Zahra Nouri; mohsen Niazi
Abstract
Introduction: The environment and the necessity of protecting it, is one of the issues that has been considered by many scholars and experts in different fields of science in the present era, the environment is one of the dimensions of achieving sustainable development, and what is evident to everyone ...
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Introduction: The environment and the necessity of protecting it, is one of the issues that has been considered by many scholars and experts in different fields of science in the present era, the environment is one of the dimensions of achieving sustainable development, and what is evident to everyone is the lack of life of human societies without having a healthy environment, there are different approaches to the subject of the environment, including the environmentalist-centered approach and Human-centered approach. . The first approach puts the environment at the center of its attention and considers the necessity of protecting it to all. The second approach, which is related to the utilitarian approach, considers the environment in the service of human beings and any rights, including the rights of animals, plants, etc. The first approach leads to the formation of laws to protect the environment. Such laws are planned, enacted and communicated based on the norms and values and the extent of the importance of the issue from the viewpoints of strategists and legislators of each country and are implemented by the enforcers of the laws. In the meantime, some environmental crimes are committed that have irreparable effects on the environment, but are not criminalized by criminologists and perpetrators are never held accountable or punished. These crimes, which are categorized as human rights crimes, are considered sociologically. Environmental crimes are varied based on geographical location, culture and actions of individuals and vary in every society. Identifying cultural and social factors related to crimes committed by people in the community helps community authorities to prevent crimes and achieve a healthy environment to improve the health and quality of life of citizens. The present study aimed to investigate the social and cultural factors of committing environmental crimes by Kashani citizens.Materials and methods: The present study is conducted by quantative method, using questionnaire technique. At first, existing standard questionnaires and a researcher-made questionnaire on environmental crimes were distributed among Kashani respondents who were selected by multi-step cluster sampling method using Cronbach's alpha. The number of samples was estimated to be 358 using Cochrane method, which was upgraded to 481 samples for more accuracy, after collecting data, they were analyzed by SPSS software version 20 and finally the conceptual model of the research was tested using AMOS software.Results: The results of this study indicate that national identity with 0/35, urban identity 0/28, social capital 0/27, cultural capital 0/38, religiosity 0/12, environmental awareness 0/33 and citizenship culture 0/56 have a meaningul and negative affect on environmental crimes. With a path coefficient of -0/56, the highest coefficient of direct path and national identity with a coefficient of 0/92 had the highest indirect effect on committing environmental crimes. In the present study, the GFI, AGFI, CFI, and NFI goodness of fit indices were reported to be more than 0/90, which indicates the appropriate fit of the research model.Discussion: In this regard, citizenship culture and national identity have a significant role in reducing environmental crimes with the highest direct and indirect effects, respectively. As a result, with the participation of the people of the society as much as possible in the activities related to the city and increasing their responsibilities in relation to the city where they live, besides, identifying and consolidating the national identity by the decision makares and law enforcers, constructive steps can be taken in order to reduce environmental crimes.
Shahram Mohammadzadeh
Abstract
Introduction: The concept “social capital” was proposed by experts after the topic of “sustainable development” was raised in the last decades of the 20th century. The central concept of social capital is that social interactions create social networks, strengthen trust, form ...
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Introduction: The concept “social capital” was proposed by experts after the topic of “sustainable development” was raised in the last decades of the 20th century. The central concept of social capital is that social interactions create social networks, strengthen trust, form values, support norms and culture, and create community. Social capital and its components influence many people's views, attitudes and behaviors of environmental protection. Environmental protection behavior is also called pro-environmental behavior. The purpose of this research is to measure the amount of social capital of farmers and its effect on their Pro-Environmental Behavioral Tendencies (PEBT). The purpose of this research is to measure the extent of social capital of farmers and its effect on their PEBT.
Materials and methods: This research was done with a quantitative paradigm and survey method. The statistical population included all farmers of Urmia, 184 of them were selected by random sampling. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, whose validity was confirmed by 4 related faculty members of Urmia University and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.75 to 0.83). Data were collected by interview technique and analyzed with SPSS version 26 software and by using one-sample and two-sample t tests, regression modeling and path analysis.
Results: The findings showed that in overall, the extent of social capital among farmers is lower than average. The results of the components of social capital also showed that internal social capital includeing, trust in the internal society, social cohesion, participation and interaction with the internal society (internal relations network) were significantly higher than the average, but external social capital including, trust in the external society, trust in public, civil, and private institutions, and the interaction of the villagers with the external society (external relations network) is significantly lower than the average. Overwhelming majority (95%) of farmers had destructive environmental behavioral tendencies. The variables of trust in social institutions, external relations network, the educational levels of farmers and their children (ELFCH), and using extension publications and the Internet have a significant positive relationship, and the variables of age and number of children have a significant negative relationship with PEBT. In addition, the level of PEBT among urban farmers with non-agricultural occupations is higher than rural farmers with agricultural occupations. The variables of the external relations network and ELFCH, explain more than 15% of the changes in farmers' PEBT, and the two variables of ELFCH play a moderating role.
Discussion: Based on the results, it is suggested that the agricultural governmental and non-govermental organizations put transparency and accountability and fight against corruption in their work priorities in order to strengthen trust and social capital. By making policies, creating a suitable market for organic products and formulating suitable mechanisms, the agricultural governmental organization should drive the behavior of farmers towards pro-environmental behavior. At the same time, using extension channels, agricultural extension officiers should try to provide more information and training, especially for the elderly farmers, and do not forget this group because most of these farmers are subsistence, small-scale and traditional farmers, and extension training should be a priority for this group. Finally, the development of human resources in rural areas should continue at a faster pace so that by improving the education level of farmers, their behaviors will be directed towards environmentally friendly behaviors.