Examining the relationship between social capital and quality of life (case study of Mazandaran civil registry staff)

Dissertation for Master's Degree in Social Welfare Planning

Abstract:

Social capital is one of the most important growing concepts in social sciences and its scope of application in other sciences is increasing. This concept is considered as the missing link in development and like other capitals, it is productive and is a suitable platform for the exploitation of economic, social and cultural capitals. In recent decades, the concept of quality of life has been proposed to draw the level of well-being in the society and actually reflects the results of development. The present research has been carried out by completing a questionnaire and found that the state of social capital, except in certain cases related to intra-group aspects, in most cases, especially in the dimension of modern relations, is not very good. It is not desirable. In fact, the higher we move from the family, the amount of social capital decreases. The results related to the four realms of quality of life indicate that the highest average obtained with a number of 70% is related to physical health and the range of environmental health with an average of 55% is the lowest level stated by the people under study compared to other aspects.  The average obtained for the mental health section is 66% and for the social relations health section, the figure is 64%, indicating that the mental health and social relations of the studied employees have a relatively favorable condition. Also, the results indicate that social capital in all its measured dimensions (trust, network and participation) has a relationship with the dependent variable of the research (quality of life) and with other variables (individual, family and job characteristics). It is considered a better predictor for the quality of life. Among these, the social trust variable with a beta of 0.414 has an increasing effect on the quality of life compared to other independent variables such as spouse's occupation and type of employment. Key concepts: social capital, quality of life, trust, participation, network and civil registration. One of the goals of the Islamic Republic system is to pay attention to the livelihood situation Poverty is supporting vulnerable groups, improving health and improving people's quality of life, the signs of which can be seen in various programs explained in the fields of economic, social and cultural development. As an example, the seventh chapter of the law of the fourth development plan under the title "health and improvement of the quality of life" in items 84 to 94 dealt with the issue of quality of life. become dependent on the superior share of human resources and social capital in national production. At the global level, both the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) [1] have considered social capital as an important part of their strategies to reduce poverty and increase the desired results of social policies, and regarding development, today the category of quality of life [2] is viewed not as a tool but as the ultimate goal of development and witness a change in approach and attitude from relying on the concepts and Purely economic indicators are towards paying attention to social factors in the category of quality of life.

It is important to note that economic progress is not the only factor of sustainable development and the main values ??of sustainable development should be sought in improving the quality of life. The concept of sustainable development, human development, emphasis on local development, community-oriented development, localism, attention to human communities is not possible except in the context of paying attention to the factors affecting the quality of life.

      Experts of social capital imply that social capital, through facilitating social relations, provides reasons for better and simpler people to pursue their individual and group interests, including economic interests. For example, Baker's survey [3] of investors in the stock market shows that most institutions and investors decide to buy shares based on information obtained from a friend or a related company or just because they know someone from whom they bought shares, and a small number of investors buy shares using formal and complex financial and economic techniques.[4]) Becker, 1984, quoted by Renani, 1388; 15)

        Also, Christian Grothart [5] regarding the need to pay attention to social capital considers it as the missing link [6] of the policies and investments of the government and society and states that in achieving sustainable development [7], in addition to human, economic and natural capital, there is another factor, which is social capital (Grotart, 1998; 6). Since the meaning of quality of life also implicitly implies having a good life and feeling satisfied with life, then it is possible to establish a bridge between these two concepts that represents the correlation between social capital and social well-being and tells that by storing more social capital, conditions can be created to achieve a high level of quality of life. Researches and studies conducted in the field of psychiatry and medicine show that there is a direct link between social capital and quality of life. For example, Kim and Kawachi[8] in a study in different American states concluded that in states with high and medium levels of social capital, higher levels of physical and mental health of citizens - which are indicators of quality of life - have been observed (Kim and Kawachi, 2007, quoted by Grossi, 1387; 7)

       Research evidence around the world shows that people who are far from society or are isolated experience a greater risk of death. For example, the results of a survey in North America revealed that malignant diseases leading to death are more common among men who have less daily social contacts or who do not participate in associations or social clubs. (Tawakkel, 1389; 11) Therefore, as long as the quality of life is continuously improved, the amount of mental and social harms such as mental illnesses, feelings of alienation, dissatisfaction with life and social anomalies will be reduced. Therefore, quality of life and social capital are two concepts related to development literature, which on the one hand are linked to the human and social dimensions of development, and on the other hand, are linked to each other. How to get the quality of life, the social essence and their relationship with each other. 1-2- A brief introduction to the civil registration organization of the country The establishment of civil registration in the world is related to the nineteenth century. In Iran, at the same time as modernization and modernization and the need to identify nationals in order to create a regular army, collect taxes and so on. The establishment of a civil registry was put on the agenda, therefore, it was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in the meeting dated December 30, 1297 AH, and it started its activity with the issuance of the first birth certificate for a girl named Fatemeh Irani on December 3, 1297 AH in Tehran.

Before 1295 AH, registration of vital events, including births and deaths, based on religious beliefs and traditions common in the country, by writing the name and date of birth The birth was done on the back cover of holy books, including the Holy Quran, and there was no trace of the deceased people, including the name and date of their death, which were written on their tombstones. With the expansion of human culture and knowledge, as well as the increasing development of cities and villages and the increase in the country's population, the need for organizations to record vital events became an inevitable necessity. Gradually, the idea of ??forming an organization in charge of registering births and deaths and issuing birth certificates for citizens of the country gained strength. First, a document containing 41 articles was approved by the Council of Ministers in 1297 AH, and an office called the Civil Registry Office was created in the Ministry of Interior (of the country) at that time; After the establishment of this office, the first birth certificate was issued to number 1 in the 2nd section of Tehran on December 16, 1297 AH in the name of Fatemeh Irani.

After this period, the first civil registration law consisting of 35 articles was approved in June 1304 AH in the then National Assembly. Based on this law, it was decided that all Iranian nationals inside and outside the country must have a birth certificate. Three years after the approval of the first civil registration law, i.e. in 1307 AH, a new civil registration law containing 16 articles was approved. Since that date, in accordance with the changes and developments in the country and with the feeling of inadequacy of the existing laws with the needs of the society, the civil registration law was also revised, changed and amended many times.