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In this ethnographic study, I present a single school's practice of registering and analysing absence from school. I show that teachers use various "dirty," interpretational contexts for understanding absence and make it classifiable in "clean" attendance categories -- a move that decontextualises the meaning of absence. When others in turn handle absence using such "clean," decontextualised data, they treat the many various absences as a single, compressed "absence pattern," a pattern which is explained in terms of a single reason derived from recontextualising the absence. I show that this process effectively excludes parents' and youths' own ways of interpreting absence. I argue from this that research should be mindful of the political nature of absence data, and that negotiating and gaining familiarity with children is a positive contribution to understanding absence and not unwanted dirt.

Interventions targeting absence from school justify themselves with the claim that absence causes negative effects or prevents good effects. I argue that these are empty claims. I propose that absence as a cause makes sense in two ways: (1) in the context of prevention, if we take into consideration our expectations of what would have taken place, had the child gone to school, and what did take place for the child instead, and (2) in the context of responses to absence. Both interpretations lead to a conception where absence, instead of being a direct cause, rather accrues consequences from our responses to it. I use these alternatives to argue that responses to absence justified with the empty claim contribute to the results that the literature has so far claimed absence to have. Absence is not the problem, it may only be the sign of one.

The idea that we ought to help young people with underlying issues, rather than simply pressure them back to school has gained traction in the literature on absence from school. However, this discussion has not considered how help and control are intertwined. The following is a Foucault inspired qualitative study of absence interventions in a school in Denmark aiming to critically explore this. Using positioning theory conjoined with Butler's notions of recognisability and support networks, I show that these interventions form a normative context: regular attendance is the proper path towards a good life. Within this context, young people were seen as having a choice, despite school being compulsory. When the young people and parents attempt to negotiate this choice, they end up escalating the pressure instead. In order for help not to escalate into increased pressure, I argue that we need more flexibility regarding the politics of compulsory school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Psyke & Logos is the property of Dansk Psykologisk Forlag and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)