%0 Journal Article %T Investigation and Analysis of the Effects of Inequalities on Societal, Economic and Political Security of Mashhad Metropolitan %J Human Geography Research %I University of Tehran %Z 2008-6296 %A Azami, H. %A Rusta, M. %D 2012 %\ 10/22/2012 %V 44 %N 3 %P 177-192 %! Investigation and Analysis of the Effects of Inequalities on Societal, Economic and Political Security of Mashhad Metropolitan %K crime %K Inequality %K Mashhad Metropolitan. %K security %K urban life %R 10.22059/jhgr.2012.24987 %X Extended Abstract Introduction National security is one of the main goals political societies and regimes. So to achieve this, various actions must be done. Among these measures are the identification of threats and factors which threaten security. In the contemporary period, the development of the cities, the growth of metropolitan life, the increasing social conflicts and struggles- among them the urban crimes and incongruities- are one of the commonest phenomena of human societies. Likewise, Mashad, as the country's second Metropolis has a high share of social and economic inequalities and crime. This paper considers one of the sources that threaten the country's national security with regard to social and economic affairs. So let us first consider the concept of security. Then the concepts of crime-prone locations and civil crimes, deprivation and social inequalities are considered. The measurement of inequality in Mashad's 12 sections with regard to criteria of addiction, lack of chastity, forgery, theft, crimes against public properties constitutes the main core of the research. Methodology Due to the nature of the research, the method selected for carrying it out is descriptive and analytical. In the current research, the following criteria for security are distinguished, based on the number and percentage of the criminals in the central prison of all 12 sections of Mashad: addiction, lack of chastity, forgery, theft of the public properties and narcotics. The research methodology is such that the number and percentage of the criminals of the central prison on the basis of the crime type are extracted in for each section and thematic maps are provided for them (The data and statistics does not exist for section 12). Results and Discussion Nowadays in global research there is a proved fact that, criminals, while choosing the crime date and place, seem to take careful attention in finding the right place. Therefore every effort to identify the crime places and crime causes is very important. Hence, according to the importance and effect of place in the creation, number, and types of crimes the following part of the paper carries out separate analysis of six main criteria of crime among the different sections of Metropolitan Mashad. 1) Addiction The following is the number and percentage of addicted criminals in Mashad central prison from 12 sections of the city: The percentage of addicts in six sections such as section 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 11 is less than the city addiction average. One of the main reasons for that is their peripheral location. 2) Lack of chastity The whole number of crimes in the 12 section related to lack of chastity is found to be 379. Accordingly, the percent of chastity offenders in six sections, including sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 11 has been less than the city average. Also the percentage of addicts in sections 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, and Samen has been above the city average. The distribution of chastity offenders shows that the highest rate is found in sections 2, 3, and 5, and that the lowest rate is that of section 6. 3) Forgery The number and percentage of criminals in Mashad central prison, according to forgery, has been the following: Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, and 11 were above the city average and sections 1, 7, 8, 9, and Samen were above the average. The distribution of forgery criminals shows that the highest rate is that of sections 4, 9, and 5 and the lowest rate in section 6. In map no. 3, these are clearly observable. 4) Theft The percentage of thieves were lower than the city average in the seven sections of 1, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, and Samen, and higher in the five sections 2, 3, 4, 6, 7. The distribution of theft criminals shows that the highest theft rate is observed in section 5, 4, and 2, respectively, and the lowest rate observed in section 11 and Samen. 5) Crimes against public properties The investigation the criminals against public properties in Mashad central prison (among the 12 sections) shows that the following six sections among them sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and Samen are more crime-prone in this regard. Sections 1, 2, 8, 9, 10 are in more undesirable conditions than other sections of the city. Accordingly, in the above-mentioned sections the highest rate of crime against public properties is observed. The distribution of the criminals against public properties shows that section 3 has the highest rate and section 6 the lowest rate of it. 6) Narcotics The number and percentage of drug-addicted prisoners in 12 sections of Mashad illustrates the fact that sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, and Samen have the highest rate in the whole city. Sections 5, 6, 9, 11 were above the city average. The distribution of drug-addicted prisoners throughout the city shows that the highest number of prisoners in Mashad central prison are drug-addicted convicts (2947), with section five having the highest share and Samen the lowest one. Conclusion In recent decades, the concept and nature of national security have completely changed. The main attention has been drawn from traditional military threats to modern non-military threats. The current research shows that section 5 is the most crime-prone part of the city of Mashad containing about 17,2 percent of all criminals in the city. Following it are sections 2, and 4 which are located in northern and eastern part of Mashad, respectively. Therefore, the investigated criteria are treated as the main threats to economic, political, and social security because of the location of the crime centers in northern and eastern parts of the city. Therefore the country's political and administrative institutions must take full responsibility for the people in tackling the problems by using desirable measurements and policies. %U https://jhgr.ut.ac.ir/article_24987_4631e125ff0c27048ff870c8027f2ac7.pdf