School bonding and ethos in trajectories of offending: Results from the Belfast Youth Development Study

Abstract

Background Aspects of the school environment, such as school attachment levels, are linked to adolescent offending. Previous research has not clarified whether a school‐ or individual‐level intervention approach to improving pupil school attachment and commitment is most likely to reduce adolescent offending. Aim The present study assessed the impact of individual‐ and school‐level variables on offending behaviour from ages 14–16 years. Sample The participants were 4,049 young people from 42 mainstream schools who took part in the Belfast Youth Development Study. Method Multilevel modelling was used to examine the relative influence of individual‐ and school‐level variables on offending behaviour in adolescence. Results Pupils who had high levels of school commitment and attachment and were involved in fewer fights at age 13 reported lower levels of offending at age 14 years. Differences between schools accounted for 7% of the variation in offending. Lower individual‐level commitment was associated with higher initial levels of offending at age 14 if the school‐level ethos was of higher commitment. Lack of safety at the school level appeared to be detrimental for young people not exposed to socio‐economic deprivation. Conclusions Individual‐level targeted interventions are likely to be a more cost‐effective approach of reducing offending behaviour in adolescence. Additional, albeit smaller, reductions in offending levels could be achieved through school‐level interventions in some school types (e.g., deprived areas).

The Belfast Youth Development Study (BYDS): A prospective cohort study of the initiation, persistence and desistance of substance use from adolescence to adulthood in Northern Ireland

“…The data have also been used to investigate offending behaviour among the sample [ 20 ]. The results suggest that high offenders are characterised by higher levels of alcohol and cannabis use.…”

“…As a result, the data are suitable for the application of sophisticated statistical models such as growth curve modelling. For example, the BYDS data have been used to examine different classes of offending trajectory and predictors of those trajectories [ 20 ]. The need for longitudinal studies of young people was particularly acute in the specific historic context in which BYDS began: Northern Ireland had entered a post-conflict transition following the Belfast Agreement.…”

Understanding the relationship between family income and conduct problems: findings from the mental health of children and young people survey

“…Bornstein, Putnick, & Suwalsky, 2018 ) and school characteristics (e.g. Higgins, Perra, Jordan, O'Neill, & McCann, 2020 ).…”