Truancy is a long-standing and serious educational issue. The debates surrounding truancy are complex as the concept of truancy means different things to different researchers. Data from a grounded theory, qualitative doctoral study is used to investigate how a sample of thirteen young people explained the nature of truancy, which they referred to…

There is no shortage of definitions for truancy. One state may house many different definitions and there are a variety of challenges arising from this fact. One of the most important to researchers, policy-makers and educators alike, is that because of the lack of uniformity and consistency, it is difficult to compile and ascertain the totality…

From a review of the literature, it is concluded that (i) each form of pupil absenteeism relates to a heterogeneous group of children; (ii) because of such heterogeneity, those who are involved in assessment and intervention in relation to pupil absenteeism are faced with a demanding task; (iii) as a consequence of their education and training,…

The paper considers two problematic aspects of the lives of young people: the long-standing issues of truancy from school and more recent concerns about the extent of mental well-being. It uses data from a large-scale survey, the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE). LSYPE provides a very large sample which allows for robust…

The purpose of the present study is to explore non-truanting youngsters' perceptions of truants and truancy. In-depth qualitative interviews (N: 8) are used to explore inductively the perceptions of truancy among non-truanting pupils in secondary education in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium). We use survey analysis (N: 3314) to assess…

This paper reflects upon a career of 40 years involving teaching and research into the causes and solutions for school absenteeism and truancy. It includes insights into both professional and empirical work and notes how the subject has become increasingly "politicised" over the last 25-30 years by governments of both persuasions: Left and Right.…

The only major review of the education welfare service (EWS) took place in 1973 when the role and responsibilities of the service were very different from those of today. Recent legislative changes, the influence of the Children Act 2004 and revised public needs of the service, including new multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary frameworks,…

In recent years, various governments and education agencies have developed stricter policies to reduce truancy levels, mainly based on the argument that truancy is associated with risk behaviour, crime and substance abuse. In this article, we use a large, 28-nation comparative survey among 14 year olds to detect general patterns in consequences…

Persistent school absentees were asked about their home, school, and neighborhood situations through interviews using grid techniques. Grids and case data highlight the lack of good teacher-absentee relationships. Further research on teachers, conditions within schools, characteristics of individual students and management and guidance of poor…