School refusal occurs across a broad range of students from the first to the final years of school, and is of concern to students, parents and teachers alike. This study uses the perspective of practitioners working at the school level to identify linkages between the presenting problems, interventions and outcomes of school refusal. This pattern is then compared to the Functional Model of School Refusal to establish the relevance of the Model. A multiple single-case study approach was used with ten case histories with positive outcomes being matched against the Functional Model. As these provided some support for the model an additional six case histories with negative outcomes were then matched against the Model. Two interviews of practitioners who had worked with school refusal were also analysed. The Functional Model of School Refusal received some support through this analysis, but areas were identified which were not adequately addressed by the Model. The Model was subsequently revised into a broader functional approach which takes greater account of the role of the family and environmental factors affecting school refusal. It is recommended that a broader multi-modal approach to intervention be implemented by practitioners dealing with school refusal.

This research qualitatively explores persistent non-attendance (PN) in a southwest local authority area. Part 1 explores professionals’ conceptualisations of PN, language use and approaches to support. Part 2 explores the lived experience of non-attendance for children and families; how they make sense of the issue, the support they received and the characteristics of support that they found effective. Part 1 findings suggested no one explanation was used to make sense of PN, instead an individualistic approach was used to make sense of cases, using an ecological/systemic framework. This approach therefore influenced the support that was provided by schools. There was consistency in the language used by professionals, influenced by governmental policy and recommendations, with ‘persistent absence’ being the most prevalent term used. Part 2 findings exploration of the lived experiences of families found that PN had had an impacted on all families, in a variety of ways. In line with part 1, no one explanation was put forward for why the PN had occurred, however themes of anxiety and ASD were prevalent. Part 1’s recommendations for practice focus the use of individualised approaches to understanding and support, using an ecological/systemic model. Part 2’s recommendations related to the importance of communication between school and home, and responding to the families individual needs.

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<p>Students need to be in attendance at school in order to learn. One concern for schools is when students refuse to attend school on a regular basis. School refusal behavior encompasses all subsets of problematic absenteeism, such as truancy, school phobia, and anxiety. Students dealing with school refusal is a behavior that is multi-faceted. Often times, these students are experiencing psychological matters that are presenting as the symptom of school refusal. The purpose of this study was to survey general education and special education secondary teachers on their perceptions of student absences and to ascertain how they motivate students to attend their classes. The study was centered on two research questions: (1) ‘What are the perceptions of secondary teachers on student absences?’and (2) ‘Are students who exhibit school refusal behavior more likely to be identified as students with special education needs?’ The sample size for this study was 78 certified teachers at an urban high school in the Midwest. The high school had 1,834 students enrolled for the 2020/2021 school year in 9th through 12th grade, with 238 students designated as having special education services. An online survey was created using Google Forms. The survey was designed to not collect respondents’ email addresses to ensure anonymity and was limited to one response per unique email address. The survey did not ask any identifying information such as number of years teaching, subjects taught, etc. Twenty-six completed surveys were returned, for a return rate of 33%.</p>

Introduction: The number of students with school refusal has remained at a constant level in Sweden since measurements began in 2006. School health service resources has been reduced since municipalisation which makes it difficult to intercept these students in time. Objective: To identify the tools of school health services, resources and professional skills with unauthorized absence, and the measures applied preventively. Method: A qualitative study based on seven semi-structured interviews with all professions within the school health services. Results: The school's responsibility affect both student health organization and the student's school structure. The new grades and subject schemes introduced in 2011 make higher requirements on today's students. It´s important that all of the school personell are aware of the problem and pursue the same objectives, for a good interaction. Discussion: School health services shared experiences around the concept school refusal behavior reflects the complexity of the problem. Knowledge and skills are important components. The school teams experience that they are self-taught regarding the subject but want further education and increased resources to be more preventive and relationship-building. Conclusion: Further Swedish research and knowledge is needed, as well as an improved definition of the concept in order to improve school health service’s work with school refusal students in student.Keywords:

According to the literature school refusal is a complex disorder. Whilst the condition only occurs in 2% of the general school population, more interestingly the problem accounts for about 8% of clinically referred children (Burke & Silverman, 1987). This study focuses on the school refusal of a young adolescent male. This thesis has examined the degree to which school refusal can be minimised through employing a whole school approach underpinned by effective pastoral care (WSNPC intervention program). The research questions were as follows: To investigate the effects the WSNPC intervention program has on the: minimisation of school refusal; replacement of the motherlfigurehead in the mother-child relationship relative to separation anxiety; and = improved emotional, social and intellectual wellbeing of the school refuser. The methodology adopted for the study of school refusal regarding a young adolescent male was based on a grounded theory approach and also included a combination of action research and case study methods. Qualitative paradigms measured the degree of the participant's school refusal. A variety of instruments were employed to measure the participant's perceptions of school refusal. The implementation of multiple strategies were based upon data collected and evaluated, both as a result of intentional efforts, or as an unintentional by-product of the study with the expressed aim of maximising the participant's school attendance. The evidence presented in this study indicates the strategies employed via the WSA/PC intervention program were helpful in improving the participant's attendance at school. The results give an insight into the level of comprehension for the sample of school refusal and its response in terms of understanding the reasons for such thinking. The limitations of single case methodology are acknowledged in the study and suggestions for further research discussed.

Det är idag många barn i Sverige som inte går i skolan. Trots skolplikt och skolans ansvar över att eleven ska fullgöra sin skolgång, blir fler och fler barn så kallade “hemmasittare”. Föreliggande studie vill undersöka hur föräldrar talar om sina erfarenheter av skolans arbete med deras hemmasittande barn. För detta har kvalitativa intervjuer med tio föräldrar som alla har barn med problematisk skolfrånvaro genomförts. Vi har arbetat utifrån en diskursanalytisk metod och teori. Vi har inte analyserat vem det är som säger något, utan hur föräldrarna positionerar sig i tal och handling i en relation till något annat, skolan. I studien framkom att föräldrarna tar ett stort ansvar för barnens skolgång. Resultaten visar att de intervjuade föräldrarna är, eller tidigare har varit, besvikna på deras barns skolor. De upplever att skolan inte tagit dem på allvar, eller gjort tillräckliga anpassningar för att deras barn ska ges möjlighet att fullgöra sin skolgång. Föräldrarna menar att skolan saknar kunskap och att faktorer till frånvaron inte upptäckts i tid. / In Sweden, there are many children today who do not attend school. Despite the duty of school attendance and the school's responsibility for the student to complete its schooling, more and more children are called "hemmasittare". The present study wants to investigate how parents talk about their experiences of the school's work with their home-based children. For this, qualitative interviews with ten parents with children with problematic school absence have been conducted. We have worked with a discourse analysis method and theory. We have not analyzed who is saying something, but how the parents position themselves in speech and action in a relationship with something else, the school. The study found that parents take great responsibility for the children's schooling. The results of the study show we that the interviewed parents are, or have previously been, disappointed in their children's schools. They feel that their school has not taken them seriously, or made adequate adjustments to allow their children to complete their schooling. The parents mean that the school lacks knowledge and that factors to problematic school absenteeism are not detected in time.

Increasing attention is being paid to the phenomenon of school refusing behaviour. Schools and other professionals are actively working to improve student attendance however the demand for knowledge of how to work with long term absence is significant. Without proper insight the wrong actions might be taken and make the issue worse. The aim with this study is to investigate how the problems and working methods in regards to school refusal behaviour can be understood. The study is based on a literature review of 16 academic articles and the result present six main themes, central for the purpose of the study. By applying ecological development theory as well as risk and protective factor theory the study concludes that school refusal behaviour is a complex problem and the young person with school refusing behaviour needs to be holistically understood in respect to the specific life situation of the individual and risk factors need to be understood as cumulative. Proper timing and intensity of interventions are of great significance as well as interprofessional cooperation and having a good alliance with the family, all of which is concluded to be of difficulty. It is also found that school refusal behaviour to a greater extent should be considered a societal issue instead of merely an individual problem.

In Sweden schooling is compulsory between the ages of six and sixteen. This also includes a right toeducation. Despite that there are situations where students are absent. Absent in a way that forthemselves can be problematic. In order to contribute to an understanding of the phenomenon ofproblematic school absence and how the school can work with that student group, the aim of the studywas thus to investigate the underlying factors surrounding problematic school absence and how theschool can work to promote the presence of the students based on selected literature and its authors.The authors are different practitioners who work or research the subject of problematic schoolabsence.The method used was a qualitative content analysis based on 4 different types of literature onthe subject of problematic school absence.The results show that there is no single explanation for why students develop a problematic schoolabsence. This becomes clear as the study's selected biography only to some extent gives a problempicture similar to what the rest of the material shows. The reasons for the absence are many and theycan often be related to each other. The results also show the difficulty of having a general definition ofwhat problematic school absences mean. Usually several different concepts are used, home-sitting andproblematic school absence are two examples. The results also show that the school has a large andimportant role in working to ensure that the student enjoys school where the relationship betweenteacher and student can be seen as a presence-promoting factor. Finally, it is difficult to find examplesof a single working method to promote school attendance. One of the reasons may be that there are somany different reasons for the absence and no absence is the sameKeyword: Problematic school absence, Promoting school attendance, School refusal