SUPPORTING THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR WORK WITH PUPILS WHO ARE VULNERABLE, DISSAFFECTED OR EXCLUDED

In this section you will find articles regarding children and young people’s challenging behaviour.

Clustering of internet risk behaviors in a middle school student population

Elizabeth B. Dowell, Ann W. Burgess, Deborah J. Cavanaugh
Journal of School Health Vol 79, No 11 - November 2009: 547 - 553
To better understand how early adolescents are using the Internet, a study was undertaken to more clearly identify the online general use, safety knowledge, and risk behaviors of middle school students. Students reported the beginnings of high-risk Internet behaviour such as giving out personal information, using the Internet to harass or embarrass another person, and chatting with strangers and starting relationships.

Territorialities in Scotland: perceptions of young people in Glasgow 

Christopher Peter Holligan, Ross Deuchar 
Journal of Youth Studies, Vol 12, No 6 - December 2009: 731 - 746 
This paper presents the results of an exploratory, small-scale qualitative research enquiry into the perceptions and experiences of young people in communities afflicted by deprivation in Glasgow. Most of the data collection took place in 'youth centres' close to the two stadiums of the football clubs Rangers and Celtic. Social capital theory is incorporated into the analysis of the results. The findings suggest that territoriality is the dominant parameter shaping their experience of and perceptions regarding neighbourhood areas, a conclusion endorsed by recent research about religious intermarriage.

Young people and territoriality in British cities

This Joseph Rowntree Foundation study by the University of Glasgow studies territorial behaviour by young people to see whether this imposes significant constraints on their lives. It considers the implications for communities. The negative impact of territorial behaviour on young people included constrained mobility, problems with access to amenities, and the risk of violent assault and criminalisation.

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School exclusions and masculine working class identities

This paper considers the experience of boys who have been marginalised by school in that they have been formally excluded for periods of between three days and four weeks.

Read the article here.

In this section you will find articles which consider trends within schools and how they could potentially impact on young people’s education.

The relationship between school-based health centres and the learning environment

Journal of School Health Vol 80, No 3 - March 2010: 153-159
School-based health centers (SBHCs) have improved access to primary and preventive health care for under-served children and youth by bringing comprehensive health services into the schools while addressing critical health problems that make it difficult for students to learn. This study concludes that perhaps by helping to eliminate the barriers that affect lower-performing students’ readiness to learn, while improving student and parent engagement, SBHCs can partner with schools to reach their performance and accountability goals.

Perceived social support and early adolescents’ achievement: the mediational roles of motivational beliefs and emotions

Wondimu Ahmed, Alexander Minnaert, Greetje van der Werf, Hans Kuyper
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Vol 39, No 1 - January 2010:36-46
This study examines the multiple mediational effects of motivational beliefs (competence beliefs and subjective value) and emotions (anxiety and enjoyment) that may account for the empirical link between PSS (from parents, peers and teachers) and mathematics achievement.

Social and ecological structures supporting adolescent connectedness to school: a theoretical model

Stacey K Waters, Donna S Cross, Kevin Runions
Journal of School Health Vol 79, No 11 November 2009: 516 - 524   
Adolescence can be characterized by many health, social, and academic challenges. A student's feeling of connectedness to school helps meet these challenges. This article reviews the connectedness literature and integrates health promotion, adolescent development, and ecological frameworks to describe how a school context fosters this connection.

Social capital, social inclusion and changing school contexts: A Scottish perspective, McGonigal et al, British Journal of Educational Studies, Vol 55 No 1 (2007)

This paper offers a collaborative review of social capital theory, with particular regard for its relevance to the changing educational landscape within Scotland. The review considers the common and distinctive elements of social capital, developed by the founding fathers – Putnam, Bourdieu and Coleman – and explores how these might help to understand the changing contexts and pursue opportunities for growth. The article suggests schools need to reinstate values of trust and norms of co-operation and that discussion of these values should take place in the staffrooms, departmental bases and classrooms.

To read this article in full you will need to subscribe to the British Journal of Educational Studies or make a single article purchase. This journal is also available through the National Library of Scotland http://www.nls.uk/

In this section you will find articles regarding information on families.

‘Cultural Views affect STI rates’. (11 September, 2008).

An article on the BBC website, which examines how attitudes to sex education in the Netherlands differ from those in Scotland. In both Dutch and Scottish schools sex education is patchy, but parents talk to their children more openly about relationships and sexual issues.  NHS Dumfries and Galloway, and NHS Greater Glasgow have programmes to encourage this parental involvement.

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An approach to understanding school attendance difficulties: pupils’ perceptions of parental behaviour in response to their requests to be absent from school, A. Sheppard, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, Vol 12 No.4 Dec (2007)

This small scale study collected data on parent-child interaction immediately prior to school absence to examine how such interaction influenced the development of attendance difficulties. School absence requests were significantly more frequent among the poor attenders, who gained more absence and whose parents were inconsistent in their responses to the requests. Education social work/welfare services and school pastoral staff need well-formulated methods if they are to work effectively with parents and young people and substantially raise their low attendance.

To read this article in full you will need to subscribe to the Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties or make a single article purchase. This journal is also available through the National Library of Scotland http://www.nls.uk/

Articles relating to young people and substance misuse.

Young people and substance use: understanding key influences

NHS Health Scotland, 2009.  NHS Health Scotland commissioned research to provide an integrated picture of young people’s substance misuse in order to help inform the development of educational programmes and materials for use in the school setting, and to identify gaps in the current literature. This paper presents a summary of the findings. This document is available HERE

Bridging the gap between evidence and practice: a multi-perspective examination of real-world drug education.

By M. Stead and R. Stradling in Drugs: Education Prevention and Policy Vol 17, No 1 - February 2010: 1-20
This study examined normative school drug-education practice in Scotland and the extent to which it reflected the evidence base for effective drug education. The study makes recommendations for closing the gap between evidence and practice which include: guidance that emphasizes more strongly the weight of evidence behind recommendations; training in effective approaches; greater continuity and integration of drug education across the whole curriculum; a review of resources; and better guidance on using external visitors.

Prevention of substance use among adolescents through social and emotional training in school: a latent-class analysis of a five-year intervention in Sweden

Birgitta Kimber, Rolf Sandell
Journal of Adolescence Vol 32 No 6 - December 2009: 1403-1413
The study considers the impact of a program for social and emotional learning in Swedish schools on use of drugs, volatile substances, alcohol and tobacco. It concludes that such programs, given a duration of two years or more, may dampen increases in use with age and discourage early debut.

Coming ‘down here’: young people's reflections on becoming entrenched in a local drug scene

Danya Fast, Will Small, Evan Wood, Thomas Kerr
Social Science and Medicine Vol 69, No 8 - October 2009: 1204-1210
This study was undertaken in order to explore how young people who were currently street-entrenched characterized and understood their initiation into the local drug scene in downtown Vancouver, Canada. The findings stress the need for early intervention with youth, before they are initiated into the social networks and processes that rapidly propel young people towards risk within these contexts.

Tackling Drug Abuse in Brazil

A short article, September 2008, from Community Care is an easy to read account of a small residential project in Brazil, helping recovering male, under 18, drug addicts, using a team of volunteer therapists, teachers and mentors, some of whom are also in recovery.

Read the article here

Pre-teenage Children’s Experiences with Alcohol, J. McIntosh F. MacDonald and Neil. McKeganey, Children & Society, Vol 22 Issue 1 Jan (2008)

This article reports on the drinking experiences and motivations of 77 pre-teenage children. A number of causes for concern are identified in this article. These include the frequency of the children’s drinking and the volume of alcohol consumed by some of them; their tendency to combine different types of alcoholic drink in the same session; the unreliability of measures undertaken by the children to reduce risk and ensure their safety and the ease with which alcohol could be obtained. These findings emphasise the need for drug education programmes to alert children to the dangers of alcohol consumption and equip them with the skills to deal effectively with peer pressure. There is also a pressing need to improve the leisure facilities for young people as alternatives to drinking and other problem behaviour.

To read this article in full you will need to subscribe to the Children & Society or make a single article purchase. This journal is also available through the National Library of Scotland http://www.nls.uk/

In this section you will find articles relating to young people, mental health and school.

Children and Adolescents in Trauma: Creative Therapeutic Approaches

By Chris Nicholson, Michael Irwin and Kedar N Dwivedi, 2010. The authors describe a wide range of approaches, including art therapy and literature, and how creative methods are applied in cases of abuse, trauma, violence, self-harm and identity development.
Read about or order this book HERE

Preventing non-suicidal self-injury in adolescents: the signs of self-injury program.

Jennifer Muehlenkamp et al  in the Journal of Youth & Adolescence Vol 39 No 3 - March 2010: 306-315
Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) continues to be a problem among youth and there is a great need for programming aimed at adolescents. This study looks at five schools which implemented a programme to reduce self injury.

Adolescents’ Suicidal Thinking and Reluctance to Consult General Medical Practitioners

CJ Wilson et al in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence Vol 39, No 4 – Apr 2010: 343-356
Appropriate help-seeking is widely recognized as a protective factor, and vital for early treatment and prevention of mental health problems during adolescence. This study examined the association between suicidal ideation and intentions to seek help from a GP for suicidal thoughts, emotional problems and physical health problems.

Mental health in schools

A special issue of the journal Advances in School Mental Health Promotion has recently been published containing some of the papers from the UK seminar The School as a location for the support and promotion of mental health. A list of the articles in this issue is available HERE. The journal may be available in your nearest university or NHS Health library or individual articles can be bought online. Articles include:

• Mental Health and Social and Emotional Learning: Evidence, Principles, Tensions, Balances
• The Role of Parental Involvement in School-Based Mental Health Interventions at Primary (Elementary) School Level
• Family SEAL – a Home-School Collaborative Pro­gramme Focusing on the Development of Children’s Social and Emotional Skills
• Choosing your Friends: Young People Negotiating Supporting Relationships
• Cause for Hope or Despair? Limits to Theory and Policy in Relation to Contemporary Develop­ments in Promoting Mental Health and Well-Being in Schools in the UK and Implications for Children’s Rights
  

Family SEAL – a home-school collaborative programme focusing on the development of children’s social and emotional skills

Downey, C. and Williams, C.
Advances in School Mental Health Promotion Vol 3, No 1: Jan 2010: 30-41
The Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) programme has been developed in England to enhance social and emotional competence and well-being in schools. As part of the SEAL programme, Family SEAL seeks to engage parents as partners in this process. Seven primary schools in Dorset implemented Family SEAL in a pilot project during 2007–2008. Both class teachers and parents reported post-programme gains in children’s social and emotional competence, and significant gains were reported for those children who had previously been identified as a cause for concern in their social and emotional development.

The effectiveness of a school-based adolescent depression education program

Swartz, K.L., Kastelic, E.A., Hess, S.G. et al.
Health Education and Behavior Vol 37 No 1 - Feb 2010: 11-22.

In an effort to decrease the suicide rate in adolescents, many interventions have focused on school-based suicide prevention programs. Alternatively, depression education in schools might be effective in decreasing the morbidity, mortality, and stigma associated with adolescent depression. The Adolescent Depression Awareness Program (ADAP) developed a 3-hour curriculum to teach high school students about the illness of depression. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the ADAP curriculum in improving high school students’ knowledge about depression.

Promoting children's mental, emotional and social health through contact with nature: a model

Cecily Jane Maller
Health Education Vol 109, No 6 – 2009: 522 - 543
This paper found that hands-on contact with nature is perceived by educators to improve self-esteem, engagement with school and a sense of empowerment, among other benefits. Activities involving hands-on contact with nature may have significant health outcomes for children, and different types of activities are perceived to have different outcomes. A model is proposed to illustrate the findings.

Review: school based prevention and early intervention programmes reduce anxiety

Stallard, P. (commentator)
Evidence Based Mental Health Vol 12, No 4 – Nov 2009: 116
This review compares the effectiveness of early intervention and prevention programmes.

Mental well-being and subjective health of 11- to 15-year-old boys and girls in Scotland, 1994–2006

Levin, K.A., Currie, C., and Muldoon, J.
European Journal of Public Health Vol 19, No 6 – Dec 2009: 605-610
This paper concludes that adolescent mental well-being and subjective health in Scotland is improving. However, gender differences persist and socioeconomic inequalities are emerging for some measures, suggesting that a longer term monitoring of mental well-being and subjective health in Scotland is required.

Investing in the mental health of Fife: the Playfield Institute

W. Simpson, G. Buchanan, and G. Monteith
Journal of Public Mental Health Vol 8, No 1 – Mar 2009: 11 – 18
The Playfield Institute’s focus is to build the capacity of frontline workers (otherwise known as the children's workforce eg. school nurses, social workers, teachers, foster carers etc) to promote the mental health of children and young people. This paper discusses why the Institute was set up, what it is, what it has achieved and how the model is sustainable.

The relationship between early suicide behaviors and mental health: results from a nine-year panel study.

Ryan MacDonald, John Taylor, Diana Clark
Journal of Adolescence Vol 32, No 5 - October 2009: 1159-1172 
This paper employs community-level data to examine the relationship between suicide behaviors, measured at age eleven, and two mental health outcomes assessed nine-years later. Specifically, they assess the role and significance of suicide ideation and suicide attempts in substance dependence and depressive symptomatology.

Emotional Intelligence and Education: A Critical Review, Humphery et al, Educational Psychology, Vol 27 No 2 (2007)

This article discusses what we mean by emotional intelligence. What impact would improved emotional intelligence have on learner’s emotional health and well being, academic achievement, and other key adaptive outcomes? And, can emotional intelligence be taught? The article suggests that more convincing evidence from high quality studies is needed to better understand the link between emotional intelligence and education.
To read this article in full you will need to subscribe to Educational Psychology or make a single article purchase. This journal is also available through the National Library of Scotland http://www.nls.uk/

Here you will find articles relating to information regarding young people who are being looked after away from home.

School achievement and children in foster care

Frequent moving has a negative affect on the school achievement of foster children makes the case for reform: B Allen, J.S. Vacca; Children and Youth Services Review Vol 32 No6 – June 2010; 829-832. Abstract available from

HERE

We care about care: advice by children in care for children in care, foster parents and child welfare workers about the transition into foster care

Mitchell Monique B, Kuczynski Leon ,Tubbs Carolyn, Ross Christopher
Child & Family Social Work Vol 15 No 2 - May 2010: 176-185
Twenty children in foster care, ages 8 to 15 years, provided advice to children in care, foster parents and child welfare workers about ways to assist service delivery during the transition into foster care. The children discussed the importance of tending to experiences such as foster home expectations, the importance of time and information, the new foster/parent–child relationship, coping with stress, the ability to be engaged in decision-making, the benefits of foster care and the need to build a trusting and personal relationship between children in care and their caregivers. The importance of listening to children's experiences of the transition into foster care and incorporating their advice into future research, policy and practice are discussed. Go to Publisher’s website HERE

The perspectives of young children in care about their circumstances and implications for social work practice

Karen Winter, Child & Family Social Work Vol 15 No 2 - May 2010: 186-195
Recent reviews of research regarding children in care have concluded that there remains little research which specifically focuses on young children. This paper presents the findings of research carried out with a sample of young children in care (aged 4–7 years) regarding their perspectives of their circumstances. The findings reveal that they have deeply held views regarding living with risk; removal from their families; unresolved feelings of guilt and loss; and not being listened to. This paper considers the implications of these findings for social work practice. It concludes by stressing the capacity of young children in care to express their perspectives, and the importance of practitioners seeking these views and incorporating them into assessment and decision-making processes. Go to Publisher’s website HERE

Children’s wellbeing in care: evidence from a longitudinal study of outcomes

Elizabeth Fernandez
Children and Youth Services Review Vol 31, No 10 - October 2009: 1092-1100

In this section you will find articles which document the experiences of young people regarding their education and other issues which affect them.

In this section you will find articles which engage with the issue of delivering effective children’s services.

Collaborative working across children’s services: Where are we now? Gillian Barclay and Claire Kerr, Educational and Child Psychology, Vol 23 No 4 (2006)

This study explores how collaborative working across child and adolescent mental health and psychological services is developing in Edinburgh. The results supported much of the literature surrounding this issue. Good communication, improved resources and resource management, informal links and a better understanding of the roles of others leads to better collaborative working.
To read this article in full you will need to subscribe to the Educational and Child Psychology or make a single article purchase. This journal is also available through the National Library of Scotland http://www.nls.uk/

In this section you will find articles which engage with the issue of working with young people with additional support needs. 

Pupils perceptions of an alternative curriculum: Skill Force, Hallam et al, Research Papers in Education, Vol 22 No 1 (2007)

This research explored pupils perceptions of participation in Skill Force and the perceived impact on their motivation, attitudes to school, attendance, exclusions, behaviour and attainment. The findings demonstrated that the programme was successful in meeting the needs of many disaffected students, improving their motivation, confidence, communication and social skills. It reduced exclusions, improved behaviour, attendance, attitudes towards education and attainment and also provided students with a range of practical, vocational qualifications.
To read this article in full you will need to subscribe to the Research Papers in Education or make a single article purchase. This journal is also available through the National Library of Scotland http://www.nls.uk/

Evaluating Circle Time as a support to social skills development – reflections on a journey in school-based research, British Journal of Special Education, Catherine Canney and Alison Byrne, Volume 33 Number 1 (2006)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the merits of Circle Time as a classroom intervention aimed at improving the social skills of students with a mild intellectual disability. Here

In this section you will find articles which engage with the issue of working with young people around the issues of Social Justice.