Ali Reza Kaldi
University of Social Welfare and
Rehabilitation Sciences
Department of Basic Science
arkaldi@yahoo.com

Ali Rahmani Firozja
Islamic Azad University - Babol Branch

Correspondence to:
Ali Reza Kaldi,
University of Social Welfare and
Rehabilitation Sciences,
Tehran, IRAN
email: arkaldi@yahoo.com

 

ABSTRACT Introduction: Norms are the rules of behavior. The order and conformity in any society is bound to the harmony on these rules. Any actionswhich do not conform to the accepted norms in a society and violate them are called abnormalities. The crucial goal of the study was to sociologically study the social abnormality among Iranian youth. The analytical approaches of the study centre on social disorganization. To elaborate on the analytical approaches, Anomie, General Strain, Deliquent Subcultures, Control, Differential Association and Power Control theories are applied here. Materials and Method: The research method was 'survey' for measuring the abnormality and we use self-reported data for data collection .The sample population was 630 young people living in the suburbs of Sari, Babol, and Nowshar (northern cities in Iran) which was estimated through cluster sampling of multiple stages. Results: The results of the research showed that the rate of abnormalities among the youth of suburbs of those cities was average. Conclusion: Based on the results obtained from Multiple Regression, association with others, family problems, control failure, labels, alienation, religious beliefs, and socioeconomic status are the significant variables to abnormalities. The path analysis showed that the socioeconomic status, alienation, and abnormality labels affect the family problems and also affect the association with abnormal companions and those in turn influence on the abnormality of the individual. Key Words: Norms, Abnormal Behavior, Youth, Social Disorganization, Suburb.

Fast population growth, change in the political and economic construction of rural society, industrial development based on montage and dependent industries, lack of deep harmony between thecultural and technical development, in other words, unfit development in Iran in the present time, cause some irregularities and disorders of which their result is the growth of social abnormalities and deviations in the cities. Civic environments for immigrants who separate from their culture and choose outskirts of cities as their residence cause a kind of agitation and disturbance in these areas, so that abnormalities in some areas of northeern cities decrease the quality of civic life and most of the people who live with better economic status try to live on the outskirts of cities, in special and fenced towns.
Hence there are some questions for this research as follows:

1. Are the youths who live on the outskirts areas basically abnormal?
2. What is the degree of abnormality between them if there is abnormality?
3. What are the factorss that cause abnormality?

The analytical approaches of the study centre on social disorganization. In 1989 Sampson and Groves proposed a model of social disorganization. In this model, neighborhoods with low socioeconomic status, high residential mobility, racial heterogeneity, and family disruption were predicted to have sparse local friendship networks, low organizational participation, and unsupervised youth groups. Although Sampson and Groves' study has been hailed as "the most complete examination of the systemic social disorganization model that has ever been attempted" (Bursik and Grasmick 1993:43), to date their model of social disorganization has rarely been tested.

Further, tests of their model have been limited to one data set using data from neighborhoods in Britain (Sampson and Groves 1989; Veysey and Messner 1999). Given the structural differences (e.g., crime rates and racial composition) between Britain and American neighborhoods, whether Sampson and Groves' theoretical framework will be supported using American data sets remains unclear. In addition, findings from recent research suggest that there is a more complex relationship between some of the concepts in the model than was originally captured. This model has been recently retested by Sun and et al (2004), Kubrin and et al (2003), Lowenkamp et al (2003).

To elaborate the analytical approaches, Anomie, General Strain, Delinquent Subcultures, Control, Differential Association and Power Control theories are applied here.

The method which is used for this research is called survey. In reality, the type and aims of this research effectuate to prefer it to other methods, which affect on normality.

Data collection instrument:
In this research, based on statistical sample, the type of study used is questionnaire for collecting data. Validity of the questionnaire is due to the Keronbakh Alpha Method as follows:

Measuring the Variables:

Dependent variables: To measure abnormality, the Self- Report method is used.
Independent variables: Socio-economic base variable: This index is based on Duncan (Miler & Salkind, 1991) socio-economic index which is a combination of average indexes of income, education level and job.

Family problems: It means that there are some problems which endanger family equilibrium and aren't in the direction of aims and profits of a family. Family problems variable is the combination of quarrel and family problems, which consist of verbal disputes, thrashing and leaving home by parents.

Glockm and Sturk indexes are used to measure religiousness (Glockm & Sturk,1981). This method is one of the best methods to measure piety. Piety is a combination of believing in God, believing in Resurrection, feeling closeness to God, participating in religious ceremonies, saying prayers, fasting and accepting the veil.

External social index is the degree of a person's control by family, neighbors, police and relatives.

Abnormal relatives: This index is a combination of family, relatives and friend's abnormality.

Measuring the degree of variables:
To measure variables degree, five-sector questions are given to participants and they are used to express variables measuring degree based on this question.

Then, the averages of person’s marks in every question and total questions are recognized.

Based on this mentioned criteria, ordinal scale is used to measure variables.

In descriptive report, the results are expressed in three levels: low, medium and high.
Sample consists of 630 youths (15 to 29 years old) who live on the outskirts areas of three cities: Babol, Sari and Noshahr.

Findings show that 51.1% of youths are in low social abnormality level, 39% of them are medium, 77% of them are high, and 1.1% of them are very low and very high.

Results show that there are seven variables; socio-economic status, religiousness, person's friend, alienation, label, social control and family problems which have direct and pure correlation with abnormality (by controlling or fixing other variables).

1. Relatives that a person associates with (by effectiveness .38)
2. Socio-economic base (by effectiveness .05)
3. Social control or external social control (by effectiveness .20)
4.- Religiousness (by effectiveness .21)
5. Family problems (by effectiveness .13)
6. Label (by effectiveness .14)
7. Alienation (by effectiveness .15)

Multi-variables correlation coefficient between the abnormality index (R) and seven abnormality indexes such as friends, socio-economic base, social control, alienation, label, religiousness and family problems is .77 and R Square (R2) is .60.

By interpreting the results, it is found that close to 60% of abnormality index changes are chosen by seven mentioned indexes.

Based on the diagram, effective factors on youths' abnormality can be interpreted as follows:

Path analysis diagrams show that independent variables not only have a direct effectiveness on abnormality but also they have indirect effect on dependent variable.

First path: socio-economic base not only has a direct effect on abnormality but also it can be effective on abnormality via social control.

It means that if the socio-economic base was low, a person's social control would be low. Relation between the social control and abnormality is vice-versa.

On the other hand, socio-economic base affects on person's abnormality via abnormal friends.

Second path: alienation not only is directly effective on abnormality but also it is indirectly effective via abnormal friends. More alienation causes less religiousness and increases a person's abnormality. Furthermore, decreasing piety makes persons associate with abnormal friends. This increases abnormality. Decreasing piety is effective too because it can affect on family problems and then a person's abnormality.

Third path: feeling of abnormal label by person not only has direct relation with abnormality but also it can be effective via abnormal friends. It means that everyone who knows himself by the abnormal label often associates with abnormal friends.

Due to research question it can be said that the abnormality degree of the youths who inhabit ithe outskirts of sample cities is medium.

According to the research theoretical framework and based on acquired results from multi-variables and path analysis it can be inferred that abnormality as a direct variable arises from various factors which are in casual relationship with each other and all its changes are shown by causation variables.

In this model, socio-economic base, alienation, label affect on family problems and associating with abnormal friends and them, finally affect on person's abnormality.

Based on the research theoretical model, constructive factors such as low socio- economic base, alienation and abnormal label in outskirt areas are effective forces to negate society, which obliges inhabitants to accept behavioral models. In this area, social control constitutions such as family and schools would have failed. They can't act normally. Most of outskirt inhabitants are not able to acquire successful indexes through customary instruments. As a result, they feel anger, deprivation, umbrage and repulsion which influence them.

Due to social pressure and seclusion, and special low -levelincrease and cause unfit neighboring relations. These independent subcultures cause a set of values and beliefs which are in contrast to customary normality. Inhabitants of this area behave abnormally to harmonize with the subculture values of low-level.

Constructive factors such as low socio-economic base, movement and motion, ethnic and racial harmony and separated families cause low organizational cooperation, feeble control and weakness of friendship, relations which strengthen abnormal behaviors in this area.

When an outskirts young person compares himself with his friend in another part of the same city with better social and financial status (for example, from a financial and academic point of view) he feels stress which causes abnormality.

Outskirts area youths, especially boys, can't acquire these standards. They can't acquire verbal and social skills and values of the medium-level.

As a result, they feel privation and their abnormal behavior is practically a protest against abnormalities and values of medium-level in the society.

Privation from legal instruments on one hand and existence of illegal opportunities in outskirts areas on the other hand effect abnormal acts.

Based on the mentioned situations, even people who live in the outskirts area of a city, if they want to learn behavioral values and support by parents, friends, teachers and neighbors can stand against abnormality. But situations in the outskirts area are contrary to this. Decreasing feelings of dependence, lack of continuous cooperation in social activities, lack of faith to the validity of social and behavioral rules and learning abnormalities, values and abnormal behaviors, all, cause the existence of constructive factors in this area.

Totally, constructive factors in outskirts areas decrease religiousness, social control and family problems and they finally oblige persons to associate with abnormal friends which increase a person's abnormality.

Bursik, Robert J., Jr. and Harold G. Grasmick (1993) Neighborhoods and Crime: The Dimensions of Effective Community Control. New York: Lexington.

Glockm C. Y & R. Sturk (1981)"Dimensions of Religious Commitment." Sociology of Religion. Ed. Roland Robertson. New York: Penguin.

Kubrin Charis E. and Ronald Wettzer(2003) New Directions in Social Disorganization Theory, Journal of research in Crime and Delinquency , Vol.40, No. 4 , 374-402"

Lowenkamp, Christopher T, et al (2003) Replicating Sampson and Grove's Test of Social Disorganization Theory: Revisiting a Criminological Classic, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Vol. 40 No. 4, 351-373.

Miler, Delbert C & Neil J Salkind (1991) Handbook of Research Design and Social Measurement, SAGE PUBLI

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Sun, Ivan Y, et al (2004) Neighborhood Characteristics and Crime: a Test of Sampson and Groves' Model of Social Disorganization, Western Criminology Review 5(1), 1-116.

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