Study of The Causes of Rural Youth Tendency to Drug Abuse

(Case Study: Villages of Delfan District in Lorestan Province)

Mahboobe Babaei, Zohre Najafi Asl

Abstract

Beside rural poverty and emigration, addiction of youth is nowadays considered as one of the important factors leading to the weakening and ineffectiveness of human resources and dysfunction of rural society. Therefore, this paper examines the causes of tendency towards drug abuse among young people living in rural areas. This research has been conducted with qualitative approach of content analysis. The statistical population of study included residents of villages living in Delfan district. This city has often been the first to third rank in terms of the number of drug addicts in Lorestan province.

Samples were selected using purposive snowball method. Selecting 20 drug addicts, some executives of addiction rehabilitation centers, and drug dealers, guaranteed the theoretical saturation of the sample. Required data were collected using in-depth interviews and the collected data was analyzed using the conventional content analysis method.

The findings suggest that the main causes preserving the tendency towards drug abuse include social support provided by local subculture and structural factors, entertainment of elderly with drug consumption, and social factors such as conflicts in the village, job status, and insufficient leisure time activities. Existence of an expert and knowledgeable village chief, and availability of legal and administrative infrastructure to inform the villagers and attract their participation, is one of the most important factors affecting the non-proliferation of drug consumption.

Keywords: Social Harm, Addiction, Youth, Village, Delfan District

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