A Criminological Study of Link Between Social Media Addiction and Deviant Behavior among the Youth of Pakistan

Abstract

The paper analyses the issue of social media addiction, the reasons behind the addiction, and its connection to deviant behavior among young people in Pakistan. As the digital use grows, anxiety regarding the addictive usage and their effects in behavioral trends has risen. The qualitative approach was used with the help of purposive sampling where 40 high-intensity social media users urban and rural were interviewed, and two psychologists and one psychiatrist were interviewed in-depth. Thematic analysis indicated that addiction is a major and inseparable factor with antisocial and increasing deviant behaviors. A contributing factor was behavioural addiction, peer pressure, psychological and environmental antecedents, parental neglect, and ineffective enactment of digital legislation and policy. Among them, the issue of parental neglect and ineffective state-level digital governance became the prevalent ones. The paper advocates greater enforcement of policies, digital literacy programs, curriculum changes, easy access to psychological assistance, and greater parental surveillance to ensure the adverse impacts of social media addiction are controlled and mitigated.