INFLUENCE OF GROUPTHINK, GROUP COHESIVENESS AND DEINDIVIDUATION ON CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR TENDENCY AMONGST UNDERGRADUATES
ABSTRACT
The study investigated the influence of Groupthink, Group cohesiveness and Deindividuation on Criminal behaviour of Undergraduates of Akwa Ibom State University, Ikot Apkaden campus, Mkpat Enin Local Government Area and Obio Akpa campus, Oruk Anam Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A total of three hundred and twelve (312) undergraduates made up of 166 males (54.1%) and 146 females (45.9%). These participants were selected using simple random sampling technique. Their ages ranged from 17-35 years and their mean age was 22.52 years. Groupthink scale (Baptist, 2015), Psychological collectivism scale (Jackson, Colquit, Wesson & Zapata-Phelan, 2006), Functions of identity scale (Serafini & Adams, 2014) and Crime behaviour factor scale (Animasahun, 2011) were the instruments used for data analysis. The study utilized the Ex-post facto design.
Multiple linear regression analysis was used for data analysis. The findings of the study showed that Groupthink independently predicted criminal behaviour (ß = -13.04; t = -2.34; p<.05 group cohesiveness did not independently predict criminal behaviour but had a direct relationship with t="0.04;" p>.05). Deindividuation was not an independent predictor of criminal behaviour (ß = -7.10; t = -1.35; p>.05). The findings showed that, Groupthink, Group cohesiveness and Deindividuation jointly had an impact on Criminal behaviour (F (3, 308) = 2.68; p<.05 implications conclusions suggestions and further studies were made in line with the findings of this study.>
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background to the study
Criminal behaviour amongst undergraduates has been a major issue in the school system in Nigerian universities. Literally, Paranjape (2011) defined criminal behaviour as a person's actions or inaction which tends to undermine the grand norms governing a given society such action may be tantamount to violation of the social contract and mutual consensus entered into by members of the society. Behaviour that does not conform to the cultural norms or laws of a given society at a particular time and is often times negatively sanctioned, is referred to as criminal. This implies that non-conformity to a given set of laws or norms that are accepted by a significant number of people in a community, society or group is a criminal act. Society highly values conformity to socially accepted behaviour and expects it to be accepted and upheld by its members.
Criminal behaviour takes various forms. Bribery and corruption is one of the criminal behaviours exhibited amongst some students and lecturers in higher institutions. This menace is eating up the growth of Nigeria, because, undergraduates who had indulged in corrupt practices when in school will also do the same when given an opportunity to lead in the society. With the high rate of corruption in Nigeria, it can be said that, most of these corrupt leaders might have involved themselves in one criminal act or the other when they were in school.
Hallack and Passion (2007) in their work pointed out that, corruption constitutes a serious threat to the successful achievement of educational goals. There are various degrees of corrupt practices.
Nta (2012) reported that, from petitions of students, members of the university staff, unions and others stakeholders, corrupt practices in the university system includes; admissions racketing, examination misconduct, falsification of academic records such as transcripts and a few to mention. Igbinovia (2003) observed that, there is hardly any Nigerian living today that can claim that he or she has not advertently or inadvertently, by commission or omission been involved in crimes or benefitted directly or indirectly from criminality or deviance or the commission of crimes or the proceeds of criminality. The various forms of criminal behaviour will be streamlined to three aspects which are; examination misconduct, sexual harassment and vices.
Examination misconduct as a criminal behaviour is mostly practiced by undergraduates. It refers to cheating in examination conditions to get unearned marks with the aim of passing an examination. Some of the ways or methods of exams misconduct includes; the use of bullets (small papers with answers on), impersonating, sorting, leakage of examination questions, swapping of exams sheets and to name a few. Some factors which enhance students are the relationship they have amongst some lecturers known as the connivance between some students and some lecturers, poor supervision and invigilation, overcrowding, low morale amongst lecturers and laziness on the part of the students, un-conducive study environments and the prevailing morale decadence in Nigeria. Pratt (1981) stated that, students are likely to cheat when they are not prepared for examinations.
Examination malpractice has become an epidemic in the Nigerian university system. It is so embarrassing that the federal military government in 1984 promulgated a decree (Decree 20) to deal with exams malpractice; Part of it reads; any person who fraudulently or with intent to cheat or secure any unfair advantage to himself or any other person, or in abuse of his office, produces or sells any question paper intended for examination of persons, at any examination specified in section 3 (27) (c) of this decree, shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction be sentenced to 21 years imprisonment (Fagbemi, 1998, p.17). Despite these laws, examination misconduct has been on the increase and this is due to the non-implementation of the laws, reasons for it being, the low moral standards in most universities, students fear of failure, inadequate preparedness and 419 syndromes that have eroded deeply into the life of the society. Fayombo (2004) outlined the reasons for examination malpractice into psychological and sociological factors. Due to the overdependence of certification in Nigeria, it has led the populace to acquire certificates either legally or illegally. This has had a negative impact on the quality of education to the extent that a lot of graduates cannot defend their Degrees.
Sexual harassment is regarded a criminal behaviour due to its negative impact on most undergraduates. Sexual harassment is defined as unsolicited, unwelcome and unreciprocated sexual overture from a person to elicit unwanted sexual relations from another person Aluede (2000). Sexual harassment could be physical (rape) and verbally.
According to Scheffer (2000) sexual harassment in schools is described as an unwelcome behaviour of a sexual nature that makes one uncomfortable, fearful or powerless, and may interfere with the victim's academic work. Various causes which could lead to the antecedent of sexual harassment include; lack of norms of morality, personality disorder, abuse of power, indecent dressing and lust. This has been the major source of sexual harassment amongst undergraduates. The reason why this behaviour is not frequently reported is that, the victims are always embarrassed due to the stigmatization accompanied by it, reporting becomes impossible.
Vices amongst undergraduates have been a calamity to the university system. It is quite difficult to see a university that is void of vices. Vice is a latin word ‘victium' meaning defect. It is defined as a bad habit or immoral activities. Examples include; prostitution, cultism, murder, disruption of properties and a few to mention. Emphasis would be based on cultism. Cultism has grown rapidly in recent years in some universities. in the University of Uyo, cases of cultism have being a serious problem. Students have reportedly being harassed by cult groups around the campuses. Inyang (2017), states; cultists tends to intimidate other students and lecturers into carrying out their will, thereby causing terror in the university system.
Peer pressure is a major cause of youth's involvement in social vices. Students especially the 100 level students are mostly victims of cultist activities. Students join cult for some reasons such as; the quest for power, desire for revenge, search for protection and peer group influence. Cultism in Nigeria has been a major cause of death. In May 2017, a student of the Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) and other unidentified persons were killed in a cult clash between the Vikings and the KKK confraternity.
Based on the following factors that could lead to the antecedent of criminal behaviour, it is pertinent to note that, group dynamics plays a major role in the antecedent of criminal behaviour.
A factor that may influence criminal behaviour tendency is groupthink.
Groupthink as a psychological concept was initially established in 1972 by Irving Janis. He used the term to describe how certain conditions can lead a group to be highly satisfied with what turns out to be an ineffective decision. Groupthink is a mode of thinking in which members of a highly cohesive group strive for unanimity and consensus, overriding their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action, Janis (1982). This phenomenon according to Janis documented some symptoms such as; stereotyped views of out-groups; negative view of ‘enemy' make effective responses to conflict seem unnecessary or illusion of unanimity.
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
The review of relevant literature is the main topic of this chapter. A literature review covers theoretical and methodological contributions to a certain issue in addition to the state of knowledge at the time of writing. It provides information about the state of the art in relation to the subject you are writing about. It examines the body of work on the chosen subject. The literature evaluation in this study comprises the …
Procedure for Downloading the PDF (Docx) Material
Influence of Groupthink, Group Cohesiveness and Deindividuation on Criminal Behaviour Tendency Amongst Undergraduates can be downloaded by requesting the full set of materials at the project or seminar cost. The document will be sent via Microsoft Word (MS-Word) format via WhatsApp (e-mail) following payment confirmation.
| Seminar Material Cost ₦3,000 | Project Material Cost ₦5,000 |
Request Complete Material
 | Click here to request the Complete Material via WhatsApp including;
|
Disclaimer for Complete Material Utilization
The displayed research work titled "Influence of Groupthink, Group Cohesiveness and Deindividuation on Criminal Behaviour Tendency Amongst Undergraduates" is stated as a research guideline towards accomplishing your assigned project / seminar research work. All the research materials on this website are ONLY for research purposes and should be used as a guideline in developing your research work. For no reason should you copy word for word as projectlist.com.ng will not be liable for any who copied the material. By ordering the complete research guideline, it signifies that you've accepted our terms of service.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can the material for “Relative Impact of Financial Sector Reforms on Agricultural and Manufacturing Sector Growth in Nigeria” be used as a guide for Economics Project?
Yes it can be used — The study investigates relative impact of financial sector reforms on agricultural and manufacturing sector growth in Nigeria. To guide the study, Ordinary Least Square technique was adopted and Eviews 8.0 econometric software was utilized for the analysis. A time series quarterly data sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin 2009 and 2013and it covered the period 1970-2013 was used for the analysis. After carrying out necessary pre- and post diagnostic test, the result shows that gross fixed capital formation and credit to private sector ratio to GDP has positive but insignificant relationship with agricultural and manufacturing sector output. While real interest rate, manufacturing capacity utilization and financial sector reform dummy were positive and significant, interest rate spread, real exchange, average …
Is the topic “Assessment of Kwara State Junior Secondary School Agricultural Students Proficiency” recommended for Education Project?
Yes it is highly recommended — Agricultural Students Proficiency is a state of being high degree of competency through training and practice of agricultural subject. The aim of the study is to examine the Assessment of Kwara State Junior Secondary School Agricultural Students Proficiency in Some Agricultural Concepts and Terms. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out to determine the competencies in instruction for which teachers are not proficient and require improvement in Kwara State Junior Secondary School, determine the competencies in Agriculture curriculum content for which teachers are not proficient and require improvement, investigate junior secondary school students' interest in agriculture learning, examine the acquired basic knowledge and skills in agriculture, and analyze the numerous career opportunities offered by agriculture and …
Can the material for “Design and Implementation of an Electronic Patient Management System” be used as a guide for Computer Science (CS) Project?
Yes it can be used — An Electronic Patient Management is an information system that is used to record relevant information relating to the patients. The prescribe drugs, bought drugs, sold drugs and available drugs are processed by the program. The aim of this project is to design an Electronic Patient Management System. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows to develop an application software that will capture and store patients drug data for a teaching hospital, generate bills of each patient drug administered and execute a proper recording of patients’ drugs and diagnosis result and keep track of list of patients’ beds occupied and vacant. The motivation that led to the implementation of the proposed system is that the …
Can the material for “The Role of Stock Market in the Growth of Nigerian Economy” be used as a guide for Economics Project?
Yes it can be used — This study attempts to investigate the Role of the Stock Market in the Growth of the Nigerian Economy spanning through 1980 − 2010. The broad objective of this work is to ascertain the role of the stock market in output growth in Nigeria using Market Capitalization as a proxy for the stock market taking cognizance of some intervening variables. This was evaluated using OLS Method. It was observed that market capitalization has a significant impact on economic growth as well as the latter Granger Causing the former. There are also other variables that are modeled alongside market capitalization that affect the output of Nigeria. The policy recommendation in this work centres on deliberate attempts by the government and every agent …
Can the material for “Effective Human Resources Management as a Tool for Organizational Success” be used as a guide for Business Administration and Management (BAM) Project?
Yes it can be used — The Management of Human Resources is an effective way of achieving organizational success. It has been discovered that most organization are lacking behind in this area and as a result have been experiencing a decline in their productivity as well as failure in the achievement of their goals and objectives. This research work was designed to deal with how human resources in an organization can be effectively managed so as to help in the attainment of organizational success. In order to solve this problem of lack of effectiveness in management of human resources, data were selected and analyzed using Nigerian Breweries Plc as a case study. However, at the end of the research, it was observed that, effective management of …
Can the material for “Design and Implementation of an Online File Sharing System” be used as a guide for Computer Science (CS) Project?
Yes it can be used — The file sharing technique used in sharing files among each other with ease, easy to setup, and open-source. The aim of the study is to design and implement an Online File Sharing System. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows to develop an application software that will enable users to easily host, store and backup data, with high-performance computing easy to retrieve, ensure files accessibility without any limiting factor and make file available to the end-user at any point in time. The motivation that led to the implementation of the proposed system is that users have little control over or even knowledge the type of file being shared, if it contains a virus. Also, …
Can the material for “An Epidemiologic Survey for Schistosomiasis Among Pupils in Amagunze Community” be used as a guide for Science Laboratory Technology (SLT) Project?
Yes it can be used — Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease of urinary and intestinal tracts by schistosome. It is a chronic and enervating illness caused by digenetic Trematode flatworms of the genus Schistosoma. The study was conducted to examine the Epidemiology of Schistosomiasis and Risk Factors among Pupils in Amagunze Community. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out to educate the pupils with respect to the disease on the mode of infection and identify ways of preventing and controlling the disease, investigate the risk factors militating Schistosomiasis and evaluate the epidemiology of Schistosomiasis among pupil of Ishielu Amagunze in Nkanu local government. The risk factor attributed was found to cotain the sried of the type Bulinus (physopsis) globusus and Bulinus fruncatus …
Can the material for “Teachers Input as Determinant of Students Academic Performance in Economics” be used as a guide for Education Project?
Yes it can be used — The study is an attempt to investigate Teachers input as determinant of students academic performance in economics.The Population of the study comprises five Schools in Kosofe Local government,Lagos State.However,100 respondents were selected from five Schools,with 20 students from each School.The researcher developed a questionaire to colleect and analyse data on the topic using correlation-coefficient. The result of the study shows a positive relatonship between Teachers input on the level of academic performance of students in Economics though weak.Base on this,some recommendations were made among which are: Formulation of short and long term plan by Teachers,full involvement of students in classroom activities,adequate use of continuous assessment to motivate learning in students,training and retraining of teachers on modern method(s) which can be …
Is the topic “Design and Implementation of an Online Multi Media-Based Electronic-Learning System for Post Primary Educational Institutes” recommended for Computer Science (CS) Project?
Yes it is highly recommended — An Online Multi Media-Based Electronic-Learning System Electronic Learning is a web-based environment that allows students to participate in live teaching and learning events without the need to travel. The aim of the study is to develop an Online Multi Media-Based Electronic-Learning System for Post Primary Educational Institutes. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows to design an application that will, provide alternative way of attaining education, facilitate the development of information technology and enhance examination and certification of students thereby improving the standard of education. The motivation that led to the implementation of the proposed system is that due to the problems students find and experiences, it has never been easy for students to …
Can the material for “Design and Implementation of Commercial Vehicle Registration and Task Management System in a Campus” be used as a guide for Computer Science (CS) Project?
Yes it can be used — Commercial vehicle registration is a job that requires accuracy of data and this exercise is required for every new registration. The emergence of e-data processing system provides answer to the need for tools and alternative ways to improve well-being and activities of individuals. The aim of the study is to design and implement a commercial vehicle registration and task management system for Federal University of Petroleum Resource Effurun (FUPRE) campus. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows to design and develop an application software that will provide a better, easier and more efficient method of vehicle registration and equip the field DOT officials with an on-the-spot ease in verifying authenticity of any commercial vehicle …