Reviewing the Judicalization of Disputes among Villagers and Factors Affecting It (Case Study: Roshtkhar Dehestan)

Extended Abstract 1. INTRODUCTION Humans are social beings; therefore, they have always been forced to live beside their fellow men. Although social life and relations have led to growth and progress, they sometimes create disturbance leading to the creation of conflicts over their interests and rights, which has resulted in fights and disagreements between them. To solve these disputes, in every era, many methods and solutions have been proposed based on the conditions and requirements of communities. Meanwhile, there have been many changes in different dimensions of villagers’ life, which are noticeable in most villages in Iran including villages of Roshtkhar District. Undoubtedly, these changes stem from the effective socio-cultural, economic, physical changes in rural communities which can affect the trend of change, its expansion and development. 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Developments in rural communities in Iran reflect a range of contrasts between past and present, or in other words, tradition and modernity, and the study on these developments is based on land reforms. In fact, rural areas had faced with economic, social, and environmental challenges but these challenges gradually disappeared and soon there were no choices except accepting modernity and being compatible with this new identity. Regarding the relationship between tradition and modernity, some social scientists believe that many traditional elements in cultural structure of societies are broken through the process of modernism deployment and transition from a traditional society to a modern one. In addition, new elements and structures should be replaced with old ones. Changing the traditional practices and introducing new ways for resolving conflicts among villagers are two important aspects of sociocultural changes in a society. In defining the concept of “dispute”, it should be said that dispute is a common social process with multidimensional features that has its own simplicity or complexity in all social systems. In other words, the word “dispute” refers to a situation in which human groups of a specific race, language, culture, religion, and economy have a conscious dispute because of a real or unreal incompatibility. Dispute is a worldwide phenomenon and is always happening inside societies. However, it is not necessarily without interruption or with the same intensity. Therefore, dispute is a social process with multidimensional features. 3. METHODOLOGY In the present study, a descriptive-analytical methodology was used to investigate the parameters in two main phases. The first phase includes documentary and library studies, and using internet to investigate issues such as review of literature, background, concepts, and etc. In the second phase, some field studies were done to collect data, prepare and complete questionnaires. In the next step, 13 villages out of 26 villages of Roshtkhar District each with more than 100 households were selected as sample villages, and finally, having used Cochran Formula, 350 households were selected as sample households from the aforementioned villages. Then, questionnaires were completed by the head of sample households. Finally, having used Proportional Allocation Method, the number of households under study whose head has undergone the interview in each village was identified. In the next step, to analyze the data, One-Sample T-Test and Kruskal-Wallis test as well as Expert Choice, SPSS, and ARCG softwares were used. 4. DISCUSSION The results of this study show that among interested indexes in reviewing the judicalization of disputes among villagers and the factors affecting it, social media with the average of 4.19, and the presence of government institutions with the average of 4.9 have the highest averages among the households under study. On the other hand, the factor that has the highest influence in judicalization of disputes among villagers is changing social aspects, which are influenced by facilities like social media, the presence of government institutions, access to cities, and other factors. These factors have made people not resort to traditional practices for resolving their disputes. In addition, One-Sample T-Test showed that there was a meaningful difference (Ρ<0.5) between economic, socio-cultural, and physical aspects while this difference was not seen in Kruskal-Wallis Test in the physical aspect. 5. CONCLUSION This study showed the process of modernization (one-dimensional, superficial, and awkward) which has been penetrated in the villages of Roshtkhar District. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to review the disputes among villagers and the factors affecting them. According to the supplementary questionnaire, there were a few people, between 45 and 65 years old, who wanted to resolve their disputes informally (mediation). Meanwhile, as modern facilities entered the villages and trust decreased among people, the value system in the villages of Iran including villages in Roshtkhar District has changed and resolving disputes in an informal way (arbitration and mediation) has given its way to resorting to judicial and formal authorities.