The Causes of Drug Abuse among Teenagers in Maldives

Abstract

Maldives has been categorized as Paradise in the world. Beyond the waving palm trees, sandy beaches and crystal clear water there is this ugly horrible problem of drug abuse among. Maldives being hundred percentage Muslim community drugs and alcohol is strictly prohibited. It’s against Muslim religion to use any kinds of drugs which diverts the normal brain function of a human being. However, drugs are now widely and increasingly used and abused in the Maldives. Drug addiction has been a curse for the teenagers in Maldives. Teenagers and youth have turned their life into a deadly disastrous addiction which not only threatens the society but the religion and the economy as well. Drug abuse by teenagers is highly increasing day by day which is extreme problem. We are dire need to understand the reasons why these deadly drugs are being used among our children. This study will be conducted to identify the causes of this alarming tendency among teenagers in Maldives. This study is very much significant for the betterment of the society because many parents are unaware of the severity of the issue that a nation of adolescents and teens are facing. This research will be based on a survey and the respondent (i.e. teenagers in Maldives) will be selected using snowball techniques from selected spots in Maldives. This study will help us to know the present scenario of drug addiction among teenagers Maldives and suggest the way to eliminate this dangerous situation.

Introduction

Introduction of the topic:

Drug abuse is a burning issue in Maldives. Every year a large number of peoples are affected by drugs. Drug abuse among teenagers in Maldives is highly increasing day by day. Drug abuse being a serious criminal offence in Maldives it thus leads to many other criminal activities as well. Teen drug abuse can lead to huge problems for our youth, starting from problems with normal brain development to severe damage to personal relationships. As a developing country drug abuse directly influences the economic and social aspects of a country. Its very alarming that recently teenagers who are abusing drugs and committing criminal activities are addicts who can go to any extent to get it. So its utmost important of identify the causes behind the addiction of these drugs. This research project will provide with the possible causes of teenagers abusing. In addition it will focus on the present scenario of drug abuse among teenagers in Maldives.

Problem Statement:

The importance of understanding the reasons behind abusing drugs is extremely important to invent strategies to prevent drug abuse among teenagers. Since the teenagers are abusing drugs due to various reasons, the Muslim society of Maldives is very concerned about this problem. If this disastrous problem cannot be removed from our society, then our future generation will be fully collapsed and finally our society will be dropped at the edge of destruction. Many countries are identifying the causes behind drug abuses among different age groups within their country. However, there has been no such research done in Maldives highlighting the causes and impacts of drug abuses among teenagers. The fact that there is no known study in the region that has ever sought to address the problem of drug abuse among teenagers in Maldives is a justification why this research is important. In this study it will identify the causes of drug abuse and impacts of it in the society. More specifically, the following research question will be addressed:

1. What is the rate of drug abuse by teenagers in Maldives?
2. What are the typical socio-economic factors behind drug abuse?
3. What are the impacts of drug abuse to the society?

How to prevent drug abuse among teenagers and what resources and treatment are available to drug abusers?

Objectives:

The long term goal of the research is to identify the causes of drug abuse among teenagers and to suggest relative measures to prevent the abusing of drugs. The objective of current study is to provide regulatory authorities, parents and the society comprehensive ideas about the reasons behind teenagers involving in drugs and to make them understand the impact of these measures. Particularly, the study has the following sub-objectives:

1. To know the present status of drug abuse by teenagers in Maldives.
2. To identify their socio-economic condition.
3. To investigate strategies for prevention of drug abuse among teenagers in Maldives.
4. To recommend how the problem can be uprooted.

The result of this study will be valuable to parents as well as regulatory authorities in identifying the causes and preventive measures among teenagers in the Maldives.

Research Hypothesis:

The Hypothesis taken on this research are converted by forming a simple hypothesis.

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Operational Definition of Terms:

• Drug abuse - Drug abuse is the non- medical use of drugs that destroys health and productive life of an individual.
• Drug Addiction - substance use disorder is a disease that affects a person's brain and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medication.
• Drug dependency - A physical and or a psychological need for a mood- altering substance.
• Drug- Is any substance that, when absorbed in to the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function.
• Teenagers - a person aged between 13 and 19 years.

Literature Review

A large number of articles have been written about the causes of drug abuse. Some of them were about specific group such as why large number of youth is involved in this destruction. As (Alireza Didarloo, 2012) research on identifying high risk behavior among students in Zahen University stated there are major two factors of drug abuse which are individual and family factors. Individual factors are more precisely categorized as factors such as emotional stress, loneliness and anxiety etc. This literature review shows that past studies on drug abuse were for specific group of people carried on different geographical locations. As (Adyb, 2014) have addressed on the consequences of drug abuse as the biggest obstacle in social development of Maldives. It was also included that drug abuse among youth was mainly because of lack of employment opportunities, over population on the tiny islands etc. On the basis of literature by (Spooner, 1999) factors which leads to abusing of drugs were summarized as lack of socializing, poor family relationships, emotional and psychological problems. A research by an educational journal (Most students think taking illegal, 2018) identified reasons for school students take drugs and concluded most of them feel pressurized by their peers, emotional problems as such difficulties with exams. The research was mainly focus on the problems which arises after abusing drugs such as mental issues and emotional issues. There were also researches on prevention (Roe & Becker, 2005) for drug prevention on vulnerable young people for finding the evaluations on drug abuse. A research on analysis of a high school drug education text by (Tupper, 2008) shows importance of drug education to school students. Another survey (Crime, 2003) was conducted on schools for surveying drug abuse. There were also researches by different countries to assess the increasing rate and causes of drug abuse see (Sharma, 2017) which was specifically focus on Punjab. (Rathod, 2017) Was a regional research focus for Indian young generations for abusing a specific type of drug.

Methodology:

Study location:

Drug Court, National Drug Agency, Half Way House in Hulhumale’, Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre in K.Himmafushi, Treatment centers in Addu and Fuvahmulah. Participants will be selected randomly from each location.

Subjects or Participants:

For this study teenagers who have used drugs once or more will be the respondent. To conduct this study snow ball sampling will be used. There are more than 1000 teenagers in Maldives who have used drugs once or more according to the drug court of Maldives statistics 2018. The theoretical population of this study will be among these 1000 teenagers. However, the reachable population of this study will be 500 from all of the study location. Finally, the sampling frame of this study will be 500 teenagers including 50 female and 480 male. This selection will be purely done by the basis of random sampling among the drug abused teenagers in Maldives.

Instruments:

In this study the research survey method will be used to get the data from the respondents. The primary data will be collected through questionnaire which will be including 8-15 questions. The first 5 questions will be open minded questions and will be structured in a proper way to gain the data collections. Questionnaires will be potential to large number of people and will be easy to accumulate data.

Method:

The research method use in this study will be qualitative method approach for gathering data and simplifying the data from the respondents. This method will help to gain data from facts events and reality (Creswell, 2010). The data will be gathered by discussing questionnaires with in depth interviews.

Procedure:

The selection of data will be started with the identification of number of males and females drug abusers among teenagers in Maldives. The respondents will be asked for consent and approval prior to giving the questionnaires. The respondents will be provided assurance on confidentiality. The questionnaires will then be distributed to the respondents within a time limit to complete. If any respondent stops answering in a midway of the survey the form will go to the rejection box. For simplicity answers will be structured in open ended answers for the participants who feel reluctant to fill. Verbal reasoning questions will be distributed to more willingly accepting kind of teenagers who are willing to provide their thoughts.

Data Analysis:

Once all the required data’s are collected using questionnaires all the information obtained will be organized and arranged in relation to the relevant search question accordingly. The data’s then will be organized and analyses by computer using statistical software SPSS. Deductive approach will be used to analyze the data.

Expected Results:

If the study is carried according to the procedures and after analyzing the data it is expected that the causes of drug abuse amongst teenagers will be as follows:

• Peer pressure
• Availability of drugs
• Family disputes
• Teenage curiosity
• Stress at home
• Emotional stress

Budget:

• Research assistant’s fees
• Food and travel costs
• Questionnaire forms
• Appointment costs
• Accommodation and stay costs

Time frame:

• Selection of interviewers 1 week
• Designing the questionnaire 1 week
• Conducting interview 3 week
• Analyzing the data 4 week
• Drafting the report 2 week
• Writing the final report 3 weeks

Limitations of the Study:

• Limitations of the study on the causes of drug abuse amongst teenagers are this consists of respondent who are not so well matured and as such respondents might be afraid to provide information because of the fear of getting victimized.
• The time frame for conducting this research is limited due to shortage of time.
• There might be bias due to small sample size of the research.

Significance of the Study:

• These findings will enable to get the information on the causes of drug abuse among teenagers in Maldives.
• The findings will therefore help regulatory bodies such as National Drug Agency to understand the causes of drug abuse amongst teenagers in Maldives.
• The study will also be beneficial for educational authorities and government to educate young children and youth about the causes and educate them for the preventions as well.

1. https://minivannewsarchive.com/politics/drug-court-ushering-new-era-in-maldives-drug-battle-36537
2. http://origin.who.int/substance_abuse/publications/atlas_report/profiles/maldives.pdf
3. Spooner, C. (1999). Causes and correlates of adolescent drug abuse and implications for treatment. Drug & Alcohol Review, 18(4), 453–475. https://doi.org/10.1080/09595239996329
4. Most students think taking illegal drugs causes problems. (2018). Education Journal, (344), 14–15. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=130259892&site=ehost-live
5. Roe, S., & Becker, J. (2005). Drug prevention with vulnerable young people: A review. Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy, 12(2), 85–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/0968763042000322639
6. Tupper, K. (2008). Drugs, discourses and education: a critical discourse analysis of a high school drug education text. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 29(2), 223–238. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596300801966864
7. Sharma, B., Arora, A., Singh, K., Singh, H., & Kaur, P. (2017). Drug abuse: Uncovering the burden in rural Punjab. Journal of Family Medicine & Primary Care, 6(3), 558–562. https://doi.org/10.4103/2249-4863.222037
8. Rathod, A. L., Sahota, S. S., & Garg, R. K. (2017). Mephedrone -- an emerging drug of abuse in India. Current Science (00113891), 112(11), 2212–2218. https://doi.org/10.18520/cs/v112/i11/2212-2218
9. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2003). Conducting School Surveys on Drug Abuse. New York: United Nations Publications. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=117875&site=ehost-live