Abstract

This study examined the impact of social factors on adolescent engagement in ritual killings among senior secondary school students in Abuja. Two research questions were raised and two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population for the study comprised 48,921 students that enrolled and sat for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) 2023/2024 academic session from all the public secondary schools in FCT, Abuja. The sample for the study comprised of 400 students selected using Yaro Yamen formula. The Instruments; Engagement in Ritual Killing Questionnaire (ERKQ) and Social Factor Questionnaire (SFQ) were validated and their indices were 0.81 and 0.79. Cronbach Alpha Formula was used to establish the reliability coefficient for Engagement in Ritual Killing Questionnaire (ERKQ) and Social Factor Questionnaire (SFQ). Their reliability indices were 0.83 and 0.75 respectively. The data collected will be analyzed using Mean and Standard Deviation to answer the research questions. t-test statistics was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that poverty significantly influenced adolescents’ engagement in ritual killings, as students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds were more vulnerable to such practices due to financial hardship. The study recommended among others that government and policymakers implement targeted poverty alleviation and youth empowerment programs to reduce the economic pressures driving adolescents toward ritual killings