The dissertation conceptualizes a responsibility phenomenon in respect of current social changes and is based on theoretical points of modern sociology, taking into account the results of the close scientific spheres. The author determined the heuristic potential of social responsibility from the standpoint of moral sociology and articulated its meaning as the factor, which unites people in a society, structuring communication and being an indicator of qualitative actors' cooperation, which enables to differentiate communities according to the criterion of responsibility, to determine the responsibility specific weight in social capital of a society and the essence of responsibility basic displays in social and cultural context. Having analyzed the present definitions of responsibility in modern science and also in close spheres, the author forms her own definition of social responsibility, i. e. a characteristic or state of actors, who belong to different levels, actualizing in a special way, which makes people take responsibility with respect to other actors, events, objects, processes, and life conditions, social and natural environment. As a result, the types of social responsibility/ irresponsibility as a certain aggregate attitude to social actors, situations, processes, events, levels of responsibility were determined and empirically verified, the variants of responsibility modification in current situation were studied. On the material of empirical sociological research the author determined and analyzed the state and type of responsibility in a current society, the influence of societal responsibility on various life spheres of a person and society, evaluated the state of responsibility in a society by people of different age, made a comparative analysis of citizens' responsibility for a society and state responsibility before its people, outlined responsibility to future as one of the key ones taking into account the possibility of ecological disasters.
