پژوهشنامه مددکاری اجتماعی
پیاپی 6 (زمستان 1394)

According to evaluations, urban areas have not still provided suitable physical platforms for the attendance of the elderly as members of vulnerable groups who require support. Recognition of the needs and problems of the elderly as the target groups may lead to more effective results. The area under study was the streets of the central section of Qom where 150 elderly pedestrians (50 individuals in Eram Street, 50 individuals in Hadaf Street, 50 individuals in 19 Dey Street) were interviewed randomly. Data collection tools included questionnaires and also interviews. The findings indicated that leaving home and walking in the streets by the elderly is done with the purpose of meeting their subsistence needs (32%), emotional needs (31.33%), security needs (18%), participation in social life (10%) and recreational needs (8.66%) during which such restricting and threatening factors as stairs and rough surfaces, little understanding of  street signs, lack of space for sitting along a path, fear of stumbling, collision with high- speed cars and automobiles and feel of insecurity may prevent them from their easy, safe and fair attendance in urban areas. The main demand of the elderly commuting in streets of the central part of Qom is that streets are designed in a way that cyclists and motor-vehicle drivers are prevented from entering sidewalks, installing railing alongside the ramps, providing safety when crossing the street. In the end, a number of solutions are suggested in the field of transportation planning based on the 3E-principle (engineering, education, enforcement) to be practiced in the urban planning.

This study seeks to examine social support in patients with diabetes in Yazd and its relationship with social capital. It is a cross-sectional study on 245 diabetic patients who had referred to diabetes clinics in Yazd. The sample was selected through random convenience sampling. Data were collected using the multidimensional perceived social support (MSPSS) by Zimet et al (1988) and the social capital questionnaire was developed by the researcher. Data analyses were done using descriptive statistical tests, frequency distribution tables and tests (test t, Pearson correlation coefficient) using SPSS (Version 20). The results showed that social support in patients with diabetes was more than average and the social capital index was around average in Yazd. The Pearson correlation coefficient of social support and social capital dimensions are: social trust (r=0.218), social norms (r=0.184), social networks (r=0.277) that are statistically significant. The results indicate that there is a significant positive relationship between social support and social capital dimensions and with an increase in social capital, social support increases.

Family is assumed to be a primary institution in human society. Structure and functions of this social unit have been evolving. However, social scientists believe the changes it has been facing during the recent years are different, because they go beyond structure and now the meaning of family is somehow changing.Many policymakers and scholars are seriously concerned about the way people see and preserve traditional views to this sacred institution. Others see this as a natural trend and believe that the world has been completely revolutionized and mankind is trying to build a new form of family, appropriate to the modern time in the new millennium. In this article we tried to articulate six important challenges of the unit of family. Then, we addressed responses of Iran’s society to them. To do that, we reviewed related documents and statistics as well as official definitions of the family in different countries. Iran has a relatively traditional, religious society and thus resistant to big changes in this area. But many questions have risen particularly for young people and proper responses must be provided. So, we need to negotiate via intergenerational dialogue. It appears that we are not well-prepared for these challenges.

The purpose of the current research is determining the amount of occupational burnout and the effects of intra organizational factors among the social workers of welfare of Tehran province. This is a kind of survey research. The statistical community is almost 200 persons who were the social workers of welfare organization in Tehran. According to the achieved findings, the amount of occupational burnout is very high. The results also indicated that the intra organizational communications are so weak and the management method is not in its effective mode. Based on the hypothesis and the model of this research, using the regression functions it has been observed that communications with other colleagues have the most effective role on the occupational burnout with following value: . The latter variable is job stress with the value of –0.382. In total, sixty percentage of variable variance determines the amount of occupational burnout. According the findings, it can be concluded that there is a direct relationship between the bureaucratic atmosphere of the organization and the occupational burnout. In other words, when there is not any friendly relationship through the employees, the amount of occupational burnout increases.

The goal of this research study has been to investigate the value orientation of middle-aged individuals using the social interpretivism approach. The Methodology of the study is qualitative and the social construction method (social interpretivism) is used as a method of operation for research. Qualitative data were collected in this study using the technique of in-depth interviews. To analyze the information and provide the ultimate theory of strategy we used grounded theory. Based on purposive sampling and the theoretical saturation criterion, 12 middle-aged individuals from South Roodbar participated in this study and their attitudes toward value orientation was studied and analyzed. The results obtained with "grounded theory" include six major categories as follows: realism, dissatisfaction with the way of life, mass media, altruism, convergence of religious values, and nepotism. The core notion of this study is the retrospective reflexivity which includes the other major categories. The ground theory gained in the form of a paradigm model contains three Dimensions of conditions, interactions and outcomes.

The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of life skills on social health regarding theoretical foundations by Keyes (social health) and the Bandura social learning theory (life skills). The sample size was 368 persons who were selected through simple random sampling using a standardized questionnaire. The results have been analysed using the SPSS 22 software. T-Tests, Pearson correlation, regression and path analysis have been used to analyse the relationships between variables. The results indicate that the rate of youth social health was medium to high. Findings show a direct relationship between the dimensions of life skills and social health in the studied population. Also social health of youth is significant different depending on marital status, but not on gender. The regression results also indicate that among factors influencing health, the communication skill variable, beta=0.93, has the greatest direct impact on social health in the studied population. The findings of path analysis show that only the critical-creative thinking variable has a direct and indirect effect, other variables only have a direct effect on the participants. Results also indicate that measures of communication skill, rate of self-consciousness, decision making, excitement and creative thinking can explain up to 90 percent of the dependent variable.

Leisure refers to the free time when an individual is not working and can use it to their liking. The way one spends their free time has a great influence on different aspects of their life and can bring about important social outcomes, one of which is social happiness whose rate can fluctuate depending on the way of spending free time. This paper deals with the relationship between leisure and happiness among the citizens of Isfahan. Having adopting the method proposed by Sakkthivel (2012), leisure was measured in its four dimensions including the individualistic-active dimension, the individualistic-passive dimension, the collective-active dimension and the collective-passive dimension. According to Lu and Argyle (1993), it appears that the impact of the collective-active dimension of leisure on happiness is more prominent. Happiness was measured using the Oxford Happiness Standard Questionnaire. This research was conducted through surveys and the sample size is 1200 citizens of Isfahan who were selected through systematic random sampling. The results show that there is a statistically significant relationship between leisure and happiness and also between the rate of leisure satisfaction and happiness; In other words, by increasing the rate of leisure satisfaction the rate of happiness increases. Another conclusion is that active leisure has a stronger correlation with happiness compared to passive leisure.