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25International Annual Edition of Applied Psychology : Theory, Research, and Practice Volume 4, Issue 1, 2017.
THE PECULIARITIES OF THE NIGERIAN YOUTH INVOLVING IN DRUG CONSUMPTION: SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT
Ringo O. Ekedegwa
Saratov State University,
83, Astrakhanskaya Street, Saratov, Russia
ringostar2u4u@yahoo.com
Abstract
The article is focused on the study of socio-psychological determinants of initiation and retention of drug use by Nigerian youth. The purpose of the study: to study the main socio-psychological aspects of the determinants of the Nigerian youths involvement in drug use. Methods of research: questioning, statistical analysis. The following zero hypotheses were put forward: 1) there is no significant dependence in the average assessment of the responses between the presence of child abuse and the subsequent use of drugs by young people; 2) there is no significant dependence in the average assessment of responses between peer influence and drug use by young people. Characteristics of the empirical sample: young people (aged 18 to 24) who are in detention at The Juvenile Center, some drug offenders in custody at the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (N.D.L.E.A) Command in Makurdi, Benue State, and the N.D.L.E.A Rehabilitation Center, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria (N= 193). Conclusions of the study: 1) young people abuse stimulants, sedatives and alcohol more than other drugs; 2) children's involvement in drug use, is as a result of parents ignoring their responsibilities to raise and train their children in a more responsible ways; 3) peers have the greatest impact on the use of drugs by Nigerian youths; 4) feeling of getting rid of everyday worries leads to Drug use; 5) Most young Nigerians drug addicts believe that drug use cannot be eradicated. The main determinants of this phenomenon can be divided into socio-psychological and psychological ones.
Key words: involvement in drug use, socio-psychological determinants of drug use, drug use of Nigerian youth.
ISSN 2313-4097
The problems of young people getting involved in drug use is a deterrent to the growth, progress and development of any society, a threat to life, health, dignity and well-being of all its members. The phenomenon of drug use does not have any boundaries or social classes, this problem affects representatives of all walks of life [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Breslau [7] and Compton [8] note the absence of any influence of racial or ethnic differences on initiation of use of psychoactive substances. The problem of youths getting involved in drug use in the Federal Republic of Nigeria has become specially urgent. H. Mamman, A.T. Othman, L.H. Lian [9], P.O. Onifade, E.B. Somoye [10] in their studies have shown that drug use has reached epidemics in modern Nigerian society: about 15% of the population accept illegal (control) substance. The most popular prohibited drugs are hemp derivatives [11]. At present, the following determinants of drug use are singled out: a) socio-psychological - the desire to increase social status, pressure from social groups and social institutions, such as peers, media, consumer values, family problems, b) individual psychological get rid of pain or discomfort, achieve euphoria, visions or escape from unpleasant reality, as well as curiosity, boredom, a desire to reduce fear, get sexual and physical pleasure, Nepony [12, 13, 14, 15].
Traditionally, the following stages of drug addiction are associated with different determinants of their use: first use (motive is curiosity, desire to experiment, join a meaningful group), routine use (desire to have fun, accompanied by denial of problems, life itself begins to be structured around admission narcotic drugs), psychic addiction and physiological dependence.
The purpose of the study: to study the main socio-psychological determinants of the involvement of Nigerian youth in drug use.
Characteristics of the empirical sample: young people (aged 18 to 24) who are in detention at The Juvenile Center, some drug offenders in custody at the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (N.D.L.E.A) Command in Makurdi, Benue State, and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (N.D.L.E.A) Rehabilitation Center, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria.
Methodology and design of the study. For this study, the method of questioning was used. As the research tool for collecting information, the author's questionnaire was used. The questionnaire used by us consisted of questions aimed at studying the age, marital status, educational level and gender of the subjects, the facts of using the drug by the respondent. The subject's task is to put points from 1 to 4 in accordance with the degree of agreement between them and the judgment: "completely agree" = 4; "I agree" = 3; "Disagree" = 2; "Absolutely disagree" = 1.
The collected data were analyzed using statistical analysis methods: a) mean value, b) standard deviation; c) t-statistics. Hypotheses were tested using Student's t-test.
The results of Student's t-test determine whether the hypothesis is accepted or rejected at a significance level of 0.05. If the average is less than 2.50, the null hypothesis is rejected, if above 2.50, the null hypothesis is accepted.
Research Hypotheses
The following zero hypotheses were put forward:
Hypothesis 1: There is no significant dependence in the average assessment of the responses between the presence of child abuse and the subsequent use of drugs by young people
Hypothesis 2: There is no significant dependence in the average assessment of responses between peer influence and drug use by young people
The data obtained and their analysis
Family status: 66.8% (129 people) of the respondents are single, 11.4% (22 people) are married, 8.3% (16 people) divorced 5.2% (10 people) widows, and 8.3% (16 people) widowers.
The highest percentage of respondents - 94.3% (182 people) - male, and much less 5.7% (11 people) - female.
There is the following distribution of subjects by level of education: the highest percentage of 72% (139 people) - respondents with a secondary school certificate, 11.4% (22 people) were ND (National diploma - two-year polytechnic institute
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certification program in Nigeria), 9, 3% (18 people) with a primary school certificate and 3.1% (6 people) have a bachelor's and master's degree.
Religion. The highest percentage of subjects - 48.2% (93 people) - Muslims, 42.5% (82 people) are Christians, 8.3% (18 people) are pagans.
The most used drugs are stimulants, followed by sedatives, alcohol and hashish.
There is no evidence of a connection between drug use and such factors in the biography of respondents as bullying (mean = 2.23; SD = 0.86287), lack of love (mean. = 2.14; SD = 0.8648), sexual violence (mean = 1.78, SD = 0.6449) from the parents. However, the reliable component is the neglect of the subject (ignoring parental functions) by parents in childhood (mean = 2.9800; SD = 2.07428).
Thus, it was revealed that of all the family determinants that influence the drug use of respondents, the factor of neglect of the child's parent is more influential.
Of particular interest is the relationship between drug use and the state of the social contacts of the subjects. The social agents responsible for the primary involvement of a young person in drug use are drug addict friends (the parameter "my friends do not use drugs") = 1.7300, SD = 0.56595, is outside the zone of significance). Respondents prefer to use drugs in the company of other users, and not alone (mean = 3.53, SD = 4.13767). The main social agent that first introduced the subject to drugs (mean 3.00, SD = 0.666) and supplies them in the future (mean = 2.97; SD = 0.75819) is also a group of drug addicts. Subjects tend to deny the loss of friends who do not use drugs, as a consequence of drug use (the parameter "loss of friends due to drug use" mean = 2.330; SD = 0.65219, is outside the zone of significance).
According to the self-report of drug addicts, an important individual psychological determinant of drug use is the improvement of cognitive functions, namely stimulation of attention concentration (cf. = 3.47, SD = 0.57656) and speech activity (mean = 2.97; = 0.79715), improvement of understanding (for example, educational material) (mean = 3,400; SD = 0,60168), deprivation of negative
thoughts (mean = 2.9400; SD = 0.93008) , getting rid of the feeling of loneliness (mean = 3.2400; SD = 0.71237) and anxiety (mean = 3.9400; SD = 5.08478).
An equally important reason for drug use, as follows from the self-reports of the subjects, is the correction of the psycho-emotional state experienced: the desire to "relax", to relieve the emotional stress (mean= 3.0500; SD =0.67232) and reduce the level of aggression ("anger") (Mean = 3.5300, SD = 4.03634).
Socio-psychological consequences of involvement in drug use for young people. As the results of this study show, respondents do not associate drug use with the following social risks: the loss of friends (mean = 2.43, SD = 0.7, abstinence of family members from the drug user (mean = 1.91; = 0.829), initiation to a criminal way of life (mean = 1.80, SD = 0.7124) .The values of these parameters do not go beyond the statistical error.
The most significant consequences of drug use, from the perspective of the subjects, are the following: loss of career opportunities (mean = 2.97, SD = 3.079) and health problems (mean = 2.94, SD = 0.85) Thus, according to young people who use drugs, the main negative consequences of getting them into drug use are the risks of losing their jobs and worsening their health.
Methods of withholding drug use from Nigerian youth. The subjective assessment of the factors of retention from drug use is significant in understanding the motivation for involving in the consumption of prohibited drugs by the subjects. Young Nigerian drug users consider it impossible to eradicate drug addiction as a social problem (mean = 3.35; SD = 0.609). Among the significant ways to help them stay away from initiation into psychoactive substances, they consider: educational programs on the negative impact of drugs (mean 2.73, SD = 0.776) and positive attitude towards children in the family by parents (mean = 3.21, SD = 0.7).
It should be noted that the subjects tend to deny the importance of psychological counseling (the parameter "the influence of psychological counseling" outside the zone of significant significance: mean = 1.76, SD = 0.683) and imprisonment (parameter "influence of imprisonment" outside the zone of reliable
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significance: = 1.61, SD = 0.584) as factors contributing to the eradication of drug abuse among youths in Nigeria. Thus, from the point of view of young drug users, the most effective are measures related to educational programs on the negative impact of drugs, the manifestation of love from parents to their children. At the same time, a rather large proportion of the subjects believe that there are no effective measures to combat drug use, and drug abuse is ineradicable.
Verification of zero hypotheses
Hypothesis 1: There is no significant dependence in the average assessment of the answers between the parameter "the presence of child abuse" and the subsequent use of drugs by young people (Table 1).
Table 1.
The Dependence in the Average of the Answers Between the Parameter "the Presence of Children" and the Use of Drugs by Young People (Hypothesis 1)
My parent neglect me when I was a child I was bullied when I was a child My parents never loved me when I was a child I wasn't brought up by my parents when I was a child I was raped when I was a child
Chi-Square 40.400 25.200 29.040 12.320 26.480
df 4 3 3 3 2
Asymp. Sig. .000 .000 .000 .006 .000
DF = 4-2, P < 0.05, X2 = 40.400 to 12.230 Significant level = 0.000 to 0.006
The hypothesis was tested using the chi-square test (X2). The resulting Chi-square values range from 40,400 to 12,230 and were tested at a significance level of P < 0.05. Since P < 0.05, the results are significant, therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and an alternative hypothesis is adopted, according to which there is a significant dependence between the presence of child abuse and subsequent drug use by young people.
Hypothesis 2. There is no significant dependence in the average assessment of the responses between the "peer influence" parameter and drug use by young people (Table 2).
Table 2.
The dependence in the average assessment of the responses between the "peer influence" parameter and drug use by young people (Hypothesis 2)
I take drugs more in the midst of friends I get drugs from friends My friend introduce me to taking drugs My friends don't like drugs I have lost my friends as a result of my intake of drugs
Chi-Square 68.160 4.340 23.120 45.380 67.280
df 3 2 2 2 3
Asymp. Sig. .000 .114 .000 .000 .000
DF = 3-2, P < 0.05, X2 = 68.160 to 4.340 Significant level = 0.000 to 0.114
Hypothesis 2 was tested using the Chi-square test (X2). The obtained Chi-square values range from 68.160 to 4.340 and were tested at a significance level of P < 0.05. Since at P < 0.05, the results are significant, therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and an alternative hypothesis is adopted, according to which there is a significant dependence between peer influence and drug use by young people.
Conclusions
Based on the research carried out, the following conclusions were drawn.
1. Drug use is a social and psychological problem, mainly associated with young people who are involved in taking heavy drugs.
2. Zero hypothesis 1 was confirmed. The study found no significant dependence in the average assessment of the responses between child abuse and subsequent drug use by young people in Nigeria.
3. Parents ignoring their family responsibilities becomes one of the socio-psychological determinants of the subsequent involvement of Nigerian youths in drug use.
4. Zero hypothesis 2 is rejected. A significant dependence was found in the average assessment of the answers between the parameter "peer influence" and drug use by young people. Thus, peers have the greatest impact on the risk of drug use by a young person.
5. A significant motivation for drug use is the need to get rid of the feelings of anxiety associated with everyday life.
Conclusion and recommendations
Drug consumption is a common phenomenon among young people. The main determinants of this phenomenon can be divided into socio-psychological and psychological ones. The first include: the presence of a disparaging attitude on the part of parents to education in childhood, the desire to enter the reference social environment of peers, or these young people themselves fall under the influence of friends and cannot refuse or say no to drug.
The second type of determinant is psychological: one can relate: the desire to have pleasure, emotional comfort, to feel more important or feel among friends, to sharpen perception and concentration of attention. Also, it is worth noting, it was found that young men are more likely to use drugs than girls.
The inclusion of Nigerian youth in the use of illicit drugs, as our study has shown, is an urgent problem that threatens the country at large. The main problem of involving young people in drug use is the availability of a large amount of free time for young people and a great popularization of the topic of illicit drugs in the environment of minors. Motivation is the desire to gain new sensations, the lack of opportunities to occupy themselves physically and intellectually, the absence of significant prospects for themselves.
Our study will make it possible to develop recommendations for various bodies on the fight against drugs:
1. Youth need more access to quality education, an opportunity for young people to realize their material and leadership aspirations in order to maintain their employment.
2. The Government should establish rehabilitation centers to assist victims of drug use.
3. It is necessary to stimulate the relationship of children and their parents, to enable parents and their children to embrace each other, most especially for children not to neglect their parents.
4. Public organizations, medical and social institutions should identify high-risk groups and inform the public about the dangers of drug use, emphasizing the vital importance of a drug-free life.
6. A social environment must be created that will prevent drug use, in which schools will inform young people about the dangers of drug addiction and the value of life.
7. The media should develop policies aimed at preventing drug use and should also organize and hold seminars for parents and families to warn them in advance about the signs and symptoms of drug abuse among children.
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