Priorities of Social Problems in Iran

In Iran, individual and social effects of social problems like poverty, unemployment, inequality, drug abuse and prostitution and their negative role on country's development are raising through the recent decade. This study atlempts to reach a consensus among social experts on priorities of social problems of Iran through Delphi method in order to use its results in socialpolicies and programs.This study was conducted in four rounds using a researcher-made Delphi questionnaire. Research participants were 41 social experts in Tehran who have written at least a paper on social problems and/or have had professional experience in this area. According to the mean scores of social problems as the cutoff point in the study, the 10 priorities of social problems in this project were: Drug abuse, unemployment, social violence, distrust, poverty, corruption, discrimination, injustice, devaluation and rising of crimes. So, drug abuse, unemployment and social violence (violence that happens in the society) are the three first cases in the list of Iran's social problems. Results of this project could be used by related organizations in policymaking and programming their activities. Findings of other studies also confirm these results.