Exclusion and Marginalisation in Adolescence: The Experience of School Exclusion on Drug Use and Antisocial Behaviour

Abstract

Young people excluded from school are a group at an increased risk of drug use and antisocial behaviour during adolescence and later marginalisation and exclusion from society in adulthood. As part of the Belfast Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study of the onset and development of adolescent drug use, young people who entered post-primary school in 2000 (aged 11/12 years) were surveyed annually on four occasions. This paper reports on findings from this survey in relation to a supplementary group of young people who were surveyed because they had been excluded from school. The findings show higher levels of drug use and antisocial behaviour among school excludees, lower levels of communication with their parents/guardians, higher levels of contact with the criminal justice system and increased likelihood of living in communities characterised with neighbourhood disorganisation. This lifestyle perhaps suggests these young people are leading a life that is already taking them towards the margins of society.

Young Offenders' Perceptions of School: An Ecological Analysis

“…School exclusion undermines student-teacher bonds and sense of connectedness to the school (Shochet et al, 2006) necessary to manage behaviour and enhance commitment to academic achievement (McEvoy & Welker, 2000). Social control theory (Hirschi, 1969) predicts an increase in antisocial behaviour following school exclusion because of reduced social (i.e., school) control, and empirical studies support this contention (Hemphill, Toumbourou, Herrenkohl, McMorris, & Catalano, 2006;McCrystal, Percy, & Higgins, 2007). Findings from this study are consistent with this research and suggest that exclusionary approaches should be reconsidered.…”

Factors associated with teenage ecstasy use

“…Ecstasy users in this study also reported lower levels of communication with their parents and higher levels of disaffection with school. These patterns of behaviour were consistent with the high risk subsamples of the BYDS (McCrystal, Percy, & Higgins, 2007b). Researchers may believe that educating uninformed users of the risks associated with ecstasy will reduce its use, but whilst this assumption may prove too simplistic others suggest that ecstasy users may benefit from the dissemination of credible information to inform their use patterns and reduce the associated problems.…”

Substance Use among Young People Living in Residential State Care

“…Such a suggestion is further supported by the demographic profile of the residential care sample, which was similar to the demographic profile of other vulnerable groups of young people participating in the BYDS; that is, school excludes (McCrystal et al, 2007a); young people attending Emotional and Behavioural Difficulty Units (McCrystal et al, 2007b); and early-onset drug users (McCrystal et al, 2006). A much more extensive empirical base exists on substance use behaviours and lifestyle patterns generally for these other vulnerable groups compared with young people living in residential state care.…”

“…However, there was no evidence for the existence of a third style of substance consumption*that is, ''problematic users'', identified by Newburn and Pearson (2002) as those who were drug dependent, typically on heroin or crack*but use of these substances was not explored in this paper. This substance consumption style was less likely to be detected among this age group generally, with use of ''harder'' drugs very limited among other vulnerable or at-risk groups participating in the BYDS (for example, McCrystal et al 2007aMcCrystal et al , 2007b.…”

“…Such an approach to data analysis is similar to ''traditional'' single-cohort longitudinal studies (Menard, 1991). This approach was utilised to study the drug use behaviours of other vulnerable or ''high-risk'' groups within the BYDS including school excludees (McCrystal, Percy, & Higgins, 2007a) and those attending Emotional and Behavioural Difficulty Units (McCrystal, Percy, & Higgins, 2007b).…”