This paper is an examination of social ANOMIE in virtual communities in the internet network. The Expansion of internet networks and the acceleration of virtual communities has led to important questions whether the internet network can be considered as an anomic space and whether we can speak of an invisible social order which is based on social norms embodied in a virtual reality form?

In today’, s world, which is rife with civil wars, terrorist activities, and different forms of violence, peace has become a complex concept, affected by various social, economic, cultural, political and psychological factors. One of the states of the society, which may pave the way for conflict or other forms of violence is ANOMIE. ANOMIE, as a societal state, in which there is a threat of violence, war or terrorist activities, provides a rich area of study to develop deeper insights into conflictive contexts. After developing a theoretical framework and using formerly developed measurements and sequence results, we conduct two studies to further investigate the relation between ANOMIE and peace/conflict. Results indicate that internal peace is associated with the breakdown in leadership and social fabric (Study 1A). Therefore, dysregulated and disintegrated societies as the result of breakdown in leadership and social fabric respectively, pave the way for direct and indirect violence. In addition, our results illustrate that ANOMIE has an important role in predicting the contexts where conflict exists (Study 1B). Findings indicate that ANOMIE data can be useful to forecast the contexts in which there is a potential conflict. They also highlight the importance of ANOMIE in peacefulness or conflictiveness of societies.

When scholars and political activists express their concern about the dangers of social breakdown in the Iranian public sphere, at least three different meanings of the term "collapse" can be recognized as a possible "referent".Such multiplicity of usage obscures the understanding such vital issue. This paper initially sets out to identify the major meanings of "breakdown"; three meanings of breakdown as social, as rupture in national unity, and as political are recognized to be more frequently cited in the public sphere of Iran. Then, using the theoretical framework of political sociology, with a special emphasis on the state, we conclude that the concept of social ANOMIE is more accurate than social collapse. The study utilizes empirical evidence and fieldwork data to support its claims.

Background: In traditional societies the elderly enjoyed great power and social status. But their situation along with that of the family has changed dramatically in today's urbanized and industrialized society, and this has created many problems for them. The substantial and continuous decline in mortality has increased the elderly population which in return has made them vulnerable to different types of abuses. The aim of the present study was to investigate the sociocultural factors affecting elderly abuse in Isfahan, Iran.Methods: This research employed the survey method and the technique of data collection was a questionnaire. Research population consisted of all the elderly aged 60 years and above who were abused or mistreated and had contacted Isfahan's legal medical authorities. The sample included 62 such individuals. The research instrument had face validity and Cronbach's alpha (reliability) was 0.78. Analysis of variance and Pearson correlation coefficients were used.Findings: Physical abuse was at a minimum and economic and psychological abuses were more prevalent. There was a significant relation between elderly abuse and education (f=3.52, P=0.005), person who resided with the elderly (f=4.42, P=0.002), and socioeconomic status (r=0.592, P<0.001).Conclusion: Physical abuse of the elderly in Isfahan was relatively low but using their property without their permission and psychological abuse was more frequent. Concerted efforts should be exerted to prevent any kind of abuse.

The present article is an attempt to study the routine activities of two EFL classes from an alternative perspective, namely sociocultural theory (SCT). The unconventional lenses through which the data (conventional EFL classes) are analyzed can hopefully provide an insight into common classroom practice. The data lend further credibility to SCT. In essence, it is a demonstration of how a theory can be applied to the micro events of classrooms. Ellis and Sheen (2006) note that recasts have invariably been viewed in cognitive terms. Lantolf (2006) also alludes to the possibility of viewing recasts from a sociocultural perspective. In the spirit of these two associations of recasts and sociocultural theory, recasts in the two classes observed are scrutinized from a sociocultural perspective. A very interesting finding of the study is the meditational tool of sentence making employed by the EFL teachers in the two classes. This indicates that teachers use sentence making by students as a meditational tool to create implicit knowledge. The article demonstrates the close affinity between feedback in general and recasts in particular with reference to SCT.

Appearing a new field of psychiatry called social psychiatry and its applied field, community psychiatry, the attentions have been drawn toward socio- cultural factors in determining different pathologies and even some theories have been stated.Psychiatric symptoms are considered as deviation from social norms and being mental patient is viewed as a social role.Severe mental disorders are explained in the framework of social breakdown syndrome, that is the gradual separation of individual from society.In addition, the social theories have some implications for prevention and treatment in the society level to protect" The Mass" and increase the treatment potential of all clients and people.

The main objective in this paper is to survey the level of political ANOMIE among Iranian students using some theoretical Concepts such as: feeling of effectiveness on sociopolitical issues; sociopolitical trusts; and the feeling toward the rules and regulations. Theoretical arguments, including Durkheim’s theoretical reflections on political ANOMIE, are presented. Field survey is the applied method of collecting data through a researcher made questionnaire.Students of Islamic Azad University constituted the statistical population of this research. A sample of 350 respondents completed the questionnaire. Cluster sampling applied to the selection of students. Findings show that respondents suffer from political ANOMIE at the rate of higher than average on a five points scale. Respondents also express low effectiveness on sociopolitical issues; their feeling of sociopolitical trust and civic obligations are average on this scale.

The subject of this research is the analysis of the inter-relations between environmental structure and social ANOMIE. The case of study was Azadi square and its surroundings in the city of Tehran. Keeping an eye on two important factors: the socio-economic structure of the society, and the fact that Tehran is a metropolitan city, as the most important factors of the formation of social harms, the remain objective is to analyse the effects a new factor, that is, the manmade environment on, the emergence and progress of social harms in a specific urban area. Thus having established the hypotheses and the questionnaire of the research, different types of social harms and ANOMIE existing in Azadi square were recognized, tried to analyze the relations between these behaviors and the structure of the environment, where these behaviors occur. Crowded urban places, big squares and roundabouts, bus terminals, residential quarters, with people who make more geographical moves, suburban regions and so on, are ideal places for various types of social harms and crimes to occur, because it is in such places that safety, stability and ethics are attacked. In Azadi square, which is an example of such places, the existence of various crimes have deterred its natural settings of becoming a cultural and symbolic place, which it could and should have been, and have also ruined it's credit. The consequences have become efficient elements in developing and supporting social ANOMIE. The most important ANOMIE evident at Azadi square and its surroundings are caused by the enduring presence of unstable crowd who, as the most basic role in the square, that is, the traffic role, commute. The commuting of about 500000 unstable crowd through the settings of the square round the clock without establishing any effective and useful relations have made a good opportunity for hiding and occurring of ANOMIE behaviors. The adjacency of the bus terminal and Al-Mahdi park to the Azadi square have an undeniable effect on the progress of social harms and occurrence of social ANOMIE in this square. The vastness of the square and the existence of dull and dark corners in some parts of the square, along with all other positive facilities and capabilities that there are in the square, have made it a safe place for crime. Drug business, addiction, prostitution, mendicancy, insecurity, vagrancy, pick pocketing, robbery, are examples of the social harms that have been noticed in the square and it's surrounding environment. Social harms and ANOMIE can be controlled to some extent in urban surroundings by providing environmental arrangements, and traffic regulations along with basic and structural reformations. Efforts to improve the cultural quality of the square, optional usage of the existing values, supporting the symbolic role and cultural nature of the square must be made. Making it safe for pedestrians, bright and clear places, as well as decreasing the number of commuters by moving some of the public means of transportation to other places, are only a few suitable ways to design and build a good place in order to decrease social problems and difficulties of Azadi square.