نشریه بررسی مسائل اجتماعی ایران
سال یکم شماره 3 (پاییز 1389)

Our aim in this article is to study emotional divorce from the point of view of women. We use the grounded theory method and focus on explicating the social processes which shape women’s experience of emotional divorce. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 20 women who visited one of the consulting centers in Tehran. In these interviews, women described causes and intervening conditions of emotional divorce. Results of the study highlight the complexity and variety of women's experiences and support the notion that emotional divorce is a process that reflects interaction among psychological, social and cultural aspects of this experience

This article stresses the positive role of images in effectively narrating social problems in Iran, using a methodological experiment in the field of communication. It claims that reporting research findings in the format of rigid academic reports is exclusionary of a large part of the audience and will not result in the intended social awareness. In contrast, presenting research findings in visual formats, in addition to producing the necessary data for scientific examination, will help to develop a social understanding of the investigated subjects among a larger population. The most important finding of this research is that, in social science academic institutions, it is possible to add an effective, powerful and expressive language to the existing literally and graphical ones. This is the language of images.

In this article, we analyze social conditions of slum-dwellers in the Arab district of Malekshahr in Isfahan. We examine how these slum residents are considered “strangers” by Isfahan residents, inhabitants of the adjacent districts, and even themselves. Data for this study were collected through a mixed method in two phases. Each phase included in-depth interviews and a survey. Research findings indicate that due to low levels of social trust, insecurity, and lack of intimate and close social relations among residents, the social fabric of the Arab District is fragile and weak. Furthermore, negative attitudes toward slum residents expressed by inhabitants of neighboring districts, a strong emphasis on ethnic identity of the residents, and lack of powerful relations with individuals of high socioeconomic status have exacerbated the physical and social alienation of the Arab district of Malekshahr from the larger urban and social processes.

The main concern of this study is to investigate the issue of informal settlements in Tehran. The rapid expansion of Tehran in recent years has resulted in an unprecedented growth of informal settlements and has led to a number of social, psychological and security related pathologies. This article categorizes some of these problems and seeks a better understanding of wellbeing for the residents of Tehran’s informal settlements. This article categorizes some of these problems and seeks a better understanding of wellbeing for the residents of Tehran’s informal settlements.This article categorizes some of these problems and seeks a better understanding of wellbeing for the residents of Tehran’s informal settlements.

Focusing on migrants, provinces with international borders, seasonal and periodical workers, merchant marine personnel, and drivers, this article examines available Iranian data on the links between mobility, high-risk behavior, and HIV/AIDS. It describes the social and behavioral characteristics and movement patterns of Iran’s mobile population groups through a thorough review of secondary data and documents. It also discusses the levels of access of mobile population groups to HIV prevention and control programs. Findings suggest that the examined groups are exposed to high risks of HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, few HIV/AIDS initiatives have specifically targeted these groups, although general HIV/AIDS programs may be available to many of them depending on their places of residence.

In this article, we compare some of the personal, familial and social characteristics of two groups of prostitutes in Tehran: 1) women who began their work as prostitutes before they turned 18; and women who became involved in prostitution after the age of 18. In the study, the average ages at which child and adult prostitutes started working were found to be 16.09 and 24.53 years respectively. Child prostitutes had received around 8 years of education on the average. The most factors pushing children toward prostitution were being sexually abused in childhood, running away from home, acquainting and befriending a prostitute, having addicted parents, having financial responsibility for other people, and history of arrest before engagement in prostitution. The results of this study confirm previous findings on the characteristics of abused children and risk factors associated with child prostitution.

Suicide has become a major social problem in some of the less developed provinces of Iran, especially among young women and men. In this article, we benefit from a Durkheim’s theoretical framework to explain social factors influencing suicide in Kurdestan. The results of interviews with 128 persons under the age of 25 who had attempted suicide during 2004/5-2007/8 are examined. A control of group of the same size is also probed for the study. Important factors influencing suicide discovered in this study include a sense of rigorous social discipline among women and a considerable sense of social anomie among men.

During the last few decades, the city of Hamedan has experienced extensive growth and change, which have led among other things to the emergence and expansion of the city’s slums. This article has been prepared based on the results of the authors’ field survey in the period 2005/6-2008/9 as well as supplementary information collected through some important social studies in the slum areas of Hamedan. Results indicate the importance of rural-urban migration in the expansion of Hamedan and the growth of its slums which now comprise 30 percent of the city. Furthermore, marginalization is found to be a serious challenge to sustainable and healthy urbanization. Marginalization is associated with high rates of addiction and prostitution in Dizaji, youth crime in Khazer, and dilapidated infrastructure in Nabowaat.

This article probes the sense of security among women in Tehran. Some of the main questions it addresses include: How can we articulate the sense of security among women in Tehran? What proportion of women feel secure in public places? How do early life experiences affect the sense of security? Research results indicated that place of residence, length of period during which women stay outside their homes, marital status, job category, socialization, and past memories influence women’s sense of security in Tehran. Research results indicated that place of residence, length of period during which women stay outside their homes, marital status, job category, socialization, and past memories influence women’s sense of security in Tehran

How can one explain the emergence of student movements in Iran since 1953? In an attempt to provide an answer to this question, this paper will first classify and review five different theoretical approaches to student movements in modern world – functionalist theories, revolutionary theories, symbolic sphere theory, theories of new social movements, and theory of political culture. It will then attempt to offer an explanation of student movements in Iran according to the aforementioned theoretical approaches as the history of modern Iran has witnessed the rise of different waves of student movements and these movements have been at the forefront of at least three broader national movements: the 1953 Mosaddegh movement, the 1979 Islamic revolution and the 1997 reformist movement. The last section of the paper will address the main causes that explain the decline of student movements in Iran since 2002.