فصلنامه برنامه ریزی رفاه و توسعه اجتماعی
پیاپی 23 (تابستان 1394)

Social Security, in its broad sense, has always been one of human wishes and humans have always been concerned with a secure and comfortable life – a life free from any worries and suffering so as to enable humans to engage in more transcendental aspects of life and not worry about unclear future while doing a living. In the modern world, this earliest goal is achieved through social security and particularly efficient social insurance systems and social support and contributions. These were included and asserted in the Principle 29 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran. The present paper aims to answer the primary question of the research: to what extent were the justice discourses dominating social security considered in the four governments after Islamic revolution in Iran, namely Holy Defense Government (Moosavi cabinet), Construction Government (Rafsanjani cabinet), Reform Government (Khatami cabinet) and Justice-oriented Fundamentalist Government (Ahmadinejad cabinet)? To answer this question, the qualitative method, and the Norman Fairclough, Ernesto LacLau and Chantal Mouffe discourse analysis methods were used. Besides, the research was grounded on social justice as a blank signifier and "social security" as a central indicator. Given that measures taken in the area of social security include four sectors of insurance, social support, rehabilitation and first aid, results from discourse analysis suggest that the blank signifier, i.e. social justice, is limited to the framework of the central indicator, social security, throughout macro discourses. Accordingly, social justice has been assumed to include such main indicators as the provision of insurance and first aid to all members of the society (of course with the minimal approach to social security in Holy Defense discourses and considering the comprehensive social security structure in reformist discourses), the provision of social support (within the limits of social security system in construction discourses) and the provision of insurance support (within the multidimensional approach to social Security in justice-oriented fundamentalist discourses). It is evident that after the Islamic Revolution, different governments have followed different approaches to the fulfillment of social justice in the light of social security.

The present article aims to study the subculture of poverty among “gypsies” in Harandi Neighborhood (formerly known as Darvazeh Ghar) in Tehran. The research method is qualitative and the data was gathered using observation and interview techniques. The sample size was 40 people, and it was completed when the theoretical saturation was achieved. The results of this study show that the gypsies have a special poverty subculture that paves the way for different kinds of social issues and pathologies. Also the findings show that the subculture of the gypsies include elements such as poverty, valuing poverty, seeking adventure and excitement, hedonism, violating the law, being here and now, unwillingness to care about future, low social participation and lacking any feeling of belonging to the urban environment. Also the subculture of poverty is closely related to the formation of different social pathologies, such as addiction, violence, gambling and drug dealing.

The theoretical framework of the study was prepared by applying the theories of social capital theorists like Putnam, Fukuyama, Coleman and Bourdiou, and by investigating some of the ideas concerning the sense of security, such as the theories of Durkheim, Giddens, Parsons, Horney and Forum. Social trust, social relationships and social participation were three indicators identified as the indicators of social capital, and four hypotheses were developed on this basis. This is a survey research that used questionnaires to examine the research sample comprising of 369 high school female students from Region 4 of Tehran; and we used stratified sampling, commensurate with the size of the selected sample. The results revealed that the relationship between social capital and sense of security among female students was direct and significant, meaning that the more social capital students have, the more they feel secure. It was shown that social participation had a significant positive correlation with the sense of security; however, social relationship had a significant relation with the sense of security and it was revealed that students with less social interaction feel more secure. The results showed that social trust among female students had no significant relationship with their sense of security and this hypothesis was not confirmed.

This article aims to examine the factors influencing life satisfaction of citizens 18 years and older in Ahvaz. To develop the theoretical framework and explain the problem, some relevant sociological views were adopted and the hypotheses were extracted from them. This research was carried out in the form of a survey, and questionnaires were used to gather data. In this study, the research population was comprised of all citizens of over18 years of age in Ahvaz; this population was set at 384 people using Cochran's sample size formula. This study was conducted in the years 2013-2014. The results show that all independent variables, other than the variable of loneliness and the social justice variable, have a significant relationship with the dependent variable. Regression results show that only the two variables of health and sense of security had significant impacts; in total 34% of changes in life satisfaction are explained by these two variables.

The human capital is defined as knowledge, skills, and other abilities that will lead to improvement in the quality and level of production. The capital achieved at younger ages would have stronger effects on progress at later ages. Family has shown to have a crucial influence on the achievement of human capital and investment in this field. Iranian families are now experiencing a low level of fertility, improvements in the education of parents, and a relatively high level of family dissolution. Using data drawn from the Time Use Survey (conducted in the years 2008-2009), this paper aims to examine the effects of the number of children on the achievement of human capital by young children in urban areas of Iran. Target population includes 2183 never-married children aged 15-19 years. Findings show a negative relationship between the number of children and the achievement of human capital. A sharper difference exists between families with one or two children and families with three and more children. Multivariate analyses show the significant effects of the sex and age of children, and the mother's level of education. The presence of such control variables, however, does not change the effect of the number of children. The results can suggest the sustainability of low family size (two-child family) in future.

This article aims to examine the factors influencing life satisfaction of citizens 18 years and older in Ahvaz. To develop the theoretical framework and explain the problem, some relevant sociological views were adopted and the hypotheses were extracted from them. This research was carried out in the form of a survey, and questionnaires were used to gather data. In this study, the research population was comprised of all citizens of over18 years of age in Ahvaz; this population was set at 384 people using Cochran's sample size formula. This study was conducted in the years 2013-2014. The results show that all independent variables, other than the variable of loneliness and the social justice variable, have a significant relationship with the dependent variable. Regression results show that only the two variables of health and sense of security had significant impacts; in total 34% of changes in life satisfaction are explained by these two variables.

Citizenship education is one of the objectives of social centers and institutions. The School Mayor Plan is a project of citizenship in the middle schools of Tehran. The aim of this project is to develop and promote social participation and institutionalize citizenship skills among students. This research evaluates the effectiveness of the School Mayor Plan. CIPP model is used to evaluate the effectiveness of this plan; however attempt has been made to present only the results of the evaluation of output quality. The research method is evaluation, and its population comprises all students who served as School Mayor, their parents and school administrators in Tehran in the academic year 2011-2012. In this study, we used a questionnaire to collect data and employed the face and sampling validity methods for reliability; also the Cronbach's alpha test was used for the validity of the variables. The findings indicate an increased sense of social responsibility and interest in and attachment to the school environment. In contrast, this plan did not have any positive impact on the social participation of students, the education and awareness of students, and the educational achievements of School Mayors.