Analysis of Social Capital of Housewives Living in Informal Settlements(Case Study: Shahid Ghorbani Neighborhood, Mashhad)

The purpose of this research is to study the social capital of housewives living in an informal residence (Shahid Ghorbani neighborhood located in the 4th district of Mashhad).The survey population consisted of housewives living in this neighborhood of which 300 pwesons were selected as the research sample using cluster sampling method.Cognitive and structural dimensions of social capital were measured. The cognitive dimension includes interpersonal trust or trust in familiar individuals, social or generalized trust that is trust to aliens, and finally civil trust or trusting in public organizations and agencies. The structural dimension involves women's formal and informal participation and their social relationship network (frequency, mode, and intensity). The results suggest that the status of women's trust in the three types of interpersonal, generalized and institutional trust is not much considerable. Comparison participation in public and private spheres suggests that more than two thirds of women significantly participate in the public realm while the majority of respondents have experienced private participation to small extent. Women suffer a weak social relationship network and, respectively, interpersonal trust and informal participation are the most important variables explaining the women's social relations.