Volume 23, Issue 89 (8-2023)
refahj 2023, 23(89): 129-163 |
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Saberifar R. (2023). Factors Affecting the Selection of Survival Strategies for the Urban Poor: A Case Study of Residents of Disfunctional Tissues in Torbat-e Jam). refahj. 23(89), 129-163. doi:10.32598/refahj.23.89.580.3
URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-4087-en.html
URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-4087-en.html
Keywords: Dysfunctional urban contexts, Empowerment, Social capital, Survival strategies, Torbat-e Jam
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Introduction: The roots and causes of the occurrence and persistence of poverty are diverse. For this reason, reducing it to a specific factor or context is simplistic and erroneous. As complex and diverse as poverty is, so are the households that enter the field. Each household considers different tools and strategies to deal with this phenomenon, depending on the reasons and contexts involved in the poverty cycle (Santoso, 2008). Because each of these strategies has specific social, family, and individual consequences, knowledge of the households, the type of strategies considered, and the extent of the effect of each of them can prepare the ground for dealing with the social and economic consequences of these conditions, especially in disfunctional urban (marginal) contexts. The study sample in this study was selected from poor urban disfunctional tissues. The choice of the study city is also theoretically important because it is considered as a border area, while the least attention is paid to attracting credit and increasing income and employment, according to the center-periphery approach. For this reason, if a viable solution is found to reduce the harm of the poor survival options, it can be used in other areas and situations.
Method: This study was descriptive and analytical in terms of implementation and applied in terms of purpose. Accordingly, the factors affecting the selection of survival strategies among residents of disfunctional urban tissues were investigated. Due to the nature of the subject, the data were obtained in two ways, including qualitative (sample size of 30 households) and quantitative (survey of 300 households living in this area). The information required for this section was collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed based on content analysis (according to Brown and Clark framework) (Lotfi Khachki et al., 2022). In a small section, 300 households living in disfunctional urban areas were selected regardless of support status using purposeful random sampling. In this study, the population living in disfunctional tissues was estimated at 30,000. Given the prevalence of the coronavirus, ’inaccuracy of some questionnaires, and the impossibility of re-referral, only the information of 300 questionnairs was included in the final analysis instead of the 379 samples determined by the Cochran’s formula. The required data from this sample were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability were determined by experts in this field and the Cochran’s formula. Quantitative data were analyzed in the form of logistic regression.
Findings: The results showed that although the number of households choosing high-risk strategies is small, around 10%, the same number is very important and fundamental considering the border situation of the city in question and its cultural and social conditions. In this study, the main categories of survival approaches used by residents of disfunctional tissues in Torbat-e Jam were livelihood support, benefiting from temporary or part-time employment, acquiring basic skills and receiving the necessary training, severe reduction in household consumption and expenses, and occasional or cross-cutting delinquent activities. Livelihood-based advocacy strategies include cross-border informal and minimal formal support. Incomplete employment orientation strategy includes semi-sustainable employment in the informal sector and unskilled user sub-occupations. The training strategy and acquisition of basic skills include livelihood-oriented academicism and superficial skills training. The strategy of drastically reducing household consumption also includes not providing basic food for the family, reducing the supply of clothing, and reducing health care costs. Finally, the strategy of turning to occasional criminal activity includes petty theft and forced prostitution. According to the mentioned categories and the results of the interviews, the theme of bio-poor sustainability based on the adoption of fragile survival strategies can be selected as the main theme of the present study. In the quantitative section, there were 300 families, often with a variety of income and livelihood problems, living in disfunctional tissues. The results of this study showed that presence in local groups and networks would increase the amount of social capital and provide the possibility of meeting some needs in a better and easier way. Also, the trust and solidarity of the family in the residential neighborhood towards other residents, as well as the trust and sense of belonging to the city and the country, would increase their resilience. Another structure that was used to measure the amount of social capital among the surveyed households was the cooperation and participation of households in pursuing local demands and the level of participation in formal and informal meetings, which was formed to deal with social, economic, and environmental problems and bottlenecks in the area. The fourth and fifth constructs were related to the way of obtaining information and communication links and social cohesion and inclusion. The results showed that social capital and gender of the head of the household had the highest position. In fact, these two variables explained the poverty situation and the choice of survival strategies and had a significant relationship with it with 95% confidence. Also, the amount of property and capital of the household provides it with many opportunities, paving the way for the start of activities that contribute to the household’s livelihood, along with less inclination to violent approaches. In addition, when the head of the household is a woman, household poverty is more likely to escalate, forcing her to resort to more inappropriate strategies.
Discussion: In general, the findings of this study showed that the surveyed households always use the least risky strategies for survival. However, when the bottlenecks get close to unbearable, they have to consider the more dangerous ones. Although the group has achieved small successes in some cases, almost none of these approaches has been able to completely lift them out of the cycle of poverty and provide them with a normal life. Yet, in cases where individual and organizational interventions have taken place in this process, these approaches have had acceptable results (Saberifar & Qaisari, 2009). Apparently, all of these households need some form of formal intervention. Of course, before national and local institutions and organizations enter this process, the existing opportunities should be used, especially the formal and informal assistance that has long been available to help such families (O’Reilly & Gordon, 1995; Anderson & de la Rosa, 1991; Clarke, 2002). According to the results of this study, the most important factor in poverty alleviation and the selection of strategies with the least negative consequences, it is a social capital, whose effect is multiplied in a situation where the head of the household is a man with higher education and a stable job with a minimum of wealth. This finding has been confirmed in other similar studies (Woolcock & Nerayan, 2000; Abdul et al., 2010; Pierce et al., 2016; Pierce et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2017; Busra et al., 2018: 78). Perhaps one of the main reasons is that social capital raises the hope that people will come to the rescue, and subsequently increasing their resilience (Sirven, 2006) and preventing them from slipping into dangerous areas.
Financial Resources
No direct or indirect financial support has been received from any organization for the publication of this article.
Conflict of interest
There is no conflict of interest in this article.
Following Principles of Research Ethics
All information is collected with confidentiality, also in this article, all ethical principles in the field of plagiarism and data distortion, etc. are observed.
Introduction: The roots and causes of the occurrence and persistence of poverty are diverse. For this reason, reducing it to a specific factor or context is simplistic and erroneous. As complex and diverse as poverty is, so are the households that enter the field. Each household considers different tools and strategies to deal with this phenomenon, depending on the reasons and contexts involved in the poverty cycle (Santoso, 2008). Because each of these strategies has specific social, family, and individual consequences, knowledge of the households, the type of strategies considered, and the extent of the effect of each of them can prepare the ground for dealing with the social and economic consequences of these conditions, especially in disfunctional urban (marginal) contexts. The study sample in this study was selected from poor urban disfunctional tissues. The choice of the study city is also theoretically important because it is considered as a border area, while the least attention is paid to attracting credit and increasing income and employment, according to the center-periphery approach. For this reason, if a viable solution is found to reduce the harm of the poor survival options, it can be used in other areas and situations.
Method: This study was descriptive and analytical in terms of implementation and applied in terms of purpose. Accordingly, the factors affecting the selection of survival strategies among residents of disfunctional urban tissues were investigated. Due to the nature of the subject, the data were obtained in two ways, including qualitative (sample size of 30 households) and quantitative (survey of 300 households living in this area). The information required for this section was collected through in-depth interviews and analyzed based on content analysis (according to Brown and Clark framework) (Lotfi Khachki et al., 2022). In a small section, 300 households living in disfunctional urban areas were selected regardless of support status using purposeful random sampling. In this study, the population living in disfunctional tissues was estimated at 30,000. Given the prevalence of the coronavirus, ’inaccuracy of some questionnaires, and the impossibility of re-referral, only the information of 300 questionnairs was included in the final analysis instead of the 379 samples determined by the Cochran’s formula. The required data from this sample were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability were determined by experts in this field and the Cochran’s formula. Quantitative data were analyzed in the form of logistic regression.
Findings: The results showed that although the number of households choosing high-risk strategies is small, around 10%, the same number is very important and fundamental considering the border situation of the city in question and its cultural and social conditions. In this study, the main categories of survival approaches used by residents of disfunctional tissues in Torbat-e Jam were livelihood support, benefiting from temporary or part-time employment, acquiring basic skills and receiving the necessary training, severe reduction in household consumption and expenses, and occasional or cross-cutting delinquent activities. Livelihood-based advocacy strategies include cross-border informal and minimal formal support. Incomplete employment orientation strategy includes semi-sustainable employment in the informal sector and unskilled user sub-occupations. The training strategy and acquisition of basic skills include livelihood-oriented academicism and superficial skills training. The strategy of drastically reducing household consumption also includes not providing basic food for the family, reducing the supply of clothing, and reducing health care costs. Finally, the strategy of turning to occasional criminal activity includes petty theft and forced prostitution. According to the mentioned categories and the results of the interviews, the theme of bio-poor sustainability based on the adoption of fragile survival strategies can be selected as the main theme of the present study. In the quantitative section, there were 300 families, often with a variety of income and livelihood problems, living in disfunctional tissues. The results of this study showed that presence in local groups and networks would increase the amount of social capital and provide the possibility of meeting some needs in a better and easier way. Also, the trust and solidarity of the family in the residential neighborhood towards other residents, as well as the trust and sense of belonging to the city and the country, would increase their resilience. Another structure that was used to measure the amount of social capital among the surveyed households was the cooperation and participation of households in pursuing local demands and the level of participation in formal and informal meetings, which was formed to deal with social, economic, and environmental problems and bottlenecks in the area. The fourth and fifth constructs were related to the way of obtaining information and communication links and social cohesion and inclusion. The results showed that social capital and gender of the head of the household had the highest position. In fact, these two variables explained the poverty situation and the choice of survival strategies and had a significant relationship with it with 95% confidence. Also, the amount of property and capital of the household provides it with many opportunities, paving the way for the start of activities that contribute to the household’s livelihood, along with less inclination to violent approaches. In addition, when the head of the household is a woman, household poverty is more likely to escalate, forcing her to resort to more inappropriate strategies.
Discussion: In general, the findings of this study showed that the surveyed households always use the least risky strategies for survival. However, when the bottlenecks get close to unbearable, they have to consider the more dangerous ones. Although the group has achieved small successes in some cases, almost none of these approaches has been able to completely lift them out of the cycle of poverty and provide them with a normal life. Yet, in cases where individual and organizational interventions have taken place in this process, these approaches have had acceptable results (Saberifar & Qaisari, 2009). Apparently, all of these households need some form of formal intervention. Of course, before national and local institutions and organizations enter this process, the existing opportunities should be used, especially the formal and informal assistance that has long been available to help such families (O’Reilly & Gordon, 1995; Anderson & de la Rosa, 1991; Clarke, 2002). According to the results of this study, the most important factor in poverty alleviation and the selection of strategies with the least negative consequences, it is a social capital, whose effect is multiplied in a situation where the head of the household is a man with higher education and a stable job with a minimum of wealth. This finding has been confirmed in other similar studies (Woolcock & Nerayan, 2000; Abdul et al., 2010; Pierce et al., 2016; Pierce et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2017; Busra et al., 2018: 78). Perhaps one of the main reasons is that social capital raises the hope that people will come to the rescue, and subsequently increasing their resilience (Sirven, 2006) and preventing them from slipping into dangerous areas.
Financial Resources
No direct or indirect financial support has been received from any organization for the publication of this article.
Conflict of interest
There is no conflict of interest in this article.
Following Principles of Research Ethics
All information is collected with confidentiality, also in this article, all ethical principles in the field of plagiarism and data distortion, etc. are observed.
Type of Study: orginal |
Received: 2022/06/19 | Accepted: 2023/05/10 | Published: 2023/08/15
Received: 2022/06/19 | Accepted: 2023/05/10 | Published: 2023/08/15
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