Factors Contributing to Child Begging in Hilla City- Babylon- Iraq during the Year 2011

Abstract

Abstract:Background: Beggary among children is a social problem which has not only psychological consequences such as inferiority complex in the beggars, family members and their network of kinship but it will affect the social structure of the community. Objective: To determine the contributing factors of beggary among children. Methods: A case control study was conducted in the urban community of Hilla city- Babylon province-Iraq from the 1st May through 1st of Semptember2011. Two hundred children were selected, 100 cases and 100 controls. The cases were randomly selected from the urban areas and the controls were also randomly selected from the same areas. The criteria for selection of cases and controls were that they should be mentally sound, and below the age of 18 years.A questionnaire was framed, pre tested and then interviews were conducted. Results: The Odds ratio of the following factors : family history of beggary 30.03 times, father’s death 3.4 times, disabilities 7.451 times, family sizes 11.345times, never being in school 18.64 times, drug abuse and delinquency 5 times all were associated with beggary while alcohol consumption of fathers and receiving social support salary by their families were not significantly associate with begging. Conclusions: The study showed that family history of begging, disability, father’s death, family size, smoking, and drug abuse were associated with beggary. No association was found between beggary and father alcohol consumption or between beggary and the social support salary paid to their families.Keywords: Beggary, Contributing Factors, Children, Iraq, Babylon.