Modern determinants of risks to the social development of teenagers – the role of mass media
and the phenomenon of social maladjustment. In Poland and elsewhere, the number of
behavioural cases, commonly classified as pathological, among young people has significantly
increased in recent years. Many therapeutic and children and adolescent care institutions devote
their efforts to fight against what is commonly known as a developmental pathology in adolescents.
It is an extremely difficult task as the efforts of specialists to fight pathologies coincide with an
increasing social fear and sense of danger caused by very same pathologies. This paper presents an
analysis of the socialization process of children and teenagers that takes place in various social
groups, especially within the family. The author analyses the role of mass media in shaping ethical,
moral and esthetical criteria of young people. Moreover, the analysis points out the loneliness of
young people confronted with excess of information. Adequate understanding, hierarchical ranking
and evaluation of the objectivity of information received may exceed emotional and cognitive
abilities of adolescents. Nowadays, young people are faced with a variety of complex problems.
Therefore, it is important that adolescents are able to adequately evaluate the quality of information
they receive to be able to protect themselves against inadequate influence of the social environment.
Key words: media, family, social maladjustment