Social Factors affecting social distance and fear of crime among Tribal Groups of Kord and Lor in Kermanshah
Subject Areas : Urban Sociological Studies
Keywords: Social Distance, neighborhood belongingness, fear for safety, religiousness, Fear of crime,
Abstract :
This article attempts to examine the social distance and fear of crime among the two tribes of Kord and Lor in the city of Kermanshah in order to evaluate the effects of social distance between these two tribes. The article’s theoretical framework is provided by Herchi’s social control theory, community communication of Tonnies, social distance theory of Park and the social disorganization theory. Research method is survey and data-collection instrument is structured questionnaire. The research population consisted of all Kord and Lak residents who were 20 years of age of above, of which 367 individuals were selected as the sample. Results from Pearson correlation co-efficient showed that there is a significant relationship between social distance and the variables such as neighborhood belongingness (r = - 0/25), people’s fear of crime (r= 0/34), fear for safety (r= 0/24), and religiousness (r= -0/37). There was a significant relationship between people’s fear of crime, on the one hand and neighborhood belongingness (r= -0/33), fear for safety (r= 0/27) and religiousness (r= -0/44), on the other. Path analysis results showed that religiousness having a path coefficient of , fear for safety and neighborhood belongingness directly influences social distance variable and religious attitudes , fear for safety , and neighborhood belongingness each , directly and indirectly, influenced residents’ fear of crime through social distance. In General, the results showed that the more the social distance among the residents, the more abnormality they will experience.