Analysis of the Impact of Social Capital Components on Crime Prevention in the Old Texture of Kashan City
Subject Areas : Urban planning
Atefeh Fouladi
1
,
Ehsan Sherafati Moghaddam
2
,
Sedighe Kiani Salmi
3
1 - Kashan University
2 - Iran University of Science and Technology
3 - Associate Professor in Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Sciences (Department: Geography and Tourism) of Kashan University
Keywords: Social capital, crime prevention, AMOS, Old texture of Kashan city,
Abstract :
Evidence suggests that in urban neighborhoods, the quality of physical units (neighborhoods) is consistent with social behaviors. Crime and how to deal with the phenomenon of crime and social irregularities are among the problems and challenges of most cities today. Therefore, each neighborhood has characteristics that are different from other urban neighborhoods, which is effective in the occurrence and prevention of crime. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the role and impact of social capital components in preventing urban crimes in the old texture of Kashan city. This research uses a descriptive-analytical method and the required data is collected through a survey study by completing questionnaires and face-to-face interviews with the sample population and other required data to extract the conceptual framework of the theoretical foundations of the research through documentary and library studies and review of research conducted in this field. Finally, 6 main components of social capital (Trust, Security, Participation, Awareness, Cohesion and Crime Prevention) are introduced to measure their impact on the prevention of urban crimes in the study area. To determine the sample size, using Cochran's formula, 200 residents of the old texture of Kashan city were selected to complete the questionnaires, and the results were analyzed and prioritized using the structural equation modeling (SEM) method and Amos software. The research findings show that the potentials of social capital have been effective in preventing urban crimes in Kashan city. Because the significance level (P-value) for both paths is less than 0.05. Based on the analyzes performed, the trust component has the greatest impact on crime prevention with a factor loading of 0.82 and the cohesion component with a factor loading of 0.48 has the minimum impact.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The paper researches the role that social capital plays in the prevention of crimes committed within the old and new textures of Kashan city. With an understanding of the growing importance of urban security, especially spaces belonging to the public domain, and in the creation of a feeling of security, the paper tries to determine whether there exists any relationship between the indicators of social capital and the level of crime in two different urban textures. This research work is going to be instrumental in developing crime prevention programs and improving the security of similar urban set-ups.
Social capital is a multidimensional concept and has been variously defined by different researchers. Normally, the very term "social capital" is used to denote social networks, trust, norms, and social resources shared among individuals that enable them to accomplish common aims. Many studies have shown the role of different elements of social capital—such as trust, participation, cohesion, and social interaction—in reducing crimes and increasing feelings of security.
- Social Trust: Probably the most important component of social capital, trust is instrumental in forging strong social relationships and limiting antisocial behavior. Communities that have high levels of trust normally have lower rates of crime and much-enhanced cooperation among their citizens.
- Social participation: The more people participate in social and civic activities, the more strengthened will be the sense of belonging and responsibility among them, hence lesser will be the amount of crime and greater the social security.
- Social cohesion: It is the sense of belonging and solidarity that people feel toward society. Usually, socially coherent communities would have a greater amount of trust and cooperation, hence lesser crime.
- Social interaction: frequent, ongoing social interaction among people reinforces social ties and increases feelings of safety.
Previous studies have evidenced that there is a negative correlation between social capital and crime. The higher the amount of social capital in a given society, the lower the amount of crime in that particular society. Other studies have evidenced that social capital is positively correlated with citizens' feelings of security. Communities characterized by high levels of social capital usually have high levels of security among the citizens.
Methodology
The applied research at hand makes an attempt to study the role of social capital in the prevention of crimes in the old and new textures of Kashan city. In this research, a mixed method approach is utilized involving the documentary studies, field studies, and structural equation modeling. The research statistical population includes all the residents living in old and new textures of Kashan city, from which 200 individuals were selected by simple random sampling. Data gathering was based on a questionnaire, and data analysis was carried out through SPSS and AMOS
Results and discussion
The purpose for this research was to consider the relation between social capital and crime prevention in old neighborhoods of Kashan city. Social capital: the research findings revealed a high level of social capital in the old neighborhoods of Kashan city. In all components, we found the high level of social trust, social awareness, social participation, and social cohesion, but only the component of social security had a moderate status. Confirmatory factor analysis results identify it clearly that social trust is loaded as the highest in the model of crime prevention, followed by social participation and social awareness. The results conclude that the inculcation of trust between members of society, participation, and an increase in awareness can help to decrease crime and raise the level of safety in old neighborhoods.
It was demonstrated that trust in the family is the most powerful predictor among all other variables in connection with social trust, and familiarity with the neighborhood is the most influential predictor in connection with social awareness. Hence, family and local environment turns out to be substantial settings of social capital. In general, the findings of this work bring out the importance of social capital for crime reduction. Under this efficiency hypothesis, investments in trust, participation, and social awareness dimensions will have returns in safer and better-quality neighborhoods.
Conclusion
This paper investigates the changing nature of the relationship between social capital and crime in the historic city of Kashan. The findings demonstrated that the social capital of Kashan is in a relatively high state, where elements of trust, awareness, participation, and social cohesiveness are among the established and major components of crime prevention. In explaining social capital in particular, social trust, then, was found to have quite a lot of impact. In addition, social capital relates inversely significantly to crime, showing that increased levels of social capital tend to reduce crime. A significant effect in relation to religious adherence was not found as a mechanism for preventing crime. Surprisingly, in his study, it is suggested that the reduction of crime should be channeled through the social enhancement of trust and the participation of national citizens, as well as towards the reduction of areas that breed crime.
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