Uzależnienie od Internetu i nowych technologii oraz hazard elektroniczny jako nowe formy dezintegracji społecznej

Abstract

This study attempts to define the disorders related to Internet use as an indication of addiction to new technologies. The scientific studies conducted to date appear to indicate the behavioural nature of the excessive use of the new media, including the Internet, which seems to be increasingly noticeable in environments linked to young people and school-related communities. The diagnostic issues related to this concept seem to be made more difficult by the fact that because of the relative novelty of the problem there are insufficient empirical pre-conditions to meet the criteria of clinical addiction. The complexity of the problem is compounded by the significant differentiation of the forms of misuse of the new technologies and a series of pathological factors which accompany this issue. For practical reasons, it seems crucial to discuss the issue by depicting the definition of behavioural addiction against the backdrop of the virtual world of the Internet, alongside the accompanying destructive consequences present within the information society.