Original Research Article

A Study on Level of Awareness of Civil Rights and Duties and its Effective Factors in Sanandaj

Dr. Jalil Sahabi^1*, Hashem Aghabeigpoori², Dr. Mehdi Rezaei³ and Dr. Ahmad Mohammadpur⁴

¹Department of sociology, College of Humanities, Sanandaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran.
²M.A of Sociology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran,
³Department of Social Sciences, Payame-e- Noor University, Western Azarbayjan, Boukan
⁴Dept. of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University

*Corresponding Author’s E-mail: jalil.sahabi@gmail.com

Accepted November 25, 2014

Abstract

Citizenship, its rights, and duties are seen as main concepts and issues in modern world and the extent to which people are aware of them is the main determinant factor in implementing the social policies and solving socio-cultural problems. This paper deals with awareness of civil rights and duties and factors affecting them in Sanandaj, a city in Kurdistan Province, Iran. It concerns mainly with how much people living in Sanandaj are aware of modern civil rights and duties. Besides, it tries to determine factors affecting such kind of awareness. The theoretical framework of the study includes different theories, namely those developed by Turner, Parsons, and Habermas. This study is a quantitative research that employs a survey design. The statistical population includes all people over 15 years old residing in Sanandaj. The final sample consisted of 384 participants (both males and female) aged 15 years old and higher. The results showed that the level of civil awareness among the participants is high. Besides, there is a significant relationship between the level of awareness among males and females’ level of education, social class, membership in NGOs, and level and the genre of reading. Watching satellite programs was also shown to make a difference in level of awareness of social and civil rights and responsibilities.

Keywords: Civil Duties, Civil rights, Political Citizenship, Social Citizenship, Citizens of Sanandaj City.