International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences, 3(1) January 2014, Pages: 54-59

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International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences

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2306-7276

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Some Socio-Cultural Factors Influencing the Propensity to

Murder among Young People in Ahwaz, Iran
Soroush Zadali *1, Fatemeh Javidi 2
1
2

M.S. in Sociology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Dehaghan Branch, Isfahan, Iran.
M.S. in Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Payam Nour University, Dezful Branch, Ahvaz, Iran.

AR TIC LE INF O

AB STR AC T

Keywords:

This paper aims to study Factors that affect Propensity to Murder among people with 20-30 years
old living in Ahwaz city, located in Iran. To do this, using some socio-cultural theories about
tendency to kill, we tried to study some socio-cultural factors effective in this field. Population is
all the young people of Ahwaz and the method of sampling is multistage stratified random
sampling. By using Lin Sample Size determination table, a sample size of 384 was calculated. In
this research in order to evaluate social support variable, the Social Support Questionnaire of
Russell and Cutrona, to assess social adjustment variable, California Test of Personality, to
examine social intimacy variable, Miller Social Intimacy Scale and for evaluation of social
violence and Propensity to Murder, researcher made questionnaires were used. Variables of this
research were Social adjustment, Social support, Social violence, and Social intimacy as dependent
variables and variable of Propensity to Murder as independent variable. Inferential statistics results
showed that the relationship between variables of Social adjustment, Social support, Social
violence and Propensity to Murder was significant while there was no significant relationship
between Social intimacy and Propensity to Murder. In continue, multiple regression analysis was
carried out by entering four variables in the equation, as a result, a total of 39.7% of independent
variable was explained.

Social adjustment
Social support
Social violence
Social intimacy
Propensity to Murder
Ahwaz city

2014 Int. j. econ. manag. soc. sci. All rights reserved for TI Journals.

1.

Introduction

One common phenomenon of all times and nations is murder. Unlike other crimes that are relative concepts over space and time, Murder is
always a crime, although at some stages of human society there was some exceptions, for instance, killing of daughters by fathers in the era
of Arabs ignorance. Premeditated murder is due to occurrence of mental aggression. According to Erich Fromm (1992), all actions that
cause harm to a person, animal or inanimate object is called aggressiveness. Some experts are considered aggressiveness as one of Innate
and instinctive characteristics and been defined it as: The human is an aggressive animal [1]. In contrast, some experts called him a Truehearted wild who is kind and has a good Nature but Social constraints have forced him to be aggressive [6]. Without breakdown of social
adjustment, an appropriate context for understanding of this subject cannot be achieved. The difference should be made between two types
of social adjustment, biological adjustment and non-biological adjustment. Biological adjustment is a response to threats to vital interests;
In terms of evolution is planned; Animals and humans have in common with; it is not spontaneous and self increased but is a defensive
reaction; its purpose is to eliminate the threat. Non-biological adjustment Means destruction and atrocities; it is not defense against threats;
it is not planned; it is only for humans; In terms of biodiversity is harmful not only for the person who is being attacked, but also for
attackers, because it is socially destructive; it is Massacres and atrocities. Non-biological adjustment, although is not instinctive but is an
ability rooted in conditions of human existence [2]. Of all the dismal situations, social support is another factor in a propensity to murder
[1].social support means a Pleasant, and Relaxing state away from tension. It is an Activity resulting from spreading or promoting behavior
that realizes a goal as well as a Satisfaction state of a motivation [4]. So in summary, when social conditions cause lack of social support in
most people, fields of tendency to murder is more abundant in that society. Naturally, murdering, as an example of social dissonance, also
increased. At this stage of life, individuals are facing with a variety of events and changes, such as completing education, employment,
marriage, birth of children, and etc., that requires significant adjustment, so emotional perturbations of young people is high. Given that
young people are seen as active forces in society and playing an important role in the reconstruction, one of the issues in the field of youth
studies is their tendency to murder.

2.

Previous research

In the field of organizational and individual factors influencing the not discovery of murder cases, no studies have been done; However,
similar studies in connection with the murder are conducted. Hajjarian (2006) in his thesis about Sexual prejudice and its relationship to
crime, concluded that factors such as traditional society, democracy, cultural poverty, traditionalism, judiciary negligence and inappropriate
* Corresponding author.
Email address: soroushzadali@yahoo.com

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Internat ional Jour nal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Social Sciences , 3(1) January 2014

marriage were effective in the formation of sexual Prejudice and subsequent crime. Abdi (1988) conducted a research about murder and its
Social problems in Iran. In this study, he presented an appropriate typology of murders in Iran and connected it with some variables such as
age, marital status, education, Date, and place of death. Another study conducted by Kashkouli (1995) by using secondary analysis of data
for the years 1992-1993 for provinces of Iran. Independent variables of this study were social disorganization, economic deprivation,
subculture of violence, conflicts between individuals, and social control. The results showed that Economic deprivation has a direct
influence on homicide trends. Also, Subculture of violence through interpersonal conflicts affects homicide trends.
According to a report by Human Rights Watch in Palestine in 2002 about Women murder in connection with the foundation of the family,
it revealed that Women's and men's attitudes about murder were the same. Female respondents believed that a person engaged in illicit
sexual relations must not be killed, he should be helped, but male respondents since thought that death could not praise stigma, agreed to
kill the person sinning. It also became clear that the commitment to religion and education are unrelated with the inclination to honor
killings. The final conclusion of this study was that honor killings were remnants of past culture and heritage that had influenced the current
rules. In another report about Honor killings and bloody hostilities in Pakistan, Palestine and Jordan, Honor killing resulted from patriarchal
tribal tradition and concluded that there were Dual attitude toward women in these communities. On one hand, woman is known like a
delicate creature that needs care and protection and on the other hand, she is known as a rogue creature that needs to be controlled. This
report blamed Countries and governments for their failure to pursue the killers of honor killings and in the end, has called for protecting
victims and condemning these killings. [8]

3.

Research method

The current study is a cross-sectional survey. The used tool for data collection is questionnaire. In this research in order to evaluate social
support variable, the Social Support Questionnaire of Russell and Cutrona, to assess social adjustment variable, California Test of
Personality, to examine social intimacy variable, Miller Social Intimacy Scale and for evaluation of social violence and Propensity to
Murder, researcher made questionnaires were used.
The study population is all 20 to 30 years old people living in Ahwaz city. In this study, the data analysis is based on inferential method. To
test study hypotheses, commensurate with the scale of the variables, inferential tests (Pearson correlation, bivariate regression and multiple
regression analysis (Enter mode) were carried out. In this regard, the SPSS software was used.
In this paper, by using Lin Sample Size determination table, a sample size of 384 was calculated with an error level of 5% and a confidence
level of 95%. Sampling method for accessing studied samples, according to heterogeneous population of the city of Ahwaz, is a multistage
stratified random sampling. Ahwaz has 8 regions and based on the population of each one and the areas of these regions, the sample size
was determined. First, the proportion of young people in all regions of Ahvaz was identified and the sample size was calculated for each
region. Next, the proportion of young people and the sample size was calculated for each area. In each area, odd even streets were randomly
selected and also in each street some houses are randomly selected based on their number. In Table 1, the population of the areas of Ahwaz
city and the number of questionnaires received from each area are listed.

Table 1. Ahwaz regions and the number of questionnaires related to each region

Regions

Population in 2010

Percentage of
Population
9.4

Questionnaires

887104

21274

6.8

38
27

467147

13.4

54

594164

15.2

61

689154

14.2

56

479193

17.6

71

240148

13.5

54

925108

9.9

39

To determine the validity of questionnaires, a pre-test was conducted in which 50 preliminary questionnaires were distributed among some
sampling people to be answered. During implementation and completion, accuracy of some items was identified and improvements were
taken in that, and some items were removed. To determine the validity of each scale, construct validity method was applied using factor
analysis method and reliability for each variable, was measured by Cronbach's alpha. Adequacy of sample size was determined by using
Bartlett's and KMO test (table 2). Since KMO, in all cases, is greater than 0.7, then the correlation between the data is suitable for factor
analysis. In addition, Cronbach's alpha is greater than 0.7 for all variables, so reliability is acceptable. Chi square index of Bartletts test of
sphericity for all constructs is 0.000 (p<0.001) which is statistically significant.

Soroush Zadali and Fatemeh Javidi

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Int ernational Journal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Soci al Sci ences, 3(1) January 2014

Table 2. Results of factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the variables

4.

Explained variance

Cronbach's
alpha

Dependent variable

KMO

Chi square index

Social support

0.923

0.000

41.67

0.71

Social adjustment

0.785

0.000

15.87

0.82

Social intimacy

0.701

0.000

61.19

0.73

Social violence

0.791

0.000

56.32

0.83

Propensity to Murder

0.782

0.000

52.25

0.81

Research hypotheses

To investigate the relationship of social support, social adjustment, social intimacy, and social violence with Propensity to Murder, the
following hypotheses were tested.
H1. There is a significant relationship between social support and Propensity to Murder.
H2. There is a significant relationship between social adjustment and Propensity to Murder.
H3. There is a significant relationship between social violence and Propensity to Murder.
H4. There is a significant relationship between social intimacy and Propensity to Murder.

5.

Results and discussion

5.1. Testing hypotheses

For testing the correlation between independent variables and dependent variables, Pearson correlation coefficient was used by applying
SPSS software.
5.1.1. Testing H1
Pearson correlation coefficient for variables of social support and Propensity to Murder is shown in table 3.
Table 3. Pearson's correlation test results of H1
Variables
Independent
variable

Social support

Dependent
variable

Propensity to
Murder

Pearson correlation coefficient (R)

P-value

Result

-0.535

0.000

Accepted

According to table 3, test results at a 0.99 confidence level and significance level of less than 0.01 shows a significant relationship. Based
on these results, Pearson correlation coefficient is -0.535 and p-value is 0.000.The correlation coefficient is negative; so we can conclude
that there is an indirect relationship between these two variables; therefore, the above hypothesis, from the statistical viewpoint, is accepted.
After calculating the correlations, social support, and Propensity to Murder (generally) were entered in the regression equation in pairs and
by bivariate regression they were measured.
Table 4. Bivariate regression between different aspects of social support and Propensity to Murder
Independent
variable

Dependent variable

Adj. R2

P-value

P-value

Social support

Propensity to Murder (generally)

0.279

-0.535

39.39

0.000

-2.27

0.000

Since F=39.39, it is significant in error level of less than 0.01, then the regression equation will be significant. As seen in table 4, Adjusted
coefficient of determination (Adj.R2 = 0.279) show that social support variable explain 7.9 percent of changes in variable of Propensity to
Murder. Regression coefficient (B=-0.535) determines Contribution of independent variables to predict changes in the dependent variable
And the t-statistic and error level of less than 0.01 also indicate that variable has statistically significant effect on explaining the impact of
changes in Propensity to Murder.

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Internat ional Jour nal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Social Sciences , 3(1) January 2014

5.1.2. Testing H2
Pearson correlation coefficient for variables of Social adjustment and Propensity to Murder is shown in table 5.
Table 5. Pearson's correlation test results of H2
Variables
Independent
variable

Social adjustment

Dependent variable

Propensity to Murder

Pearson correlation coefficient (R)

P-value

Result

-0.845

0.000

Accepted

Based on test results in table 5, at a 0.99 confidence level and significance level of less than 0.01 they show a significant relationship.
According to table 5, Pearson correlation coefficient is -0.845 and p-value is 0.000.The correlation coefficient is negative; so we can
conclude that there is an indirect and weak relationship between these two variables; therefore, this hypothesis is accepted.
Variables of Social adjustment and Propensity to Murder were entered in the regression equation in pairs and were measured by bivariate
regression.

Table 6. Bivariate regression between different aspects of social adjustment and Propensity to Murder
Independent
variable
Social
adjustment

Dependent variable

Adj. R2

P-value

P-value

Propensity to Murder (generally)

0.715

-0.845

249.47

0.000

-15.79

0.000

According to table 6, Since F=249.47, it is significant in error level of less than 0.01; then the regression equation will be significant. As
seen in table 4, Adjusted coefficient of determination (Adj.R2= 0.715) Indicates that social adjustment variable explain 1.5 percent of
changes in Propensity to Murder variable. Regression coefficient (B=-0.845) determines Contribution of independent variables to predict
changes in the dependent variable And the t-statistic and error level of less than 0.01 also indicate that variable has statistically significant
effect on explaining the impact of changes in Propensity to Murder variable.
5.1.3. Testing H3
Pearson correlation coefficient for variables of Social violence and Propensity to Murder is shown in table 7.

Table 7. Pearson's correlation test results of H3

Variables
Independent
variable

Social violence

Dependent variable

Propensity to Murder

Pearson correlation coefficient (R)

P-value

Result

0.545

0.000

Accepted

As seen in table 7, results show a significant relationship. Pearson correlation coefficient is 0.545 and p-value is 0.000. The correlation
coefficient is positive so there is a direct relationship between these two variables. In this regard, our third hypothesis is accepted.
We conducted bivariate regression analysis after entering variables of Social violence and Propensity to Murder in regression equation. The
results are shown in table 8.
Table 8. Bivariate regression between different aspects of social violence and Propensity to Murder
Independent
variable

Dependent variable

Adj. R2

P-value

P-value

Social violence

Propensity to Murder (generally)

0.283

0.545

31.38

0.000

5.60

0.000

According to table 8, F=31.38, and Adjusted coefficient of determination (Adj.R2) is 0.283.it Indicates that social violence variable explain
8.3 percent of changes in Propensity to Murder variable. Regression coefficient (B) is 0.545 which determines Contribution of independent
variables to predict changes in the dependent variable. T-statistic and error level of less than 0.01 also indicates that the variable has
statistically significant effect on explaining the impact of changes in Propensity to Murder variable.
5.1.4. Testing H4
Pearson correlation coefficient for variables of Social intimacy and Propensity to Murder is shown in table 9.

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Int ernational Journal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Soci al Sci ences, 3(1) January 2014

Table 9. Pearson's correlation test results of H4

Variables

Pearson correlation coefficient (R)

Independent
variable
Dependent
variable

P-value

Result

Social intimacy
-0.04

0.656

Rejected

Propensity to Murder

Pearson correlation coefficient is -0.04 and p-value is 0.656. Since p0.05, and correlation coefficient is negative; so we can conclude that
there is no relationship between these two variables; therefore, the hypothesis is rejected.
bivariate regression analysis was conducted after entering variables of Social intimacy and Propensity to Murder in regression equation.
(Table 10)
Table 10. Bivariate regression between different aspects of Social intimacy and Propensity to Murder
Independent
variable

Dependent variable

Adj. R2

P-value

P-value

Social intimacy

Propensity to Murder (generally)

0.008

-0.04

0.199

0.656

-0.447

0.656

According to table 10, F=0.199; it is not significant in error level of less than 0.05; then, the regression equation will not be significant. In
other words, the relationship between Propensity to Murder and social intimacy (in general) is not significant.
5.2. Other tests
In order to investigate the relationship of total independent variables with Propensity to Murder as well as determining the extent to which
the independent variables are capable of explaining level of Propensity to Murder and which one of them is a stronger predictor, Multiple
regression analysis (enter mode) was conducted. The results are described in the table 11.
Table 11. Multiple regression analysis between total independent variables and level of Propensity to Murder
Predictor variables
Constant value
Social violence
Social support
Social adjustment
Social intimacy

0.649

Adj. R2

0.397

4.110

P-value

0.000

P-value

10.37
0.594
-0.168
0.274

0.439
0.539
-0.220
0.237

3.08
6.33
-2.61
2.83

0.003
0.000
0.010
0.006

-0.342

-0.221

-2.33

0.220

According to the table 11, the results show that multiple correlation coefficient is equal to 0.649.Adjusted coefficient of determination is
equal to 0.397 which indicates that Independent variables can explain 39.7% of the variance of Propensity to Murder level. Furthermore,
the relationship between the independent and dependent variables is linear (F= 4.110, Sig=0.000).

6.

Conclusion

In this paper we aimed to study Factors that affect Propensity to Murder among people with 20-30 years old living in Ahwaz city,
According to this study, nearly 17 percent of respondents had high level of tendency to murder while only about 20 percent had low level
of tendency. These statistics show seriousness of the problems and the need for further research. One of the variables that were significant
in this study is social adjustment. The Pearson correlation between social adjustment and murdering, was equal to -0.845 (p-value=0.000).
Based on this, it was proved that people who have high social adjustment, have low tendency to murder while young people having low
level of adjustment, are not much compatible with community.
Another variable in this study, whose effect was significant, was social violence. About 36 percent of the respondents had high social
violence and about 14 percent had low level of social violence which can be a threat to society. The Pearson correlation between this
variable and Propensity was equal to 0.545 (p-value=0.000). This means that Young people with low violence surrounding community tend
to have lower homicide. In this paper, Social support and tendency to murder had also significant relationship with each other. About 42
percent of respondents in this study had low social support while 21 of them had high support. The Pearson correlation between social
support and Propensity to Murder was equal to -0.535 and significant level was 0.000.this means Young people who have less social
support, have high tendency to murder. According the findings, Variable of social intimacy had no significant correlation with Propensity
to Murder. In this regard, Pearson correlation coefficient was -0.04 and p-value was 0.656.
By using simultaneous multivariate regression analysis, social support, adjustment, and violence explained about 40 % of the variance of
Propensity to Murder level (Adj. R2 =39.7). In this study, 60.3% of variance of the dependent variable was not explained because, In
addition to social support, adjustment, and violence, there are other factors that Can affect the propensity to murder in Ahwaz.

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Internat ional Jour nal of Economy, Mana ge ment and Social Sciences , 3(1) January 2014

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