Document Type : Research Paper
Author
Assistant professor, Department of Social Science Education, university of Farhangian, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
The level of social participation of individuals in society has a significant impact on achieving a better life and creating a more developed society. Non governmental organizations (NGOs) take steps towards humanitarian goals and reduction of social harms by attracting public participation. The main question of the current research is what issues and challenges prevent this popular participation and as a result, the non-governmental organizations distance themselves from their important goals. The method used in this research is based on qualitative methodology and "theme analysis". In order to collect data in this research, a semi-structured in-depth interview was conducted with 27 civil activists with a history of cooperation with non-governmental organizations using a purposive sampling method, and finally, a number of basic, organizing and comprehensive themes were obtained. According to the findings, four categories of problems including "structural/environmental challenges", "organizational/peripheral challenges", "strategic challenges", and "consequential challenges" were counted. Also, the main challenge facing NGOs to attract public participation was named as the central theme of "incomplete companionship". This phenomenon points to the fact that although the NGOs bring people with them and with their help they try to reduce harms and social problems, but this companionship does not involve the general society but only a few groups.
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