The Importance of School Attendance: Findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development on the Association between Truancy and Life-Course Outcomes

• In Event: Education, Punishment and Antisocial Behavior: Effects Across the Life Course

Abstract

School drop-out has been extensively studied in the criminological literature as a correlate of negative life outcomes. A precursor to school drop-out is truancy, the unexcused or illegitimate student absence from school. Still, few studies have examined the extent to which early school truancy may have lasting effects on involvement in crime and adjustment more generally over the life-course. This study extends previous work by exploring whether truancy at age 14 has a negatively relationship with later life outcomes such as crime, aggression, and adjustment using data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development. Results indicate that truancy has long-lasting associations with negative life outcomes, especially for non-violent crime and problem drinking. Importantly, these findings hold for certain outcomes controlling for a comprehensive host of 27 environmental and individual childhood risk factors.

Authors

• Michael Rocque, Bates College

• Wesley Jennings, University of South Florida

• Alex R. Piquero, University of Texas at Dallas

• Turgut Ozkan, University of Texas at Dallas

• David P. Farrington, Cambridge University