Cele i dążenia życiowe młodzieży polskiej w latach 1989-1990

Abstract

In the present study I try to show the aims and aspirations, that is to say life values of the Polish youth in the first phase of transformation from the so-called real socialism to democratic market-minded society (1989-1990). The main idea is to examine the attitude of the young generation towards those values. The latter determines to a large extent life orientation and social functioning of the youth from the turn of '80s and '90s, in the transformation phase from the totalitarian to democratic system. An empirical basis to give an answer to the above questions is the sociological research carried out by the Institute of the Sociology of Religion SAC in Warszawa among the youth from secondary schools (Łuków, Lechów) and among the soldiers doing their military service in Polish Army. Apart from the above there were also researches carried out by the Institute of the Sociology of Religion KUL among the youth from secondary schools (Pionki, Galiny) and working youth (Niedomice). The researches will be analyzed against the background of the previous all-national sociological researches carried out in the years 1988- 1989 by KUL and ATK (J. Mariański, W. Piwowarski and W. Zdaniewicz). The sociological analyses proved that aims and aspirations of the youth are diverse. The concrete values prevail more than the general ones, egoistic-individual more than pro-social. Among the accepted everyday values there dominates an attitude centred on the family and small groups. It is not youth explicitly engaged in social affairs nor youth without perspectives. The everyday values are also most often the determinants of the sense of life. Contrary to expectations the material values are not so explicit, though it is quite commonly thought that in the beginning of the '90s there was a stronger tendency towards gaining material goods. It may be so that even those who highly estimate material goods do not consent to it eagerly. At the level of existential consiousness we deal with values which refer to partial senses, markedly rarer to the ultimate sense. The man lost in the partial senses misses the sense which embraces the totality and concentrates on the aims of self-realization understood superficially. Such threats can be referred to moral consciousness of the Polish youth.