School's out! : an explorative study of the relationship between absenteeism and juvenile delinquency

Abstract

School absenteeism is often linked with juvenile delinquency as they are often seen as one and the same thing. This led the student researcher to carry out a small scale study to explore the relationship between school absenteeism and juvenile delinquency. An explorative non-experimental design was carried out using quantitative and qualitative data obtained through a self administered questionnaire. The sample recruited was a convenience sample of 200 students of which 115 responded. The final sample consisted of 71 males and 44 females between the ages of 13 and 16. The study was carried out after all the ethical considerations where met and approved by the university board and the educational authorities. The findings indicated that there is no direct correlation between school absenteeism and delinquency when these two terms where defined by their true meaning. Also the correlation between social factors and school absenteeism was established and supported by research. Results also highlighted the role of social workers as mediators between the children, the schools, and the families to improve the children's social support and improve the record of school compliance. This study also highlights the need of more social workers in this field as the current number of social workers available in this particular sector is too small to cope with the demand as most children stated that lack of school social support was the main reason for absenteeism. Also, the role and involvement of the family to encourage healthy school attendance was a finding in this study. The need of further research to explore professionals' views and attitudes towards school absenteeism is needed to understand why children perceived the professionals as lacking when it came to social support and acceptance, as the number of professionals interviewed was rather limited.