A Survey of the Condition of Social Work and Counseling Services of the Law Enforcement Force of Islamic Republic of Iran, Trend Analysis of the Years 2008 to 2013

One of the ways to control and reduce social harms and crimes is to provide on time counseling services which can also be effective in promoting public health. The Law Enforcement Force of Iran has provided the potential of preventing social problems and of facilitating the delivery of services through setting up counseling and social work centers. So the present study aimed to survey the condition of these social work and counseling services, during six years (2008 to 2013).
In this descriptive longitudinal study, the characteristics of the clients, their problems and provided counseling and social work services of the police stations were studied and analyzed during 6 years. The data were collected from the documents of the clients in the Department of Counseling and Social Work of the police of the whole country and were analyzed by descriptive statistics in the two contexts of counseling and social work centers of the police stations.
The results revealed that the number of women receiving services is growing; the mean of age range of clients was 28 - 35; the highest percentage of the clients were married; family problems were the most common cause of refering; receiving the legal and counseling hotline services has been growing; and finally about half of clients refer to police stations due to their problems with relatives.
Due to the feminizations of the given services; the great number of married clients and accordingly family bonding; and also high frequency of family problems, major changes in the structure of service providing, educating experts and interaction between organizations to improve the quality of services are necessary. So these modifications need revaluating, planning and making policies appropriate to the clients.