مجله مطالعات اجتماعی ایران
سال ششم شماره 1 (پیاپی 17، بهار 1391)

The roleofvalues of the massesin transition todemocracy has become particularly salientinrecent years. The conceptual genealogy indicatesthe emphasisof thinkerslikeAristotleandPlato onthe importance of theroleofcitizens’valuesinpolicy,yetinrecent decades the research on the ‘civic culture’conducted by investigators such asAlmondandVerba´s has increasingly directed attention to this phenomena. The present study is carried out in the same way as those of the above, but has utilized more innovativeideas and experiencesonthe subject of values. The dataused totestthe mainhypothesisof this study are obtained from the 2005and 2008surveywaves of WorldValuesSurvey (WVS). The presentsurveywas conductedin Iran in 2007with2667samples. Inthisdata set,locationofrespondents isprovided inoneoftherecorded variables, so it is possible to compare the selfexpressionvalues of different provinces. In all, our analysis was carried out for 19 provinces among provinces of Iran, considering some modification for the number of provinces. The results indicate a significant relationship between the status of human development index (HDI) and its subsidiaries, the per capita income, life expectancy and education levels with the self-expressionvalues that is the democratic political culturetype. Resultsalsoshowthat, Human developmentIndex, explains more than28.2% of the varianceofa democraticpolitical cultureinIran.

Among social scientists, the theory of deprivation is the most common and prevailing one for the explanation of people’s religiosity. However, the contradictory results of empirical studies, has on the one hand turned the credibility of this theory intoa controversy and on the other, the said studies have been conducted within the non-Islamic religious traditions. Hence, the present paper is an attempt to empirically assess the general contentions of the theory of deprivation among Muslim population of Iran. Therefore, in the first place, the theoretical contentions of the theory of deprivation have been formulated as the following hypotheses: there are positive relations between subjective & objective deprivation and religiosity. The hypotheses were tested by collecting the survey data from more than 4,000 Iranian Muslims to find out the level of compatibility or incompatibility of the theoretical predictions of the deprivation with empirical evidences. Overall, the findings of the present paper do not seriously and reliability support the theory of deprivation for explanation of the level of religiosity among Iranian Muslims.

Urban life is the most sensible manifestation indicatingthe penetration of modernity into human societies. Thus, the urge of belonging to collectivities and of presence in social spheres has become one of the basic needs of the contemporary human beings. Urban life is regarded to be the most important influence on the modern Iranian life style.The utilization of public spheres in different societies depends on variables such as age, gender, social group, ethnic and racial minorities and the like. These variables tend to influence the degree and manner of presence in the urban public spheres. Identity crisis has deepened within the youth and it is being extended from superficial and unstable aspects to action-related and stable subjective aspects. Today the young individual not only feels the need of adjusting to social and informal norms but he/she feels compelled to manipulate the behavioral habits, however much regarded not so desirable. The present paper aims to study how identity-related social and cultural contexts and youth-related situations are formed and evolved concerning the female youth of the city of Rafsanjan, which is located at the South-East of the country. This study is based on qualitative methods of urban anthropology using data gathered by interview and field observation during summer and fall of 2012, on a group of 50 girl students in the city. The results show a high degree of dissatisfaction of these girls with their everyday life situation. The content analysis results show that psycho-social pressures exerted on girls both by the family and by the informal law influence their thoughts as well as their actions in a way that their gender identity has become highlighted. The findings also indicate a conflicting situation which offers a dichotomized alternative for girls and women in facing the tradition/modernity fault and in adjusting to it. The overall situation distorts their identity formation processes.

Due to demographic transition, aged people or elders in contemporary Iran constitute a considerable part of the Iranian population. The aim of this study is to evaluate factors that influence subjective well-being of aged people. This research has been conducted via survey method using questionnaire on 400 aged people (65+). According to the findings, there is significant relationship between subjective well-being of the elders and the following characteristics: age, gender, education, marital status, income, type of home, life facilities, religious beliefs, health, job, self esteem, and quality of life. Also, only life facilities, religious beliefs, self esteem, quality of life entered in multivariate regression equation and showed direct relation with it. These variables could explain 51 percent of dependant variable variance. Self esteem had the highest direct effect on subjective well-being of aging (0.60) and life facilities had the highest total effect on subjective well-being of aged people (0.36). Therefore, findings indicate that the elders’ basic needs have not been satisfied yet.

Domestic violence is the most common form of the violence against women entailing deep social, economic and psychological outcomes. This study explores the relationship between Spousal Abuse (violence against women in the family) and other factors which influence the issue. The aim of this study is to understand and to measure the rate of spousal abuse and violence against women in the city of Ravansar (Kermanshah province). To determine the influential factors in propagation of violence, theories related to cultural identity, patriarchy, intergenerational transmission and methods of gender role socialization are used. This is a survey-method research utilizing aquestionnaire completed by 200 married women respondents in the city, within the period thattheir marriage wasat least one year old. The cluster sampling andsystematic sampling methods were implemented. The results show that there are various dimensions of violence in the society. The most common type of violence is the psychological violence and sexual violence and the lowest rates of violence is the economic one. The results, also, show that there is a significant relationship between the image of the authoritarian man derived from his gender role and violence against women.There is, however, an inverse relationship between participation of the husbandin household chores and violence against women. The results show that there is a significant relationship between, men’s and women’s violence experienced in their families of the origin (i.e. their parents) and the violence against women.

Acquiring full knowledge of illegal markets, prostitution included, is difficult and in some cases impossible. However, without knowing the characteristics of these markets, it is not possible to design any intervention policy to prevent, control or decrease it. The sample of this study consists of women active in prostitution in all 22municipal districts of Tehran. Findings show that in the prostitution market - almost like in any other marketrules of supply and demand affect and determine many factors, although they do not explain the main causes and effects. Examining the components of income and working shifts of prostitutes shows that the following factors have a meaningful and significant effect on level of income: 1- costs 2- current age, 3- stomping ground (location to find customers) 4- rate per intercourse (normal) 5- number of clients 6- level of experience. Finding also show that the dominant pattern for street prostitution in Tehran is individually based, and economically speaking, a ‘market’ has not been fully shaped in this section yet. The formation of a prostitution market in Iran has been hampered by the low rate of income compared to rate of inflation, impossibility of organizing, developing and diversifying activities, low human trafficking (foreign women) into Iran and lack of possibility to invest in this section. Age for entering prostitution is between 16 to 22 years in Iran, which is higher than global ranges. Also comparing some of the market factors, including spatial and temporal distribution of prostitution activity, the number of customers, income and expenses, with the findings of international studies shows that the prostitution market is geographically concentrated in Tehran. There, it is located in the main streets of the city, thusin this case,it bears similarities with global patterns. Like most similar studies in other countries, busy days of the week are the weekends in Iran, but the demand, revenue and expenses follow different patterns. In conclusion, this research emphasis on poverty reduction as a sustainable strategy to control social problems, including prostitution,follows the argument that ignoring such strategy will result in formation and growth of illegal markets.

This article is an attempt to understand the subjectivity of the social subjects (students) within two different effective discourses of the family and school. In this article, the presumption is that these two institutions are not bidirectional and differ in both goals and operations. This difference affects the lives of students and will influence their identity. To determine this purpose a qualitative interview is conducted with 30 students, 5 School authorities and 15 parents. Thus four factors of family and school discourses will be compared: studying, religion, political training and discipline. Each of these four factors finds itself in possession of the students and would try to form students’ subjectivity according to their ideals. Thus, sometimes at goals level and sometimes at operations level, there is a struggle going on. These struggles cause the students identity to be called in different positions. The most important difference between school and family is in their degree of independence from government’s discourses.