A Social Approach to Self-Harming with Cutlass (Case Study of Khomeini Shahr City)

Abstract

The present study aims at investigating the social factors of the tendency to self-harming with cutlass, which has not only been objected to by many religious and social experts, but also has led - in significant cases - to various social and cultural harms such as apostasy, anxiety and violence, destruction of Shiite image among other religions and the like. The statistical society was compose of individuals practicing this rite in Khomeini Shahr was selected. Using the Cochran formula, a sample size of 260 people was selected using snowball sampling. The researcher-made questionnaire and its validity were confirmed by certified and reliability experts with a mean Cronbach’s alpha of 0.915. Descriptive statistics were used to examine the variables and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient and t-test) were used to examine the relationship between variables. Theories of social construction, mutual interaction, learning, subculture, exchange and social control were used as theories of the theoretical framework. Test results were as follows: There is a meaningful relationship between the lack of knowledge of religious teachings, the existence of some reference groups among women, the fanaticism of family traditions, the level of literacy, the relationship with peer groups and the spiritual motivation and the tendency to self-harm with cutlass. There was no significant relationship between the economic and social base on the one hand and a tendency to self-harming with cutlass.

Keywords

• social base
• reference group
• ethnic bias
• level of literacy
• peer group