Background to the Research

• Despite the association between educational underachievement, social alienation, criminality and drug use, less is known about the experience of young adolescents excluded from school than their peers who remain in school. School exclusion, included by the Social Exclusion Unit among 'the most severe forms of exclusion', has been linked to social exclusion in later life.
• Participants in the present study constitute the High Risk Booster Sample of the Belfast Youth Development Study, a longitudinal study of the onset and development of adolescent substance abuse. Unlike previous studies, this study directly compares the experience of school excludees and their peers in mainstream school.
  

Research Approach

• Seventy-six young people excluded from school in the Greater Belfast area at school year 11 (aged 14-15 years) and attending alternative education projects were identified for inclusion in the study. Fifty-one participated, two-thirds of whom were male.
• A questionnaire, including both established measures and measures developed by the research team, was developed to investigate drug use and antisocial behaviours of young people aged 14-15 years in both mainstream school and for those excluded from school. References/comparisons are made to data collected from 3903 young people in year 11 attending 40 schools in the Greater Belfast area.
  

Main Findings

• Relatively high levels of lifetime drug use were found amongst the booster sample compared with the school sample. More than 8 out of 10 had tried cannabis and just over one third had abused solvents. Whilst males were more likely to have used cannabis, females were more likely to have used ecstasy and speed (not significant).
• The booster sample was twice as likely as the school sample to have used cannabis, more than three times as likely to have used ecstasy and four times as likely to have tried speed (significant differences).
• The booster sample reported relatively low levels of use of 'hard' drugs compared with 'softer' drugs such as cannabis, although 1 in 7 had taken cocaine and some males had been offered, but not used, heroin.
• Nine out of ten reported that they smoked cigarettes every day (mean of 14 per day) and one half drank alcohol at least once per week, drinking to intoxication each time. Young males were significantly more likely to smoke every day; young females were significantly more likely to report high levels of alcohol use and frequent intoxication.
• Nearly three-quarters of the booster sample reported weekly cannabis use, with 4 out of 10 claiming to do so on a daily basis. While not significant, young males were more likely to use cannabis each day.
• In the school sample, 1 in 5 young people smoked every day (mean of 10 cigarettes daily), 39% drank alcohol at least weekly and 23% reported being intoxicated as often.
• For the booster sample, purchase from a shop (licit substances) and friends (illicit substances) were the most popular sources of drugs; dealers were the source for one third of cannabis users and 1 in 6 ecstasy users. The most popular location for drug use was outside in the street, followed by a friend's house. For the school sample, friends were the main source of drugs, outside in the street the most popular location for using them. These findings appear to support the presence and role of peer groups in drug taking behaviour of all young people.
• The mean number of delinquent offences committed by the booster sample was significantly higher at 4.1 than the school sample mean of 2.5. Boys were more likely to offend with a mean of 4.9 offences (girls mean of 2.6). Delinquent behaviour was associated with higher levels of drug use for both boys and girls.
• Nearly half of the booster sample had been in trouble with the police, one third had been arrested or received a formal warning at a police station, and 1 in 6 had been summoned to court for an offence. Boys were significantly more likely to have been in trouble with the police and to have been arrested, and were more likely to have received a formal warning and been summoned to court. 22% of the school sample reported being in trouble with the police, 6% had been arrested and 2% had been to court; these differences were significant. Contact with these agencies was associated with higher levels of drug use.
• Most of the booster sample reported low commitment to school and low levels of motivation to do well there. Those reporting low commitment to school were 4 times more likely to have abused solvents, and twice as likely to have used cannabis compared to those in the school sample. A similar trend was found for motivation to do well at school.
• In contrast to the school sample, most young people reported high levels of out of home leisure activity and low levels of home based leisure activity. More than two thirds of the booster sample reported that they go out each evening of the week and a further three go out at least five nights per week. These young people accounted for almost all drug use and alcohol intoxication. This was significantly higher than just one third of those in the school sample who go out every evening.
• All but 7 of the booster sample reported receiving weekly pocket money from a parent/guardian (mean = £18.25), with 17 receiving additional income from working (mean = £30.73). The school sample means were £12.92 of pocket money and £17.19 of earned income.

Conclusions

• The young people in the booster sample exhibited a number of risk factors which have been highlighted for increasing the propensity of young people to use illicit drugs. These risk factors included detachment from school, low levels of parental monitoring, high levels of anti-social behaviour and contact with criminal justice agencies.
• The fact that many of the young people were obtaining substances themselves and were receiving higher levels of income suggests they may be developing increased levels of control over their drug use, possibly taking this behaviour beyond the reach of prevention programmes. This is a particularly important implication given that these young people are less likely to receive the same level of support provided by social institutions such as schools. The findings also suggest that school excludees are developing a lifestyle in which illicit drug use is becoming an inherent activity.
• The importance of investing resources to gain a full understanding of the drug using behaviours and lifestyles of young people who are at risk of developing drug use in adolescence and beyond is highlighted.
• Finally, school surveys are identified as possibly underestimating the true value of adolescent drug use, thus limiting their value for the development of prevention initiatives to school aged young people. The value of including school excludees in research with adolescents is justified through the resulting evidence it provides and its role as a potentially important and inherent part of studying all young people.