Socio-Demographic Stimulation of Anti-Social Behaviour among Senior Secondary School Students in Port-Harcourt

Abstract

Anti-social behaviour can be seen as an overall lack of adherence to social norms and standards of people to co-exist peacefully in a society. However, there is an increase rate of anti-social behaviour in the society today espeially amongthe adolescents.Very many secondary school students with anti-social behaviour have a low tolerance for frustration; as they act on impulse, lose their temper quickly, lie easily and skilfully. Anti-social behaviour can become part of youthful behaviour and harmful to the society at large if not controlled as well checkmate. It is against this backdrop that this paper attempts to investigate the socio-demographic correlates of anti-social behaviour among senior secondary school students in Port-Harcourt, River State, Nigeria.300 questionnaires were distributed;150 in the public school and 150 in two private schools.Simple percentage, t-test, One way-Annova and Simple Linear Regression were used for the data analysis. The findings revealed that there is a significant difference among public schools and private schools [t (298) = 1.487, p<0.05]. There is a significant difference based on family type [t (295) = .003, p< 0.05], Age is also significant [F (3, 296) = 4.796, p = 0.003]. Finding shows the need for social work services in our secondary schools. The study recommends a comprehensive early social work intervention with families and schools. Furthermore, social workers and policy makers should plan appropriate preventive and intervention programmes for students with anti-social behaviour. More research should be done in this field of study, as it was limited mainly to three schools.