https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/ Social Problems of Iran en daily 1 Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11091.html AbstractNetworks and virtual spaces have today become indispensable tools for social interaction and citizen activities in Iran, and excessive use of them has been accompanied by rising harms and problems in Iranian society. Accordingly, the primary aim of this study is to identify the harms and issues associated with excessive use of networks and virtual spaces using a qualitative meta-synthesis approach. The study adopts an inductive qualitative meta-synthesis method for the period 2010–2024 (1389–1403 in the Iranian calendar). A non-probabilistic (intentional) sampling strategy was employed from 145 research documents; 69 research samples were selected based on entry criteria (presence of independent variables, validity and reliability of the study, publication in a reputable scientific journal, and findings derived from field research). The scientific sources include Nor-MGz (Noormeg), Magh Iran, IranDoc, and the Jihad Daneshgahi (Academic Centre for Education, Culture and Research) scientific database. Overall analysis of studies within the 2010–2024 timeframe indicates that excessive use of networks and virtual spaces leads to four categories of problems in Iranian society: 1) social problems (virtual differential association, diminished social control, weakened social cohesion and social bonds, reduced social participation, diminished salience of social support, suspicion and social mistrust, increased social deviance, promotion of deviance and family harms), 2) cultural problems (widespread unethical behavior and deviance, erosion of the Iranian-Islamic lifestyle, educational crisis and declining academic quality, media deviance, promotion of venomous leisure time, diminished family values, risky sexual behavior, reduced religious values, intergenerational gaps and conflict), 3) economic problems (heightened financial-economic problems, reduced job performance and productivity, emergence of crime and financial offenses, intensified consumerism and family extravagance), and 4) psychological problems (verbal violence, crisis of identity and unreal personality, learned aggression, isolation and withdrawal, sense of emptiness and deficiency, and emotional-insecurity). https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_8328.html Millions of children worldwide engage in street labor instead of attending school, with a significant number involved in hazardous occupations. This complexity highlights the importance of understanding children’s lived experiences within specific social contexts. This study aims to explore the lived experiences of working children in the socio-cultural setting of Yasouj, to gain insight into their inner worlds and challenges. The study utilized a qualitative approach with a phenomenological method. Ten working children were selected as participants through purposive sampling. Data were collected through via in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi’s technique. Analysis revealed five core themes: 1) Autonomy and competence: the struggle to achieve independence and protect oneself from humiliation. 2) Occupational vulnerability and hardship: enduring physical risks, traffic accidents, and street violence. 3) Social stigma and public hostility: facing cultural exclusion, labeling, and dehumanizing perceptions. 4) Dialectic of work and family: taking on breadwinner or caregiver responsibilities due to poverty, illness, or unstable parental structures. 5) Aspirations and hope for advancement: using material and educational dreams as coping mechanisms for resilience and finding meaning in everyday struggles. The fundamental structure of these children’s lived experiences reflects a state of marginal suspension, where they are caught between family obligations and the desire for autonomy. These children simultaneously are both victims and agents; as structural constraints push them into street while they actively strive to maintain their dignity through street smartness and hope for a better future. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11702.html Over the past two decades, the academic literature on ethnicity in Iran has become a major field of inquiry across sociology, political science, history, and cultural studies. Despite this growing body of scholarship, little attention has been paid to the literature itself as an object of critical inquiry or to how ethnicity has been constituted as an object of knowledge within Iranian academic literature. Adopting a critical paradigm, this study employs a critical qualitative literature review to examine 52 Persian-language scholarly articles on ethnicity published between 2001 and 2025. The analysis draws on Michel Foucault’s conceptual framework, as developed through Mitchell Dean’s interpretation, and is organized around three analytical dimensions: problematization, governmentality, and the history of the present. The findings show that, most studies operate within a shared regime of problematization in which ethnicity is primarily understood through the lenses of national security, development, national cohesion, and the management of social difference. Furthermore, the literature mobilizes security, developmental, and integrative governmental rationalities and employs technologies of knowledge—including identity measurement, population classification, and policy-oriented analysis—to transform ethnicity into an object of knowledge, regulation, and intervention. Although many studies draw upon historical materials, they largely remain confined within a presentist horizon and pay limited attention to the historical conditions that made ethnicity possible as a category of knowledge and governance. The article argues that the Iranian academic literature on ethnicity is not merely a reflection of ethnic realities but also an active participant in producing and stabilizing regimes of knowledge and governmentality surrounding ethnicity. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11090.html The acceleration of globalization and the expansion of communication methods have provided youths with the possibility to choose new forms of life. This article aims to explore the life choices and life politics of youths, their narratives of personal and collective constraints and limitations, as well as their ways of coping with their bodily rights, pleasures, and difficulties. It examines how, within the hegemonic space of Iranian society, moral and value principles in individual and collective life encounter contradictions, choices, and value-based dilemmas. The central issue of this study is the life choices, decision-making processes, moral principles, and values of youths. The research is framed within Anthony Giddens’ theory of life politics and employs a qualitative narrative interview method with a purposive sample of 24 youths from the city of Sanandaj. The findings were analyzed using thematic analysis, resulting in five main themes: life as destiny, external pressure and internal dreams, absence of a private sphere and its mental desire, the dilemma of moral and value conflicts, and lifestyle as a guideline. The results indicate a dissonance between values and contextual conditions. These changes and transformations often remain subjective and face structural political, economic, and social blockages in objective and concrete terms. Therefore, contrary to Giddens’ theory, in the Iranian context, life politics is understood as resilience and the ability to live within the gap between objective pressures and subjective expectations, enduring these pressures. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_8329.html AbstractMarriage is one of the most fundamental stages of human life and a cornerstone of social reproduction. However, the postponement of marriage and the rising prevalence of singleness—particularly among adults—have become significant social concerns. This study aims to explore the lived experiences of single adult men and women and to analyze the relationship between individual choice and structural constraints. Adopting a qualitative approach and employing grounded theory methodology, the study was conducted among 28 single men and women aged over 35 residing in Tehran. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that singleness is shaped through the interaction of economic and cultural pressures, changing individual values and attitudes, experiences of unsuccessful romantic relationships, and socio-cultural norms. The core category of the study is identified as “singleness as a reflective choice within structural constraints.” The results suggest that individuals, through rational assessment of structural limitations and the exercise of personal agency, choose singleness as a logical and low-risk life strategy. This study demonstrates that a meaningful understanding of singleness requires situating it within the dynamic interaction between individual choice and socio-cultural conditions. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11092.html Divorce has always been considered as a social problem, while with the emergence of new forms of family ties and ruptures, as well as its increasing trend, it requires a new attention and understanding based on the direct experience of divorced women. This study was conducted to examine the lived experiences of divorced women in Rasht in identifying the underlying conditions, reasons, and dealing with the consequences of divorce. The study was conducted with a qualitative approach and based on grounded theory. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews with 20 divorced women and continued using purposive sampling and snowball method until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data analysis was conducted based on open, axial and selective coding. Findings showed that background conditions such as cultural differences, economic weakness, low age of marriage and insufficient knowledge before marriage provided the basis for marital conflicts, while experience of domestic violence, addiction, sexual problems and infidelity and family interference played a role in intensifying the divorce process. However, it was found that the acceptance of divorce and its easier passage are the result of a combination of changing social attitudes and new approaches to life and maintaining individual independence. These factors lead to a reduction in the social stigma of divorce and an increase in its acceptance in society, and allow women, especially working women without children, to view divorce as an opportunity for independence and a redefinition of life and an experience of freedom from traditional constraints in family matters. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11113.html Within the framework of the sociology of the body, tattoos represent a distinctive manifestation of the interaction between the individual and society. The main objective of this study is to understand the experiences, attitudes, and motivations of women and men in relation to tattooing. This research adopts a qualitative methodology and is grounded in the grounded theory approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 27 women and 25 men in Mashhad who had tattoos on their bodies. The findings indicate that tattooing emerges within a complex, multidimensional social process. The causal conditions include the gendered representation of pain and hope on the body, the influence of close reference groups, gendered identification with media tattoo models, aesthetic perceptions of the body, and the desire to escape everyday monotony. Gendered binaries in initial encounters with tattoos, intergenerational and network-based transmission of tattooing, and the redefinition of the social status of tattoos function as contextual conditions influencing tattoo practices. In addition, gendered patterns in occupational policies, gendered choices regarding tattoo visibility, and gender differences in tattoo placement emerged as intervening conditions in this process. Ultimately, tattooing led to outcomes such as the expansion of social ties, pleasure and satisfaction with the body, reconstruction of body image, increased self-confidence, the continuity of tattooing practices, and encounters with social and institutional constraints. Overall, the core category of the study was “re-meaning the body,” suggesting that for participants, tattooing is not merely an aesthetic modification but a social practice through which the body, identity, and lived experience are redefined within the context of contemporary Iranian society. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11089.html Drug addiction in contemporary Iran is one of the most critical social harms. Over the past four decades, the governing system has undertaken numerous measures in the form of legislation, institutional structuring, and budget allocation to control and reduce it. However, the challenges in this field have become increasingly complex and intensified. This study aims to examine and identify the challenges and barriers to the success of Article 16 centers, established under the 2010 Anti-Narcotics Law, in providing compulsory treatment for publicly visible drug users. Employing a qualitative research methodology, the study utilizes thematic analysis and data collection tools including 15 semi-structured interviews and three focus group discussions. In the initial coding stage, 89 primary codes were extracted, which were later grouped into 15 themes. Ultimately, the core category identified was "instability and incompleteness of the treatment cycle," which reflects the underlying dichotomy of "collection and release" in the treatment process of publicly visible drug users. The study concludes that addiction treatment policy in Iran is imbalanced and overly focused on compulsory treatment. This is despite the fact that the processes of collection, screening, treatment, rehabilitation, and aftercare are fraught with various procedural, institutional-structural, and strategic challenges. These findings highlight the unstable and incomplete nature of the treatment cycle in compulsory treatment centers. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11724.html The book “What Happened? The Story of the Decline of Society in Iran”, a joint work by Abdolmohammad Kazemipour and Mohsen Goodarzi, explores one of the most critical sociological ruptures in contemporary Iran, namely the structural erosion of “society” and the decline of social solidarity. The main issue of this article is to examine the process through which coherent interpersonal bonds have given way to social isolation and increasing individualism. Relying on empirical evidence, national survey data, historical analyses and experiences from Iran and the world, and theoretical approaches, the authors argue that collective life in Iran, under the influence of macro-structural, political, and economic developments, has suffered a kind of crisis in the reproduction of social capital. In four general sections, this work first explains the fundamental concepts of social capital and then, with a historical-analytical perspective, traces the declining trend of civic participation and the crisis of trust at the micro, meso, and macro levels. The book then paints a multidimensional picture of the causes of social decline, focusing on variables such as ideological shifts, the decline of public morality, the inefficiency of the state institution, economic inequalities, and the consequences of immigration. The ultimate goal of this work, beyond a mere description, is to provide operational solutions for repairing social bonds and reviving civic life. By reviewing and critiquing the main themes of the book, this article attempts to evaluate the contribution of this work to understanding the current challenges of Iranian society and assessing the feasibility of rebuilding social capital. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11763.html Objectives: The present study was designed to find a systematic answer to the question of what is the relationship between Iranians' religious commitment and their assessment of the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic government? In this regard, by reviewing the literature in the subfields of sociology of religion and political sociology and making some arguments, it was hypothesized that Iranians' religious commitment has a positive correlation with their assessment of the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic government. Study Method: This study used data from the third wave of the National Survey of Iranian Values and Attitudes for a secondary analysis on the relationship between Iranians' religious commitment and the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic government. Findings: The results of this study indicated empirical support for the research hypothesis among Iranian Muslims, in such a way that all statistical analyses showed that the two constructs of "religious commitment" and "political legitimacy" had a relatively strong positive relationship with each other, and this significant relationship remained even after controlling for or eliminating the effect of background variables. Conclusion: The results of this study can be considered as confirmation that in Iranian society, individuals' religious commitment as an identity-belief characteristic can have an important political function in granting legitimacy to the government institution. So it can be said that religion in the post-revolutionary Iran is still a source of legitimacy for the Islamic Republic government and, in turn, a source for maintaining and continuing political stability. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11764.html Doctoral graduates are influential in reproducing or changing cultural patterns and lifestyles as a reference group for young students. Therefore, their tendency to live a single life can have consequences beyond the individual level. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of exploring the conditions for the formation of single life among doctoral graduates. This research was conducted using a qualitative approach. The constructivist grounded theory method was used to conduct the research. The sampling is purposive, theoretical, and based on snowball and maximum diversity methods. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews; ultimately, 40 participants were interviewed. Data were analyzed using grounded theory coding. After analyzing the data, 7 main categories were explored that including: weakness in governance, economic hardship, relational perfectionism, life freely, suspending the relationship and prioritizing individual goals, self-renovation in the context of single life and fear of marriage in the shadow of divorce. Finally, the core category of redefining individuality in the shadow of structural/relational crisis was explored. The findings showed that single life in this group is not simply the absence of marriage opportunities, but rather a rational-identity strategy and meaningful lifestyle that is experienced in the context of structural and relational uncertainties. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11765.html So-called “Sugar Daddy” and “Sugar Mommy” relationships, as an emerging form of intimate relationships, have expanded in Iranian society in recent years. This research was conducted with the aim of understanding the lived experience of “Sugar Babies” and analyzing the logic of the formation, continuation, and consequences of these relationships in the city of Yasuj. The present study employed a qualitative approach using thematic analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 13 individuals who had experience in a sugar relationship and were analyzed using a systematic coding process. Five overarching themes emerged: Utilitarian Rationality in Redefining Intimacy, Contractualization of Relationships and Emotional Management of Intimacy, Multi-layered Seeking of Support and Compensating for Deficiencies, Reconfiguring Generational Differences and Shared Lifeworld, and Challenges to Marriage and the Weakening of Institutional Patterns. The results indicate that sugar relationships are a rational response to economic insecurities, the weakness of institutional supports, and cultural shifts in intimacy patterns. In these relationships, intimacy is redefined in a calculable, temporary, and exchange-based manner, leading to consequences such as the suspension of marriage, the commodification of the body, and the weakening of institutional bonds. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11766.html In the context of escalating environmental crises and the inadequacy of purely technical approaches, sociological studies increasingly emphasize the role of cultural factors in shaping sustainable behaviors. This study aims to examine the effect of ecological cultural capital on the environmental lifestyle of citizens in Sanandaj, drawing on Huber’s theoretical framework and Catton and Dunlap’s competing functions model. The research is descriptive-survey in method and applied in purpose. The statistical population consists of all citizens aged 18 and over in Sanandaj, from whom 384 individuals were selected using Cochran’s formula and multi-stage cluster sampling. Data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The validity and reliability of the research instrument were confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The findings indicate that ecological cultural capital has a positive and statistically significant effect on environmental lifestyle. Among its dimensions, ecological beliefs show the strongest relationship with the waste management component, whereas objective cultural capital is at a lower level, and ecological knowledge does not have a significant relationship with environmental behavior, indicating the existence of a knowledge–action gap. Overall, the results suggest that the formation of a sustainable lifestyle is not merely the outcome of individual awareness but is influenced by a combination of cultural assets across cognitive, attitudinal, and instrumental domains. Therefore, achieving sustainability requires integrated approaches that go beyond awareness-raising and focus on strengthening deep-seated beliefs, developing tangible cultural infrastructures, and designing action-oriented educational programs. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11767.html The proliferation of feelings of emptiness and meaninglessness among the younger generation in Iran has evolved into a pervasive phenomenon, taking on the dimensions of an emerging social issue. This study aims to provide a sociological explanation of this crisis and to propose an integrated analytical framework for its comprehension. Grounded in a fundamental-theoretical approach and an interpretive paradigm, the research utilizes a conceptual-documentary analysis method. The research corpus consists of theoretical texts related to existential psychology (Frankl and Yalom), philosophical hermeneutics (Ricoeur), and the sociology of anomie and individualization (Durkheim and Giddens), alongside research documents pertaining to the crisis of meaning among Iranian youth between 2017 and 2026. Data were analyzed through conceptual thematic analysis and theoretical synthesis, conducted in three stages: conceptual coding, relationship analysis, and modeling. The findings indicate that the crisis of meaning among Iranian youth can be described as a state of “suspension amidst conflicting narratives.” At the macro level, factors such as inequality of opportunity, the erosion of traditional institutions, and the influx of consumerist values provide the context for this crisis. At the meso level, the weakness of alternative meaning-making discourses and the exclusion of existential dialogues from the public sphere exacerbate this state of narrative suspension. The final analytical model illustrates the semantic order and interpretive links governing macro, meso, and micro levels. Consequently, the crisis of meaning among Iranian youth is a multidimensional issue rooted in the interplay of social structures, the rupture of collective narratives, and ontological challenges. Addressing this crisis necessitates going beyond individual psychological interventions and requires a fundamental rethinking of cultural, educational, and communication policies. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11768.html This study aimed to develop a grounded theory of the process of covering identity negotiation and identity reflexivity among young women in Ilam, Iran. The study employed Strauss and Corbin's systematic grounded theory approach. Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 18 young women aged 18–27, selected through purposive and theoretical sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data analysis proceeded through open, axial, and selective coding, resulting in the construction of a paradigmatic model. The findings revealed that cross-cutting and multiple socialization—through family, university, and media—constituted the causal condition shaping identity reflexivity and the semantic reconstruction of covering, the study's core phenomenon. This process unfolded within the local socio-cultural context of Ilam and was influenced by intervening conditions, including experiences of formal surveillance, lived social judgment, and limitations in the clothing market. In response, participants adopted a strategy of situational appearance management and tactful engagement with structural constraints, enabling them to balance personal preferences with contextual expectations. This strategy led to the reconstruction of individual identity and the emergence of a lifeworld of accommodation, through which participants maintained local social ties while expressing their individuality. Negative case analysis further demonstrated that identity reflexivity does not necessarily lead to more liberal forms of dress; rather, it may also reinforce the conscious maintenance of traditional covering. Overall, the findings indicate that covering practices in Ilam are shaped neither by simple conformity nor outright resistance, but through an ongoing process of negotiation between individual agency and structural constraints, whereby young women continuously reinterpret and manage their covering identities. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11769.html The aim of the present research is to delve into the process of constructing social issues in the city of Ahvaz from the perspective of the experts of Faraja. The central questions are: 1. What are the most important roots of the formation of social problems in the city of Ahvaz? 2. What strategies do activists adopt in dealing with these roots? 3. What are the consequences of implementing these actions? To achieve this goal, the qualitative method of grounded theory was used and an in-depth interview was conducted with 15 of the experts of Faraja. The results showed that three economic roots: recent macroeconomic shocks, institutional roots: institutional pressures, and insight roots: the lack of a comprehensive system for understanding the local context, have imposed a kind of concentration of challenges and livelihood instability on individuals. In such circumstances, activists struggle to restore their sustainable livelihoods and adopt at least four strategies: 1. Criminal lifestyle strategy; mostly includes activists who have experienced discrimination and deprivation at the same time, 2. Non-conventional autonomous lifestyle strategy; includes activists who have given up hope on institutional support and rely on themselves, 3. Borrowed lifestyle strategy; includes activists who, despite experiencing livelihood challenges, seek immediate and immediate responses to family needs, 4. Lifestyle strategy of returning to extended family and rural life; includes activists who see rural living as a solution to overcoming urban livelihood challenges And the social issues is the result of this struggle of individuals for survival. https://jspi.khu.ac.ir/article_11770.html The aim of this study was to identify the sociological reasons for suicide attempts among adolescent students in Bushehr. The research paradigm is critical, utilizing a qualitative research approach, with qualitative content analysis as the research method. The study population consists of teenage students in Bushehr city who have attempted suicide or, in other words, have been unsuccessful suicide subjects. Purposeful sampling was employed. The data format was audio-based, and the data collection tool was a semi-structured interview, which continued until theoretical saturation was reached, resulting in interviews with 17 suicide cases. For data analysis, open and axial coding methods from the Strauss and Corbin framework were used. A total of 190 initial codes, 23 subcategories, and 10 final categories were identified. These categories include: digital insecurity; deprivation of living conditions; pervasive gender discrimination; rejection; cultural confinement; economic challenges; school burnout; unemployment; social insecurity; and generational disconnection. In the emergence of the phenomenon of suicide among students, defective social, economic, cultural, and educational structures play a significant role. Ignoring the issue of suicide can lead to an increased risk of suicide within this age group. Just as development is a multifaceted phenomenon, the issue of the target community is also multidimensional. The issue of development in different dimensions can be placed on the agenda of the provincial development management in different dimensions. With the development program being launched, it is expected that the desired problem will gradually improve relatively.