A sociological analysis of conflicts in Russian customs authorities

The study discussed the interaction of customs officers and provided the theoretical and empirical analysis of conflicts in Russian customs authorities. The author presented and examined the results of the first stage of the research entitled the Assessment of Organizational Conflict Management Techniques in Customs Authorities. At the first stage, the author solved the following tasks: to determine the specific nature of customs-related conflicts, to establish the extent of customs officers’ inclusion in conflict, to identify the causes of conflicts. The respondents (customs officers and expert researchers in the field of sociology of management and psychology, managerial staff) noted the following aspects of customs-related conflicts: the strict requirements for personal characteristics of potential customs authorities; competent bodies supervising employees and the possible identification of a troublemaker; the great personal responsibility. The sociological survey confirmed the need for a comprehensive assessment of conflict relations in customs authorities to find the effective techniques of conflict management.