An Exploration of Locus of Control among Substance Abusers and Non Abusers: A Comparative Study in Kashmir

Abstract

The present project work entitled, “Locus of Control of Substance Abusers and Non Abusers of Jammu and Kashmir” was carried out with the objectives to study and evaluate the Locus of Control among substance abusers and non abusers. One hundred participants were selected in the study. The present study will consist of fifty (50) substance abusers and a controlled group of fifty (50) non abusers selected purposively from Jammu and Kashmir. Only Males were included in the study. In this study, Non probability purposive sampling technique was used. Locus of control will be measured by Levenson’s locus of control scale modified by Sanjay Vohra in 1992. This  24 – item, 5 point Scale, measures three dimensions of  locus of control viz. a) Individual Control (i.e. internal), b) Powerful Others (i.e. external) and c) Chance Control (i.e. external). Responses to the 24 items (8 statements per scale) are evaluated on a 5 point Scale. The data was collected by using a standard questionnaire and SPSS – 16 versions was used to calculate Descriptive statistics, and t-test etc. It was found that, the internal (t= -1.24) and chance control (t= .14) dimensions of locus of control was statistically insignificant, while as the dimension powerful others (t= -2.332) of locus of control was statistically significant at 0.05 level of significance with respect to Marital Status. However, it was found that, the internal, powerful others and chance control dimensions of locus of control was statistically insignificant at 0.05 level of significance with respect to Residence, Family type as well as for Nature (Abuser & Non Abuser). The limitations of the study and the suggestions for future research have been mentioned.