Study of relation between resettlement and Social capital in rural area (Case study resettlement in flooded villages in Golestan provience)

Each year, natural disasters threaten the strength and stability of communities worldwide. Occurring extreme rainfalls, in August 2005 in Eastern part of the Golestan province in North of Iran, caused two devastating flood disasters and damaged several villages. After considerable long discussions, planners and policy makers decided to relocate a significant number of villages incorporating them in larger area. Finally in this area 11 villages were replaced and integrated in one place but 3 villages were replaced without integration. In this Study we want to explore the Social capital in villages before and after the Golestan Floods. In order to investigate the effects of post disaster resettlement program on social capital conducted the villages in Golestan province we used subjective indicators and satisfaction levels in three domains such as social participation, social cohesion and social trust. 200 samples were randomly chosen. Data collection tool was a researcher-designed questionnaire that was produced according to research objectives. Chronbach alpha was used to evaluate the reliability and for comparisons between the two groups were made using Independent sample T Test. In general, the results of the study indicate that the resettlement of villages after disaster lead to significant improvement in the social participation in study area. The resettlement policy was successful in reducing the flood disaster risk but it was not successful in social cohesion and social trust.