Psychiatric Assessment of School Truanters

School Organization and Persistent School Absenteeism: An Introduction to a Complex Problem

“…Social workers tend to regard school absence as being merely one symptom of social failure whereas educationalists see absence as one factor which mitigates against the advantages obtained from regular schooling. The whole operation of the courts, including the ad hoc referral practices and verdicts reached by magistrates (Gold, 1967;Reynolds and Murgatroyd, 1974), can also complicate rather than clarify individual approaches and lead to disillusionment amongst education welfare officers, school personnel and social workers when verdicts go against them. Although multidisciplinary case conferences on persistent absentees do take place in some areas, these are by no means the norm.…”