فصلنامه علوم اجتماعی
سال بیستم شماره 1 (پیاپی 60، بهار 1392)

Theeffect of political development on the socio-political life cannot be denied, especially in the developing countries.Different elements play a role in the process of political development, and the government as the biggest and the most important political institution of society have an effective role among them. This reality comprises the structure of this paper whose aim is to study the relationship between government and political development.To do so, thecomparative method based on documentary study was used to study the contemporary history of Iran in which two different but consecutive periods (1989–1997) and (1997–2005) were investigated. The time frame refers to a 16-year period during which two relatively different models of political management had the control of executive power and policy-making.A comparison of the findings showed that the process of political development depends sharply on the government’s approach and its policies. Moreover, the level of strengthening or weakening of political development depends on the relationship between thegovernment and the civil society. In fact, the mechanism of this interactive network determines the reasons of differences in the quality and the quantity of political development.

The aim of this paper was to study the slogans raised in the 9thparliamentary election campaigns in Iran within the framework of developmental approaches and concepts in order to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the plans of the candidates. The population consisted of promotional items of 28 parliamentary election candidates. Due to the small size of the the statistical population, all the candidates of parliamentary election in Khoramabad were included in the study. Using theoretical approaches and concepts of development and the method of content analysis, the election goals and plans of candidates were analyzed. The findings indicate that 85.7% (24 candidates) had plans and goals. The discourses of “Welfare-Services” and “Production (Industry and Mining)” were dominant in the slogans of these candidates. Moreover, their plans and goals were close to “Basic Needs” and “Facility and Production-Oriented” development approaches. In general, the slogans were far from “Indigenous Development”, “Human Development”, “Development as Freedom”, and especially, “Sustained Development” approaches. Finally, the content of slogans did not match the comprehensive development scheme and some important dimensions of development, includingpolitical, cultural, and environmentalissues, were marginalized.

In this paper, 10 social documentaries produced after the Islamic Revolution of Iran were analyzed using a sociological approach. The purposes of the research were to understand the following: (1)Howare social pathologies of children and adolescents represented in social documentaries produced after the Islamic Revolution of Iran? (2) Which of the four institutions, namely family, government, school, and media,is considered as the main culpable institution in the emergence of social pathologies in children and adolescents in the analyzed documentaries? Theoretical framework of this paper is inspired by John Hogan’s categories of social issues. The documentaries were analyzed using three approaches of sociology on social issues: functionalism, conflict, and symbolic interactionism.The method used was the qualitative content analysis.The results of the research indicated that due to the open social and political atmosphere of the country,social documentaries made during the early years of the Revolution represented social pathologies using the conflict approach. In other words, the class conflict of the society was suggested as the cause of social problems of children and adolescents. Gradually, in 1370s and 1380s, documentarians’approaches changed and they adopted functionalist and, in cases, symbolic interactionist approachesin making documentaries. In other words, poverty, lack of family control, companion of friends, etc.were introduced as the main factors of social pathologiesin children and adolescents. Moreover, family was identified as the primary culpable institution in the emergence of social pathologies.

With regard to the increasing importance of media in the modern world, and women as important audiences of media, this research was an attempt to study the influence of women's non-specialized magazines on consumerism. To do so, 11 women's non-specialized and general magazines were studied using qualitative content analysis method.The main research question was: Is the "disappearance of symbolic exchange" observed in women's magazines? Theresearch hypothesis was designed within Baudrillard’stheoretical framework and focused on dimensions of the "disappearance of symbolic exchange", includinggizmo, hyper-reality, sign exchange and economic exchange.According to the findings, the “disappearance of symbolic exchange” exists in women's non-specialized and general magazines based on the above mentioned indicators and components. Moreover, according to the indicators in this research, the growth in consumerism among women is the cause of complex irrationalism which may lead to serious harms to them.

The present paper is prepared based on the results of content analysis of local press published in Khuzestan province. The purpose of this study is to examineKhuzestan local pressfrom the perspective of observing professional principles of journalism as well as developmental journalism criteria from March to February 2010 (Farvardin to Esfand 1389). In general, the present study shows that the functions of the local press of Khuzestan were not in line with expectations with regard to both developmental and professional journalism. Although their excessive use of news and contents of news agencies and other non-exclusivesources has made the situation difficult to judge.

Trust is the most important component of social discipline and is considered as one of the bases of social capital. Moreover, it is an important aspect of human communication and a ground for collaboration among members of society. Social trust is a key concept in sociology and an important social index. Decline of social trust in a society prepares the ground for chaos and disarrayand also increase in crimes and corruptions. Trust is an element in human society which can be regarded as an influential factor in interaction between people and government.The present paper is a case study of Khoramabad high school teachers and explains theirlevel of social trust from sociological perspective. The datawas collected through a survey study of a sample of 310 high school teachers in Khoramabad.The theoretical framework of the research is based on the theories of Giddens, Durkheim, Putnam, Sztompka, Coleman, Weber, Evans, and Chalabi.The findings indicated that 4.2% of respondents’ level of social trust was low, 89% of them had average level of social trust and 6.8% of them demonstrated a high level. Moreover, the highest level of trust wasrelated to inter-personal trust and the lowest level was related to institutional trust. The variablesof religiousness, normative solidarityand social participation had a significant effect on the level of social trust. In a multivariate linear regression analysis of the above mentioned independent variables, 27.9% of the variance in the level of social trust can be explained.

Nowadays, many women are occupied in professional positions. Such roles have enabled them to achieve authority and independence. Access to higher education and professional occupations may delay their age of marriage. This reality illustrates what is known as “identity paradox”. The question here is how an educated, employed Iranian woman (age 35+) defines her identity. This research is focused on the influence of structural factors, such as educational status as well as employment and marital status (celibacy or late marriage) on women’s social identity. The theoretical framework adopted in this research is based on the ideas of Richard Jenkins and Anthony Giddens and also partly on Goffman’s demonstrational theory. According to such theoretical approaches, gender has a determining role in forming the ‘self’. To answer this question, mixed method was designed. Based on the findings, the educated women older than 35 years of age are experiencing tension gaps, paradoxes, and contradictions within the context of their public and private life. Independence is the main motivation in their interactions within the family and society.However, the majority of them have not managed to choose between their professional and gender identity. In spite of the paradoxes between these two forms of identity, they are struggling to preserve both professional and gender identity in their lives.