
political culture; legal mentality.
Análisis sociolosóco de la mentalidad jurídica
ucraniana en el contexto de los procesos de integración
europea
Resumen
El objetivo del artículo fue realizar un análisis sociolosóco de la
mentalidad jurídica en el contexto de los procesos de integración europea.
Los métodos de comparación y observación fueron las principales
herramientas metodológicas. La investigación reveló que la mentalidad
jurídica de la población de la UE se caracteriza por el respeto de la ley,
de los derechos humanos y de las libertades. Los derechos del individuo
son reconocidos como prioritarios sobre los derechos del Estado. La
mentalidad legal ucraniana se caracteriza por el nihilismo legal, el idealismo
legal, el estatismo, la anomia, el distanciamiento de la cultura legal y la
ambivalencia. Se concluye que, la consolidación de la sociedad civil con la
autoridad pública durante la agresión militar de la Federación Rusa indica
cambios positivos en la mentalidad legal. Hay algunos cambios positivos en
la actitud de la población de la UE hacia la futura pertenencia de Ucrania
a la UE. El aumento de la conciencia jurídica es un componente necesario
para el desarrollo de la mentalidad jurídica de Ucrania. Los logros actuales
incorporados en la mentalidad legal nacional y europea en los países de la
UE pueden ser pautas para que Ucrania logre su objetivo de integración
europea.
Palabras clave: inconsciente colectivo; determinantes del
comportamiento; estatismo; cultura política;
mentalidad jurídica.
Introduction
The phenomena related to the life of society and individuals are
characterized by both universality and a particular national ethnic or ethno-
cultural component. The challenges faced by the modern society includes
socio-economic and political defeats. It is characterized by achievements,
as well as the probability of positive development. Modern society is
represented in a variety of multi-vector processes, ideas, life positions,
ideological aspirations. Society is not monolithic, its main features are
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Оleksii Shtepa, Svitlana Kovalenko, Olha Koban, Oleksandr Holovko y Vira Aksyonova
Socio-philosophical analysis of Ukrainian legal mentality in the context of European integration processes
instability, increased irrationality, uncertainty in social development,
which has doubted the possibility of harmonious coexistence of people
(Zhussupova et al., 2022).
The Covid-2019 pandemic, the economic sanctions policy that paralyzed
the whole world, military aggressions have further aggravated the problem
of the uncertainty of the future life and development of humanity. Real
threats to people’s security transform the main features of their worldview.
Radical changes aected not only the material life of people. They cause a
change in traditional and spiritual spheres, characteristics of stereotypes of
behaviour in national and supranational societies (Bhatt, 2022).
The process of interaction and interdependence of the main spheres
of human life in ethical societies accelerated and became global, which
is considered an integral element of human civilization. The problem of
rethinking the national mentality in the course of globalization is considered
urgent, as many ethical societies are undergoing a transformation process.
Mentality is a way of thinking, a general spiritual attitude. Mentality is an
established system of beliefs, concepts and points of view of individuals and
social groups, which translates the accumulated experience of generations
(Gordiychuk, 2018). These two concepts cannot always be considered
synonymous. Mentality is a phenmen on, it is a practical implementation.
All emotional, rational and cognitive, motivational elements contained in it
develop in proportion to objective conditions (Kurbanov, 2022).
The core of mentality is the collective unconscious, however, the terms
“conscious” and “unconscious” are quite dicult to dene and use (Brazdau
et al., 2021). The main mechanisms of unconscious inuence come from the
past, present and future. The deep and primal motives of our evolutionary
heritage, such as survival and security, resource acquisition, reproduction,
and social connections come from the past. These deep-rooted motives
inuence abstract social views such as conservative or liberal ideologies, as
well as attitudes toward immigration (Bargh, 2019).
Socio-philosophical understanding is aimed at a detailed and in-
depth study of the mental foundations of basic current and future social
processes occurring in society (Tulenkov et al., 2021). People’s activities
are determined by both social and cultural ties, features of mental turn. The
study of mentality reveals new determinants of human behaviour, on the
one hand, and enriches the content of philosophy, on the other.
Mentality is perceived as an essential feature of any society. As a
sociocultural subject, a person belongs both to the objective world and
to the intersubjective picture of the world created by a certain mentality.
Socio-philosophical analysis helps not only to accurately reveal the essence
and content of spiritual stereotypes of people’s mentality.
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Vol. 41 Nº 76 (2023): 378-399
It also xes the peculiarities of mentality and contributes to observing
the process of transformation of national mentality in a new socio-economic
environment (Urunova, 2020). It is an urgent need to have knowledge of
the nature of the mentality of society, the ability to neutralize negative
moments in ethno-national relations caused by mental dierences.
Comparative law studies, through the in-depth analysis of law,
its separation by legal forms, contribute to the understanding of the
importance of various factors that shape legal norms (Cerchia, 2018).
The category of mentality began to be widely used in legal studies. The
existence of a legal mentality provides for non-rational mechanisms of
existential understanding of law (Klimova, 2019). It helps to explain the
role of mentality in state-building processes, as well as to shape society’s
reaction to changes in legal traditions, and prevents the excess of relevant
innovations.
In view of the foregoing, the aim of the article is a socio-philosophical
analysis of the Ukrainian legal mentality in the context of European
integration processes. The aim involved the following research objectives:
1) summarize the main modern components and trends of the European
legal mentality; 2) analyse the current state, problems and prospects of the
Ukrainian legal mentality in order to identify the components necessary for
the transformation of the Ukrainian legal mentality in order to implement
European integration processes.
1. Literature review
The choice of the research topic correlates with the current vectors of
the theoretical studies in dierent states. The work of Shtepa (2019) was
the main tool and background of this research. The research was focused
on determining the role of the legal mentality of the Ukrainian ethnic group
in state-building processes. Special attention is paid to the constructive
and destructive behavioural automatisms of the Ukrainian mentality in the
state-building discourse. The work proved that the reception of European
political and legal values by Ukrainian society will become an important
factor for its constructive transformations in the state-building context.
The need for further institutionalization and deep rooting of the ideas of
democracy, rule of law, human rights, dignity, tolerance, self-realization, and
peace in the national culture is emphasized. The author drew the conclusion
that this will become a factor in overcoming the counterproductive political
and legal automatisms of the Ukrainian mentality.
The study of Cerchia (2018) also inuenced the author’s position on
the issue under research. The author conducted a comprehensive analysis
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Оleksii Shtepa, Svitlana Kovalenko, Olha Koban, Oleksandr Holovko y Vira Aksyonova
Socio-philosophical analysis of Ukrainian legal mentality in the context of European integration processes
of aspects of legal mentality. Attention was paid to problematic issues
arising during the study of the historical development of legal culture and
mentality, principal-agent legal relations. The ndings of Tulenkov et al.
(2021) on the mentality in the context of modern post-pandemic society
were taken into account in the course of the research.
Its role in the development of historical and socio-postmodern
scientic thought is emphasized. The mental approach to understanding
the phenomena of social and individual life was considered and justied.
The socio-philosophical aspects of shaping the mentality of the individual
are updated and the main problematic aspects of the modern society are
considered through the prism of the mental approach.
Kurbanov (2022) studied the interaction of the national mentality
with objective conditions. It was concluded that all perceptual-emotional,
rational-cognitive, motivational elements contained in the mentality
develop in proportion to objective conditions. The ndings contained in the
article by Urunova (2020) on the essence of the globalization process are
worth noting. Emphasis is placed on its impact on changing the mentality of
people in traditional societies. It was established that in many societies the
problem of protecting national identity, which is closely related to national
mentality, is becoming urgent.
The research conducted by Bargh (2019) was used in shaping the
author’s position. It emphasizes the existence of several dierent sources
of unconscious inuence on choice and behaviour. It is concluded that they
are generated by one and the same single mind, which produces conscious
inuence. It is noted that the main mechanisms of unconscious inuence
come from the past, present and future.
The studies of Humphrey and Bliuc (2022) and Utemuratov (2021)
dealt with the issues related to the legal individualism, legal nihilism. Their
inuence on the well-being of young people living in Western environment
is noted. Specic traits associated with individualism and nihilism that
may lead to poorer outcomes in terms of well-being are emphasized. A
conclusion was made about the need to improve the system of objectives to
improve legal culture and eliminate legal nihilism and legal idealism.
The article by Klimova (2019) on the main theoretical and methodological
approaches to the analysis of the essence of legal mentality is worth attention.
The author emphasized the importance of identifying the specics of the
axiological context of this social phenomenon. The author focused on the
essence and structure of the legal mentality, quantitative and qualitative
characteristics of the functions of the legal mentality. Gordiychuk (2018)
analysed the general trends in the evolution of researchers’ views on
the concepts of the category of mentality as a historically established
psychological framework.
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The author outlines such relevant vectors as objectivity, subjectivity,
implementation in practice. The transformation processes of elements of
spiritual culture are noted. The need to study, rst of all, the imagination,
mind, and morality of not a single individual, but the entire nation was
justied.
The active study of the issues selected in the article conrms that the
socio-philosophical analysis of the Ukrainian legal mentality in the context
of European integration processes requires special attention. The diversity
of studies in this eld is also stated. Therefore, it is urgent to conduct a
study according to new research criteria.
2. Methods
The research results were obtained through the use of a set of practical
and methodological tools tested at each stage of the research. Figure 1
visualizes the research design determined by the aim outlined in the article.
Figure 1. Abstract research design. Source: prepared by the authors.
The main hypothesis of the study is the concept of a possible
approbation of the positive experience of the European Union in Ukraine
for strengthening the legal mentality in the state in the context of European
integration. The value characteristics of the approaches initiated in the EU
384
Оleksii Shtepa, Svitlana Kovalenko, Olha Koban, Oleksandr Holovko y Vira Aksyonova
Socio-philosophical analysis of Ukrainian legal mentality in the context of European integration processes
were outlined through the use of the main research method — comparison.
This method was used during the study of the stages of overcoming legal
nihilism and the formation of an identical legal mentality in the EU member
states and in Ukraine.
It also helped to identify a wide range of problems in the eld of legal
mentality in Ukraine, which will become a further vector of post-war
transformations of society and law. The observation method was applied
for the analysis of the existing mentalities in the European context and their
inuence on the Ukrainian legal mentality.
The use of the historical method in a complex with it enabled revealing
various historical, political and economic environment that forms the
Ukrainian legal mental identity in the context of European integration.
The historical method also made it possible to consider the issues under
research through the prism of history, modern transformations, culture
and lifestyle, customs and traditions.
The following research methods were used in the course of the study:
system analysis (for analysing the totality of means of transformation of
the legal mentality); structural and functional analysis (to identify the
relationship and interdependence of geopolitical and social transformations
with manifestations of legal mentality); institutional method (to identify
the features of modern trends in re-evaluation of law by state institutions);
doctrinal approach (for the comprehensive study of legal texts, which are
the key to reforming and strengthening the legal mentality in dierent
jurisdictions in Europe); modulation method (formation of a project idea
on the prospects of renewing approaches to the legal mentality in Ukraine
in the context of post-war recovery and intensication of European
integration processes).
The doctrinal approach helped to identify and interpret the content
of the regulatory acts and documents in the area under research. The
functional was used to describe the activities, tasks and main prospects of
interstate partnership in the context of transformations of approaches to
the Ukrainian legal mentality in the context of European integration. The
dogmatic method was applied when drawing conclusions in accordance
with the aim of the research and the main outlined research objectives.
The above tools enabled covering the author’s view of the possibility
of introducing new approaches to the transformation of Ukrainian legal
mentality in the context of European integration, preserving and enhancing
strong sustainable signs of national identity.
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3. Results
The concept of “mentality” (from Latin mens, mentis — “mind,
intelligence”, “composition of thinking”) can be considered from the
perspective of philosophy, sociology, political science and psychology. The
mentality is based on the collective unconscious, but this does not limit the
mentality. The mentality is constant in nature and is characterized by value
orientations.
The characteristic semantic load of this term is a group feature that
reects a certain attitude of dierent groups to the world. This term
is related to ethnic community, the experience of which is based on the
collection and interpretation of the necessary information from a number
of generations.
Legal mentality is a point of view and response to objects of state
legal reality. Legal mentality is a special category that includes certain
behaviours in the legal sphere, as well as a special law assessment system.
It is formed by society and all the phenomena related to law on the basis of
objective and subjective factors. In this case, the assessment is inuenced
by historical experience, characteristic and constant national ethnic unity.
The legal mentality is structured and consists of a number of constituent
elements. They all show its nature and form unity (Figure 2).
Figure 2. The structure of legal mentality. Source: prepared by the authors.
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Оleksii Shtepa, Svitlana Kovalenko, Olha Koban, Oleksandr Holovko y Vira Aksyonova
Socio-philosophical analysis of Ukrainian legal mentality in the context of European integration processes
The cognitive component contains legal thought and legal consciousness
that form the legal behaviour of the individual. The assessment component
is aimed at establishing the way of mediation of legal values and directions
in the minds of the individuals and society. The communicative component
of legal mentality concerns legal customs. It includes social experience that
accumulates legal advantages and is transferred in the process of historical
development. The emotional component contains person’s feelings and
reects his/her legal psychology. Value positions, impressions, intentions
and ordeals that relate to a person or a particular society can be attributed
to this component.
The European Union, which is a unique world community with sovereign
countries connected by political, economic, social ties at dierent stages of
European integration, plays an important role in the development of an
internationally recognized legal mentality. Strengthening the ties between
its Member States is one of the main goals of the EU integration policy. The
European Union seeks to promote economic, social and territorial unity,
reducing disparities between levels of development of dierent regions.
Institutional integration is aimed at the transfer of political powers to
the supranational level. The highest stage of institutional integration is a
political union, which includes all important national sovereignties.
The European Union is characterized by an identity that has an
impact on mentality and important behavioural eects. For example,
traditionalism and nationalism are considered to be the main reasons for
recent rise of populism. European national identity is determined in terms
of, for example, ethnic and religious origin.
There is a multipolar division between dierent types of religions, as well
as between atheists and religious people in the EU. According to the citizens
of the world, European identity focuses on similarities, rather than on the
dierences between people. The EU population retains national identity
and further develops or retains European identity. Local immigration gives
rise to indigenous people’s concerns about the integrity of local languages,
identity and norms that inuences mentality.
The origin of the immigrant population is crucial because cultural threat
increases with the presumed increase in cultural distance between the
native and immigrant populations. In the European context, the existing
mentalities and their impact are determined by the dierent historical,
political and economic circumstances occurring in the participating
countries.
Multiple and dierent majority cultures often coexist in one country
(for example, in Belgium, Spain). The EU mentality is also inuenced by
the values and beliefs characteristic of Eastern European cultures that have
recently joined the European Union. So, European identity, along with
national identity, has a strong impact on mental behaviour and attitudes.
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The fact that the population of a number of EU countries has a feeling of
detachment from social communication is of particular concern regarding
the European mentality. This is manifested through a developed sense
of sovereignty of one’s worldview, immersion only in one’s needs and
problems. The lack of development of horizontal connections, isolation,
commitment to the slogan “my home is my fortress” often make the process
of social communication impossible.
This leads to the loneliness of the population even in very developed
countries. The result is an increased suicide rate. The global average in
2019 across 180 countries is 9.49 suicides per 100,000 people. A number
of EU countries maintain fairly high suicide mortality rates per 100,000
population (Europe Sustainable Development report, 2022) - Table 1.
Table 1. The state of achieving sustainable development goals in the context of
the European mentality and its components in terms of the suicide problem.
Sustainable
development
goals achieved
(%) 2019
Problems
remain
2019
Serious
problems
remain
2019
The main
problems
remain
2019
Austria 11.33
Belgium 15.22
Bulgaria 7.99
Hungary 15.65
Germany 10.18
Greece 4.63
Denmark 10.59
Ireland 8.15
Spain 7.39
Italy 5.62
Cyprus 4.35
Latvia 15.04
Lithuania 22.89
Luxembourg 11.52
Malta 3.95
Netherlands 10.48
Poland 11.96
Portugal 8.76
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Оleksii Shtepa, Svitlana Kovalenko, Olha Koban, Oleksandr Holovko y Vira Aksyonova
Socio-philosophical analysis of Ukrainian legal mentality in the context of European integration processes
Romania 9.02
Slovakia 6.97
Slovenia 18.23
Finland 13.47
France 12.76
Croatia 14.01
Czech Republic 11.22
Sweden 12.75
Estonia 14.89
Source: Europe Sustainable Development report (2022).
Belgium, Hungary, Finland, France, Croatia, Sweden and Estonia still
face some challenges in achieving the SDGs for suicide rates. Latvia and
Slovenia have serious problems. Lithuania still has the main problems
related to the suicide rate.
The family-like similarity that unites the EU countries into a single
whole is reected in the mentality that has a signicant impact on the legal
upbringing process. EU countries are characterized by respect for rules
and laws. The World Justice Project, an independent interdisciplinary
organization, conducts an annual assessment of the rule of law. The 2022
Index ranked 140 countries and jurisdictions worldwide (WJP, 2022).
Such factors as limiting government powers, lack of corruption, open
government, and basic rights were considered. The level of order and
security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice were also
assessed. The rule of law is declining in most countries for the fth year in
a row. However, EU countries mostly show quite high indicators. Denmark
(1) is the country with the highest rule of law rating among 140 countries.
It is followed by Norway (2), Finland (3), Sweden (4), the Netherlands (5)
and Germany (6).
The legislative activity in the EU countries is free from corruption and
one’s own interpretation of the legal vision. The results of the relevant activity
are clearly dened by legislative acts. The legal mentality of Europeans is
based on an attitude towards legal canons from the perspective of a deeply
thought-out order, the violation of which causes inevitable rejection.
Ocials or judges try to avoid a broader and more abstract interpretation
of powers, subjectivity when making legal decisions. Members of the
judiciary, like other citizens, have the right to freedom of expression, belief,
association and assembly.
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But they must always behave in such a way as to preserve the dignity of
their oce, as well as the impartiality and independence of the judiciary.
Therefore, a legal mentality leads to a clear legal framework and reasonable
justication. The laws of the countries are characterized by mandatory
implementation for every citizen. For its part, law provides full protection
of fundamental human rights.
The realization of civil law requires urgent means of resolving relevant
disputes without an excessive cost. The population of EU countries has a
fundamental right to go to court at any time. Everyone has the right to a fair
and public trial within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial
tribunal (ECHR, 1950). EU Member States properly full their obligations
under international law, namely under the agreements, international
customs and practices.
EU ocials must properly do the job they were hired to do by EU
taxpayers. The mentality of the population clearly rejects any nancial or
moral preferences for ocials at all levels. The recognition of the rights of
the individual as a priority over the rights of the state is the most signicant
component of the European legal mentality. The independence of judges
and the right to a fair trial (82% for both) are the EU values most supported
by Europeans (Eurobarometer, 2021).
They are followed by freedom of thought, expression and religion (81%).
The two most important personal values for EU citizens are caring for
loved ones (77%) and making decisions about their lives (78%). The most
important identities of EU citizens are their family (81%) and national
identity (73%).
The most characteristic feature of the European legal mentality is striving
for the rule of law, which is observed against the background of the gradual
reduction of crime rates. In 2020, the police recorded 136 serious assaults
per 100,000 inhabitants in EU countries, which is 8 cases less than 144 in
2019 (Eurostat, 2022). Between 2019 and 2020, the number of robberies
recorded by the police in the EU reduced by 19% to approximately 182,300
cases.
The EU police registered about 1,339,400 burglaries in 2020, a decrease
of 13% compared to the previous year. There were a total of 3,929,300
thefts registered by the police in 2020, which is 19% less than in 2019. For
example, in the EU there were around 447,700 car thefts registered by the
police in 2020. This is 49% fewer cases than in 2008 and 11% fewer than
in 2019. In the EU, there were around 1,090,700 illegal activities involving
controlled drugs or precursors registered by the police in 2020, which is 2%
less than the 2019peak value.
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Socio-philosophical analysis of Ukrainian legal mentality in the context of European integration processes
Figure 3. Features of the European legal mentality. Source: prepared by the
authors.
The Ukrainian mentality is characterized by individualism, which brings
such advantages as freedom of choice and a strong sense of self-ecacy. The
inherent plurality and rooted democratic culture contribute to resistance to
despotism. The Ukrainian mentality is based on the importance of nding
meaning and goal, which is characteristic of the existential worldview. This
should be realized through participation in life on many levels: physical,
social, personal and spiritual. Moreover, the contradictions of life are being
constantly studied. Cordocentrism occupies a special place in the Ukrainian
mentality.
Ukrainian cordocentrism is a unique phenomenon that presents the
doctrine of human integrity, where the soul and body are united by the spirit.
Sharing the modern view of a human being as an intelligent creature, this
mentality is characterized by the expansion of the limit of the intelligent,
involving the concept of the heart as an intelligent component.
The structure of the Ukrainian legal mentality is very complex, dual
and original. The essence of the legal mentality of Ukrainians should be
considered through the prism of their history, modern transformations,
culture and lifestyle, customs and traditions. The Ukrainian legal mentality
was formed under the inuence of the geographical location of the state at
the junction of European and Asian legal culture.
There was no national state for a long time, Ukrainian lands and
population were part of the USSR for a long time. Legal nihilism is deeply
rooted in the consciousness of the Ukrainian people. The lack of desire
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to maintain the rule of law is one of the dening characteristics of the
Ukrainian legal mentality. The characteristic feature is the denial that none
can be above the law, that all can be equally treated under the law. Mass
ordinary legal nihilism combines the implications of such phenomena as
legal ignorance, sceptical prejudices, and legal naivety. This legal mentality
may include a lack of accountability to the law, clear and fair processes for
ensuring compliance with the law.
There is a typical lack of an independent judicial system and non-
compliance with guaranteed human rights. This legal mentality is manifested
in the recurrent failure to full legal orders, reluctance to understand the
basic values of legal reality. People are set to achieve socially signicant
results by illegal means or by minimal use of the legal means in practice.
This mentality is expressed by complying with legal requirements only
under threat of coercion or for personal gain.
Statism occupies a special place in the Ukrainian legal mentality, which is
characterized by the attitude towards the state as the highest result of social
development. The individuals cease to count on their own capabilities as a
result of excessive reliance on state authority. The result in society is the
formality in the relationship between the state and the individual. This has
led to lacking civil rights in Ukraine throughout the long historical period.
The current revision of legal values by an individual in Ukraine is an
example of legal mentality. For example, marriage is universally recognized
as a fundamental social institution. But the economic rise and the
associated growth of individualism, many functions that were once reduced
to marriage are undergoing transformation.
Sex, cohabitation and childbirth without registration have increased
dramatically. This situation becomes a normal component of family life.
The number of marriages in Ukraine has decreased signicantly over the
past 30 years. There were 214,000 marriages ocially registered in 2021
compared to 493,000 in 1991 (Ukrainska Pravda, 2022).
People have a double attitude to a wide range of topics, including
abortion, organ donation, euthanasia, drugs, and alcohol. This ambivalence
has a major impact on people’s emotions as people process information and
solve problems. There are strong positive and negative associations. The
revision of legal norms leads to a psychological conict between opposing
assessments.
But the legal mentality regarding the revision of legal values, for example,
the attitude to marriage has begun to change positively since the beginning
of the military conict in Ukraine in 2022. The number of marriages in
Ukraine registered for the rst half of 2021 was 85,960 (Ukrinform, 2022).
There were 103,903 marriages registered during the same period of 2022.
This is 21% more than for the same period in 2021, and an absolute record
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Socio-philosophical analysis of Ukrainian legal mentality in the context of European integration processes
for the last seven years. The number of divorces in Ukraine during this
period almost halved to 7,632 cases compared to 13,153 divorces in the rst
half of 2021.
Ukrainians are characterized by personal agitation, alienation and
insecurity arising from the lack of goals or ideals, social instability resulted
from the collapse of standards and values. These are signs of anomie in
the current Ukrainian legal mentality. The current situation in Ukrainian
society aggravated by a negative factor of military operations, has led to the
imbalance of a number of psychological and social indicators. In this case,
Ukrainian legal mentality was characterized by the despair, social panic,
deep inner confusion or apathy.
The number of domestic violence began to increase in the wartime.
This have contributed to the feeling of insecurity, which caused distrust in
the actions of the authorities. However, the war of the Russian Federation
against Ukraine raised the latter’s signicance and authority in the world.
This situation promoted the consolidation of Ukrainian civil society with
the state authorities, which indicates positive changes in the legal mentality
of Ukrainians.
Ethnic values have a serious impact on the formation of the Ukrainian
legal mentality. Ukrainians strive to preserve their own identity. Ukraine is
populated by the representatives of various nations, nationalities, and social
groups, which have some peculiarities of thinking, their own moral and social
guidelines. In aggregate, this leads to the formation and development of a
specic spiritual perception of reality, building a corresponding mentality.
The start of Russia’s large-scale war against Ukraine in 2022 triggered the
reconstruction of Ukrainian identity, and, as a result, of Ukraine’s foreign
policy identity on a global scale.
A high level of legal culture is an important sign of legality. The level of
legal culture determines the level of social activity of citizens, their direct
participation in the activities of the state, control over its functioning.
There is a high degree of civic responsibility for events in the state, the
establishment of civil society institutions. The legal culture optimizes the
system of legal protection of individual rights, anticipating mistrust of
dierent strata of the population, nations and peoples.
The higher the level of legal culture, the more qualitative and eective
law-making and law-enforcement, the more perfect the institutional
structure of the state, the functioning of its bodies. The Ukrainian legal
mentality is characterized by distancing from the legal culture, from its
universal values.
While legal nihilism is the ignoring or denial of law, the Ukrainian legal
mentality, which is based on legal idealism, is characterized by a revaluation
of law, its idealization. Both cases are the result of legal illiteracy, low legal
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awareness and low political and legal culture. Although legal idealism is not
as obvious as legal nihilism, this phenomenon is no less harmful to the state
and society than legal nihilism.
This is why both legal nihilism and legal idealism, which fuel each other,
should be considered as a general manifestation of legal illiteracy. In case of
legal idealism, laws are seen as miraculous documents capable of instantly
solving all problems. So, legal idealism, in contrast to legal nihilism,
values the place of law in society. The source of these who phenomena is
the diseased legal awareness, weak political and legal culture. The ground
for mistrust and indierence of Ukraine’s population towards laws is their
weakness and unsustainability. Indierence to the law, on the other hand,
gradually leads to indierence to authority.
Independence had an eect on the legal mentality of Ukrainian society.
This situation led to excessive politicization of the population. Society
is too biased with political gossip and intrigue. This recedes the issue of
compliance of socio-political phenomena with legal requirements into the
background.
Any country that meets the EU membership requirements can apply for
membership. These requirements are known as the Copenhagen criteria and
include stable democracy and the rule of law, a functioning market economy
and the adoption of all EU legislation. Ukraine is integrating EU legislation
into national legislation. On June 23, 2022, the European Council decided
to grant Ukraine the candidate country status at the summit in Brussels.
The main directions of interaction of the parties on the way to establishing
the rule of law and strengthening the relevant institutions of Ukraine have
been determined. The most important shift that is currently taking place in
the consciousness of European society is the change in the mental attitude
towards Ukraine against the background of the military conict. The society
of the largest number of European countries is ready to accept Ukraine’s
membership in the EU. The support for such an initiative increased on
average from 55% to 70% in 2022 compared to 2020 (Razumkov Center,
2022).
Along with inherent negative components, Ukrainian legal mentality
has a lot in common with such European values as democracy, striving
for justice and love of freedom. Ukraine ranks 76
th
out of 140 countries in
the world according to the overall balance of the Rule of Law Index (WJP,
2022). More attention should be paid to the issues of law and order (87),
limiting the powers of the government (92), and criminal justice (93). The
of the absence of corruption (116), regulatory law enforcement (106) were
slightly worse. The best results were obtained for open government (50),
fundamental rights (55), civil justice (67). This indicates a favour to the
European legal system, and therefore to the European legal mentality.
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Socio-philosophical analysis of Ukrainian legal mentality in the context of European integration processes
4. Discussion
It can be stated that the genesis of mentality reects the psychological
peculiarities of mentality as an ethno-psychological category. It is a system
of ideas and values that determines the way of action and arranges the
corresponding actions in the socio-cultural realities (Gordiychuk, 2019).
The single European mentality is a very young construct that emerged
after the Second World War, although European culture with its separate
legal ideas dates back to antiquity (Gobel et al., 2018). People do not face
dierences in a homogeneous environment, so they may support culturally
determined stereotypes of other people’s groups that they occasionally see.
Heterogeneous environment is more likely to expose people to diversity,
so they will often encounter inconsistencies with mental stereotypes (Bai et
al., 2020). But people can adapt old stereotypes. According to researchers,
this view of diversity involves mental development. Innovative values
breaking into the space of national society from European culture must
correspond to the code of national society. The mentality must be popular,
competitive and meaningful, if the national society wants to protect it from
devaluation (Urunova, 2020).
It can be established that the legal mentality is based on an axiological
characteristic, the components of which are the main ethnogenetic values
(Klimova, 2019). They are aimed at preserving the original identity of the
legal culture, do not allow the loss of individuality during the coexistence
with other legal cultures. It is necessary to pay attention to the content and
forms, composition and functions during the study of the issues related to
the legal mentality. Its dynamics under the inuence of various conditions
and factors deserves special attention (Kurbanov, 2022).
It was stated that individualistic values can be positively associated with
psychological well-being. Legal mentality, which is based on an orientation
to a higher degree of individualism, can also manifest itself in ways that
adversely aect psychological health (Humphrey and Bliuc, 2022). Young
people living in Western countries need to protect themselves from the
negative manifestations of individualism by creating wide social networks.
Inter-ethnic tension in Europe caused by the increased number of ethnic
minorities is growing, which may aect the transformation of the legal
mentality. It is necessary to focus on the available strategies to eliminate
possible tensions with the existing high level of immigration and diversity
in many developed countries (Zhussupova et al., 2022).
It can be concluded that legal nihilism and legal idealism are related
to general legal awareness, general legal culture, legal thinking of
society. The implementation of a wide range of measures to increase the
legal awareness and culture of the population require special attention.
This especially applies to young people, who must take an active part in
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building a democratic legal state, learn to know and protect their rights
(Utemuratov, 2021). According to the researcher, eective implementation
of this objective depends on many factors, including the proactive activity
of state authorities. They should create preconditions to make every citizen
strive for active participation in democratic transformations.
So, assimilation of European legal values by the Ukrainian society
will become an important factor in further constructive transformations
in the state discourse. Acceptance of the ideas of democracy, rule of law,
human rights, dignity, tolerance, and self-realization in the national
culture and public consciousness will become factors in overcoming
the counterproductive legal advantages of Ukrainians (Shtepa, 2019).
According to the researcher, the constructive inuence of the European
socio-cultural space on the Ukrainian legal mentality is another factor in
eliminating the Soviet mentality, legal nihilism, and corruption.
Conclusions
The current integration and globalization processes touch upon all
spheres of life of a society. The humanity enters a period of transformation
with various complex contradictions associated with intensive development
of economic, political, spiritual interactions and relations. Knowledge and
understanding of the way of thinking, the general spiritual attitude of the
nation, the ethnic group become especially important in these conditions.
It is urgent to acquire knowledge of the nature of the mentality of society,
the ability to reduce negative manifestations in ethno-national relations
caused by mental dierences. The objective of socio-philosophical research
is to identify and distinguish the natural and essential understanding of the
concept of mentality.
Identity, which focuses on similarities between people, is a characteristic
positive feature of the mentality for the EU countries. It can be both
European and national. A sense of detachment from social communication
can be considered a negative feature of the mentality of the EU countries.
The legal mentality of the EU population is based on respect for the law,
observance of human rights and freedoms, respect for human life, and
tolerance. All European countries have a pattern of strict compliance with
the law.
The legislative sphere in the countries of the European Union is free
from corruption and beyond its own interpretation of the legal vision. The
judiciary is impartial and independent. Mandatory compliance with the
laws by the population, ensuring full protection of human rights by the state
are also manifestations of legal mentality. The recognition of the rights of
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Socio-philosophical analysis of Ukrainian legal mentality in the context of European integration processes
the individual as a priority over the rights of the state is the most signicant
component of the European legal mentality.
The Ukrainian mentality is characterized by a democratic culture, an
emotional and sensual component, and cordocentricity. It is characterized
by the dualistic integrity of the unconscious and the conscious, the irrational
and the rational. Important components are freedom of choice and a strong
sense of self-ecacy. The Ukrainian mentality is specic and individual,
which is its core importance. Identity is a positive feature of the Ukrainian
legal mentality.
Legal nihilism, legal idealism, statism, anomie, distancing from the legal
culture, ambivalence are negative features of the Ukrainian legal mentality.
The legal mentality in Ukraine is also characterized by the modern revision
of legal values by the individual, excessive politicization of the population.
The war in Ukraine added to the importance and authority of the country
in the world. This situation prompted the consolidation of Ukrainian civil
society with the state authorities, which indicates positive changes in the
legal mentality of Ukrainians.
Ukraine’s status of a European state requires not only economic and
political transformations. Ukrainian society should make a lot of eorts
to increase the level of legal awareness. Awareness of Ukrainian society
as Europeans, recognition and observance of European values is required,
which provides for drastic changes in the legal mentality.
For its part, European society is changing its mental attitude towards
Ukraine against the background of the military conict. The society of most
European countries is ready to accept Ukraine’s membership in the EU.
The Ukrainian legal mentality has a lot in common with such European
values as democracy, striving for justice, and love of freedom.
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