School Refusal: A Psychological Analysis

Page: 485-488
Sudhinta Sinha (Department of Psychology, B.B.M.K. University, Dhanbad, Jharkhand)

Traditionally, mental health professionals and school authorities have found school refusal to be a perplexing and challenging problem. Here it is relevant to understand- what is school refusal? School refusal is a condition characterised by reluctance and often outright refusal to go to school in a child who: (1) seeks the comfort and security of home, preferring to remain close to parental figures, especially during school hours; (2) displays evidence of emotional upset when faced with the prospect of having to attend school, although this may only take the form of unexplained physical symptoms; (3) manifests no severe antisocial tendencies, apart from possible aggressiveness when attempts are made to force school attendance; and (4) does not attempt to conceal the problem from parents. Mostly it can be seen in young children going to school for the first time. In this paper it has been tried to differentiate the term between ‘School refusal’ and ‘School phobia and discussed the other related aspects such as its history, prevalence, clinical picture, classification, etiology, risk factors, assessment, treatment and prognosis factor.