Pathology of Social Violence Phenomenon in Ardabil Province: A Qualitative Study

INTRODUCTION: In all human societies, domestic violence is known as a threat. Violence is imposing one's will on others through mental pressure and physical damage then can cause a feeling of anxiety and insecurity in them, especially for the weaker and more vulnerable groups such as women, children, elderly and minority groups who are the victims of oppression and socioeconomic inequalities. According to statistics, Ardabil, in comparison with other Iran’s provinces, has the most number of violent crimes. This qualitative research was conducted with the aim of exploring pathological phenomena of social violence in Ardabil province.

METHODS: this qualitative study was conducted with expert panel. Eighteen participants were selected with targeted sampling method from professors and the heads of the administrative offices who were linked to the phenomenon of social violence and have rich experiences with the social violence issues. After obtaining an informed consent from the participants, expert panel were conducted in two sessions of 150 minutes. At each session all discourse was recorded and after that, immediately transcribed verbatim. Then, the codes, sub-themes and the themes were obtained.

RESULTS: The five main extracted themes included: social, historical and anthropological, cultural, economic and regional factors and 13 sub-themes were classified.

CONCLUSION: Social, economic, cultural and regional structure, which have been formed and institutionalized in the society over the years, can be influenced and changed by government policies and a variety of programs.