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Background: Deviant behaviour among students in tertiary institutions is a public health, educational, and social concern because it is associated with campus disorder, poor learning outcomes, violence, and broader social instability. This study assessed the perceived societal effects of deviant behaviour among male students of Benue State School of Health Technology, Agasha, Nigeria. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among male students in the institution. The study population comprised 580 male students. A multistage sampling approach involving stratification by department and simple random selection yielded a target sample of 160 respondents, of whom 128 returned properly completed questionnaires for analysis, giving a response rate of 80.0%. Data were collected using a self-developed structured questionnaire that was validated by three experts in Primary Health Care. Split- half reliability testing yielded a coefficient of 0.83. Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, rank ordering, and 95% confidence intervals for key proportions. Results: Most respondents were aged 26–30 years (50.0%), and all respondents identified as Christians. The most strongly perceived societal effects of deviant behaviour were criminal behaviour in adulthood, reported by 122 respondents (95.3%); terrorism in adulthood, reported by 110 respondents (85.9%); and death of victims or mortality, reported by 104 respondents (81.3%). Other perceived consequences included low national investment (73.4%), infrastructural decay (70.3%), unemployment (65.6%), and societal insecurity (59.4%). Conclusion: Respondents perceived deviant behaviour as extending beyond individual misconduct to wider social, economic, public health, and security consequences. Preventive responses should therefore combine institutional counselling, parental engagement, value-based education, and the early identification of students at risk of persistent behavioural problems.
Keywords: deviant behaviour; male students; tertiary institution; societal effects; Benue State; Nigeria; deviantbehaviour; malestudents; tertiaryinstitution; societaleffects; BenueState
Deviant behaviour refers to actions that violate acceptedsocialnormsorinstitutionalrules[1].Within school settings, it may include truancy, aggression, substance use, bullying, vandalism, intimidation, examinationmalpractice,andotherformsofconduct thatdisruptlearningandsocialorder[2].Althoughnot everyactofdevianceprogressestoseriouscriminality, persistent antisocial and rule-breaking behaviour is widely recognised as a marker of psychosocial vulnerabilityandapotentialprecursoroflatersocial harm[3]. TheWorldHealthOrganizationnotesthat violence,injuries,andearlysubstanceusearemajor threatstoadolescentandyoungadulthealth[4],while substancemisuseamongNigerianyouthremainsan enduringpublichealthburdenwithimplicationsfor families,schools,andcommunities[5].
InNigeriaandacrosssub-SaharanAfrica,substance useandotherbehaviouralproblemsamongstudents remain important concerns [6,7]. School-based researchhasshownthatalcoholandotherpsychoactive substances are used by both secondary-school and tertiary-level students, often in association with poor mental health, reduced academic functioning, risky decision-making, and peer-related pressures [8,9]. NationaladolescentdatafromNigeriafurther indicatethatalcoholexperimentationandepisodes of drunkenness are associated with peer, family, and school factors [10], while multicountry African evidenceshowsthatmalesex,bullying,fighting,and truancy commonly cluster with substance use and otherriskbehaviours[11].
Thebroaderconsequencesofdeviantbehaviourextendbeyondtheschoolenvironment.Nigerianstudies havelinkeddeviantbehaviourtopooreracademicperformanceandweakereducationaloutcomes[12].More generally,longitudinalandreviewevidenceindicates thatexternalisingandaggressivebehaviourinyouth canpersistovertimeand,insomeindividuals,predict laterantisocialoutcomesinadulthood[3,13]. These patternshelptoexplainwhyschools,parents,health professionals,andpolicymakersincreasinglyviewdeviantbehaviournotonlyasadisciplinaryproblembut alsoasadevelopmentalandsocialriskwithpotentially long-termimplicationsforindividuals,institutions,and communities.
Despiteagrowingbodyofliteratureontheprevalence, patterns, and correlates of risky and antisocial behaviourinNigeria,fewerstudieshaveexaminedhow students themselves perceive the broader societal consequences of deviant behaviour, particularly in tertiary health-training institutions [14,15]. Understandingtheseperceptionsisimportantbecausethey can inform student counselling, institutional policy, preventiveprogramming,andthedesignofsupport systems that respond to students’ views of social risk. Thisstudythereforeinvestigatedtheperceived societal effects of deviant behaviour among male studentsatBenueStateSchoolofHealthTechnology, Agasha,Nigeria.
This study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional surveydesign.ItwasconductedatBenueStateSchool of Health Technology, Agasha, Nigeria, a tertiary health-training institution that enrols students in departments such as Community Health, EnvironmentalHealth,MedicalLaboratoryTechnology,and Pharmacy Technician. The institutional setting was consideredappropriatebecauseitprovidedaccessto malestudentsfromdifferentacademicunitswhowere studyingwithinthesameeducationalenvironment.
The study population comprised 580 male students currentlyenrolledacrossthevariousacademicdepartments at Benue State School of Health Technology, Agasha, Nigeria. To determine the required sample sizeforthestudy,theTaroYamaneformulaforafinite populationwasutilised:
N n = 1+ N(e) Inthisformula, n representsthesamplesize, N representsthetotalpopulationof580,and e represents theallowablemarginoferror,whichwassetat0.07. Thecalculationyieldedatargetsampleof160male students.Toensurerepresentativedistributionacross theinstitution,amultistagesamplingapproachwas then employed. The first stage involved stratifying thepopulationbydepartment,includingCommunity Health, Environmental Health, Medical Laboratory Technology,andPharmacyTechnician.Withinthese strata,respondentswereselectedbysimplerandom samplingthroughballotingwithoutreplacement.Of the160questionnairesdistributed,128wereproperly completed and returned, resulting in a response rate of 80.0%. The final analysed sample included 42 students from Community Health (32.8%), 37 fromEnvironmentalHealth(28.9%),27fromMedical LaboratoryTechnician(21.1%),and22fromPharmacy Technician(17.2%).
Datawerecollectedusingaself-developedstructured questionnairealignedwiththestudyobjective. SectionAobtainedsocio-demographicinformation,while SectionBcontainedsevendichotomousYes/Noitems addressing the perceived societal effects of deviant behaviour.Theinstrumentwasdesignedtocapturerespondents’perceptionsofthosesocietaleffectsrather thantomeasurecriminality,insecurity,orothermacroleveloutcomesdirectly.
ThreeexpertsinPrimaryHealthCarefromtheUniversityofNigeriaTeachingHospital, Enugu, conducted faceandcontentvalidationofthequestionnaire.Their commentswereusedtoimprovetheclarity,relevance, appropriateness, and wording of the questionnaire items.Reliabilitywasassessedthroughapilottestusingthesplit-halfmethod,whichyieldedaSpearman- Browncoefficientof0.83,indicatingacceptableinternalconsistency.
Administrativepermissiontoconductthestudywasobtainedfromtherelevantinstitutionalauthorities.The study purpose was explained to participants before administeringthequestionnaire.Participationwasvoluntary,andinformedconsentwasobtainedfromall respondents.Anonymityandconfidentialitywereassured,andrespondentswereinformedthattheycould declinetoparticipateorwithdrawfromthestudyat anytimewithoutpenalty.Thequestionnaireswereadministeredandretrievedwiththesupportfromfour(4) trainedundergraduatestudents.
Completedquestionnaireswerecheckedforcompleteness and coded for analysis. Descriptive statistics, including frequency counts and percentages, summarisedthedata.Tostrengthentheinterpretationof thefindings,thesocietal-effectitemswerealsorankordered according to the proportion of affirmative responses, and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculatedfortheaffirmativeproportionspresentedin Table2. Allreportedpercentageswerebasedonthe 128validquestionnairesincludedinthefinalanalysis.
Atotalof128completedquestionnaireswereanalysed. Respondentswerepredominantlyaged26–30years (50.0%),followedbythoseaged31–35years(28.1%) and20–25years(21.9%). Studentsweredrawnfrom allfourdepartments,withthelargestproportioncomingfromCommunityHealth(32.8%).Allrespondents reportedChristianityastheirreligion;consequently, religioncouldnotbemeaningfullycomparedasanexplanatoryvariablewithinthisstudysample.
More than half of the respondents endorsed every listed societal effect. The highest-ranked perceived effectwascriminalbehaviourinadulthood,followed by terrorism in adulthood and death of victims or mortality. Societalinsecurityhadthelowestlevelof endorsement;nevertheless,almostthree-fifthsofthe respondents still affirmed it as a perceived societal consequenceofdeviantbehaviour.
Table3showsthatpoorparentinghadastrongandstatisticallysignificantassociationwithdeviantbehaviour ( 2 , ), with a much higher proχ = 99.50 p < 0.001 portionofdeviantbehaviourobservedamongrespondentswhoreportedpoorparentingthanamongthose who did not. Peer-group influence was also significantlyassociatedwithdeviantbehaviour( 2 , χ = 92.84 p < 0.001), asmoststudentswhoagreedthatpeer influenceaffectedthemexhibiteddeviantbehaviour, whereasasmallerproportionofthosewhodisagreed didso.Residentiallocationshowedasignificantassociationwithdeviantbehaviour( 2 , ), χ = 76.41 p < 0.001 withstudentslivinginhigh-riskresidencesbeingmore likelytoexhibitdeviantbehaviourthanthoseliving inlow-riskareas.Similarly,poorreligiousupbringing was significantly associated with deviant behaviour ( 2 , ),withdeviantbehaviourbeing χ = 88.56 p < 0.001 morecommonamongrespondentswhoreportedpoor religiousupbringing.Drugabusehadthestrongestassociationwithdeviantbehaviour( 2 , χ = 104.72 p < 0.001),asanoverwhelmingmajorityofrespondents whoabuseddrugsexhibiteddeviantbehaviourcomparedwiththosewhodidnotreportdrugabuse.
Thisstudyexaminedhowmalestudentsinatertiary health-traininginstitutionperceivedthewidersocietal effectsofdeviantbehaviour.Themoststrikingfinding wastheconsistentlyhighlevelofagreementacrossall sevenlistedconsequences. Importantly,therespondentswereadultsorolderyoungpeopleenrolledin post-secondaryeducationratherthanadolescentsin thestrictdevelopmentalsense.Theirresponsesthereforereflecttheperceptionsofmaletertiarystudents whoarelikelytointerpretdeviantbehaviournotonly asacampusdisciplinaryissuebutalsoasapotential threat to community safety, social order, and wider socialdevelopment.
Thestrongestendorsementwasforcriminalbehaviour
Age(years) 26–30
Department
Religion Islam
Table 2. Perceivedsocietaleffectsofdeviantbehaviouramongrespondents(n=128)
Criminalbehaviourinadulthood 122(95.3) 90.2–97.8 6(4.7) 1 Terrorisminadulthood 110(85.9) 78.9–90.9 18(14.1) 2 Deathofvictims/mortality 104(81.2) 73.6–87.1 24(18.8) 3 Lowinvestmentinsocietyornation 94(73.4) 65.2–80.3 34(26.6) 4 Infrastructuraldecayinthenation 90(70.3) 61.9–77.5 38(29.7) 5 Unemploymentinsociety 84(65.6) 57.0–73.3 44(34.4) 6 Societalinsecurity 76(59.4) 50.7–67.5 52(40.6) 7 CI=confidenceinterval.The95%CIsfortheproportionsofaffirmativeresponseswerecalculatedusingthe Wilsonmethod.
inadulthood.Thisfindingisconsistentwithlongitudinalandreviewevidenceshowingthataggressive,externalising,andantisocialbehaviourscanpersistover timeinsomeyoungpeopleandmaypredictlaterantisocialoutcomeswhentheyarenotaddressedearly [3,13].Thepresentstudydidnotfollowstudentslongitudinallyandthereforecannotdemonstrateanactual developmentalpathwayfromstudentmisconductto adultcriminality. Nevertheless,thehighproportion ofrespondentsendorsingthisitemsuggeststhatparticipantsvieweddeviantbehaviourasanearlywarningsignofpossiblefuturesocialoffendingratherthan merelyasanisolatedortemporaryyouthfulphase.
Respondents also strongly perceived links between deviantbehaviour,terrorism,mortality,andsocietal insecurity. Theseperceptionsshouldbeinterpreted cautiously.Thestudymeasuredbeliefsaboutsocietal consequencesratherthanverifiedevidencethatdeviantbehaviourinthisstudentpopulationcausesterrorism or organised violence. However, the pattern remainsmeaningfulwithinthecontextoftherespondents’perceptions.ExistingAfricanandNigerianevidenceshowsthatsubstanceuseandotherproblembehavioursoftencoexistwithfighting,bullying,truancy, psychologicaldistress,andreducedschoolconnectedness[4,10,11,16,17].Againstthisbackground,respondentsmayhaveinterpreteddeviantbehaviouraspart ofacontinuumofescalatingriskthatcaneventually threatenpublicsafety,socialstability,andhumanlife.
20–25 28 21.9 64 50.0 31–35 36 28.1 CommunityHealth 42 32.8 EnvironmentalHealth 37 28.9 MedicalLaboratoryTechnician 27 21.1 PharmacyTechnician 22 17.2 Christianity 128 100.0 0 0.0 Traditionalreligion 0 0.0
The findings further revealed that respondents associated deviant behaviour with low investment, infrastructuraldecay,andunemployment. Although theseoutcomesoperateatasocietallevelandwere notdirectlymeasuredinthisstudy, theperceptions areunderstandablewithinabroaderdevelopmental context. Deviant behaviour can undermine educationalattainment,campusorder,andemployability, all of which are relevant to productivity and social stability. Nigerian studies have linked deviant or risk-takingbehaviourtodisruptedacademicactivities andpoorerpsychosocialfunctioningamongstudents [12,18]. Similarly, alcohol and other substance use amonguniversitystudentshasbeenassociatedwith impaired judgement, social problems, and health risks that can negatively affect educational and vocational trajectories [19,20]. Respondents in this studythereforeappeartoviewdeviantbehaviourasa problemthatcandiminishbothindividuallifechances andbroaderdevelopmentoutcomesovertime.
The practical implication of these findings is that preventive action should begin before misconduct becomespersistentornormalised.Althoughthisstudy did not directly measure determinants of deviant behaviour, prior literature points to the importance ofpeerpressure,familyenvironment,schoolclimate, and counselling support [21,22]. In Nigerian school populations,substanceuseandrelatedbehavioural problemsarealsoassociatedwithparentalsubstance use,weakparent-childrelationships,malegender,bul-
Agree 120(93.8) Disagree 15(23.4)
Agree 118(92.2) Disagree 18(28.1)
High-riskresidence 110(85.9) Low-riskresidence 26(40.6)
Agree 116(90.6) Disagree 20(31.3)
Yes 122(95.3) No 14(21.9)
lying,andtruancy[11,18].InstitutionssuchasBenue StateSchoolofHealthTechnologyshouldtherefore combine disciplinary procedures with supportive interventions, including counselling, mentorship, behaviouralscreening,peer-lededucation,andclear referralpathwaysforstudentswithsubstance-useor mental-healthconcerns.Suchmeasuresmaysupport early intervention while also helping institutions respondtobehaviouralproblemsinamorepreventive andstudent-centredmanner.
The findings show that all evaluated psychosocial, environmental, and behavioural factors were strongly related to deviant behaviour. When the relative strength of these factors was compared, substance abuse emerged as the most potent and directcorrelateofdeviance.Thispatternhighlightsa strong convergence between substance misuse and behaviouralinfractions,arelationshipreinforcedby empiricalinvestigationsshowingthatsubstanceuse may underpin or co-occur with severe behavioural infractions and maladaptive coping among young people [23,24]. The result therefore reinforces the importance of considering substance-related risk wheninterpretingpatternsofdeviantconductamong students.
Immediatesocialisingagents,particularlypoorparentingandpeer-groupinfluence,alsoexhibitedexceptionallystrongassociationswithdeviantconduct.Incontrast,residentiallocationrecordedthelowestrelative influenceamongtheexaminedvariables.Thiscontrast
99.50(0.000)* 8(6.2) 49(76.6)
92.84(0.000)* 10(7.8) 46(71.9)
76.41(0.000)* 18(14.1) 38(59.4)
88.56(0.000)* 12(9.4) 44(68.7)
104.72(0.000)* 6(4.7) 50(78.1)
suggeststhatproximalrelationaldynamics,suchas familyenvironmentandpeerinteractions,mayexerta moredirectpsychologicalandbehaviouralinfluence onindividualsthandistalenvironmentalcontextssuch asneighbourhoodrisklevels,eventhoughhigh-risk environmentscanstillcompoundvulnerability[25,26]. Nigerianstudiesfurthercorroboratetheimportanceof parentalmonitoring,familystructure,anddelinquent peernetworksinrelationtostudentdeviance[23,27]. Furthermore,poorreligiousupbringingdemonstrated asubstantialassociationwithdeviance,reflectingliteraturethatlinkstheweakeningofmoralguidanceand internalnormativeframeworkswithincreasedsusceptibilitytoantisocialconduct[28].Takentogether,these findingspointtotheinteractinginfluenceofpersonal, relational,andenvironmentalconditionsratherthan toasingleisolatedexplanationfordeviantbehaviour.
Akeystrengthofthisstudyisitsspecificfocusona tertiaryhealth-traininginstitution,whichcapturesthe perspectivesoffuturehealthcareprofessionalsonthe perceivedsocietalconsequencesofdeviantbehaviour andprovidesausefulinstitutionalbaseline.However, severalmethodologicallimitationsconstraintheinterpretationofthefindings.Thesingle-institutiondesign andrestrictiontomalestudentslimitgeneralisability, whilerelianceonself-reporteddataanddichotomous response options may introduce response bias and oversimplifycomplexpsychosocialphenomena.Inaddition,thecross-sectionaldesignprecludescausalinference,andkeyexplanatoryvariablesidentifiedinthe literature,suchaspeerinfluence,parentingstyles,and substanceuse,wereunmeasured,pointingtoimportantareasforfutureanalyticresearch. Theselimitationsshouldbeconsideredwheninterpretingthefindingsandwhendesigningfuturestudieswithbroader samplesandmoredetailedmeasures.
ThestudyrevealsthatmalestudentsatBenueState SchoolofHealthTechnology,Agasha,perceivedeviant behaviourashavingsevereconsequencesthatextend far beyond individual misconduct and threaten broadersecurity, nationaldevelopment, andpublic health, withadultcriminality, terrorism, andlossof lifeidentifiedasthemostalarmingoutcomes.Furthermore,thefindingsunderscorethatstudentdeviance isstronglyunderpinnedbycriticalpsychosocialand behavioural risk factors, notably substance abuse, poor parenting, negative peer influence, residential vulnerabilities, and inadequate moral or religious upbringing.Theseinsightsdemonstratethatstudent deviance cannot be managed merely as an isolated disciplinaryinfraction; rather, itisacomplexpublic health and psychosocial challenge that requires coordinated preventive attention. Because this assessment focused on student perceptions, future multicentreanalyticstudiesareessentialtoexplore thedirectpathwayslinkingtheseassociatedfactors to long-term societal harm and to assess relevant preventiveresponses.
ventions: Educational institutions should strengthen student counselling, mentorship, andbehaviouralsupportsystemsbyimplementing targeted screening for substance abuse, earlyidentificationofrecurrentmisconduct,and appropriate referral mechanisms for students whorequireadditionalsupport.
entsandguardiansshouldmaintainactivesupervision,opencommunication,andconsistent moral or religious guidance to reduce the vulnerabilitiesassociatedwithpoorhomeenvironments,weakmonitoring,anddysfunctionalfamilystructures.
Schoolmanagementshouldcombinefairdisciplinary procedures with preventive strategies, suchaspeer-lededucation,positivesocialreinforcement,structuredsupportnetworks,andtargetedguidance,tohelpstudentsresistnegative peerpressureandnavigatehigh-riskresidential environments.
mentbodiesandpublichealthagenciesshould institutionalise comprehensive school-based mental-health promotion, evidence-based substance-use prevention programmes, and youth-developmentinitiativesthataddressthe underlying psychosocial drivers of persistent deviance and support early, coordinated intervention.