ABSTRACT
Research shows that school suspension has negative consequences for students. Children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to experience school suspension. The purpose of this chapter is to examine whether associations between school suspension and demographic and socioeconomic factors can be explained by known student and family risk factors (e.g., student antisocial behaviour, poor family management). This chapter presents data from state-representative samples of 3,636 students in Grades 7 and 9 in Victoria, Australia, and Washington State, United States. Students completed the Communities that Care self-report survey in their school classrooms in 2002 and 2003. Retention rates to 12-month follow-up in both states were 99 percent. Being male (demographic factor) increased the likelihood of suspension 12 months later, whereas having parents who had completed post-secondary education (socioeconomic factor) reduced the likelihood of suspension. Other predictors of being suspended were student antisocial behaviour, academic failure, interaction with antisocial friends, and being suspended in the first year of the study. Given that individual and family risk factors only partially explained the demographic and socioeconomic patterning of student-reported suspension, alternatives to suspension should be considered. Whole-school restorative practices and classroom management may be used in place of suspension to avoid exclusionary practices.
