A study on some Psycho-Social Correlates of Drug Addicts as Related to Sex, Age and Residence in Bangladesh

Abstract

The Present study was an attempt to explore the phenomenon of drug addiction: and its psycho-social con-elates in relation to sex, age and residence in the social context of Bangladesh. The Study used 120 drug addicts as sample of the study. They were equally divided into males and females. Each category of males and females were equally divided into drug addicts below 25 years of age and above 25 years of age. These two age groups were again equally subdivided into urban and rural residence. Thus each cell was constituted of 15 respondents. The objective of the study was to conduct an empirical investigation of psycho-social correlates of drug addicts as related to sex, age and residence in Bangladesh. The psycho-social correlates were constituted of social insight, perceived parental attitudes and purpose in life. Several hypotheses were formulated for testing in this study. The hypotheses are given below. (i) Female drug addicts would have significantly more social insight as compared to male drug addicts. (ii) Drug addicts below 25 years of age would have significantly more social insight as compared to the drug addicts above 25 years of age. (iii) Drug addicts with rural residential background would have significantly more social insight as compared to drug addicts with urban residential background. Female drug addicts would perceive parental attitudes more negatively as compared to male drug addicts. (v)Drug addicts below 25 years of age would perceive parental attitudes more negatively as compared to the drug addicts above 25 years of age. (vi)Drug addicts with rural residential background would perceive parental attitudes more negatively as compared to the drug addicts with urban residential background. (vii)Male drug addicts would score lower indicating decreased purposefulness of life as compared to female drug addicts. (viii)Drug addicts below 25 years of age would score lower indicating decrease purposefulness of life as compared to drug addicts above 25 years of age. (ix} Drug addicts with rural residential background would score lower indicating decreased purposefulness in life as compared to drug addicts with urban residential background. The study utilized three measures for data collection. These measures were (i) Test of Social Insight. (TSI) (ii) Measure for Perceived Parental Attitudes (PPA) and (iii) Purpose in Life (PIL) Scale. The Bengali adaptation of these tests was used in this study. The test of social insight was constituted of five dimensions such as (i) withdrawal (ii) passivity (iii) cooperativeness iv) competitiveness (v) Aggressiveness. This test contained 60 items. Measure for Perceived Parental Attitudes was constituted of five dimensions such as (i) Affection (ii) Permissiveness (iii) Over protection (iv) Rejection and (v) Dominance. The test contained 20 items. Purpose In Life Scale also contained 20 items. These tests . were administered on each respondent individually and data were collected for computation of results. The study used sex, age and residence as independent variables. The dependent variable was the evolution and ratings of the respondents on each scale used in the study. For each of the specific independent variables, on the whole, a 2x2x2 factorial design consisting of two levels of sex (Male / Female), two levels of age (Below 25 years / Above 25 years) and two levels of residence (Urban/ Rural) was utilized. The results of the study provided empirical supports to all the hypotheses. Moreover some distinctive features have emerged reflecting the inherent characteristics of drug addicts. The drug addicts perceived their parents less affectionate, less permissive, more rejecting, more dominant and more overprotecting. They revealed less social insight in resolving interpersonal and social problems. The drug addicts emerged as more withdrawal from external world. They were less sensitive and remained passive around their external activities. They failed to cooperate with their friends and they were afraid of competition. They were found to behave aggressively without any cause. They exhibited social or psycho-social immaturity and showed decreased purposefulness in life.