A Sociological Study on Social Service Centers Performance on Social participation (Case Study: Varamin)

Social engagement (also known as social participation) is an important topic in different areas of social and political sciences. As a group with notable influence, individuals in today’s world play a remarkable role in making political, social, and cultural decisions. A number of factors can contribute to increased participation. These include the role and performance of social service centers (SSCs) run by the Welfare Organization. SSCs are public or nongovernmental centers located within communities to take actions required in providing such services. The goal is to support vulnerable individuals or those suffering from social problems, including vulnerable women and girls, female heads of households, couples applying for divorce or lacking life skills, street children, children at work, poorly cared-for children, orphans, children who lack access to education, children in divorced families, children with addicted parents and all children who need support or any individual facing personal, family, or social crises. A survey was conducted using a valid and reliable questionnaire for collecting data. The statistical population consisted of individuals of 18 years of age or older living in the two districts of Varamin in 2015. A sample of 400 individuals was prepared using Cochran’s sample size formula and cluster multistage sampling. The data were analyzed primarily through regression and path analysis. The findings indicated an average social participation score of 3/21 in the area studied here, and given the maximum and minimum scores (5 and 1, respectively) people living in this area have an average-to-upper level of participation. The average performance score for SSCs in the area was 3/31 (max = 5, min = 1) indicating a generally acceptable level of performance. In addition, a significant relationship was found between social engagement and SSC variables, social trust, socioeconomic status, gender, income, education, and type of employment, while age and marital status were not connected to social engagement. The strongest relation was found between SSCs and the dependent variable. Four variables, i.e. SSC, social trust, socioeconomic status, and age were included in a regression equation which gave a coefficient of determination of 0٫387. Therefore, these variables explain over 38 percent of variations in the dependent variable.