Prevalence of Drug Abuse among Muslim Students in Public Secondary Schools in Mombasa County, Kenya.
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Date
2024-07
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Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
Drug abuse among students is a growing concern world over because of its detrimental effect on health and development. Drug abuse related crimes and costs are eating into the limited resources. Urgent intervention is increasingly becoming critical agenda for countries and societies. In context, the prevalence rate of drug abuse among Muslim students in Mombasa County, Kenya is reported to be on an escalating trajectory. This is happening regardless of the region being perceived as predominantly Muslim and Islamic teachings are against drug abuse. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the prevalence of drug abuse among Muslim students in public secondary schools in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study was guided by the Social Learning Theory which states that behavior is learned and influenced by the people around us. This study was also informed by the Jurm Model (Theory) of Addiction which describes addiction as a crime, and drugs considered a social problem. Study objectives revolved on first, Islamic teachings on drugs among secondary schools in Mombasa County; second, predisposing factors of drugs among secondary school students; third, prevalence of drug abuse among secondary school students and finally, intervention strategies on drugs among public secondary schools in Mombasa County. Descriptive survey research design was used to guide the study. Simple random sampling technique was applied to get a sample size of 347 respondents. Questionnaire and interview schedules were used to collect data. A combination of the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) and Excel packages aided the analysis and results presented in figures or tables. The study findings reveal that, students abused drugs in order to improve academically, physical appearance and relieve stress. The study found peer pressure and availability of drugs as risk factors to drugs. Overall prevalence rate of drug use among Muslim students was 9.3%. Alcohol, tobacco and miraa (khat) were the most abused drugs. Conclusively, drug abuse among Muslim students was a real challenge, especially legal substances such as miraa/khat), alcohol, and tobacco. Academic and co-curricular engagement of all students in the school is ideal in reducing the peer pressures among the students. It is recommended that drug abuse intervention programs should be holistic, concurrently addressing both predisposing factors as well as the preventive factors in school and home settings. The school curriculum should be professionally and research based to ensure it is flexible enough to provide students with adequate time for leisure activities.
Description
A Research Thesis Submitted to the School of Law, Arts and Social Sciences in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Masters of Arts in Religious Studies of Kenyatta University July, 2024
Supervisors
1. Newton Kahumbi Maina
2.Ibrahim Farah