Information Communication Technology (ICT)-Facilitated Deviance: A Study among the School Children in Chennai City

Deviance is defined as any behaviour, belief or condition that violates social norms in society or group (Kendall 2006). However, the term deviance is relative and the nature of deviant activities is also relative which varies across time and space. This study investigates the current trends in deviant behaviour among a sample of high school and higher secondary school students in Chennai city. The study’s process involved a self-administered five-point Likert scale questionnaire that was given to 200 high school and higher secondary school students representing different categories of schools in the city. The study has attempted to not only find out the prevalence of traditional forms of deviant behaviour such as truancy, status offences, etc. but to also study more specific forms of deviant behaviour indulged in using modern day technology, particularly using cyberspace as the medium. The preliminary findings of the study show that a considerable percentage of the respondents were found to have indulged in various forms of deviant behaviour including Internet and web-oriented deviance.