The document discusses research on the relationship between school experiences and youth offending. It finds that there are 7 risk factors in the school experience that can contribute to students feeling alienated and lead them down a path to offending. These include inadequate school transitions, an unhealthy school climate, academic failure, negative peer and teacher relationships, mistreatment by school personnel, and abusive school policies. Interviews with young offenders found that their school experiences exacerbated existing risks and contributed to their sense of alienation. The research recommends better supporting at-risk students through early identification and intervention.

1. Working Together Conference Classroom to Prison Cell The relationship between school and youth offending Dr Alison Sutherland (Ph.D.)

4. There is a direct relationship between alienation from school and youth offending

5. Existing research indicates there are 7 risk factors the school experience contributes to students’ alienation and the pathway to youth offending. It is not any one risk factor, but the combination of risk factors that leads a young person to offend.

13. We were suffering from nicotine withdrawal The teachers and principals treated us unfairly They expected too much from us School’s expectations and rules were different from home The subjects they taught had no meaning for us They wanted us to be compliant all the time We were always being punished The young people’s voices We feel powerless and unheard in school We couldn’t do the work like the other kids It was compulsory to go; we didn’t have a choice My Ph.D. Research

15. The ‘Tsunami Effect’

21. If schools are part of the problem, we have a moral and social obligation to be a part of the solution But we cannot do it alone.