Applying a Structural Equation Model to Evaluate the Correlation Between Public Security and Social Capital in Iran

The social capital of a nation is the sum of social stability and the well-being (perceived or real) of the entire population. Social capital generates social cohesion and a certain level of consensus. Social capital is inherent in the community spirit. This leads to the realization of the community's goals and the creation of a competitive advantage and its survival. Social capital is one of the main components that promotes security and makes society healthy, calm and desirable. This type of capital is the raw material of civil society that comes from the daily interaction of people and creates social relations and social networks based on the principles of trust, reciprocal cooperation and rules of social action. Because people carry it in their minds, social capital cannot be seen and measured objectively, yet its consequences and manifestations are measurable. In this study, we used Putnam's definition of social capital because the operation of social capital is intuitively attractive in terms of networks, norms, and trust in society, and it is easy to find relationships between individuals and these characteristics.According to statistics provided by SolAbility, the average global ranking of social capital in 2021 was 44. Iran's score and ranking among 180 countries was 40.9 and 106, respectively. In the global ranking of Legatum Institute, Iran is ranked 131st and 89th among 167 countries in terms of safety, security and social capital. Therefore, our country is not in a good position in terms of public security and social capital. In fact, one of our challenges today is the decline of public security and social capital.This study's intent is to investigate the relationship between social capital and public security. The case study covers the country at provincial level. We discussed social capital in two groups: cognitive social capital (Includes trust and norm) and structural social capital (Includes quality and network structure). Public security was also examined in four groups: social security, life security, economic security and physical security. Each component was broken down into subcomponents, and finally 120 indicators were set to measure the relationship between public safety and social capital.In order to collect data, the statistical yearbook of 1398, the statistical data of the Central Bank and the National Survey of Iranian values ​​and attitudes have been used. Data processing was performed by the method of reflective model of structural equations based on variance using Smart PLS software.The result showed that increase in social capital have positive relationships with public security. Structural and cognitive social capital define 55.6 percent of changes in public security’s variable variance. The results confirm the research hypothesis that increasing social capital increases public security. Eventually provinces were ranked based on social capital and security into three level. ANOVA analysis showed that there is a significant difference between different groups in terms of social capital and public security. The results show that the provinces of Fars, Bushehr, West Azerbaijan and Kurdistan have strong social capital and high public security.