School Refusal

Covering the various stages of intervention it provides a practical insight into this multifaceted situation.

• Distinguishes between school refusal and other forms of school attendance problems
• Assists practitioners with the development of an intervention plan for school refusal
• Provides resources which are useful in assessment and management of school refusal

Introduction 1

Part I: Assessment 5

Part II: General Considerations for Intervention 15

Part III: Intervention with the Young Person 18

Part IV: Intervention with the Parents 32

Part V: Intervention at the School Level 47

Part VI: Concluding Remarks 51

Appendices 54

"Some of these [books in the PACTS series 2] are quite outstanding guides for practitioners, full of practical steps to take and worldly wisdom as well as good theretical grounding ... The approach taken to school refusal is also very sound ... Overall I would recommend that this series is present for anybody working with adolescents, as they provide a very useful guide for trainees to get stuck in with treatment." Stephen Scott, Institute of Psychiatry, London, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Volume 9, No. 2, 2004, pp 92-96 Martin Herbert, is Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Royal and Devon Exeter Health Care Trust and Emeritus Professor at the University of Exeter. This series of highly practical guides provides social work and health professionals who work with children, adolescents and their families with concise and up-to-date information on children’s problems. The guides are designed for use in assessment and intervention with clients and in planning training or therapeutic programmes, and can also be use for teaching purposes.

The ‘Hints for Parents’ section may be photocopied and given to clients; the questionnaires, checklists and assessment forms that appear in appendices are also copyright free.

Each book in the series is authored by internationally distinguished clinical and forensic psychologists from the USA, UK, Ireland and Australia. The series editor, Martin Herbert, is Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Royal and Devon Exeter Health Care Trust and Emeritus Professor at the University of Exeter.