Using a preventive social work program for reducing school refusal

This article describes a study aimed at solving the problem of school refusal by implementing a preventive program and raising the awareness of parents, social workers, and school personnel. The school children involved in this study were reported by their parents and school social workers to refuse to go to school, and according to the children's and parents' scores on a refusal scale. A random sample of size N = 48 was chosen according to the simple random sample method from the population of 77 students who were determined to refuse to go to school. The sample was divided randomly into experimental and control groups, 24 each. The experimental group went through a preventive intervention program, whereas the control group did not. The quantitative results showed a significant difference between the experimental and the control groups. The qualitative results showed an increase in school attendance and participation in school activities, and improvements in school performance. Accordingly, the prevention program can be deemed effective in decreasing school refusal.