A Sociological Analysis of the Quality of Life of Female-Headed Households in the Marginalized Neighborhoods of Gorgan

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a sociological explanation of the factors, processes, strategies, and consequences shaping the quality of life of female-headed households supported by the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation in the marginalized neighborhoods of Gorgan. This qualitative study employed grounded theory based on the Strauss and Corbin model. The study population consisted of managers, experts, and social workers affiliated with the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation in Gorgan, who were recruited through purposive and subsequently theoretical sampling. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews until theoretical saturation was achieved. Constant comparative analysis was conducted through open, axial, and selective coding. The relationships among contextual conditions, causal conditions, intervening factors, strategies, and consequences were subsequently organized into a paradigmatic model. Inferential analysis of the qualitative data demonstrated that the quality of life of female-headed households is a multidimensional phenomenon produced through the interaction of economic, social, cultural, psychological, and institutional structures. Residence in marginalized neighborhoods, limited human capital, family instability, and a psychological poverty trap constituted the principal contextual conditions. Economic instability, livelihood and housing crises, and physical and psychological deterioration emerged as the main causal conditions. Limited resources, weak social governance, interinstitutional fragmentation, insufficient localization of policies, and ineffective empowerment programs reduced the effectiveness of existing support. The central strategies included economic empowerment, mental health promotion, educational support for children, restoration of social dignity, strengthening of social capital, and improvement of housing conditions. The continuation of the existing situation was inferred to reproduce intergenerational poverty, economic dependency, psychological distress, social disengagement, and institutional distrust. Sustainable improvement in the quality of life of female-headed households requires a transition from short-term compensatory assistance toward localized, multidimensional, coordinated, and empowerment-oriented policies. Such policies should simultaneously address livelihood security, stable employment, mental health, social capital, housing quality, social dignity, and the educational future of children.