NCJ Number
115098
Journal
Home Office Research and Planning Unit Research Bulletin Issue: 21 Dated: (1986) Pages: 21-25
Date Published
1986
Length
5 pages
Annotation
A review of literature on the link between schools and crime finds contradictory evidence of a direct link, but strong associations between schools and disruptive behavior and schools and truancy, and also between disruptive behavior and truancy and delinquency.
Abstract
The author suggests that schools have considerable capacity to integrate their pupils into society, they may inadvertently push some students who are disruptive or truant towards a delinquent career. Research studies from the 1970s and 1980s on the links between disruptive behavior, truancy, and delinquency are surveyed. They illustrate that pupils who become in any way marginalized at school, whether in terms of behavior, academic status, or attachment to schools, are at risk of becoming delinquents. While schools do not directly influence students' propensity to delinquency, they may have a powerful indirect impact on whether young people are drawn to criminality. 27 references.