Psychoactive substance use among children in informal religious schools (Almajiris) in northern Nigeria

Authors: Abdulmalik, Jibril¹; Omigbodun, Olayinka²; Beida, Omeiza¹; Adedokun, Babatunde³

Source: Mental Health, Religion & Culture, Volume 12, Number 6, September 2009 , pp. 527-542(16)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $50.43 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

“Almajiri” is a term used to describe children in northern Nigeria who are sent to live with teachers of the Qur'an in order to receive religious instruction. Unable to cater for their needs, the teachers send the children to the streets to beg and do menial jobs. Drug use and other forms of high risk behaviour have not yet been studied among these children. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 340 Almajiris in northeast Nigeria, using an adapted version of the WHO Student Drug Use Questionnaire. The Almajiris were all males, with ages ranging from 5 to 16 years (mean = 11.2 years, SD = 3 years) who had left their parents between the ages of 3 and 12 years (mean = 6.6 years, SD = 2.1 years). The prevalence of drug use was 66.2% and the most frequently used drugs were stimulants (49.7%), volatile solvents (21.5%), cigarettes (19.1%) and cannabis (18.5%). This study provides the first evidence of a high prevalence of drug use among the Almajiris.

Keywords: Almajiri; street children; psychoactive substances; northern Nigeria

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13674670902832813

Affiliations: 1: Department of Mental Health, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Baga Road, Maiduguri, 600001, Nigeria 2: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria 3: Department of Epidemiology, Medical Statistics and Environmental Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, 200284, Nigeria

Publication date: 2009-09-01

More about this publication?

Editorial Board
Information for Authors
Subscribe to this Title
ingentaconnect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites

Psychoactive substance use among children in informal religious schools (Almajiris) in northern Nigeria

Buy & download fulltext article:

Tools

Key

Text size:

Useful pages