الأسباب الاجتماعية والاقتصادية للعنف المجتمعي من وجهة نظر الطلبة الجامعيين

The social and economic causes of societal violence from the perspective of university students

This study aims at delineating university students’ opinions concerning the factors of the spread of societal violence in the Jordanian society and the impact of certain economic and social factors on the spread of this phenomenon. To this end, a questionnaire was purposely developed after evidence of validity and reliability was provided. The study sample consists of 486 students from the eight colleges of Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan. The study was conducted during the first semester of the academic year 2009/2010. Findings have uncovered several crucial points concerning the spread of societal violence and the factors influencing it. First, mediation and patronage are the most influential factors influencing societal violence. Second, unemployment, the increasing number of foreign labor, market anarchy and prices instability are among the top factors of societal violence. Third, tribal factors play a minor role in terms of the spread of societal violence. Fourth, there are statistically significant differences in perceptions of societal violence factors attributed to the student’s academic level and average on each aspect (social or economic) and on both aspects, together. Finally, no statistically significant differences have been reported in terms of gender or family income or size and their relationship with societal violence