LOOPS SURROUNDING STREET CHILDREN’S DRUG ADDICTION IN SOUTH-WESTERN URBAN BANGLADESH: EVIDENCES FROM KHULNA CITY

The focus of this research was on identifying the factors that lead the street children to drug addiction. A survey of 120 street children’s from Khulna city (a South-western urban area of Bangladesh) was used in this study. Alongside descriptive statistics, chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used to determine the factors that affecting street children’s drug addiction. More than two-third of the sample were male and aged between 12 to17. The prevalence of severe level drug addiction among street children was 59.2%. Sex, family pattern, parental condition, parental unconsciousness, peer pressure, quick drug access were the significant determinants for developing street children’s drug addiction. Drug addiction among street children in Bangladesh is present, and strategies are needed to reduce the street children’s drug addiction.