Journal of Iranian Social Studies

Abstract Historically, mystical and Sufistic Islam have been the hegemonic and institutionalized religious attitude in Kurdistan. Despite some discrepancies among different branches of Sufism, in their rituals and hierarchical systems, there is a fundamental distinction between them and Sharia or Jurisprudence based branches of Islam. Among the various mystical schools, tariqas (ways) of "Qadiri" and "Naqshbandi" have gained the highest social status among Sunni Kurds and expanded their sphere of influence throughout Kurdistan. Various factors such as the occurrence of Shiite Islamic revolution in Iran, the emergence of Shiite ideology, the rise of the various types of Sunni fundamentalist ideologies and flaring competition between them in the Islamic nations, made a substantial impact on religious attitudes all over Muslim communities as well as Kurdistan. In addition, financial aids, educational, and sometimes logistical supports of Arabic and Islamic countries to followers in Kurdistan, and also the existence of internal political, social and economic condition have provided an appropriate basis for growth and development of these Pan-Islamic movements in Kurdistan.  Relying on historical sources, media and field evidences, and international published statistics, this research investigates the emergence and growth of Salafi thoughts among the Sunni Kurds of Iran in a documentary method of research. It seems that changes are taking place faster than what supposed to be, and Kurdistan, like other Middle Eastern Sunni countries, is not immune from flaming waves of fundamentalism.     

Abstract From the 1950s until 1990s the denial of death notion dominated theoretical discussions about death in sociology and psychology. Ernest Becker’s Denial of Death (1973) is perhaps the most famous theory about this subject. As we approach the fortieth anniversary of its publication, it is an appropriate moment to raise this question that what did make the denial thesis so dominant for so long, and to investigate the merits of alternative theories proposed. Focusing primarily on social theories, this paper provides two potential explanations for the longevity of the denial thesis: 1) to paraphrase Foucault, the denial hypothesis is the other side of the incitement to discourse about death; 2) although the denial of death thesis is not comprehensive, it is based on reality. In the concluding section, I offer a theoretical synthesis that takes into account the merits of the denial thesis but goes beyond it to construct a new and more flexible conception.  

Abstract In Iran, Little attention has been paid to the translation of scientific texts in general and social sciences text in particular. Most scholars and academicians involved in translation studies and linguistics have focused mostly on the literary texts. Furthermore, it should be mentioned that most theories about translation revolves about the literary texts. Translation of scientific texts has its own difficulties and to become involved in the translation of scientific texts, especially social science texts, some necessities are required. Considering this issue, this study aimed at providing some strategies for the translation of social science texts which are based on the ideas and methods of translation scholars and those involved in the translation of social science texts. To achieve this, with a descriptive method of analysis, the study focused on the distinction between the literary and scientific texts and the process of finding equivalence. while investigating this issues, the problems of the translation involved in this kind of texts were reviewed.     

Abstract This paper has been explained the attitude of selected sample of Tehran's elderly toward death, one of the most controversial human being experience.  Attitude toward death is measured in terms of five dimensions including acceptance of death, releasing from problems, Hereafter orientation, avoidance and fear of death.  Then based on survey method have been analyzed the attitudes toward death and its correlation with religiosity, trust in medical institutions and perceived social support.  For this reason, research sample have been chosen through 390 persons of Tehran’s elderlies from three areas of north, center and south.  The results show that all three variables have a significant relationship with five aspects of attitude towards death. Religiosity facilitates acceptance of death and trust in medical institutions reinforces avoidance and fear of death.  Considering the social support, elders possessing higher degrees of social support more significantly avoid from death and less accept coming close to death as a solution to get rid of problems. Finally, social support and trust in medical institutions increase attachment to life and life expectancy.    

Abstract The present study is a qualitative research aimed at identifying spinster determinants in girls. Increasing rate of spinster shows an abnormality in the institution of marriage. Consequences of celibacy and spinster especially for women, emphases on the necessity of investigating the causes of this phenomenon. Information has collected through semi-structured interview. Statistical population consists of intentionally unmarried girls 45 years and above in Tehran, through which 23 females were selected by purposive sampling via Snowball Sampling technique to reach data saturation. To analyze the data, the thematic analysis (theme) technique was used. After reviewing and organizing the text of the interviews, coding and identification of the basic concepts were done. Based on these concepts, nine categories were identified. These categories were placed under three pivotal categories: the idealistic approach of girls to marriage, the change in the perception of the position of girls in the family and Social conditions that reduce the attraction of marriage.With respect to the pivotal categories, the core category (idealisticism derived from post-materialist values) was formed.    

Abstract This study examines social factors associated with changes in attitudes and behaviors of students towards smoking and drugs. The study is a retrospective longitudinal survey. The sample included 299 male and female students of Kharazmi University. Social bonding theory, differential opportunity, differential association and anomie theory were used as theoretical framework of this study. The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between the independent variables (gender, marital status, parent’s socio-economic status, academic field of study, differential opportunity, engagement, differential association, sense of anomie, academic failure, failure in love) and dependent variables (changing behavior and attitudes towards drugs). However, the quality of relationship between independent variables and attitudes towards drugs were different from that of drug use. In general, it is indicated that the amount of change in using drugs and smoking is more than change of attitude. Among independent variables, commitment, engagement and differential opportunities are more significant in changing behavior and attitudes towards drugs.  

Abstract The significant development of urbanization in recent years, especially in mega-cities, have brought about specific issues in urban life. In such circumstances, urban life needs some characteristics and requirements. One of the most important requirements is awareness and knowledge of citizens about responsibilities of citizenship which show the importance of "Citizenship Education". The research method of the study is survey. The sample size included 437 people who were selected via Stratified Sampling Method. The results of study indicate that the citizen's awareness in dimensions of social, cultural, economic and political responsibilities is average. In social dimension respondents show the highest level of knowledge. The knowledge of people in economic dimension was significantly different in terms of gender. Component assessment of each dimension, suggests that in the Social dimension, the most awareness is about (necessity of help to promote healthy, dynamic and happy city). In cultural aspect (the necessity of respecting the ethnic groups), in economic aspect (the necessity of urban duties) and in political aspect (the ways of choosing municipal authorities) had the highest degree. Background variables are significantly related to the dimensions of the awareness about the responsibilities and awareness is low among youth and significantly different from parents ' awareness.    

Abstract Social development is a combination of the economic development and social well-being of people in the society. Through social development, governments try to provide peoples' satisfaction by meeting their minimum socio-economic necessities. In this regard, the viewpoint and performance of governments is important. Thus, the present study, with a descriptive-analytical approach, compares the social development situation in Iran during the period of 1368 to 1394 (1999-2015) using the social development indicators. The results show that during the referred period, social development indicators had the  following trends: Health and demographic indicators besides indicators of disadvantages show decreasing trends, while indicators of academic achievement and access to official features were Increasing. Without considering the unemployment, which has increased in the fifth program, the other indicators of social development in this program have been better than other programs.

Abstract Scheller believed in co-existence of three kinds of knowledge namely Religion, Metaphysics and Positivism in a society. Estimating the portion of each one of these in knowledge sphere of a certain society has not been studied. This research is aimed to evaluate the significance of knowledge types in different fields of social life of Rasht residents based on Scheller's theory. Metaphysical knowledge was not of our concern due to a high similarity between Metaphysic and Religion; and as the pilot study showed, this kind of knowledge has no association as it is meant by Scheller. In qualitative stage interviews were carried out with critical persons in both religious and scientific knowledge. 10 clerics and 17 university professors guarantee the saturation of the information in different aspects of life including preferred number of children to have, gender based division of labor in family, gender based differentiation in sexual behavior, religiosity (individual and plural), politics, leisure time, morality and believe in humanism and science. Then the prepared questionnaires were filled by a sample of 394 in quantitative stage of study. Results suggest that in some aspects like pluralistic religiosity, morality and attitude toward science, respondents agreed more with clerics arguments, and in rest of aspects, majority of them agreed with university professors.    

Abstract The current paper attempts to assess the effect of institutional social capital and organizational factors on employee’s performance. In so doing, theories of Nahapiet and Ghoshal (1998) and Sherif et al (2006) were utilized. Three dimensions of social capital based on these theories are relational, structural and cognitive. For organizational performance, a combination of ACHIEVE and Gldasmyt and Hersey theory (including clearness, ability, motivation, support, validity and environment, flexibility, efficiency and service to clients) has been utilized. This survey has used questionnaire for gathering data from 200 samples from Tehran telecommunication centers as a service delivery center.  The results show that organizational social capital has a tangible effect on the performance of employees. Relational, cognitive and structural aspects of organizational social capital showed a significant positive effect on employee's performance. although organizational factors, has a correlation with employees' performance, the dimensions of social capital as an independent variable in the regression equation did not make significant effect on the performance.