What is a custom: definition, history, sources and interesting facts. What is tradition, what is it for, differences from customs and examples What is custom, definition and examples

CUSTOMS, TRADITIONS, CONSTITUTIONS.

Custom is a way of behavior inherited from ancestors that is reproduced in a society or social group and is habitual and logical for its members. The term "custom" is often identified with the terms "tradition".

Tradition (from the Latin “tradition”, custom) is a set of ideas, rituals, habits and skills of practical and social activity, passed on from generation to generation, serving as one of the regulators of social relations.

Some people combine concepts such as customs and traditions into one whole. However, this is not entirely true. Most often, when it comes to passing on the foundations of social order to one’s descendants, we are talking about passing on traditions. If we are talking about the transfer of rituals of weddings, funerals, holidays, then we talk about customs.
If we are talking about the generally accepted national clothing of the people, then this is a tradition, since it concerns the entire people as a whole. If some part of the people adds their own decoration to their national clothing, then this is already a custom that concerns this part of the people. Such a custom can turn into a tradition if it is accepted by all the people. Most likely, this is how different customs became a common tradition.

That is, various customs together create generally accepted traditions. That is why people equate traditions, customs and rituals into one concept, although this is not so. Tradition is not born immediately. It emerges from established customs. And customs are born from the life and behavior of people themselves.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russian photographer and inventor S.M. Proskudin-Gorsky invented the technique of color photography. He did this autonomously at the same time as the French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere, who are considered the official inventors of color photography. Proskudin-Gorsky captured in his photographs precisely people in national clothes, believing that this tradition should be remembered through documentation. Thanks to him, we have an idea of ​​the national clothes of the peoples of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

Tradition No. 1

All nations have traditionally had a high value for a person's word. There were times when there was not even writing. Therefore, the word spoken by a person was not only valued. The word was given a mystical meaning. It was believed, as it is now, that a wish spoken out loud, a statement, an obligation, or even a curse, always has its consequences and is sure to come true. Moreover, this happens regardless of whether the person who spoke out wants it or not. The wishes of health and happiness among ancient people were always perceived as something material. It happened that people asked for their words and wishes to be returned to them if it turned out that these wishes were expressed to the wrong person who deserved it. There have been cases when people who spoke a lie were required to take back their words.
This is where the expression “take back your words” comes from. Some people even today believe that words are material and try not to waste them. Others do not attach any importance to this and their words are worthless in the eyes of other people. And today no one takes seriously the words of talkers and boasters, but the words of worthy people are highly valued. They are listened to. They are referred to.

The value of a word was the higher, the larger the family of the person giving the word. Not keeping your word is the same as disgracing your family as a whole. For example, the Chechens have a concept that defines the uniquely high price of a man’s word. They call it "DOSH". That is, if a man declared DOSH, then not only he, but his entire family is responsible for this. Among the Chechens, this concept exists to this day, since they have preserved ancestral teips-clans, each of which unites many people. I believe that such concepts as “DOSH” existed among other nations, but they called it differently. And from the moment of the collapse of clan relations, people’s share of clan responsibility decreased and loyalty to their word remained at the level of personal honesty of each person individually, and not of the whole clan. And there’s someone who’s into something. Those who are ready to die for their word, and those who lie will be taken inexpensively. The level of personal responsibility is immeasurably lower than the level of responsibility of an entire clan, but clan responsibility is also based on the personal responsibility of each relative. Another thing is that once a disgraced relative is deprived of the right to say “DOSH” to someone.

The unconditional value of the word today is accepted by society, except perhaps from the president of the country, when he swears on the Constitution of the country upon taking office. However, unfortunately, there are often cases when the president of a particular country changes his word. There are not many authoritative people in society who have always been true to their words, and such people become famous. Other people refer to them and their works. These include prominent writers and politicians and even ordinary people who became famous for their honesty.

If a person claims something, he must prove it to those who listen to him. After all, he is interested in having those listening to him believe him. Then, to prove the veracity of his words, he begins to cite as an example the words of authoritative, worthy people. Those words and statements that have been tested by time and no longer need proof of honesty. If these arguments correspond to the words of the speaker, then people begin to believe him. They make sure that the person is not being a hypocrite or lying.

The memoirs of the famous natural scientist Alfred Brehm are very interesting, in which he talks about his conversation around the fire with the leader of a small African tribe. The leader asked him:
- “Is it true that there is a war going on in Europe?”
The First World War was going on and A. Brem nodded in response. The leader asked again:
- How many soldiers died?
A. Brem nodded his head again. The leader tried to clarify:
- More than ten?
A. Brem nodded again, to which the leader shook his head and said:
- For this we would have to give all the cattle to the tribe.
Remembering this conversation, Alfred Brem was perplexed as to how one could explain to a person who was accustomed to paying for the death of every warrior from a neighboring tribe in an inter-tribal skirmish that in just one day in the battle of Verdun the Germans killed more than 10 thousand of their soldiers during the offensive. How can the meaninglessness and scale of the victims of a civilized war be accommodated in the understanding of the leader of the savages? A leader who, despite his savagery, knows that there are certain obligations for the death of a warrior. Obligations that were determined between the tribes and sealed not by a paper document, but by the word of the leader.

However, there is another tradition that appeared relatively recently and also relates to the value of the spoken word. Hitler invented this tradition. He argued: if you want your lies to be believed, you don’t need to tell one lie. You need to mix lies with truth and then everyone will believe you.

This is a false tradition, but it also has a certain value. The desire to deceive listening people once again emphasizes how important the value of a truthful human word is for everyone without exception. For both honest people and liars. So, whether we like it or not, our tradition of valuing the word lives with us to this day. Even scammers are trying to take advantage of this tradition.

Tradition No. 2

Literally all peoples of the world have a tradition of hospitality. You say: "What's wrong?" And you will be right in your own way, but it’s not that simple. In ancient times, when there were no communications and no transport, people were very hospitable even towards random people. Ordinary travelers were left in their homes, sometimes for several days. It was interesting to find out where the man came from and what he saw there. There was enough food for everyone, but no entertainment. Therefore, they accepted all passing people, especially since they still needed somewhere to at least spend the night. But what is hospitality without a feast? It was customary to treat the guest to the best. It is clear that they treated the dear guest who was expected more attentively, but they also tried not to offend ordinary travelers.

Food was an indicator not only of a good attitude towards the guest. Every person who ate at the table of hospitable hosts was considered a well-wisher of this house. On the contrary, a person who considers himself an enemy of the people who treat him should not take food from their table. Eating food at their table was tantamount to giving up one's grievances. And it doesn’t matter how much food is on the table. It can be a poor table or a rich one. Anyone who expressed his attitude towards this table showed his attitude towards the owners of the house. Frankness was considered mandatory. To be a hypocrite in order to deceive later was considered shameful at the table. The same applies to toasts, but the culture of table management can be considered a separate tradition.

This tradition is still preserved among almost any nation. Despite many changes in our lives, food remains a very important indicator of good relationships between people. Yes, not everywhere, but for many people. For example, often, in order to show his respect for the interlocutor, a person offers to treat him at his own expense and not even at home, but in a cafe, or in any other place. This act, as a rule, pushes the one who was treated to act in response, and another time he treats his friend, also at his own expense. Eating together brings people together. There is a Russian folk saying. It says: “Yes, we ate a pound of salt together.” One pood contains 16 kilograms. It is clear that no one will simply eat salt in such quantities. Here we are talking about the amount of food eaten that would require a pound of salt to salt it. That is, people lived together for at least several years and they not only knew each other, but also shared food.

Today, many people gathering in one group prefer to fold in order to pay for food on their own. This is done for various reasons. Out of stinginess, not a desire to burden the initiator of the feast. In the United States, it is believed that if a man pays for a woman in a restaurant, then he is thereby trying to harass her. That's why women there pay for themselves. Well, or they don't pay.

Tradition No. 3

The traditions of any nation have always been songs and dances. People spent their time this way and it was natural. There was no television or sound recording. The musical instruments were primitive, but it was interesting. Any folk dances are fiery and interesting, each in their own way. Often each dance or song had its own stories or legends. The dances of peoples living close to each other were often similar, sometimes neighboring peoples took their dance from their neighbor. The famous Lezginka is considered their dance not only by all Caucasian peoples, but even by the Cossacks. But, judging by the name, the dance was invented by the Lezgins.

Sometimes people forget their dances and this necessarily makes such people spiritually poor. Russian folk dances are not inferior to the dances of other peoples either in temperament, complexity, beauty, or any other indicators. However, their Russian people hardly dance. They just don't know how. Only experts know their features, but there was a time when Russian dances were adopted both in the Caucasus and in Europe. Today people dance as a rule. not even dancing, but some rhythmic patterns that are very similar to each other.
Maybe this is being done on purpose to deprive people of culture. Singing cultures, dancing cultures. If you deprive the people of their linguistic culture, then the people will replace it all with something else and become a different people. And this is possible.

A characteristic feature of folk dance in Russia and the Caucasus, as well as among many other nations, was the rule according to which the dancing guy and girl should not touch each other with their hands. There were dances where you could hold hands, but nothing more. For example, round dances, or dances such as Kochari among the Armenians, Shihane among the Assyrians and many others. It was forbidden to hug your partner. Our ancestors had everything strictly. You could only hug your wife. So they danced in front of each other, showing their prowess to everyone present. And they learned to dance so as not to lose face.

Folk songs, as a tradition, are no less interesting than dances. Songs were passed down by word of mouth from adults to children. Moreover, there were no professional musicians among the villagers. The repertoire was transmitted so casually, but always with all the voices. The songs were not sung with one voice. They were polished with each generation and could be changed for improvement every year. At rural weddings, as a rule, guests from two villages were present. This was the rule. The guys didn't marry their girls. To avoid incest. The wedding turned into a kind of festival. One village sang its songs, another its own, but there were also songs. who knew everything. Today people don’t live like that, but that was the tradition.

Tradition No. 4

In addition to the value of words, there is also the value of human action. Actions are different. Significant and not very significant. But they can all be positive or negative. All of humanity works to provide for people's needs. Many people work every day in their jobs and do the things they should do. These actions are not considered unusual, but they are the ones that help provide society with everything it needs. These are positive actions. However, some people also commit negative actions. These are crimes. In order to protect itself from crime, society comes up with laws that protect honest and decent people. But there have been times in human history when laws did not protect people. Then people defended themselves. They responded to any crime against friends or relatives with revenge. Revenge is one act, or a series of acts logically interconnected. Revenge on enemies was considered obligatory. Refusal to take revenge had to have strong justifications, otherwise it became a shame.

In one of his stories, a writer writing under the pseudonym “Kont,” a former Afghan warrior, describes an incident that occurred in one of the Afghan villages. A Soviet army checkpoint was located next to it. It was a small fortress, bristling with machine guns and machine guns. The fighters were constantly expecting Mujahideen attacks from anywhere, but not from the village. In order not to bring trouble to the residents, the Mujahideen did not enter the village and there was an unspoken agreement with the Soviet soldiers on this score. One night the incredible happened. The checkpoint was attacked from unexpected places. From the village side. The attack was met with dagger fire from the checkpoint. When it blossomed, the fighters saw that dead old men and villagers were lying on the ground, armed with whatever they had. Only a few of them had old hunting rifles, useless in battle. Next to the others lay sabers, daggers, and axes. The investigation showed that some checkpoint soldier entered one of the houses at night and first raped and then stabbed to death a 13-year-old girl. They saw him, but he managed to escape. None of the old people in the village had any doubts that there were too few of them and they were all elderly. They did not see any other development of events for themselves other than revenge. Without waiting for morning, they rushed into the last attack of their lives. Their opportunities for revenge were negligible. They would not have been able to take revenge, but no one could blame them for not taking revenge. As the Russian prince Svyatoslav said: “The dead have no shame.” Just the old people didn’t think that anyone would say anything about them. They went out for revenge because that’s how they were raised.

In the Middle and later centuries in Europe it was customary to fight a duel. This is the noblest kind of revenge, if it can be noble at all. The duel deprived the rivals of the opportunity to take revenge secretly. Attack from behind. or secret murder. Publicity was important in the duel. Sometimes the duel took place with a large number of witnesses, but in principle, a few people were enough. As a rule, these were seconds on both sides. who agreed on the conditions of the duel (choice of weapons, distance, etc.) Could take a doctor with them to provide medical care. Sometimes the duelists agreed to fight until first blood, and sometimes until death. The insulted person did not always win, but in any case he remained a worthy and not disgraced person.

Laws appeared in every country, but revenge still remained among the people. Laws don't always work. Revenge has always been feared more than the law. This is a very ancient custom. Each nation had its own characteristics of manifestation of revenge, but they were all distinguished by cruelty. Cruelty doesn't make anyone better. One cruelty begets another cruelty and then there is no end in sight to evil. In ancient Greek Sparta, revenge had to be fierce by killing all the relatives of the culprit. So that he would suffer from every news of the death of another relative. The culprit was killed last. It is clear that the latter had no choice but to start a war against his avengers and try to win it using the same cruelty.

When Jesus Christ came to teach people, he called on everyone to forgive each other. It was he who said that if you are hit on your right cheek, turn your left. Thus the Savior laid the foundation for the custom of forgiveness. For many, this custom is incomprehensible, since it contradicts the custom of revenge to which people are accustomed. But revenge does not stop evil, but continues it. Murders can also be random. The ancient Jews, for example, identified several cities in which a murderer could hide from revenge and it was forbidden to pursue him in these cities.

1. Annual customs.

Almost all nations had a HARVEST HOLIDAY. The exception was the peoples who could receive 2-3 harvests per year. For them it was not such a significant event. Then other traditions were invented. The bulk of the Earth's population received a harvest once a year and tried to celebrate this event magnificently. This holiday was a symbol of abundance. After this holiday, it was customary to have weddings, and not only among Christians, Muslims, or representatives of other religions. In the spring there was no longer enough food. This custom came to us from pagan times. Weddings were celebrated by everyone, since immediately after the harvest there was plenty of food, and work stopped due to the end of the harvest. Harvest festival, a natural and logical holiday.

Today, the harvest festival is not celebrated as magnificently as before. Only peasants celebrate it. This happens for several reasons.
- Not the entire population is engaged in harvesting, but only a small part of it. For example, in the United States, only 3% of the population works in agriculture. For other people, this means nothing. In the Middle Ages, about 90% of the population worked in agriculture.
- Now that the harvest is over, work on the land does not end and practically continues all year round. The new agricultural technology system intensively exploits the soil. Previously, people used one field once every two or three years. That is, the field worked for one year, and rested for two years. Today the fields are not resting. They are actively fertilized with mineral fertilizers. Some fields are sown for the winter, but previously this was done quite rarely. In other words, there is no winter downtime in agriculture now.
- Many other magnificent holidays have appeared that did not exist before, including those that are celebrated at the same time as the harvest festival.

Farewell to winter was celebrated very lavishly among the people. In Rus' this holiday is known as Maslenitsa. Surviving the winter was not easy. The peasants did not have central heating. It was necessary to prepare firewood. The huts were small, so that it was easier to warm them with one stove. Food was cooked in the same oven. In winter, the entire population was tied to their homes as sources of heat. Therefore, people celebrated farewell to winter with great joy. This holiday fell during the spring equinox. During the celebration of Maslenitsa in Rus', it was customary to burn an effigy of winter. In different places of Rus' this custom was celebrated with its own details. Somewhere they were burning an effigy wrapped in pea straw. It burns well. Such a stuffed animal was called the pea jester. In Kostroma, the scarecrow was called “Kostroma”.

In different places, different chants were dedicated to this holiday, but the meaning and time of the holiday always remains the same. This custom also came to our time from pagan times. The Orthodox Church celebrates Shrovetide Week on the eve of the beginning of strict Easter fasting. Throughout Holy Week, people baked pancakes, pies and held folk festivals. On Thursday, it was considered a tradition for mothers-in-law to cook pancakes for their sons-in-law and treat them. Oil Sunday is called Forgiveness Sunday. On this day, all people ask each other for forgiveness. Before the revolution, on Forgiveness Sunday, wall-to-wall fist fights were held. This is a special custom. That is, up to several dozen adult boys and men lined up opposite each other. On command they approached and began to fight. The rules were strict. If a fighter fell, he was out of the fight. It was forbidden to hit a prone fighter. Hitting below the belt was also prohibited. The fight was not supposed to be traumatic or unreasonably cruel, but blood from injuries was considered common. The battle continued until complete victory. After the fight, the opponents hugged and asked each other for forgiveness.

Weddings are rightfully considered the most striking customs. Nowadays, this ritual has been preserved and people hold lavish weddings to leave a memory of this event. But not only. A wedding is not just a joyful holiday. This is an event that not only makes many people responsible for the lives and happiness of a young family, but also makes the young family responsible to everyone present for their life together, which they promise to create at the wedding. That is, a wedding is not only a holiday, but also a mutual obligation. How else? The bride and groom and their parents invite everyone they respect to the wedding. This invitation can be seen as a statement that they are not just inviting guests, but are promising to start a family with honesty and dignity. In turn, everyone who is invited to the wedding must further provide all possible assistance to the young family if they turn to him for help. So a wedding is not just a feast. This is not just collecting gifts. This is an important life event.

It is still customary among Muslims, but not everywhere, to pay a ransom - dowry. It is believed that the man who paid the bride price is wealthy enough to support his own family. The size of the bride price is discussed individually, but this custom is not practiced in all Islamic countries. At weddings, it is customary to give only money. This money is given to the parents of the young people. But parents must provide their children with housing, furniture, and everything necessary for life, including clothes and dishes. Accordingly, they bear all the costs of organizing the wedding. Money received at a wedding from guests, as a rule, cannot reimburse parental expenses.

Christians can give anything. Both money and gifts. Everything is given to the young. No bride price is paid, but the bride must bring a dowry with her. The amount of the dowry depends on the wealth of the bride's family. Parents pay for the wedding. But in this sense, the differences between Muslims and Christians are not significant.

Before the wedding, it is customary for Christians to negotiate the wedding. This is called a conspiracy and it ends in engagement, or betrothal. Senior representatives of the groom come to negotiate with the bride's parents. Representatives may not be relatives. Usually these are matchmakers, but the presence of the groom's parents is required.

Matchmakers observe the ritual of the event. The parents of the bride and groom learn about the intentions of the newlyweds and if they are positive, then an agreement is made on the timing of the wedding. The bride and groom are engaged with wedding rings. From now on, they can communicate in public, but they cannot live together until the wedding. Why is this being done?

If one of the young people changes his mind about getting married, then all preparations will be stopped and the wedding will not take place. In this case, the young people are not bound by any circumstances and can find other chosen ones. That is, young people are given time to take a closer look at each other. The rings are returned to the groom because they are purchased by the groom's parents for the engagement.

The agreement may not take place. If the bride does not like the groom, she can immediately refuse him. This event becomes shameful for the groom, so he must be sure that the girl will consent to the marriage.

In Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Russia and many other nations, it was customary to bring a pumpkin (watermelon) to the unlucky groom. It was a shameful sign of refusal. Why shameful? Because if the groom sees that the girl doesn’t like him, but continues to be persistent, then having received the pumpkin, he no longer has the right to send matchmakers to this girl a second time. That is, the girl has the opportunity to get rid of the annoying groom once and for all.

Muslims also have a similar custom. If a bride hits the groom with a whip at a wedding in front of everyone, the wedding will not take place. However, both the groom and the bride herself are considered disgraced in the eyes of the guests and the whole society.

Today, many young people strive to earn big money and only then get married in order to pay their own expenses. They don't want to depend on their parents. In this case, two problems arise, of which it is difficult to choose the worst. Firstly; this situation may be offensive to parents. Parents, as a rule, are ready to get into any debt in order to fulfill their duty to their children. Secondly; the process of making money can last an unknown number of years. This may deprive a person of the opportunity to start his own family.

Giving a girl away in marriage without matchmaking has always been considered a disgrace. According to the logic of the weddings, it turned out that no one was interested in protecting the interests of the young people. No one even knows that a new family has appeared. There are no witnesses to the obligations that the groom and his parents undertake. Therefore, it is not customary to give a girl to a husband secretly. And it doesn’t matter whether a bride price is paid for her, or she gets married in an Orthodox church, the meaning is always the same. Family commitments should be public and frank.

In difficult times, when guests were unable to give gifts and parents were unable to prepare a rich feast, they still tried to hold a wedding. Often this was done through joint efforts, but the wedding still became a memorable, joyful event. Even the most modest gifts were made, but weddings were made.

Any speculation in this regard does not promise anything good. Previously, parents often themselves decided who to marry their daughters to and who to marry their sons to. Many acted on the principle of material interest. That is, they tried to become related to a rich groom or a rich bride. Often young brides married older grooms and vice versa.

This situation gave rise to another custom. This is bride kidnapping. The act is radical, but it solves all problems at once, including the costs of the wedding. The logic of the kidnapping is simple. The abduction of an unmarried girl by her groom puts her in the category of either disgraced or married women. But the kidnapper can immediately abandon her and leave her in disgrace. The bride's parents, who were unable to prevent the abduction, look impartial among people and are ready to give their daughter to the kidnapper, just to comply with all the necessary rituals and enlist the support of relatives and witnesses. Even if before that they publicly refused this groom. At the same time, they are trying to do everything to keep the kidnapping a secret. If the parents fundamentally do not recognize the kidnapping groom, then the bride without a wedding becomes his wife. This is understandable. Not a single groom, after the abduction, will woo her.

However, there were also frequent cases of a preliminary conspiracy to kidnap the groom and the bride, the groom and his parents, the groom and his parents and the bride in order to avoid the costs associated with holding a big wedding. The logic here is very simple. If a girl is kidnapped but not married, then this is considered a shame. If she was kidnapped, but after numerous trials and clarification of relationships (sometimes turning into fights), a family was created, then the image of the bride even takes on a certain romantic connotation. Therefore, kidnappings are sometimes even staged at rich weddings.

BURIAL.
What could be no less significant than a wedding? Of course, the funeral of a deceased person. The Bible mentions that a person who interred a dead person looks worthy before God, but after the funeral he must cleanse himself. Today there is a custom of washing hands after attending a funeral.

As life shows, not all people get married, but everyone dies. Death makes burial rituals mandatory. Our ancestors buried their dead in the ground so that they would not be desecrated by animals and birds. After all, we were talking about dead relatives. But the attitude towards strangers who died was the same. Subsequently, burial rituals in coffins were invented. The coffin symbolizes the boat in which the deceased goes to another world. Among believers, it is customary to attach special meaning to funerals. After all, this is a person’s last journey to another world. It is customary for Orthodox Christians to bury people in the ground. In India, Japan and other countries, dead people are cremated. They burn it. Materialists also follow general religious traditions and cremate the dead.

It is customary for Christians to keep the dead at home for one to two days. This is done so that those who are far away and cannot quickly come to the funeral can say goodbye to the deceased. On the day of the funeral of the deceased, it is customary to have a funeral service in church or at home. It is customary to carry the coffin from home along the street where the deceased lived. A farewell ceremony takes place at the cemetery, when relatives kiss the deceased on the forehead. Those who wish can speak out loud about the deceased, but it is customary to speak about the dead either well or nothing. After lowering the coffin into the grave, each person present throws three pinches of earth into the grave as a sign of farewell. After the funeral, people go to the wake. It is not customary to knock glasses at a funeral table. The feast is short-lived. The buried person is remembered, and deceased relatives are also remembered. Alcohol is not consumed at the funerals of deceased children.

Then relatives gather to remember the deceased after 7 days. The deceased is commemorated more magnificently on the fortieth day. It is believed that for 40 days the soul of a deceased person still wanders, and on the 40th day it finds itself where it should be. On the day of the funeral, a cross is placed on the grave, and a year later, on the anniversary of the death, it is customary to erect a monument. But all this is in abundance.

Among Muslims, funerals are usually completed before sunset on the day of death. They are not waiting for anyone. The mullah performs his prayers and rituals. Only men carry the deceased to the cemetery. Women don't go to the cemetery. The deceased is commemorated for seven days in a row. These commemorations are not so much table-based as they are thoughtful. Every day people talk about life, death, God, faith, etc. They try not to leave the family of the deceased unattended so that it is easier for them to get used to the loss. Muslims celebrate the 40th day just like an anniversary.

Funeral customs and rituals are quite diverse and can only be described in specialized work on a very large scale. All of them are logically determined. Only the most general rules are described here. People learn it by participating in the funerals of dead people. A large number of people come to the funerals of the most famous and respected people. But the number of people at a funeral does not indicate what a person was like during his lifetime. It is important with what thoughts people come to a funeral and how they later remember the deceased. Good or bad.

COMMON CUSTOMS.

There are many such customs. They are inherent in every nation, since they are logically determined by the same circumstances. Let's take a simple case involving a young man giving up his seat on a vehicle. This is not just an element of good manners. This is a generally accepted custom that has changed, but its essence remains the same. There was no public transport yet, but it was customary for every nation for the younger ones not only to give up their seats, but to stand up when the older ones approached them. Moreover, the age difference did not matter. And today it is customary to stand up if a person comes up to you and starts a conversation with you. And even if he is the same age as you. It is simply considered impolite if you sit down and talk to the person standing in front of you.

In ancient Sparta, it was allowed not to stand in front of an elder if he did not have children. The explanation was simple. His children will stand before no one.

It was not customary to sit and talk to women. This was considered a rule of bad taste and a well-mannered woman would not continue a conversation with the interlocutor sitting in front of her, unless, of course, he was disabled. Today, in many nations, it is customary to give up your seat in public transport not only to older people or pregnant women, but simply to older people. This is perceived not as help in a difficult situation, but as a tribute.
Before the revolution, all men showed such respect to women, but with the development of feminism, people began to perceive the politeness of men towards women in transport as harassment.

It is interesting that before the revolution, aristocrats and townspeople had a custom when meeting a pregnant woman to take off their hat. A tribute to motherhood.

INTERESTING TRADITIONS OF SOME PEOPLES.
I find some Japanese customs interesting. Every year they celebrate boys' day and girls' day separately. These days are dedicated specifically to children under 6-7 years old. These days they always dress up in the most beautiful clothes and they can do anything.

Japanese schools traditionally have a food lesson. Every day, two students serve school lunch for their class. Thus, students study Japanese table traditions of serving, eating, and behavior at the table.

In Italy, on New Year's Eve, it is customary to throw old things out of windows onto the street. It is believed that they will remain in the old year, and the family will acquire new ones in the new year.

In Finland and Norway it is not customary to praise a person in public. This is considered rude flattery and can even hurt the person you are praising.

In China, it is not customary to give anything related to the number 4. This number symbolizes death. There it is not even customary to designate floors with the number 4. They go like this: 1,2,3,5,6,

In India, it is not customary to say thank you for a gift. This is considered a rule of bad manners. You can praise the gifted item.

In the USA, it is not customary to pay for a woman in a taxi, open the door for her, carry things for her... because she may take this for sexual harassment and contact the authorities with a complaint.

In Greece, it is not customary to praise the hosts’ utensils or paintings when visiting. According to customs, the owner will have to give it to you.

In Georgia, it is not customary to leave guests' glasses empty. The guest may or may not drink, but his glass will always be full.

The words of greeting are different for different nations. When meeting a Chinese, he asks: “have you eaten?”, an Iranian will say: “be cheerful,” a Zulu will warn: “I see you.”

Traditions, customs, and rituals exist in every family, which are very valuable for raising kind, decent people. For example, in the morning, when relatives wake up, they wish each other good morning, and at night they wish each other good night.

The word family means a blood connection between relatives who are connected by everyday life, interconnection, and responsibility. They are always ready to help their relatives morally and financially, to come to the rescue, support, rejoice, be sad.

Family traditions are manners of behavior, principles established in the family, habits that the child will carry out in further development and teach them to his children.

Family holidays and traditions in the family can allow:

1. They influence the child’s development, stability, and help children recognize friends in their parents with whom they can have fun.
2. They bring relatives closer together, allow them to spend time together and enjoy life.
3. They help you become a full-fledged family in society and gain cultural enrichment.

A person living in a family where traditions and customs are present will be surrounded by affection and attention.

Let's look at what family traditions there are in a family, examples:

Throughout their lives, people use established customs and rituals that are passed down from generation to generation. The rituals show the customs of the family, holidays, weddings, and various celebrations. With the help of rituals, national songs and dances appeared.

There are so many families in the world, so many traditions that can be fascinating and interesting:

1. Overnight fishing trip. Spending the night in a tent and boiling fish soup over a fire will bring children many new positive emotions.
2. Family cooking dinner. When preparing any dish, everyone is given a task. This will bring a lot of fun and joyful emotions.
3. Birthdays. Waking up in the morning, a family member is told a clue that he is looking for a gift.
4. Travel to the sea. Packing your bags together, going on vacation, sunbathing, swimming. This will unite, bring the family closer, and give wonderful impressions.
5. Make your own gifts without any reason, to confess your love.
6. Bake a pie with the whole family for kindergarten for any occasion, it will bring a lot of fun.
7. Bedtime story. Not only mom can read, but dad and dad can take turns reading. Then wish the children pleasant dreams, embrace them and kiss them. Even a small child will feel that he is surrounded by the care, attention, and love of his parents.
8. Make scenes at home, performances, singing songs, reciting poems. A friendly family will be pleased with these events, especially children.
9. Celebrate Christmas and New Year in new places so that the children will remember each year for a long time.

New traditions and customs

When a new family appears, family traditions do not always coincide between spouses. For one, family holidays were celebrated in a wide family circle, where all relatives were present.

The bride, on the contrary, is in a close circle. Because of this, disagreements and quarrels may arise. To come to the right result, you can come up with new traditions and rules in the family, if there is desire and consent.

To do this you need to follow the steps:

• come up with a new family tradition where all family members will participate;
• be the first to show interest in the undertaking;
• you should not invent too many customs every day;
• repeat the tradition several times to consolidate and remember.

Family traditions from different countries

Individual countries, as a rule, have their own statutes, orders, customs, and traditions. IN Great Britain It is customary to raise children in strictness and to restrain emotions.

Looking from the outside, one can testify that they do not love their children. On the contrary, it is customary for them to give parental love in such a way that it differs from upbringing in Russia.

IN Japan the mother sits with the child on maternity leave until he reaches 6 years of age. She doesn’t yell at him, she indulges him, fulfills his whims. At school, on the contrary, children are brought up in strictness, taught to order. Several generations can live in a house.

IN Germany There is a custom to get married at a late age. It is customary to first make a career, after which by the age of 30 you are allowed to get married and have children.

IN Italy, all relatives, even distant ones, are considered one family. They often gather around a common table to discuss everyone's problems.

In France the mother pays more attention to her career. Having given birth to a child, she sits with him for a short period, then sends him to kindergarten to be raised, and she goes to work.

In Mexico, it is believed that legitimizing a relationship is not the main reason for starting a family. Often newlyweds live in a civil marriage without registering the relationship.

In modern Russia, there are family labor traditions that can be passed on from generation to generation. With their help, relatives get closer, preserving the family business. There are disadvantages to such customs. For some family members, family professions may be alien, incomprehensible, or uninteresting.

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We often don’t think about what turns us from a group of people living together into a real unit of society. And here the customs that have developed over the years play an important role. In our article we will talk about what family traditions are, what their significance is, and we will also give examples of habits that exist in families of different countries and make our own list.

Family traditions: what is it?

To define what a family tradition is, let’s first define what it means – “family”. According to the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary, it is “a small group based on marriage or consanguinity, whose members are bound by a common life, mutual assistance, moral and legal responsibility.” This means that in a full-fledged unit of society, relatives not only live under the same roof, but also love each other, take care of each member, and spend time together. If some activity or action is repeated repeatedly, passed from one generation to another, then it becomes a custom of this kind.

Family customs are not necessarily something grandiose and large-scale. Even modest weekly rituals that are established in one union or another can be considered a tradition. For example, cleaning on Saturdays, having breakfast together on Sunday mornings, or watching cartoons with the children on Fridays.

Moreover, the habit of wishing each other good morning, kissing when meeting or saying goodbye, calling that you have arrived safely at your destination can also be attributed to the norms accepted in this unit of society.

Types of family traditions

The list of what can be classified as family traditions can be endless. However, they can be conditionally divided into general ones, which are inherent in many people in different variations, and completely unique, specific rituals.

The first group includes such actions as:

Joint celebrations

In most homes in Russia, on Birthdays, New Years, and Easter, a large circle of relatives and close friends gather around a richly laid table to congratulate the birthday person or spend the outgoing year.

These days, it is customary to present gifts and souvenirs, write congratulations, sing songs and dance, make toasts followed by drinking alcohol, which of course does not benefit the nation.

Joint meeting of important events in life

For many people, it is customary to discuss daily or at least once a week in a small circle how the day went, what events happened, share their thoughts on this matter, give advice or simply empathize from the heart. Plans for the weekend and the near future are also discussed here. Such close, frank communication is very unifying and allows all members of the family to feel their importance and significance for the rest.

Traveling together

If circumstances permit, many spend their holidays together, if possible going to the sea or to another city. And there are those who prefer annual trips to the dacha in the summer, where outdoor recreation is combined with work responsibilities. Any such trip brings a lot of positivity to each participant, which strengthens the relationship between household members.

Photos for memory

I want to capture pleasant events on photo cards so that, if desired, I can return to the memorable day at any time. Photo shoots, which are now fashionable, can become a good tradition, especially in families with children. After all, every age of a baby has its own charms, and time flies so quickly that you won’t have time to come to your senses. In addition, long joint preparations usually take place for such an event, and the child will perceive the shooting itself as an adventure.

Joint attendance at various events

Cinema, theater, exhibitions, museums, festivals - it's all very interesting and educational. If everyone in the house is committed to developing their personality, then household members will never be bored with each other. So visiting cultural or entertainment events together is a very good and useful custom.

The list of other common family traditions can be very long. After all, this also includes the smallest daily habits, as well as all religious rituals and national characteristics associated, for example, with marriage or initiation into religion. Russia is a multinational country, and each nation has its own historical customs.

Specific customs include those features that are unique to your social unit. For example, you like to eat only oatmeal for breakfast, or don’t go to bed until dawn on Friday.

In addition, there are those actions that developed on their own, and there are those that were specially introduced. In any case, this is exactly what is repeated in one house with some frequency.

The role of family traditions: what does it mean to observe them?

If we highlight the main positive theses, they will probably sound like this:

• Traditions give a feeling of stability and inviolability of marriage for spouses.
• Develop respect for elders.
• They instill a desire for work and order.
• They rally and unite relatives.
• They allow you to feel like an integral part of something big, strong, what we call a social unit.

What are family traditions for children?

Compliance with established customs is especially important for children, because it gives a feeling of stability, and therefore safety. Children love when something is repeated many times; it is good for their psyche and makes the child calm and balanced. This is why doctors so strongly recommend following a daily routine.

The following traditions will be especially useful for children:

Reading bedtime stories and singing lullabies to babies

Evening reading not only develops the child’s imagination, but also puts him in a calm mood, appropriate before bed, and the mother’s voice always calms and lulls him to sleep.

Cooperative games

In the age of computers, televisions and an endless amount of entertainment, it is very easy to keep a child busy. However, the warmest memories from childhood will be those when the baby played with his parents. This could be board games or outdoor activities, the main thing is that everyone close to you takes part in the game.

Household duties

It is good when each member, even the smallest one, has some responsibilities around the house. This does not have to be a fixed labor duty. Activities can be changed and each time a new task can be offered. Invite your child to wipe the dust during one cleaning session, and the next time to use a vacuum cleaner. And even kids are happy to handle such an assignment as watering flowers.

Family meals

Kisses and hugs

Psychologists say that to feel happy you need at least eight hugs a day. And children need even more. So hug your kids on any occasion. And a goodnight kiss will be a wonderful end to the day for both the child and the parents.

Preparing for the New Year

For many adults, one of the most magical moments of childhood is the New Year holidays. You can create a fairy tale with your child, decorate a Christmas tree together with themed songs, make souvenirs as gifts for your family, write letters to Santa Claus. After all, the baby can do what many adults have forgotten how to do - believe in miracles.

All these and many other traditions will allow children to form the right attitude towards marriage as one of the main elements of their lives. Already as adults, they will carry into their young unit of society exactly those foundations and principles that they learned from childhood.

Description of family traditions of different countries

Of course, every society has its own historically established customs. Let's talk in more detail about what is accepted in other states.

In Russia

Since ancient times, traditions have been honored and protected in Russia; they have been an important part of the life of both the common population and the nobles.

One of the main customs was a good knowledge of one’s clan, all one’s ancestors up to the tenth generation. In an aristocratic environment, family trees were necessarily compiled for each surname, which listed all the ancestors with first names, patronymics, last names and titles. Stories from the lives of our ancestors were passed on from mouth to mouth, and with the invention of the camera, photographs were passed on. Until now, many families carefully preserve old photo albums, gradually supplementing them with modern cards.

Respect for elders is one of the pillars of education in Rus'. In our country, unlike Western countries, it is not customary to send parents to live out their lives in boarding houses and nursing homes. Children take care of their elderly until their last day. And after their death, it is customary to remember departed relatives on the day of death and birthday, and to care for their graves.

Another Russian feature that demonstrates respect for one’s family is the assignment of a patronymic to a child. This is a tribute, first of all, to my father. It was also often possible to find a “family” name, that is, often found in this family, when a child is named after one of the relatives.

The transfer of heirlooms by inheritance was also widespread. Moreover, these are not necessarily jewelry that cost a fortune. These can be simple, but dear to the heart things - interior items, cutlery. Often the wedding dress was passed from mother to daughter.

Almost all of the above traditions have been preserved in our society to this day. But many, unfortunately, are practically lost. For example, professional dynasties, when a craft was deeply studied and its secrets were passed on from generation to generation.

A good trend has become a return to roots and age-old traditions. "Russian House of Genealogy" offers assistance in compiling a family tree of your kind. They have a staff of more than five hundred genealogists working all over the world, who will certainly find any archival documents where this or that surname is mentioned. Also, experts not only compile a pedigree, but also teach this difficult craft. A wide selection of designs will allow you not only to create a tree for yourself out of interest, but also to purchase a family tree book as an original and useful gift.

In Great Britain

This is a country that sacredly honors its customs, especially for aristocratic dynasties. Traditions are observed in everything: from the daily rituals of morning oatmeal and evening tea to the concept of how to raise children.

One of the peculiarities of the British is to instill in their children strict control over their emotions. Saving face for a true gentleman is as important today as it was a couple of centuries ago.

In Italy

Italy is a very patriarchal state. Almost 90% of all enterprises there are related, that is, passed on from father to son. In addition, the surname in this state is not limited to a narrow circle of the closest relatives; all relatives are an important part of the large clan.

On holidays, the whole family gathers around a richly laid festive table, jokes, laughs, and shares news.

To America

Despite the fact that Americans are mostly workaholics and very career-oriented, many social units have three or more children. An interesting tradition is to take your baby with you everywhere, even to parties and get-togethers with friends. It is believed that such early integration into society will help the child in adulthood.

Historically, family traditions are an integral part of the life of any society in every state. They are like cement when building a house, they bind all relatives and allow them not to lose common interests. So follow existing customs and create new ones, then there will always be an atmosphere of love and friendship in your home.

Based on statistical data, the majority of Russians live on the territory of the Russian Federation. Russians, like several hundred years ago, continue to celebrate pagan holidays such as Easter, Christmas, Maslenitsa and Epiphany. Each holiday is shrouded in its own traditions, for example, on Easter it is customary to bake Easter cakes and paint eggs, and Christmas is not complete without fortune telling.

In the old days, Maslenitsa was considered a holiday of remembrance of the dead, which is why pancakes were baked on this day. It should be noted that this holiday was celebrated for a whole week and every day was dedicated to some rituals, for example, on Monday everyone made a scarecrow out of straw, and on Sunday they solemnly burned it. Currently, it is customary to bake pancakes throughout the entire Maslenitsa week.

Along with other customs, wedding traditions are of great interest. Among Russian wedding rituals, the holding of a bachelorette party should be highlighted. In the old days, the bride went to the bathhouse on this day with her friends and female relatives. The women sang songs and combed her hair. Currently, there is a tradition of celebrating not only a bachelorette party, but also a bachelor party.

Tatars are in second place in terms of the number of people living in the country. They also have their own religious holidays, such as Ramadan, which lasts a month. For 30 days, during daylight hours, Muslims are prohibited from eating, drinking, having fun, smoking, or swearing. During this time they should work, pray and think about good deeds.

Wedding ceremonies of the Tatars are no less interesting. The groom, having decided to marry a girl, must offer the parents of his beloved bride price. Moreover, when preparing for the wedding, he is obliged to give gifts to her relatives, thereby appeasing them. The Muslim wedding feast takes place in the bride's house, and the groom and his relatives must pay a ransom for the opportunity to feast in this house. A Muslim wedding lasts several days.

There are a lot of Ukrainians living in Russia who honor the customs of their ancestors and maintain spiritual continuity. They, just like Russians, celebrate Orthodox holidays. Christmas among Ukrainians does not pass without the tradition of caroling, when children go from house to house, sing songs, wish well-being and receive sweets and coins as a sign of gratitude.

Weddings are still very popular among Ukrainians. In the old days, on this day, a young man went to pick up his bride at her house, paid a ransom, and only after that led her down the aisle. At the end of the festive dinner, he unbraided her braid and tied a scarf as a sign that she was now married.

Little-known residents of Russia and their traditions

Rare and little-known peoples live on the territory of our country, for example, Vodlozers. You can meet them in Karelia in the city of Pudozh. They honor Slavic rituals and believe in mythology. Residents of this nationality are born hunters. Before entering the forest, they appease the devil, leaving him with one killed animal.

You can also meet little-known Archin people in Russia. They live in Dagestan and profess Islam. The people have their own national traditions that amaze modern Russian people. For example, if a husband dies in an Archin family, the wife must sit at home for 40 days without going outside. Moreover, for the rest of her life she must wear black and not look at other men.

The people of Archin are very hospitable, their weddings are held magnificently and cheerfully. Only women give gifts to newlyweds, while men must bring a lamb carcass or an impressive amount of money to the feast.

On the territory of the country live the Russians of Usty, who distinguished themselves by their unusual “shuffling” pronunciation. Currently, their dialect has been practically replaced by the Russian literary language. People of this nationality love to tell fairy tales and sing songs, and not a single holiday is complete without creative evenings and colorful costumes. The Russians of Ustyinsk have a traditional dish - stroganina, which is prepared using ice-caught fish. A true northerner will never serve rotten fish to his guests.

Rare peoples of Russia and their religious traditions

Some nationalities are on the verge of extinction, for example, the Khanty and Mansi. These two nationalities are very close in language and culture. They live in the north of Western Siberia, most often they are called Ob Ugrians. People of this nationality staunchly preserve traditional customs and beliefs. Throughout their lives, the Khanty and Mansi have a lot of prohibitions. They are very sensitive to the earth, which is forbidden to “injure” with sharp objects. They have areas where you can’t even walk.

This people have a favorite holiday called bear holiday. The bear, according to legend, is the son of the supreme deity Torum. Despite this, men hunt these animals. On the day of the holiday, they try to atone for their guilt by performing some rituals. The skin of the animal is rolled up, and the head and paw are decorated with rings and ribbons, then the whole thing is placed in the front corner of the house. Next, the participants of the holiday wear masks, dance and eat bear meat all night.

Northern inhabitants of the country and their customs

The Eskimos firmly settled on the territory of Chukotka. According to the 2010 census, about 1,800 people of this nationality live in Russia. These people are not affected by Christianity; they believe in spirits and natural phenomena. Among them there are shamans who expel evil spirits and serve as healers. Eskimos say that rain is the tears of the dead, and the northern lights are the play of deceased children. According to the theory of the people, everything around has a soul and can be restored; it is for the purpose of restoration that they throw away part of the carcass of a killed animal.

The Eskimos have a funeral ritual. The deceased is dressed in new clothes, covered with deer skins and tied with belts. They take it out through a passage made in advance, which is then sealed. The body of the deceased is taken to the tundra, covered with stones, cut things and broken objects. Now this tradition is gradually being replaced by modern funeral rites.

The Koryaks, who are considered avid hunters, still live in Kamchatka and the Chukotka Peninsula to this day. That is why their holidays are closely connected with animals, for example, in the spring they celebrate the festival of horns, and in the fall - the day of slaughtering deer. People of this nationality try to imitate animals, and this can be seen even in dances and songs.

Koryaks honor the wedding ceremonies of their ancestors. In the old days, a man had to pass several tests to win a woman's affections. At first, he was forced to work for several days in the yard of his future father-in-law, thereby demonstrating his skills and abilities. Then he was told to catch up with his beloved and touch her body. This ritual was a kind of reconstruction of a hunt.

No less interesting was the funeral rite of the Koryaks. The body of the deceased was burned at the stake, and necessary things (bows, arrows) and gifts to deceased relatives were sent to the fire. People believed that in gratitude the deceased would help kill a good animal. The Koryaks prepared for death in advance, for example, they sewed clothes while the person was still alive, but the final ties were made only after death.

In fact, there are many peoples living in Russia whose traditions and rituals are considered wild for modern Russian people. However, each culture is interesting and unusual in its own way.

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Introduction

Social norms of society in their complex normatively regulate all social relations and, through the transformative activities of people, actively influence the process of formation of material and spiritual values

Relevance. In the system of social norms and in the regulation of social relations, traditions, customs and rituals are beginning to play an increasingly prominent role. They are effective social regulators of many aspects of people's social and personal lives.

All this suggests that a thorough scientific study of the problem of traditions and customs is necessary, to clarify the role in the life of society, the nature and forms of their relationship with each other and with other social norms, including legal ones. Only since the 60s of the 20th century has the activity of its research in philosophical literature increased noticeably. A.K. made a certain contribution to the development of this problem. Aliev, R.M. Magomedov, M.M. Muminov, V.I. Novikov, B.S. Salamov, N.S. Sarsenbaev, I. V. Sukhanov, I.M. Sushkov, A. Chotonov and others.

Since the social value and significance of rituals, traditions and customs is determined mainly by the fact that they act as regulators of social relations, special independent studies of their normative nature are necessary.

The purpose of this work is to consider the role of customs, traditions and rituals in the regulation of social relations.

1. Social norms of society (concept, purpose, varieties)

Understanding the concept of a social norm will help to reveal its essence as a regulator of social relations, to clarify its social purpose and role in the life of society, and this is inextricably linked with a more general and complex problem - the management of society. Management of social processes is inherent in society at all stages of its development. It provides the necessary conditions for the normal functioning of the entire social organism. From here follows not only scientific, but also practical interest in the forms, means and methods of managing the affairs of society.

When considering very complex issues of social management, we proceed from a fundamental position, the essence of which is that the entire social life of people, their everyday diverse social connections and relationships are predetermined by the objective laws of social development, operating independently of the will and consciousness of people. However, unlike the laws of nature, the laws of social development manifest themselves only through the conscious behavior of people, act as the laws of their life, and find their concrete manifestation in the volitional actions of people. The degree of knowledge of these objective laws determines the social value of people’s actions, since the laws of social development themselves do not act as direct regulators of relations between people, but are manifested in various social norms that reflect the needs and interests of people and influence their behavior. Social norms penetrate into all spheres of social life and normatively regulate social relations. This is their main social value and purpose.

The study of a particular phenomenon usually begins with an understanding of the semantic load that the researcher puts into the categories he is considering.

In our literature there is still no generally accepted terminology; there are different interpretations, especially when revealing such concepts as “norm”, “tradition”, “custom”, “rite”. The discrepancy in terminology when studying any phenomenon makes it difficult to understand it. G.V. Plekhanov once noted that in any somewhat accurate research, whatever its subject, it is necessary to adhere to strictly defined terminology. Plekhanov G.V. Selected philosophical works, vol. II. - M.: NORM, 2006. P. 248

A norm is a mandatory generally accepted rule of human behavior. In the field of social life, the concept of “norm” conveys the requirement for a certain behavior of people in society, in their relationships with each other, with society, with the objects and natural phenomena that surround them.

When formulating the general concept of a social norm, it would be unlawful to extend the specific features inherent in certain types of social norms to all of their types, especially if we are talking about such features by which they differ from each other. It is known that social norms do not always arise as a result of establishment by the relevant competent authorities. This is a specific feature only of legal norms and norms of public organizations, which cannot be fully attributed to such types of social norms as traditions, customs, morality, norms of aesthetic behavior, which are formed in other ways.

When identifying ways of forming norms of traditions and customs, rules of aesthetic behavior and many moral norms, one should not lose sight of the fact that these norms are not the result of a special rule-making process, but arise in most cases on the basis of the actual relations of people, gradually take shape in their consciousness, therefore, they do not immediately act in ready-made form as regulators of human behavior. Before acquiring the property of the regulator they. pass through unique stages of social recognition as rules of behavior. Matuzov N.I. Legal system and personality. 5th edition, revised and expanded. - Saratov: Prima-S Publishing House, 2007. P.77

A social norm is a general, mandatory rule of socially significant behavior established by the relevant competent authorities or developed on the basis of repeated relationships between people. It expresses their will, conditioned by the material development of society, is provided by various means of implementation, and has as its purpose the purposeful regulation of social relations.

This definition, in our opinion, reflects the general features inherent in all social norms operating in society.

The further development of society, its split into opposing classes, complicates the entire structure of its organization, necessitating the need to strictly regulate the vital activity of the social organism with its diverse connections and relationships. Plekhanov G.V. Selected philosophical works, vol. II. - M.: NORM, 2006. P. 251

In society, law is the main, but not the only means of normative regulation of social relations. Along with legal norms and in close connection with them, there are other social norms that actively influence various spheres of people’s public and personal life. The essence and features of law, its place and role in social life can be correctly understood only insofar as legal norms are considered as an interacting component of the general system of social norms.

2. The essence and characteristics of traditions and customs as independent types of social norms of Soviet society

As stated above, law is not the only means of normative regulation of social relations. In close connection with law, the behavior of people in their everyday public and personal lives is also regulated by other social norms, including traditions, customs, and rituals.

In legal literature, the problem of the essence of traditions and customs, their significance as social regulators, has not been developed deeply enough. The reasons for this, in our opinion, are, firstly, the underestimation of their role in public life, secondly, the fact that many authors spoke out against identifying customs as a special type of social norms, thirdly, the lack of study of the problem bordering them - social psychology, although without understanding social psychology “one cannot take a single step in history, literature, art, philosophy, etc...”. Plekhanov G.V. Selected philosophical works, vol. II. - M.: NORM, 2006. P. 256.

In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in interest in the problem of traditions and customs on the part of government bodies and representatives of various branches of the social sciences and humanities.

A study of the literature that has appeared on this issue shows a variety of views on the concept of customs, their place in the system of social norms and roles in the life of society. Some authors identify the concepts of “tradition” and “custom”; others point out the inadmissibility of such identification and highlight distinctive features in them. Some scientists consider customs to be an independent type of rules, others - just a form, a manifestation of various norms.

The reasons for these disagreements, in our opinion, are, on the one hand, the lack of clarity in the very concepts of “tradition” and “custom”, on the other hand, differences in the criteria that are taken as a basis by individual authors when analyzing these complex phenomena of social life. At the same time, numerous folk, national, professional, local and other traditions and customs exist and operate in society, which guide people in their everyday social and personal lives. This necessitates a thorough study of the problem of traditions and customs.

In this case, it would be necessary: ​​a) to formulate a scientific definition of the very concepts of “tradition” and “custom”, to find out what is common to these social phenomena and these are the features inherent in them; b) identify, generalize and systematize known traditions and customs operating in society; c) study and generalize the attitude of government bodies and public organizations towards various traditions and customs; d) identify and determine the place and role in the life of society of old traditions and customs that are harmful relics of the past; e) study and generalize the forms and methods of combating traditions and customs of this kind; f) analyze the conditions, mechanisms and patterns of the emergence and formation of new traditions and customs, the ways and forms of their establishment in the life of Russian society; g) prospects for their development, together with other socialist norms, into unified rules of communist life. It is unlikely that it will be possible to consider all these issues with equal completeness in one work and through the efforts of one author, and we do not set ourselves such a task in this case.

The mechanism of influence of traditions and customs on social relations deserves attention. When clarifying it, it is necessary to analyze the norm, which, as in law, in traditions and customs, constitutes the main core of the mechanism of influence on social relations, although it does not have such a degree of detail in people’s behavior. This especially applies to the norms of tradition. In this regard, the question arises about the functions of traditions and customs. This issue has not yet been developed in the literature, although it is in the functions that the essence and social purpose of traditions and customs are revealed. In this case, limiting ourselves only to posing this question, we believe that traditions and customs perform, in particular, the following basic functions: a) regulate social relations; b) accumulate and transmit people’s experience. Further study of these issues may lead to the identification of other functions of these social norms; in particular, it makes sense to talk about the educational function of traditions and customs.

This is the definition of tradition given by I.V. Sukhanov: Traditions are not regulated by legal regulations, supported by the power of public opinion, forms of transferring to new generations ways of implementing the ideological relations that have developed in the life of a given class, society (political, moral, religious, aesthetic). Sukhanov I.V.. Customs, traditions and continuity of generations. 5th edition (revised). - M.: Phoenix, 2008. P. 58 There are many types of traditions, for example, the author of the book “Customs, Traditions and Continuity of Generations”, I.V. Sukhanov gives an example of revolutionary traditions, and defines them as the process of reproduction in new generations of Soviet people of those moral and political qualities that were developed by the Russian working class during the period of three revolutions and the civil war. The ultimate goal of traditions comes down to introducing the activities of the new generation into the channel along which the activities of older generations developed, believes I.V. Sukhanov. And we completely agree with this opinion, because it was not in vain that our ancestors passed on the traditions of, say, arable farming, from generation to generation, so that their sons would not repeat the mistakes made by their fathers, but for some reason we believe that according to tradition, we should do everything the way our ancestors did, and this is a deeply wrong opinion. Meanwhile, it is difficult for the previous generation to pass on all the socially accumulated experience, because activities related to traditions are so multifaceted that the generation tries to direct development in line with these traditions, and not exactly following in the footsteps of their fathers. That is, tradition does not regulate behavior in detail in specific situations, but solves the problem through the regulation of spiritual qualities necessary for correct, from the point of view of a given class, society, behavior in one or another area of ​​public or personal life. From here we see that traditions function in all social systems and are a necessary condition for their life. Thus, traditions transmit, consolidate and support diverse social experiences and thereby create a spiritual connection between generations. Traditions perform two social functions: they are a means of stabilizing the relations established in a given society and carry out the reproduction of these relations in the lives of new generations.

The norm of tradition and custom performs its main function as a regulator of people’s behavior in various spheres of their social and personal life, mainly by influencing the emotional psychological side of a person with the help of such additional means as rituals, music, song, artistic images and other visual and emotional Components. This can be traced on the ritual side of work and family traditions and customs. The rite of initiation into the rank of worker, grain grower instills in those entering an independent labor path a view of themselves as successors, heirs and continuers of the glorious labor traditions and deeds of their elders, teaches young people to see in their creative work a continuation of the labor heroism of their fathers and grandfathers.

Particularly vivid artistic ritual is inherent in the customs and traditions of the sphere of everyday life and family and marriage relations, where these norms penetrate most deeply into the consciousness and psychology of people.

3. Historical destinies and prospects for the development of law, traditions, customs and rituals

When studying the problem of historical destinies and prospects for the development of law, traditions, customs and rituals, it is necessary to note that in Russian legal, sociological, and philosophical literature, until recently, there was almost no economic justification for the development of law and other social norms into the rules of a democratic society, and development prospects were not taken into account one or another type of social norms in connection with changes in the economy of our country over the past decades.

Economic ties of people, property relations ultimately determine the changes taking place in the state-legal superstructure, in the views of people and institutions of a given era.

The progressive traditions and customs of the past, adopted by Soviet society and further developed, as well as the established new traditions and customs that have become generally accepted norms of behavior, thoroughly reflect the most stable ties and relationships of society.

In relation to law, as a system of norms regulating social relations, it is possible to identify and trace the following, in particular, the main ways and directions of its development. Aliev A.K. Works on sociology. 3rd edition: revised and expanded. - M.: Infa-M, 2007. P.205

First of all, changes in the nature of lawmaking should be taken into account. In its process, changes occur in the ways of forming legal norms, associated with the expansion of democracy in this process, the involvement of the broad masses of people and their organizations in law-making, which, in its social content, is increasingly turning into nationwide law-making. At the same time, there is close interaction between representative and direct democracy, government bodies and public organizations, the latter is reflected in the growth of joint acts adopted by government bodies and public organizations. Salamov B.S. Sociology. - M.: NORMA-M, 2007. P.160

The democratization of the law-making process and legal regulation of developing social relations is also reflected in the fact that Russian society and the state are increasingly taking into account and using forms of mediation of social connections and relationships based on the initiative of their participants. Moral incentives are widely developed and used. Traditions, customs and other non-legal norms are involved in the intensive circulation of normative regulation of people’s behavior and the formation of their consciousness; there is a shift and sometimes replacement of one type of responsibility with another, for example, criminal legal responsibility - administrative.

One should also keep in mind the changes occurring in the legal norms themselves and leading to the gradual loss by the latter of the properties and features of a legal nature, their gradual convergence in their content and motives for compliance with non-legal norms. In the process of these transformations, subjective rights and obligations are organically united into unified rules of human behavior; subjective rights in their content, motives for implementation, and the attitude of participants in public relations towards them are increasingly intertwined with moral obligations. Matuzov N.I. Legal system and personality. 5th edition, revised and expanded. - Saratov: Prima-S Publishing House, 2007. P.39

Legal norms and societies are steadily improving, gradually losing their inherent legal characteristics.

The convergence and interpenetration of law and morality, morality and traditions, traditions and norms of public organizations, traditions and customs, etc. takes place both in rule-making and in the implementation of norms in all spheres of life of our society.

Customs, traditions and rituals, as rules of behavior, have been known to people since ancient times. They arose at the dawn of human society, accompany all stages of its development and develop with it.

Conclusion

Customs occupy a special position in the system of social norms - these are rules of behavior that develop in a certain social environment, are passed on from generation to generation, act as a natural life need of people, and as a result of their repeated repetition become habitual for them. They are somewhat less related to the law than, for example, moral norms, but, nevertheless, they are not neutral.

Legal norms and customs have a number of common features inherent in all social norms: they are general, mandatory rules of human behavior, indicating what human actions should or can be, in the opinion of certain groups.

At the same time, customs and rules of law differ from each other in origin, form of expression, and method of ensuring implementation. If customs appeared with the emergence of human society, then the rules of law exist in a state-organized society; if customs are not enshrined in special acts, but are contained in the minds of people, then the rules of law exist in certain forms; if customs are ensured by the power of public opinion, then the rules of law can be implemented taking into account the possibility of state coercion.

As for traditions and rituals, despite their stability and conservatism, they are being destroyed. In the process of development of society, tradition is supplemented by other means of reproduction and is subject to the integrity and sustainability of culture (ideology, law, religion, politics and other forms of spirituality).

List of used literature

1. Aliev A.K. Works on sociology. 3rd edition: revised and expanded. - M.: Infa-M, 2007. - 450 p.

2. Berezhnov A.G. Personal rights: some theoretical issues. - M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 2005. - 389 p.

3. Berezhnov A.G. Sociology and cultural studies. - M.: Infa-M, 2006. - 350 p.

4. Varisov M. S. and Karapetyan L. N. National traditions and remnants of the past. - M., 2008. - 190 p.

5. Vasilevich G. A. Sociology: Textbook. - M.: Interpress, 2005. - 402 p.

6. Drach G.V. Culturology. - Rostov-on-Don, 2006

7. Erasov B. S. Social cultural studies: a guide for students of higher educational institutions. - Third edition. - M.: Aspect Press, 2006. - 591 p.

8. Kogan L.N. Sociology of culture. - M., 2005. - 300 p.

9. Matuzov N.I. Legal system and personality. 5th edition, revised and expanded. - Saratov: Prima-S Publishing House, 2007. - 300 p.

10. Nikonov K.M. Sociology. - M.: Infa, 2006. - 280 p.

11. Plekhanov G.V. Selected philosophical works, vol. II. - M.: NORM, 2006. - 360 p.

12. Salamov B.S. Sociology. - M.: NORMA-M, 2007. - 377 p.

13. Salnikov V.P. Social legal culture. 3rd edition, revised and expanded) - Saratov. SPU Publishing House, 2007.

14. Spirkin A.G. Sociology: course of lectures. - M.: PRIM, 2006. - 170 p.

15. Sukhanov I.V.. Customs, traditions and continuity of generations. 5th edition (revised). - M.: Phoenix, 2008. - 475 p.

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