Discover peer-reviewed journal articles and reports that use ADR UK-funded flagship datasets. This collection is being expanded over time.
This aimed to assess the feasibility of using linked education and offending data (from the National Pupil Database, Department for Education and the Police National Computer, Ministry of Justice) to identify matched control groups to evaluate violence prevention interventions.
Dataset used: Ministry of Justice & Department for Education linked dataset - England
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Evidence for or against a causal effect of school exclusion on offending is inhibited by random allocation not being available on ethical grounds. To advance understanding of the connection between school exclusion and offending—specifically, serious violent offending—we emulate a randomized controlled trial using a target trial framework and a linkage of national education and justice data. Across more than 20,000 matched pairs of excluded and not excluded children exclusion was associated with at least a doubling of risk for perpetrating serious violence (hazard ratio 2.05, 95% CI: 1.83, 2.29) and homicide/near-miss homicide (2.36, 95% CI: 1.04, 5.36) within 12 months of target trial entry. We discuss the implications of these findings for theory and policy in education and criminal justice as well as discussing the extent to which the observed relationships can be considered causal.
A small but growing literature is exploring the later lifetime outcomes of initially high achieving young people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. These individuals have the potential to break through the glass ceiling and climb up the socio-economic ladder, though unfortunately many fail to achieve this goal. This paper presents new evidence on a selection of behavioural outcomes for this group, focusing on their attendance at and exclusions from school, along with cautions/sentences received for involvement in criminal activity. By using large-scale administrative data from multiple school cohorts in England, we can explore intersectionality between high-achievement, socio-economic background, gender and ethnicity in greater detail than prior research. We find substantial differences in absence rates throughout secondary school relative to their equally able but more socio-economically advantaged peers, with this a particular issue for those of White and Mixed ethnicity. On the other hand, exclusions from school and cautions/sentences are particularly elevated amongst high achieving disadvantaged boys – most prominently those from Black and Mixed-race backgrounds – and peak during Key Stage 4. We also find that differences in attendance, exclusions and cautions/sentences while at school can only partially explain socio-economic differences in the propensity to be cautioned or sentenced as an adult.
It is known that children with lower neurodevelopmental abilities and children who live in poverty are at increased risk of contact with the criminal justice system, but whether these two risk factors interact is unknown. We used linked data from 519,920 children born in 2001/2002, who attended school in England. Prospective analysis tested whether Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) indexing functional development across six domains and pupil characteristics indexing poverty at age 4/5, predicted a caution or conviction by age 15/16.
Child maltreatment is a major public health issue. Child welfare services are provided to many children at risk of maltreatment to try and prevent negative outcomes and serious long-term harm. The excess risk of criminal justice contact among children receiving these welfare services is not well established and less is known about differences between male and female children, making effective health policy responses difficult.
