نشریه زن در توسعه و سیاست
سال یکم شماره 4 (تابستان 1381)

Violence against women especially partner violence involves 1/3 of women worldwide. This research is performed with an analytic cross sectional design and its’ purpose is to determine the prevalence of intimate partner violence among married women in medical science catchments area (Tehran University) during the year of 2001. 348 married women were selected from 6 Health Centers by multi-stage sampling. They were assisted by health care workers for filling the questionnaires. Prevalence rate of the violence against wife was 41.7% in this study which is comparable with western countries especially United States. The most frequent reports of violence included: negligence 61%, contempt 37% and lewdness 30%. For controlling the confounders logistic regression analysis was done and after excluding of confounders four factors were significantly associated with wife abuse: (1) history of mothers striking by father, (2) history of mothers contempt by father,(3) criminal history of husbands and history of psychological disorder in women.

There is no single sociological theory which can explain the full extent of women's social participation in the developing countries. An analytical framework is developed to serve the objectives of the research. This article presents a summary of most important findings on the types and intensity of women's social participation in the city of Tehran. Factors related to their social participation are divided into four groups: values- culture, family, personality and socio-economic characteristics of the individual and her family.. Religious and charity organizations have the highest rate of participation (over the group mean) and the levels of other types of social participations are much lower. Based on the intensity of social participations women are grouped into four categories: (1) Absolutely non-participants 38%, (2) Isolationists 31%, (3) Cultural participants 14% and (4) Social Participants 16%. Structural and family norms are among the most important factors related to low levels of participation.

In the recent decades sociologists of occupation have paid more attention to the gender differences in the process of work socialization and job selection. Gender gaps at the management level is one of the most important issues for educated women, however it has not been studied as much. This article presents findings of a research on occupational positions of female faculty members at three universities of Tehran, Shahid Beheshti and Allameh Tabatabae, in the years of 1991 and 2001. Researches’ conclusion show the relation of gender factor to the appointments of management positions at the universities. Although during past ten years, women have gained more knowledge and experience, but they are mostly active at the lower level of management and still are absent at the higher management levels. Although, there is slight decrease in the feeling of discrimination from 1991 to 2001, majority of female faculty members (55%) think, still there is discrimination against them in occupational mobility and cultural factors are the most important impediments.

Women’s management has brought up admirable achievements in the organizations of different countries. But in most of the government organizations of Iran the tendency is toward appointing male managers. It seems the reasons of such selection are more gender factor rather than capacities and abilities of appointees. According to management theories, there are many factors behind the issue. This article aims to answer the question of:" With the improvements in women's education and social participations in recent years, why women do not have access to managerial positions in the government?” Factors of organization’s culture, male manager's attitude toward women and their managerial skills have been studied. The findings provide evidences on negative attitudes of male decision-makers about women's abilities for management. Also, organizational culture does not favor the presence of women at the management level. In addition, there is no significant difference between male and female managers in their cognitive skills.

Sociology as the science interested in human relations has been critisized for ignoring women's issues. Evidences on male dominated social science, along with marginalization of women as sociologists and population to be studied from their own perspectives, can be provided on different grounds. The present article takes a critical approach to study women's position in the scientific journals of sociology in Iran. Journals of University of Tehran, Allameh Tabatabae University, and Association of Sociology have been reviewed. The findings show two levels of decision making: 1) Higher level of decision –making with more authority on selecting articles for publication and policies of the journal, e.g. editorial board or scientific committees. 2) Lower level of decision –making with consultative positions such as reviewers of the articles. Women are mostly absents in higher level of decision making. However, they have been asked to review some articles based on their specialty areas. The journal of "Women's Research" is the exception.

Iranian women's economic participation rate is similar to undeveloped countries, while their educational achievements can be compared with developed countries. The aim of this article is to discuss some of the factors related to the situation. According to the policies of Third Development Plan, the rate of employment in government sector should decline and the opportunities for new employment is meager. At the same time, ineffectiveness and disadvantages of the informal sector, makes it unattractive to women with higher education. Therefore the study of costs affecting female employment in private sector is crucial. The article presents its discussion with the emphasis on costs to employers, as well as the costs to the society from a developmental perspective. A review of Labor Law provides information on; how Law as formal institution have been developed to protect women’s right for employment and informal institutions,(.cultural and social) have had impacts on it. With present Labor Law, the costs are imposed on the employers, and as the result women have lost the opportunities to work. Therefore a new approach is needed to distribute the costs between government and employers.

The findings of model proves the effects of educational levels as the most important factor on the probability of urban women's participation in the labor market. It is predicted, the increase of women's share with higher education (university degrees) will result in an annual increase equal to 0.5 percent in the rate of urban women's participation in the coming years. Also, delayed marriages and increased share of unmarried girls in the total female population, is the second important factor. In addition, changes in age structure of the population as well as decreasing trend of purchasing power of the households will help to increase the rate of participation. The model provides information on the unemployment rate of women and its distinguished impacts on the diminishing rate of women's participation in the labor market.

This article presents the findings of a research on the relations between coping styles of crisis and socio-economic status of the family, as two important non-cognitive factors, and academic achievements of young female students. 328 third grade students were selected through multi-stage random sampling from junior schools of Tehran. Data on coping with crisis test (CISS) and grade point average are statistically analyzed. Results indicate a positive relation between "problem-oriented coping style" and academic achievement. Also socio-economic status of the family and academic achievement are related. There is no significant relation between "coping style with stress” and academic achievement. It seems young girls with higher achievements apply more problem -oriented coping style while students with lower academic achievement have a stress coping mechanism.

The objective of present article is to discuss women’s image as presented in computer games and their ascribed roles by meta-analysis of research findings. Play and games are mechanism for learning society’s norms and values in the process of socialization. Electronic games are the innovation of 70’s and reached its highest diffusion rate in the Mid. 80s. From sociological perspective these games affects children’s perception of gender. Based on researches of different games, one can conclude that women are mostly presented in passive roles and sometimes in its extreme as victims. However men usually have active roles and are the heroes. The content of the games are developed to be more attractive for boys and girls’ interests are ignored. As the result computer games are mostly male orientated and provide a negative image of women for children.