i

INFLUENCE OF MARIJUANA SMOKING ON STUDENTS SOCIAL

BEHAVIOUR AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN

SECONDARYSCHOOLS IN IKOM EDUCATION

ZONE OF CROSS RIVER STATE

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS

(EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY)

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

SUPERVISOR: PROF. T. AMA NWACHUKWU

BY

EKPALI DAVID EGBUNG

PG/M.ED/07/42681

JANUARY 2009.

ii

TITLE PAGE

INFLUENCE OF MARIJUANA SMOKING ON STUDENTS SOCIAL

BEHAVIOUR AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SECONDARY

SCHOOLS IN IKOM EDUCATION ZONE OF CROSS RIVER STATE.

A RESEARCH PROJECT

PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FOUNDATION,

FACULTY OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA, IN

PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR AWARD OF

DEGREE OF MASTERS IN EDUCATION PSYCHOLOGY

BY

EKPALI DAVID EGBUNG

PG/MED/07/42681

SUPERVISOR: PROF. T. AMA NWACHUKWU

JANUARY 2009

iii

APPROVAL PAGE

This project has been approved by the Department of Educational

Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria.

BY

………………………… ………………………….

Prof. T. Ama Nwachukwu Dr. J. C. Omeje

Supervisor Internal Examinar

………………………….. ……………………………

Prof. G.C. Prof. N. Ogbonnaya

External Examiner Head of Department

………………………………….

Prof. G.C. Offorma

Dean Faculty of Education

iv

CERTIFICATION

Ekpali David Egbung is a post-graduate student in the Department

of Educational Foundation (Educational Psychology) with registration

number PG/M.ED/07/42681. He has satisfactorily completed the

requirement for the course and research work for the award of Master in

Education (M.ED)

The work embodied in this thesis is original and has not been

submitted in part of in full for any other master degree or Diploma in this

University or any other University.

…………………………… ……………………………

Prof. T. Ama Nwachukwu Ekpali David Egbung

Supervisor student

PG/M.ED/07/42681

v

DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to God Almighty and my beloved Father Mr. John

Ekpali Egbung.

vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thus the biblical assertion. ―Unless the Lord building house, in vain

do its builders toil. In vain is your earlier rising, and your going later to bed.

Sweating to make a living while he provides for his beloved while they

slumber‖. Blessed be the name of the lord God almighty for his wisdom,

self control and strength given to me in this research work.

Though the grace of God abounds, the following persons made

themselves instrument of that pgrace. Professor T. Ama Nwachukwu my

supervisor. Mr. John Ekpali Egbong my father Mrs Agnes INNE Ekpali my

beloved mother, Mrs Cecilia Iroshu Ekpali my honey wife. May the good

Lord reward them abundantly.

I would not have attained the academic height where I am now, not

to talks of contemplating the idea of this project if not for the wise counsels

I constantly receive from these facilitators in the shaping of my unique

history. These to a great extent, help me in my journey to success. The

first is my Bishop, most Rev. Dr. John Ebebe Aya, the Bishop of Ogoja

Diocese, Rev Fr. David Omego, My solicitor, Barrister Mathew Ojuwa, my

spiritual directors most Rev. Fr. George Adage, Rev. Fr. Linus Ajor, Rev.

Fr. (Dr) .T. Onoyima. Rev. Fr. Immanuel Ayaliwu, I thank Dr. Ignatius

Ezuem, Provost federal College of Education Asaba Delta State.. Mr.

Ahmed Sani Head of Department Curriculum Education Federal College

of Education Potiskum Yobe State. Honorable Amaba Peter Mpong my

beloved friend, Dr. Dun Ngwoke, Dr. E.C. Umeano Dr. Omeje and Dr. U.

Eze my most beloved lecturers in the Department of Educational

Psychology University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

I thank in a special way Mr and Mrs Adagah Denis Ashia, Mr and

Mrs Adie Cletus Enaji, their contributions turned this project from mere

vii

possibility to actuality. I owe them a lot in gratitude for all they have been to

me.

I must acknowledge my brothers Engr. Peter Oshie Ekpali, Barrister

Thomas Abua Ekpali, Mr Clement .A. Ekpali Mr. Ashia Peter Ekpali, Mr.

Gabriel Asu Ekpali, May God countenance never depart from you and your

family. I also appreciate my other, sibilings, Mr. Thomas Adung Olim,

Adah Obiri, Olian Frank, Akah Denis, Obu Abua. My friends, Yakubu, Izu,

Nnamani, Ugochukwu, U.K Computers, Ekara Friday, Placid Ize, Uket

Oduma Obu, Odey Ashanda and Eneji Ashia deserves countless thanks

for their prayers and encouragement throughout my year in school.

I shall not forget to acknowledge my God giving children who‘s word

are ―Daddy go and come back, God bless you as you are going; when you

come back buy us bread and motor!. There are praise God Thomas

Ekpali, God‘swill Augustine Ekpali and wisdom John Ekpali, may the will of

God be done in your life Amen.

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page ............................................................................................................... i

Approval page ....................................................................................................... ii

Certification ......................................................................................................... iii

Dedication ............................................................................................................ iv

Acknowledgment................................................................................................... v

Table of Contents ................................................................................................. vi

Abstract ...................................................................................................... vii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1

Background of the Study ....................................................................................... 1

Statement of the Problem ..................................................................................... 5

Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................ 6

Significance of the Study ...................................................................................... 6

Scope of the Study ................................................................................................ 7

Research Question ............................................................................................... 8

Hypotheses ........................................................................................................... 8

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ..................................................... 9

Conceptual Framework

Concept of Marijuana .......................................................................................... 10

Concept of Marijuana Smoking ........................................................................... 11

Concept of Social Behaviour ............................................................................... 18

Concept of Academic Achievement .................................................................... 21

Relationship between marijuana smoking and social behaviour ......................... 21

Factors Affecting Social Behaviour in School/Society ......................................... 25

ix

Relationship Between Marijuana Smoking and Academic Achievement. ........... 28

Theoretical Framework

Erik Erikson Theory of psychosocial development ............................................. 32

B.F Skinner Operant Conditioning Theory ......................................................... 36

Albert Bandura‘s social learning theory ............................................................... 40

Review of Empirical Studies ............................................................................ 41

Summary of Literature Review ........................................................................ 44

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD ....................................................... 46

Design of the Study ............................................................................................. 46

Area of the Study ................................................................................................ 46

Population of the Study ....................................................................................... 47

Sample and Sampling Techniques ..................................................................... 48

Instrument for Data Collection ............................................................................ 49

Validation of Instruments .................................................................................... 50

Reliability of the Instrument ................................................................................. 50

Method of Data Collection ................................................................................... 51

Method of Data Analysis ..................................................................................... 51

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA .................... 52

CHAPTER FIVE:SUMMARY OF FINDINGS,

DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 57

Summary of Findings 57

Discussion of Findings 58

Implication 60

Recommendation 61

x

Limitation of Study 62

Suggestion for Further Study 62

Summary 63

References ........................................................................................................ 64

QUESTIONNAIRE .............................................................................................. 78

APPENDIX 1 ...................................................................................................... 78

APPENDIX II ...................................................................................................... 79

APPENDIX III...................................................................................................... 80

xi

ABSTRACT

This study dealt with the influence of marijuana smoking on students, social behaviour and academic achievement. To carryout the research effectively, two (2) research question and two(2) hypothesis were formulated. The population of the study consist of two hundred (200) senior students of cross River State.. The major instrument for collection of data was questionnaire. The data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation, pearson’ correlation. The major findings of the study are: (i) Marijuana smoking is greatly influence student’s beahviour and their been popular in class and groups which makes them loose their chances of a prudence person. (ii) The influence of marijuana smoking on students social behaviour is not significant, thus their isolation from group or classes is as a result of constant smoking of the hemp. (iii) The students that smoke marijuana were intrinsically influence by their follow students that smoke marijuana. The result of hypotheses one revealed that there is negative correlation between students smoking marijuana and their social behaviour. (v) The result of hypotheses two showed that the influence of marijuana smoking on student academic achievement is significant. Following these findings some recommendations and suggestions for further studies were finally made.

1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Marijuana smoking in recent years has become considerably

pleasurable to the addict. Marijuana is a greenish-gray mixture of dried,

shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers. Marijuana is

a common name for a drug made from the dried leaves and flowering tops

of the Indian hemp plant cannabis sativa. People smoke, chew, or eat

marijuana for its hallucinogenic and intoxicating effects. Different classes

of people use it, it could be wrapped and smoked, it could be soaked into

local gin and sold by local gin sellers, which abound in many part of our

society. It is known by a number of slang names, including pot, grass,

reefer, weed, and Mary Jane. (Iversen, 2008). Iversen also noted that

marijuana is a substance that has long been used as medicine and an

intoxicant.

Nowlis (1975) observed that marijuana is a substance which affects

the structure and function of the organism negatively inducing the

organism into states, such as confusion, acute panic reactions, anxiety

attacks, fear, a sense of helplessness, and loss of self-control. It was

reported in Tide magazine of July 6th (2008), that, marijuana is among the

2

cheapest class of hard drugs that many secondary school students could

purchase and use. A rap of marijuana is sold for N20.00 while a pinch of

cocaine or heroin goes for N50.00 and above. The implication of this is that

large numbers of Nigerian youths have access to marijuana.

Marijuana smoking is similar to cigarette smoking. Akube (1997)

explained that marijuana is a produce that harm the body of a smoker.

This is a situation where the person inhales the burning fumes produced

by the hand-rolled cigarettes form or pipes. Some of the observable

characteristics of smokers that distinguish them from non smokers are

odour similar to the burnt leave, excessive laughter, unkempt hairs, red

eyes, black lips, excessive appetite, yellowish stains on fingertips etc.

Marijuana smoking is widely spread among adolescents, students and

young adults. The percentage of middle school students, who are reported

to have been using or smoking marijuana, increase throughout the early

1990, 1991 and 1992. (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2003).

Marijuana smoking is a common phenomenon among students in senior

secondary school in the area of study. Anumonye(1980) observed that

secondary school students who smokes marijuana initiate themselves by

smoking at the age of 11 years, and that a friend‘s home is the most often

smoking place, and the observable behavior among this smokers are

relaxation and a feeling of well being, euphoria, enhanced sensation of

taste, touch, hearing and vision.

3

Abimbola Fashola, wife of the Lagos State Governor was reported in

the Tide Tuesday July 6th (2008), urging the National Drug Law

Enforcement Agency to identify and educate grower and smokers of Indian

hemp on it harmful effect on the society. Tide (2008) reported that, the

commander of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Mr.

Eigege Adamu, in River State, in an address at ceremony of United Nation

day on Drug said that marijuana is an illicit drug,that causes 80% of violent

crime among secondary school students in our society. The extent of

Indian hemp abuse among secondary school students has prompted the

mass media to organize discussion by official of mass media on ills of

marijuana smoking.

Non-smokers in this study are therefore referred to as, students who

do not indulge in the smoking of marijuana whether in secret or in public

places, and are involved in positive academic activities that will impact

positively in their lives. Non-smokers are also individuals or students who

do not possess the observable characteristics of those who indulge in the

smoking acts. These are normal students that keep the rules and

regulations of the school and obey constituted authorities.

Social behaviour is the way people influence, perceive, and interact

with one another and how people behave in social situations. The study of

social influence includes the following; conformity, obedience to authority,

the formation of attitudes, and the principles of persuasion. Researchers

are interested in physical attraction, love and intimacy, aggression,

4

altruism, and group processes. Many social psychologists are also

interested in cultural influences on interpersonal behavior. Schaller (2003)

observed that social behaviour is to defend ourselves and those we value.

Schaller agree that people get hostile when their reputations, their

resources families members of the same gang, classmate are threatened.

The motivation to defend ourselves can have obvious benefits promoting

survival and that of our family members, but it can also lead to our

escalating violence due to substance taking (marijuana).

Social behaviour is goal-oriented, people enter social situation with

short term immediate goal and this are linked to broader long term goals

and ultimately to more fundamental motives (Bugental 2000). Social

behaviour represents a continual interaction between features inside the

person and events in the situation. There are anti-social behaviour and

pro-social behaviour; anti-social behavior is a disorder in which individuals

tend to display no regard for the moral and ethical rules of society or the

rights of others. While pro-social behavior is an antidote in helping

behavioural modification.

Academic achievement is a situation where learning outcome is

appraised in terms of matching it with standardized testing and its

successful completion. It is all about what students can actually do when

they have finished a course of achievement study. The need for

achievement is a stable, learned characteristic in which satisfaction is

obtained by striving for excellence (Feldman, 2002). During the course of

5

teaching and learning the teacher should employ instructional strategies

that will reinforce behaviours‘ that is geared towards success at the end of

the academic session.

There are factors that influence students academic achievements

such as innate abilities, character, traits, environmental, pedagogy, health

and nutritional, motivation and school management. Though, these factors

can be manipulated to achieve the desired objectives, as it can make or

maim the successful completion of the child‘s education.

Statement of the Problem

Marijuana smoking by students has been largely associated with

various factors and has been addressed from different dimensions by the

researcher. Such influence suffices due to changes in the environment and

school climate; it is also ranging from pleasure seeking, differing stress,

joblessness, parental background and peer pressure.

However, it has been observed that marijuana smoking has a very

strong influence on students‘ social behaviour and academic achievement.

Students‘ lifestyles remain an important determinant to their behaviour.

Marijuana smoking could influence social behaviour and academic

achievement of students in school, negative social behaviour like cultism;

truancy, drug/alcohol, gangsterism, and examination malpractice have

been on the increase recently. Furthermore,the environment, which one

finds himself, influences him/her. However, literature review show that no

study has been carried out on the influence of marijuana smoking, on

6

student‘s social behaviour and academic achievement among students in

secondary school in Ikom Educational zone.

The thrust of this work is therefore to find answers to the following

questions ―how does marijuana smoking influence students social

behaviour as compared to non smokers and their academic achievement

in secondary schools in Ikom educational zone of Cross River State?‖

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to find out the influence of

marijuana smoking on students social behaviour and academic

achievement in Ikom Educational zone of Cross River State. Specifically,

the study will seek to find out:

1) The influence of marijuana smoking on students‘ social behaviour,

compared to non their smokers.

2) The influence of marijuana smoking on students‘ academic

achievement, compared to non their smokers.

Significance of the Study

It is hoped that the findings of this study will help to understand the

behavioural patterns of students who smoke marijuana in Ikom educational

zone.

7

It is hoped that teachers will help to identify these students and know

how to do placement in the class and equally know where to position these

students in class environment.

The study will be useful for teachers who are directly involved with the

students and are aware of the influence of marijuana smoking on students

social behaviour and academic achievement in schools and in turn help

them out.

School administrators and policy makers who are directly involve in

formulating policies will create conducive learning environment for the

students and it will also help educational psychologist in the areas of

researching and developing theories and techniques in dealing with

maladjusted behaviours‘. Parents will benefit immensely as it will enable

them identify such delinquent behaviours and promptly call for intervention

from the appropriate authority. The students will also benefits as they will

realize the influence of marijuana smoking on their social behaviour and

academic achievemen.t

Scope of the Study

The study will be carried out in Ikom educational zone and will be

limited to eight( 8) public secondary schools. Day students presently in

their senior secondary school class will be used for this study. The content

scope of this study will be delimited to the influence of marijuana smoking

on students‘ social behaviour and academic achievement.

8

Research Question

In order to meet the objectives of this study the following research

questions have been formulated.

1) To what extent does marijuana smoking influence students‘ social

behavior, compared to their non smokers?

2) To what extent does marijuana smoking influence students‘

academic achievement, compared to their non smokers?

Hypotheses

The following null hypothesis will be formulated and tested at, 0.05 level of

significance.

1. Marijuana smoking does not have any significant influence on

student social behavior, compared to their non smokers.

2. Marijuana smoking does not have a significant influenced on student

academic achievement, compared to their non smokers.

9

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents literature related to the present study. The

review is organized and presented thus:

A. Conceptual Framework

- Concept of marijuana

- Concept of marijuana smoking

- Concept of social behaviour

- Concept of academic achievement

B. Theoretical Framework

- Erik Erikson theory of psychosocial development

- B.F. Skinner, operant conditioning theory

- Albert Bandura‘s social learning theory

10

C. Review of Empirical studies

D. Summary of Literature Review

Concept of Marijuana

Marijuana is a dry shredded leaves with stems, seed, and flowers. It

is also known in our local parlance in Nigeria as ganja, weed, igbo, grass

and Indian hemp.

Tide (2008) Marijuana, common name for a drug made from the

dried leaves and flowering tops of the Indian hemp plant Cannabis sativa.

People smoke, chew, or eat marijuana for its hallucinogenic and

intoxicating effects. It is known by a number of slang names, including

―pot,‖ ―grass‖, ―widow‖, ―weed,‖ and ―Mary Jane.‖ Smokers called

marijuana, such as ganja, pot, weed, grass, herb, widow and hash.

Marijuana has name derived from trade mark called cannabis (Markin,

1987). It is also known as Bubble Gum, Northern lights, fruity Juice

(Haney, 1999).

The flowering tops of the Cannabis plant secrete a sticky resin that

contains the active ingredient of marijuana, known as delta-9-

tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The plant has both male and female forms,

and the sticky flowers of the female plant are the most potent. Cannabis is

used to produce three drug products: marijuana (pot,weed grass, dope)

consist of dry leaf and flowers of the plant. Hashish (hash) is made from

11

the dried resin at the top of the plant. It is often brown or black and chunky

looking. Hash oil is made from hashish. A sticky oil, it can be brown, black,

red or clear. It is often place in small bottles or caps.

Known in India, Central Asia, and China as early as 3000 BC,

marijuana has long been used as both a medicine and an intoxicant. It

gained widespread use in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s,

becoming the second most popular drug after alcohol. In subsequent

decades its use continued to increase, particularly among American teens.

According to a survey prepared in 1998 by the United States Drug

Enforcement Agency, marijuana use among teenagers increased almost

300 percent from 1992 to 1998. Bungental (2000) opined that, between

1980–1997, that the amount of Tetrahydrocannabinol(THC) in marijuana

available in the united state rose dramatically.

Most countries consider marijuana an illegal substance, but

individual countries vary on how they prosecute the use and possession of

marijuana. Some countries only impose small fines, while others impose

harsher punishment, including imprisonment.

Concept of Marijuana Smoking

According to Johnson (2004), marijuana smoking through out history

is still the same till date. Marijuana smoking is widely spread among

adolescents and young adults. The percentage of middle school students

smoking marijuana increased throughout the early 1990s. Johnson (2004)

12

Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), a system for monitoring the health

impact of drugs estimated that, in 2002, marijuana was a contributing

factor in over 119,000 emergency department (ED) visit in the United

States with about 15 percent of the patients between the age of 12 and 17,

and almost two-thirds male. He also said that the national institute of

Justices Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) program, which collects

data on the number of adult arrestees testing positive for various drugs,

found that, on average, 41 percent adult male students arrestees and 27

percent adult female students arrestees tested positive for marijuana. On

the average, 57 percent of juvenile male and 32 percent of juvenile female

arrestees tested positive for marijuana.

According to Stitzer (1997), when some one smokes marijuana, the

substance in it called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) rapidly passes from

lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to organs

throughout the body, including the brain. In the brain, THC connects to

specific sites called cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells and thereby

influences the activity of those cells. Many Cannabinoid receptors are

found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thought,

concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.

Tashkin (1990); when marijuana is smoked by youth, its effects

begins immediately after the substance enters the brain and lasts from 1-3

hours. If marijuana is consumed in food or drink, the short-term effects

begins more slowly, usually in ½ to 1 hour, and lasts longer, for as long as

13

4 hours. Smoking of marijuana is more severe and it deposits several

times into the blood stream than does eating or drinking the drug. Within a

few minutes after taking marijuana smoke, an adolescent‘s or user‘s heart

begins to beat more rapidly; the bronchial passages relax and become

enlarged, and blood vessels in the eyes expand, making the eyes look red.

He also opined that the heart bit of marijuana smoker is normally 70 to 80

beats per minute, but it reduces by 20 to 50 beats per minute, when

smoking of marijuana is done. This effect can be greater if other drugs are

taken with marijuana. Tashkin (1990) said that immediately THC enters

the brain, it causes the smokers to feel euphoric or ―high‖ by acting in the

cognition, areas of the brain that respond to stimuli such as food and drink.

THC activates the reward system in the same way that nearly all smokers

do, by stimulating brain cells to release the chemical dopamine. Young

students, who are involved in marijuana smoking, with this toxidity or

reaction, usually become withdrawn and isolated.

Brook (1999) opined that marijuana smokers usually experience

pleasant sensations, colours and sounds which seem more intense, and

time them appears to pass very slowly. He also agreed that, the smoker‘s

mouth feels dry and he or she may suddenly become very hungry and

thirsty. His or her hands may tremble and grow cold. Brook (1999)

mentioned that marijuana smokers experiences an extremely strong

feeling of happiness and excitement that usually lasts only a short time

(Euphoria), and then feel depressed; occasionally, marijuana smokers also

14

produce anxiety, fear, distrust and panic feelings. Heavy marijuana

smoking impairs a person‘s ability to form memories, shift attention from

one thing to another. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,

(2000) observed that moderate dose of marijuana alone was shown to

impair driving performance; however, the effects of even a low dose of

marijuana combined with alcohol were markedly greater than for either

drug alone (NHTSA 2000). According to NHTSA (2000) marijuana users

who have taken high doses of drug may experience severe or acute toxic

psychosis, which includes hallucinations, delusions, and depersonalization,

that is a loss of self recognition and the sense of personal identity.

National institute on Drug Abuse (2005) state that, marijuana use

has been shown to increase user‘s difficulty in trying to quit smoking

tobacco. That the relationships between marijuana use and continued

smoking was particularly strong in those who smoked marijuana daily at

the time of the initial interview. National Institute on Drug Abuse

conducted a study of 450 individuals and found that people who smoke

marijuana have more health problems and miss more days of work than

non smokers do. Many of the extra sick days used by the marijuana

smokers in the study were for respiratory illness. The institute also stated

that frequent marijuana use can cause burning and stinking of the mouth

and throat, often accompanied by a heavy cough. Also students who

smoke marijuana regularly may have the same respiratory problem like

15

that of tobacco smokers. Cancer of the respiratory tract and lungs may

also be promoted by marijuana smoking.

Ford (2002) mentioned that, 173 cancer patients and 176 healthy

individuals produced strong evidence that smoking marijuana increases

the likelihood of developing cancer of the head or neck, and that the more

marijuana smoked, the greater the increase. Ford (2002) observed that,

marijuana has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and other parts

of the respiratory tract in the body. That marijuana smoke contains 50

percent to 70 percent of carcinogenic hydrocarbons which affect the body

of the smoker. It produces high levels of an enzyme that may accelerate

the changes that ultimately produce malignant cells. This fact suggested

that, smoking marijuana may increase the risk of cancer more than

smoking tobacco because of its terrible consequences in the body of the

smoker. It is also stated clearly by Anthony, (2002) that health effects

caused by marijuana may occur because tetrahydrocannabinol(THC)

impairs the immune systems ability to fight infectious diseases and cancer.

It also impairs short-term memory, attention, judgment, cognitive functions;

impairs coordination and balance, increase heart rate; Impairs memory

and learning skills. Long-term (cumulative, potential, permanent effects

and cronic abuse). Increases risk of chronic cough, bronchitis, and

emphysema. Increases risks of cancer of the head, neck and lungs.

www.marijuana.info.org,October (2002.)

http://www.marijuana.info.org,october/

16

Lynskey, (2000) said that students who smoke marijuana get

lower grades and are less likely to graduate from high school, compared

with their non smoking peers. Also, he said that workers who smoke

marijuana are more likely to fail than their co-workers to have problems on

the job. A study among postal workers found that employees who tested

positives for marijuana on a pre-employment urine drug test had 55

percent more industrial accidents, 85 percent more injuries, and a 75

percent increase in absenteeism compared with those who tested negative

for marijuana use (National institute on Drug Abuse 2003). The NIDA

research report series said that depression, anxiety and personality

disturbance are all associated with marijuana smokers. The research

clearly demonstrates that marijuana use has the potential to cause

problem in daily life.

Fried (2001) said that, some babies born to women who used

marijuana during their pregnancies display altered responses to visual

stimuli, increased tremulousness and a high-pitched cry, which may

indicate problems with neurological development. With regard to what

Fried (2001) said, during the preschool years, marijuana exposed children

have been observed to performed tasks involving sustained attention and

memory more poorly than non-exposed children do. That while in school,

these children are more likely to exhibit deficits in problem solving skills,

memory and the ability to remain attentive. All what fried is emphasizing is

that, children born to these women who are involved into marijuana

17

smoking are liable to perform low both in physical and social behaviour as

far as life development is concerned. Avoidance of marijuana and other

drug smoking will automatically make children develop proper maturation

stages and as such perform well both in skills and memory ability.

Fried (2001) observed that students who are addictive to this

substance (marijuana) that is, the smoke marijuana compulsively even

though it often interferes with their family, school and recreational

activities. According to the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and

Health (NSDUH), an estimated of 21.6 million Americans aged 12 or older

were classified with substance dependence or abuse (9.1 percent of the

total population). Of the estimated 6.9 million Americans classified with

dependence of illicit drugs. 4.2 million were dependent on or abused

marijuana. In 2002, 15 percent of people entering drug abuse treatment

programs reported that marijuana was their primary drug of abuse.

Lynskey (2003) believes that marijuana smokers display

aggression on psychological tests, peaking approximately 1 week after the

last use of marijuana smoking. The issue is that early exposure to

marijuana can increase the likelihood of a life-time of subsequent drug

problem. Forest (1989) said that, the present medical consensus is that

marijuana has therapeutic value. This consensus can however be

challenged. One of the main purposes of the anti smoking lobby is to link

smoking with as many illnesses and defects of character as humanly

18

possible. Thus marijuana smoking has by now been associated with

everything from child abuse, sleeplessness and careless driving to ulcers.

Obviously the tendency of smoking marijuana is to shorten life, and this

alone serves as impediment that can be imagined. Elsohly (2000) also said

that marijuana smoking is an act which falls into one but several

categories. Before we can decide the status of marijuana smoking, we

must first investigate into life living tendency.

National survey on Drug Health (2004), observed that marijuana

smoker can produce behaviour changes, which are contrary to popular

belief which is addictive. That marijuana smoker are impair on short term

memory, weaken on immune system the national survey on Drug use

observe that, the increasing smoking of marijuana by young students in

school may have a profoundly negative effect upon their developmental

growth and maturation. National Survey on Drug Use Health (2004) state

that ,the increasing smoking of marijuana by young students may have a

profoundly negative effect upon their developmental growth and

maturation.

Concept of Social Behaviour

This is the way in which people in group or a group behave, interacts

and responds to a specific set of conditions. People interact with one

another to achieve goal or satisfy inner motivation. People, who belonged

to social groups, do so to survive and improved their well being of life.

19

Bugerntal, (2000) social behaviour shows the basic motives for

human behaviour. The desire to establish ties with other people usually

comes high on the list of interaction. He further mentioned that, people in

groups can share food and can team up for safety, he concluded by saying

that social behaviour helps human being to establish social ties.

Skowrongski, (2000) stated that social behaviour is to understand

ourselves and others. The importance of these interactions with other

people around us is obvious as it helps to explain our relationships with

others and we are able to manage our lives effectively. Hogg and Hardies,

(1992) state that, social behaviour is a process by which the actions of an

individual or group affect the behaviour of others in an organization or

school environment. Harris (1995) also observed that there are two

difference ways of expressing social behaviour, prosocial and anti-social

behaviour. Pro-social behaviour is helping behaviours which include liking

and loving. Ant-social behaviour this term generally refers to actions that

deviate significantly from established social norms which include

Aggression, fighting and lying.

Social behaviour is important in everyday life, providing potential

cues about how to get along with classmates, teachers, coworkers, lovers,

neigbhours, and members of different groups whose customs might

otherwise seem strange to us (Regan 2003).

Schaller (2003) agrees that people get hostile when their

reputations, their resources families, member of the same gang,

20

classmates are threatened. The motivation to defend ourselves can have

obvious benefits, promoting our survival and that of our family members,

but it can also lead to escalating violence due to substance taking

(marijuana).

Crano(1988) The reason that increases the likelihood of

interpersonal attraction is that we assume that people with similar attitude

will evaluate themselves positively. We assume that when we like some

one else, that person likes us in return. Yela (2000) also observed that,

people who are physically attractive are more popular than those who are

physically unattractive, is apparent even student in secondary school,

primary school and nursery school are rating popularity on the basis of

attractiveness and continues into adulthood.

Social behavior varies to some degree, based on the social

environment in which the child lives. This kind of behavior commonly

includes doing assignments, playing football, skipping school, answering

questions in class, getting into fights, running away from home, persistently

lying, using illegal drugs or alcohol, stealing, vandalizing property,

engaging in aggressive or violent behavior towards other individuals, and

violating school rules.

21

Concept of Academic Achievement

An academic achievement is something you do or achieve at school,

college or university - in class, in a laboratory, library or fieldwork. It does

not include sport or music (Wiki, 2006). It is all about what students can

actually do when they have finished a course of study. An academic

achievement, such as graduating 1st in one's class, is sometimes a purely

quantitative matter, while having the findings of lengthy, comprehensive

research published by a recognized journal is also a notable academic

achievement. Being named head/chairman of a particular department at a

university is both a professional and an academic achievement.

In life, if one cares to learn, one learns every day. Education usually

takes place in the classroom and is organized. The classroom activities are

designed with the ultimate aim of bringing changes to the learners either

behaviourally, emotionally and socially. Momoh (1992) Inability to achieve

what a learner supposed to achieve, has a function of so many factors or

variables. Psychologists have been able to classify these factors into

hereditary, personality, environmental, instructional, health and nutritional,

reinforcement and school management factors. He also said that there are

similar ways of categorizing these factors:

a. The student factors such as attitudes, individual differences, physical

health and readiness to learning.

22

b. Teacher, instructional curriculum factors such as teacher attitude to

students, types of classrooms control, curriculum contents,

instructional contents, and preparation.

c. Home, cultural and parental factors and

d. Institutional factors such as the type of school, population control,

discipline and personal interaction.

However, some of these factors may not have long term effect on

the academic achievement of a student because they are vulnerable to

changes and improvement when they become corrected. In addition,

academic achievement is not automatic but a gradual building up of

knowledge both in emotion and behaviour (Momoh, 1992).

At the end of any academic exercises students are rewarded for

there scholarly and intellectual efforts in forms of certificates, awards for

excellence, plagues and trophies and even awarded scholarships for

further studies. In the end, you're measured not by how much you

undertake but by what you finally accomplish (Trump,1987).

Non-smokers in our study is therefore referred to as, a student

who do not indulge in the smoking of marijuana whether in secret or

in public places, and are involved in positive academic activities that

will impact positively in his life. Non-smokers are individuals or

students who do not possess the observable characteristics of those

who indulge in the smoking acts. These are normal students that

23

keep the rules and regulations of the school and obey constituted

authorities.

Relationship between marijuana smoking and social behaviour

The period of adolescence appears to witness an array of problem in

social behaviour due to special class of people of that range. Some of the

experimentations are occasional and of brief duration but some may be

enduring and can even persist into adulthood. This is because they usually

find their feet in so many aspects of life. Among the common social

behaviours exhibited by these categories of youth/adolescents are:

drug/alcohol use, truancy, armed rubbery, cultism/gangsterism,

examination malpractices social adjustment, religious conflicts

delinquencies and eating disorder. Overt behaviour (external) and the

covert(internal) behavior. Steinberg (1996) categorized these social

behaviour problems into two: internalizing behaviour and externalizing

behaviour. From the rear, Steinberg (1996) said that externalizing

behaviour, refer to that behaviour which the person‘s problems are turned

outward and acted out like in delinquency and gangsterism.

Steinberg (1996) stated that internalizing social behaviours are

those in which the person‘s problems are turned inward and manifested in

emotional symptoms like anxiety and depression or even suicide as well as

in psychosomatic disturbances like bulimia and anorexia. For instance, it

can be seen that in any case of suicide, the person must have been

24

depressed or distressed just like a depressed adolescent is more likely to

have anxiety and may indulge in eating disorder. In the same way, those

social behaviour exhibited as a result of smoking marijuana will often often

externalized behaviour such armed robbery or truancy in the school (Ezeh,

2005). Some depressed students can also resort to marijuana smoking

and become delinquents in behaviour.

According to Ezeh (2000) observed that problems among students,

in school and outside school system, are common in many societies,

especially in Nigeria. For instance, most bars or beer parlours and

restaurants are usually besieged by students and other youths, who claim

to visit such places for relaxation over some bottles of beer and sticks of

cigarette. Again, in any party organized by youths, there is usually free flow

of booze accompanied with much marijuana smoking and cigarette. On

this fact, such heavy marijuana smoking, majority of students in the party

ground will cause havoc in the neighborhood like looting, raping, armed

robbery, fighting, burning of houses, destroying many materials thing that

does not belong to them.

Ezeh (2005), discussed that many people have called out on

government to checkmate this trend but the society appear to be sending

mixed signals to the youngsters involved in marijuana smoking. He also

noted that television and radio programmes are full of advert jingles on

variety of beer and cigarette, to show image or describe people who have

engaged in many rewarding activities after taking the substances. Yet

25

some adverts on cigarette end with a slogan, the Federal Ministry of Health

warns that tobacco smoking is dangerous to health. What a contradiction!

If the companies know the health hazards of these substances, why then

are they advertised in such tantalizing manner that could easily induce

young ones to try out? (Ezeh, 2005). Among drug users are the oblivion

seekers, who want to move away from the realities of life and the

experience seekers who want to move towards the realities of life. Ekeruo

(1989) in Ezeh (2005) states that many youngsters indulge in marijuana

smoking, as a way of fulfilling their sense of belonging to the peer or peer

group. Asuni(1993) state that people who are judged to be mentally

unstable tend to be more psychologically dependent on marijuana smoking

than non smoker.

Factors Affecting Social Behaviour in School/Society

The menace of secret cult members in our society, especially in

secondary school and institution of learning, is of tremendous gravity and a

good number of the populace currently live with fear, the activities of such

cults, include looting, maiming and outright killing of innocent citizens and

those of the rival groups (Ezeh, 2005). According to Ekwunife (2000) cult

simply refers to a system of religious worship or social gathering, mainly

for devotion or homage to a being-human or spiritual. He said that member

of secret cults often engage in hidden activities, whose overall ends and

results spell doom for the members, the community and the society. Thus,

26

secret cults are characterized by secrete oath taking to maintain the

secrecy, use of signs and symbols, rituals/initiation, parochial interest,

exclusiveness as well as rationalization of their existence( Eya, 2001).

Maliki (1999) discussed that cults as a social behaviour in Nigeria

secondary schools is traced back to the middle of the last century with the

emergence of the pirate confraternity, otherwise known as the National

Association of Sea Dogs, which was initiated just to fight against mental

enslavement of students by the colonial masters and they only engaged in

cases of symbolic nature like rejecting some colonial table etiquette and

dressing. Maliki (1999) states that, cult member has made Nigeria

secondary schools into theatres occasioning wantom destruction of lives

and properties even innocent by-standers. Some of these cult groups that

ameliorate social behaviours in schools and campuses of Nigeria are: the

Vikings (Baggas); Black Axe, Sea Dogs, Black Berets (BB); two-two;

Buccaneers, Mafia, Burkina-Faso (BF), Amazons, the Black Bras and the

Jezebel (Odoha 1999).

Examination malpractice is another factor which is the commonest

problem of social behaviour of students in secondary schools, some times

called examination misconduct. It is an act or behaviour whereby most

students in schools obtained score that were not actual or real. It is a

pernicious evil that has eaten the fabrics of our educational system, such

27

that the authenticity of some certificate obtained from Nigeria secondary

schools is subject of scrutiny and doubt in some developed countries.

Eze (2000) stated that the reason why some of these students indulge in

examination malpractice is that, they want to attain societal value

orientation and quest for achievement without hard work. For this reason

every student would want to acquire a certificate but many are not

prepared for the studies.

Nigerian students activist (1999) state that marijuana smoking

among secondary school students has been a stigma of a morally

bankrupt, decadent and wasted generation that must be made stronger or

revitalize and collectively salvaged together in order to prevent the total

degeneration and loss of our societal values and ideals. There are many

factors that contribute to the influence of marijuana smoking among

Nigerian secondary school students and youths, peer groups, parental

background (broken home) emotional stress among others. The Nigerian

students‘ activist (1999) mentioned that, students can be greatly influenced

to be a marijuana addict if allowed to interact with his fellow students. He

can be tempted on one fateful day to join the bad wagon of smoker of

Indian hemp, thereby gradually ruining his career in life. Getting hooked to

a particular drug like marijuana smoking is like a gradual process that will

reach a climax.

Nigerian student activist (1997) observed that, among Nigeria

youths, problem of marijuana smoking have been a major threat to the

28

peaceful co-existence of all and sundry or everyone, not just few special

people in our contemporary society, thereby destroying the socio-political

dignity, personality and integrity of dependence on life. The Nigerian

students‘ activist (1997) also lamented that, most parents in Nigeria today

in their bid to make ends meet, searching for greener pasture always

abandon and neglect the proper welfare of their wards and children and

expose them to house maids. This ugly incidence will psychologically

depress such children thereby giving rise to addiction. With this sad

development, the society is being gradually and systematically ruined

uncontrollably, thereby destroying the moral values of the Nigerian society.

Some students instead of seeking for medical attention in times of stress

would rather resort to marijuana smoking for correction.

These are the evils that follow social behaviour in the society mostly

in an academic environment where future leaders are being nurtured to

take over governance tomorrow. This is what will entail how marijuana

smoking will work, from the above analysis about cultism and

(gangsterism, one cannot operate in a destructive mode like looting, killing

without the sustenance of marijuana smoking.

Relationship Between Marijuana Smoking and Academic

Achievement.

Heavy marijuana smokers made more mistakes and had more

complexity supporting attention, changing attention to meet the demands

of changes in the environment, and in registering, processing, and using

information. So we can see that the greater harm among heavy smokers is

probable because of an alteration of brain activity caused by marijuana.

29

Marijuana is an addictive drug that could adversely affect ones social

behaviour contrary to things that could positively motivate the individual to

strive for academic achievement.

Dewey(1999) state that, marijuana smoking is a risk factor for

academic problems such as lower grades, absenteeism and high dropout

rates. Marijuana with alcohol and other substance can interfere with a

student‘s ability to think, making learning and concentration more difficult

and impeding academic performance. The more students‘ uses alcohol

and marijuana, the lower his grade point average is likely to be and the

more likely he is to drop out of school. Dewey (1999) also observed that

students who smoke marijuana and alcohol may remember 10% less of

what they have learned than those who do not smoke at all. It is a

common observation that students who smoke marijuana tend to be more

alienated from society and perform poorly in school and are also seen as

unambitious and unmotivated to achievement as compared to non

smokers. Compared to non-drinkers, heavy and binge drinking students

are more likely to say that their school work is not encouraging rather poor

and up to five times more likely to report skipping school. Dewey (1999)

observed that students who smoke marijuana before the age 15 are three

times more likely to have left school by age 16 and two times more likely to

report frequent truancy. Others have shown increasing rates of

delinquency following school dropout because of marijuana smoking

before age 15.

30

Elliott (1978) said that evidence is clear that poor school

performance, truancy and leaving school at a young age are connected to

marijuana smoking by the students. That several problems are,

responsible to students‘ behaviour while smoking marijuana, such as

aggression and violence. He also maintained that most of them find it

difficult in verbal and reading expression, lower reading and Mathematics

scores to peer substance is as a result of marijuana and alcohol drinking.

Elliott (1978) still observed that early aggressive behaviour may lead to

difficulties in the classroom. Such difficulties may result in students

receiving unfavourable evaluation from teachers or peers. These, in turn,

might result to poor academic achievement and misconduct of behaviour.

Kingery (1996) said that students who smoke marijuana observe to be

aggressive in behaviour, that those who start smoking marijuana before

age 13 use to perform poor in reading.

Gottfredson (1987). Opined that, many schools include programmes

designed to improve student‘s social behavior and guided counseling

programs are often administered to students in groups as part of a study

designed to measure and code interaction among students. Dishion(1999)

stated that students who have poor academic planning may find

themselves with so much problems to read few days to their examination.

They may take marijuana to keep awake at night or to forget about the

anxieties and fears of the examinations. He further stated that most

students take marijuana for problem solving, for instance to speak boldly in

31

public during school debate, drama, discussions as well as overcoming

public shyness, depression and lack of self confidence.

Nigeria students activist (1997) state that habitual marijuana

smoking has change from normal behaviour to mildly retarded character,

both in humanly and socially unpleasant to themselves and find it difficult

to cope in life direction. Most of these students who indulge on this

smoking give rise to delirium and insanity, whereas habitual consumption

usually produce mental weakness. The activist observed that, most of

these students exhibit the sense of illusions and sometime violence,

perhaps suffer from what is called insomnia. During their stay in the

hospital they appear calm. The slightest provocation however evokes a

state of violence and excitation. All these are related behaviour which can

be observable from the students in secondary school that smoke

marijuana.

Theoretical Framework

Erik Erikson Theory of psychosocial development

B.F. Skinner operant conditioning theory

Albert Bandura‘s social learning theory

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Erik Erikson Theory of psychosocial development (1963)

Erik Erikson (1902-1994), American psychoanalyst, who made major

contributions to the field of psychology with his work on child development

and on the identity crisis. Erikson became interested in the influence of

culture and society on child development. He studied groups of Native

American children to help formulate his theories. These studies enabled

him to correlate personality growth with parental and societal values.

Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson developed one of the most

comprehensive theories of social development in 1963. According to

Erikson, the developmental changes occurring throughout our lives can be

viewed as a series of eight stages of psychosocial development, of which

four occur during childhood. Psychosocial development involves changes

in our interactions and understanding of us as member of the society.

Erikson stages are represented in pairing of the most positive and most

negative aspects of the crisis of the period.

In the first stage of psychosocial development, the trust-versus-

mistrust stage (birth to 1 years), infants develop feeling of thrust if their

physical requirements and physiological needs for attachments are

consistently met and their interactions with the world are generally positive.

On the other hand, inconsistent care and unpleasant interactions with

others can lead to the development of mistrust and leave the infant unable

to meet the challenges required in the next stage of development.

In the second stage, the autonomy-versus-shame-and-doubt stage

(1 to 3years), toddlers develop independence and autonomy of

33

exploration and freedom are encouraged, or they experience shame, self-

doubt, and unhappiness if they are overly restricted and protected.

According to Erikson the key to the development of autonomy during this

period is for the child‘s caregivers to provide the appropriate amount of

control. If parents provide too much control, children will be unable to

assert themselves and develop their own sense of control over their

environment; if parent provide too little control, children themselves

become overly demanding and controlling.

The next crisis that children face is that the initiative-versus- the guilt

stage (ages 3 to 6). In this stage, the major conflict is between children‘s

desire to act independently and the guilt that comes from the unintended

and unexpected consequences of their behaviour. Children in this period

come to understand that they are persons in their own right, and they

begin to make decisions about their behavior. If parents react positively to

their child‘s attempt at independence, they help their child to resolve the

initiative-versus-guilt crisis positively.

The fourth and last stage of childhood is the industry-versus-

inferiority stage (ages 6 to 12). During this period, successful psychosocial

development is characterized by increasing competency in all areas,

including social interactions and academic skills. In contrast, difficulties in

this stage lead to feeling of failure and inadequacy. Erikson‘s theory

suggests that psychosocial development continues throughout life.

Erikson believes that each stage poses some crisis that needs to be

properly resolved to ensure success in subsequent stage. Among the eight

stages of psychosocial developments of individual‘s personality, the one

34

that concerns students in secondary school more is the fifth one which is

identity versus identity Diffusion. Identity refers to an individual‘s unique

development and the link between the unique values of the people he sees

as his own (Manaster, 1977). This means that identity is concerned with

one‘s own personal views and the identification with a group to which one

feels to belong. Jessor(1977) opine that personality environment and

behaviour are interrelated. When behaviour such as smoking is embedded

in such a network concepts, the theoretical framework makes it possible to

see the logical relation of smoking to other behaviour and variation in

personality and environmental characteristic as well. Personality are

values, exportation, beliefs, attitude, orientation toward self and others)

which are cognitive and reflect social meaning and social experience.

The individual as a social entity and in the process of making

friendship begins to analyse people around him to ascertain those he is

comfortable with and can trust. This is the stage that a student can be

easily deceived by mischievous friends who will lure him with gifts in the

guise of being nice, but will later introduce such students to antisocial

behaviour. This scenario in our study explains Eriksons concept of trust-

versus mistrust.

The autonomy versus shame and doubt stage shows how students

will strive for independence and would want to explore with their peer

groups. They become very assertive and could spur arrogance in them if

left unchecked. Attitude of social behaviour regarding marijuana smoking

35

on the part of friends are role models, example older adult or siblings,

parents, salient members of reference groups) influence the probability of

initiation. If marijuana smoking is practices by such significant persons,

initiation is more likely, it is also more likely to occur at early age (Harbin,

1975). He then opined that longitudinal evidence now available indicates

that non using students who are most likely to smoke marijuana and hard

drugs during secondary school tend to be more rebellious and deviance,

The initiative versus guilt stage explains how students when left

alone without guidance from their teacher and counselors are prone to acts

that the students are not aware of the weight of the consequences. The

period could bring guilt to them that may disorient them. Harbin (1975)

longitudinal evidence now available indicate that student who are more

likely to smoke marijuana during secondary school tend to be more

rebellious and deviance, more alienated from parents; more critical of

societal problem, more impulsive, more emotional, more pessimistic and

sad, more sociable and extroverted; less traditional and conservative

regarding values, less oriented toward religion, less orderly, diligent, and

effective in work and academic habits, less intellectually curious and

interested, less determined, persistence and motivated toward academic

attainment, less likely to feel valued and accepted by others, less

trustworthy and responsible, less tender and considerate of others, and

less self controlled.

36

Manaster (1977) It can be seen that identity formation requires a

number of skills which students ought to master their role experimentation

versus role fixation. Adolescent tends to experiment on different ideologies

and identities before settling at one. Many of them try out a number of

roles to identify the ones that suit them best. Failure in the experimental

process may lead one into role fixation that might manifest as one‘s

involvement in antisocial behaviour like smoking of marijuana, violent

activities. In the industry versus inferiority stage the student when properly

guided will strive to be competent in whatever he does so as to avoid

failure. The stage if not properly managed could build up inferiority

complex in the student.

B.F Skinner Operant Conditioning Theory (1948)

American psychologist B. F. Skinner became one of the most

famous psychologists in history for his pioneering research on operant

conditioning. In fact, he coined the term operant conditioning. Skinner

discovered important principles of operant conditioning, a type of learning

that involves reinforcement and punishment. A strict behaviorist, Skinner

believed that operant conditioning could explain even the most complex of

human behaviors. , Skinner spent several decades studying the behavior

of animals—usually rats or pigeons—in chambers that became known as

Skinner boxes. Like Thorndike‘s puzzle box, the Skinner box was a barren

37

chamber in which an animal could earn food by making simple responses,

such as pressing a lever or a circular response key. A device attached to

the box recorded the animal‘s responses.

The Skinner box differed from the puzzle box in three main ways;

(1) upon making the desired response, the animal received food but did

not escape from the chamber;

(2) the box delivered only a small amount of food for each response, so

that many reinforces could be delivered in a single test session; and

(3) the operant response required very little effort, so an animal could

make hundreds or thousands of responses per hour. Because of these

changes, Skinner could collect much more data, and he could observe

how changing the pattern of food delivery affected the speed and pattern of

an animal‘s behavior.

Skinner the founding father of operant conditioning developed what

he called the Skinner box and his theory in 1948. His interest was in

specifying how behaviour varied as a result of alteration in the

environment. The term conditioning here means the process of regulating

the behaviour of a learner through the manipulation of some event in the

learner‘s environment. Environmental exposures to marijuana smoking

provide a greater influence on many students to participate fully in a

38

condition they found themselves. Skinner stated that, what was satisfying

during the initial period of tension reduction will be likely to repeat itself

under similar circumstance on the occasion.

In operant conditioning, reinforcement refers to any process that

strengthens a particular behavior—that is, increases the chances that the

behavior will occur again. There are two general categories of

reinforcement, positive and negative. The experiments of Thorndike and

Skinner illustrate positive reinforcement, a method of strengthening

behavior by following it with a pleasant stimulus. Positive reinforcement is

a powerful method for controlling the behavior of both animals and people.

For people, positive reinforces include basic items such as food, drink, sex,

and physical comfort. Other positive rein-forcers include material

possessions, money, friendship, love, praise, attention, and success in

one‘s career.

Depending on the circumstances, positive reinforcement can

strengthen either desirable or undesirable behaviors. Children may work

hard at home or at school because of the praise they receive from parents

and teachers for good performance. However, they may also disrupt a

class, try dangerous stunts, or start smoking because these behaviors lead

to attention and approval from their peers. One of the most common

reinforces of human behavior is money. Most adults spend many hours

each week working at their jobs because of the paychecks they receive in

39

return. For certain individuals, money can also reinforce undesirable

behaviors, such as burglary, selling illegal drugs, and cheating on one‘s

taxes.

Negative reinforcement is a method of strengthening a behavior by

following it with the removal or omission of an unpleasant stimulus. There

are two types of negative reinforcement: escape and avoidance. In

escape, performing a particular behavior leads to the removal of an

unpleasant stimulus. For example, if a person with a headache tries a new

pain reliever and the headache quickly disappears, this person will

probably use the medication again the next time a headache occurs. In

avoidance, people perform a behavior to avoid unpleasant consequences.

For example,

Keeln,(1996) stated that, reinforcement is the process by which a

stimulus increases the probability that preceding behaviour will be

repeated. This implies that, the ensuring tension reduction from marijuana

smoking bring relief and reinforcement of the act which induced the

administration of the marijuana in the first place. Delprato (1992) supported

this Skinner‘s theory by stating that reinforcement is any stimulus which

increases the probability that a preceding behaviour will occur again.

Marijuana smoking is a reinforce to the smoker because it increases the

probability that behaviour must respond to smoking which must take place.

This theory affects the present study as it explains primary reinforce and

40

secondary reinforce by Skinner. That primary reinforce satisfies some

biological need and work naturally regardless of a person‘s prior

experience. Prior to the habit of marijuana smoking, the individuals could

be faced with depression and therefore sought for a way of escape by

indulging in antisocial behaviour such as marijuana smoking through the

influence of his peer group and these actions will be of great experience.

Reinforcement of marijuana responses intermittently can lead to greater

conditioning and more resistance to extinction than reinforcement of ever

responses.

Albert Bandura’s social learning theory (1969)

The third theory backing up this study is the social learning theory

developed by Albert Bandura in 1969. According to psychologists Albert

Bandura and colleagues, a major part of human learning consist of

observational learning, that is, learning is done through observing the

behaviour of another person called a model (Bandura, 1977).

Bandura in his observation believed that, behaviours are acquired

through observational learning. Example, children who where afraid of

dogs were exposed to a model dubbed the fearless peer-playing with a

dog. (Menlove 1967). This is applicable of the present study where social

interaction and behaviour modeling exist between students in school

watching how their fellow students smoke marijuana and other deviant

behaviours.

41

Bandura (1986), state that, observational learning takes place in four

steps. First paying attention and perceiving the most critical features of

another person‘s behaviour, second remembering the behaviour, third,

reproducing the action and firth being motivated to learn and carryout the

behaviour instead of learning occurring through trail and error. Then the

success being reinforced and failures punished, many important skills are

learned through observation.

This theory affects the present study because most students are

motivated on a particular behaviour and they can as well carryout the

expected behaviour exactly learned. These students learned how to smoke

marijuana by observation from senior students in school, how to be

aggressive, all these are behaviour modification in an environment. Many

students behave well, but as soon as they left and joined their colleagues

in school, behaviour will automatically change.

Not all behaviour that we witness is learned or carried out, of course.

One crucial factor that determines whether we later imitate a model is the

consequences of the model‘s behaviour. Interestingly though observing the

punishment of a model does not necessarily stop observers from learning

the behaviour (Bandura, 1994).

Review of Empirical Studies

Daramola (2004) conducted a study on social behaviour and

academic achievement of secondary school students in Ondo state of

42

Nigeria. The study was to investigate and find out whether there is any

relationship between social behaviour and academic achievement of the

student. To illicit data a Likert type questionnaire was used. Survey design

was used and sample was 720 students randomly selected from 18

secondary schools in using factor analysis to test the hypothesis. The

findings of the study reveal that there is relationship between students‘

social behaviour and their academic achievement.

Crowely and David (1980) conducted a study on students‘ marijuana

smoking in one East Lancanshire secondary school in the United state of

America (USA). He was to examine the influence of marijuana smoking

and academic achievement on secondary school students. The

researchers employed survey research design with a sample of 11 and 25

years old students. Classmates in this study were used. Data was

analyzed using test retest reliability and cronbach‘s alpha. The finding of

the study indicates that some of these students are addicted to marijuana

smoking and they cannot stay without smoking marijuana.

Samuel (1979) did a research on marijuana on social behaviour in

public secondary schools of Lagos Nigeria. The study was to investigate

the extent of marijuana smoking in social behaviour, and the school

achievement. The study involved a sample of 14,584. Questionnaire was

used to collect data. Analysis of variance and regression were used in

analyzing data. The finding of the study revealed that there is a

relationship between marijuana smoking, student‘s social behaviour and

43

their achievement in school performance. It also showed the extent of

which marijuana smoking has a linkage between students inside school

and those outside learning environment.

Mensch (2001) carried out a study on impact of marijuana smoking

on subsequent education attainment. The study investigated the

relationship between academic achievement and marijuana smoking. The

sample of young males from the National longitudinal survey of students

was used for the study. The research design was survey and the

instrument used was questionnaire. Data was analyzed using analysis of

variance and regression. The findings of the study showed that, the

likelihood functions for the probability of using marijuana smoking by

students is within 18 years old, the study also revealed that family

structure, (living with both parents, number of siblings), parental education,

age, ethnicity, marital status, numbers of dependents, region, religiosity

are indicator of living in a state where marijuana smoking has been

decriminalized at age of 14.

Winokur (1970) conducted a study on hospitalized students‘ addicts.

The study sample was 259 randomly selected from hospitals. This finding

indicated that mariSjuana smokers tend to run in families. He found that

slightly over forty percent (40%) had marijuana students usually from

home. Godwin (1990) find out that students of marijuana parents who had

been adopted by non marijuana foster parents still had nearly twice the

number of marijuana problem by their late twenties as did a control group

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of adopted students who real parents did not have history of marijuana

smoking

Parlee (1979) carried out a survey study to identify the factors critical

in friendships in a questionnaire answered by some 40.000 respondents,

the qualities that were most valued in a friend were the ability to keep

confidences, loyalty and warmth and affection, followed closely by

supportiveness, frankness, and sense of human. The findings of the study

revealed that, keeping confidences, loyalty and warmth and affection are

among the most important qualities people look for in a friend.

Summary of Literature Review

Related literature shows that interaction with one another may

achieve either positive or negative goal in life, which will be as a result of

inner motivation. Marijuana has countless street terms, such as pot, herb,

weed, grass, widow, and ganja. The review presented the conceptual

framework on marijuana, marijuana smoking, social behaviour, academic

achievement. It also takes into considerations the factors affecting social

behavior in school and society, and the relationship between marijuana

smoking and academic achievement.

The review on theoretical framework traced the works of theorists

and how their works have impacted on social behaviour. They are the

Erikson‘s theory on psychosocial development, the Skinner‘s operant

conditioning theory and the Bandura‘s social learning theory.

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From the review of empirical studies on marijuana smoking,

student‘s social behaviour and academic achievement in secondary

schools, it is discovered that much research has not been done locally on

marijuana smoking in secondary school. Rather much research work have

been done on this same concept and especially in relation to social

behavior and academic achievement by foreign scholars. The researcher

therefore decided to draw the attention of relevant authorities to the

menace caused by the influence of marijuana smoking on students social

behavior and academic achievement.

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CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHOD

This chapter is made up of the following sub-headings, design of the

study, area of the study, population of the study, sample and sampling

technique, instrument for data collection, validation and reliability of the

instrument, method of data collection and method of data analysis.

Design of the Study

The design of the study was Ex-post Factor. According to Ezeh

(2005), Ex-post Fato research is a systematic empirical inquiry in which the

scientist does not have direct control on independent variable because

they are inherently not manipulable. The purpose of exposé factor studies,

was to find out the factors that seem to be closely associated with certain

behaviours occurrence, prevalence‘s or conditions.

The researcher deemed it wise to adopt this design because, the

researcher was not in full control of a major variable, marijuana smoking

which predicted the study, but in finding out the cause effect relationship.

The study seeks to elicit information on influence of marijuana smoking on

students‘ social behaviour and their academic achievement.

Area of the Study

This study was conducted in the present Ikom Local Government

Area of Cross River state. Cross River State is made up of eighteen (18)

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Local Government Areas; and is divided into three (3) Educational Zone,

the Ogoja Educational Zone, Ikom Educational zone and Calabar

Educational Zone. Ikom which is in central senatorial district of Cross River

State has four educational Area in the zone namely, Ikom Educational

Area, Etung Educational Area, Obubra Educational area, and Boki

Educational area. Ikom commanded my choice for this study because of

the perceived marijuana smoking activities among secondary school

students, deviant behavior, armed robbery, school drop-out and cultism.

This area was also chosen for the study because farmers cultivate

marijuana in commercial quantity as reported by the commander of

Federal Road Safety Ikom branch on their ―drug and driving‖ awareness

campaign on December 11th, 2007; sometime students are hired as

laborers‘ to harvest and process the product, this gives students access to

the product and the cultivation of the substance is done within the

environment where these students live. Forest environment provides a

protective coverage for students who smoke marijuana, as such; law

enforcement agents do not have access to arrest students who smoke

marijuana in the area.

Population of the Study

The population consisted of all senior secondary school students in

Ikom educational zone of Cross River state. (Population of students by

educational zone appendix III). There are total of twenty four (24) public

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secondary schools in Ikom Educational authority. Eight public secondary

schools located in urban center and rural area of Ikom education authority

will be used. The reason why public secondary schools will be selected is

because; most of them have no fence in order to monitor this students

irregularity during school hours, teachers are not punctual to their classes

and school supervisors are not regular for inspections.

With all this, it is easier for students to practice this addiction within

the forest in the school area. The choice of public secondary schools in the

area has motivated the researcher to look on activities organized by the

school authority for the students. On this note, most of these students

relationship with peers and friends may in turn involve them in activities of

marijuana smoking, gangs and clubs after schools, as such most of them

may return late in the night to their parents.

Sample and Sampling Techniques

The sample size for the study was consist of two hundred (200)

students. The researcher required two sampling processes. The first

process is snorboh sampling technique and the second is simple random

sampling (Eze, 2005).

The random sampling technique was used to select 8 secondary

schools that was randomly drawn from the 24 public secondary schools in

Ikom education authority, 15 students were randomly sampled each from

Senior Secondary class of eight (8) public secondary schools for the study.

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In a snowball sampling, the researcher identified a student who smokes

marijuana in the area. They identified student smoker help the researcher

to administer the instrument to others who smoke and through this means,

10 questionnaires where distributed each in the eight (8) public secondary

schools in the area.

Instrument for Data Collection

The instrument for data collection is questionnaire, which was titled –

Students Social Behaviour Rating Scale and student academic

achievement questionnaire developed by the researcher. The academic

achievement score of the students was obtained from their academic

records. Their first year and second