Psychological foundations of legal nihilism

Introduction: the paper discusses the psychological foundations of legal nihilism through the prism of law as a socio-cultural and psychological integrity. The purpose of the study is to analyze legal nihilism from the point of view of legal psychology and to determine the ways to overcome the psychological deformation of legal consciousness. Objectives of the work: to identify the factors that generate psychological deformation of legal consciousness, to determine the role of legal mentality and psychological dominant in the formation of legal nihilism, to characterize the role of intuitive law in the perception and implementation of positive law, to identify the main directions of the educational process to overcome this negative phenomenon. Methods: dialectical-materialistic, synergetic, interdisciplinary, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, interpretation of law, legal modeling. Results: legal nihilism has deep conscious-unconscious psychological foundations of deformed legal consciousness associated with the implementation of dominant attitudes, emotional experiences and forms of psychological protection. Due in law becomes an actual legal regulator only if the individual’s psyche passes and accepts his internalization. Otherwise, the law, as a rational-imperative rule, will cause psychological opposition to implementation. Conclusions: ignoring the psychological component of the state policy in the field of legal education and legal realization against the background of the aggravation of military danger, external isolation, sanctions policy, pandemic, falling living standards of the population will lead to an increase in legal nihilism. The way out is the legalization and legitimization of power, the improvement of the democratic and social orientation of the state through the investment support of the state, the innovative restructuring of the economic mechanism, the consolidation of society around the state power, increasing the level of psychological culture of educational and disciplinary processes.