European Society or European Societies?

EuroConference on the Causes and Consequences of Low

Education in Contemporary Europe, Granada, Spain,
18-23 September 2004

Truancy in Germany: A theoretical and empirical analysis

Michael Wagner
Imke Dunkake
Bernd Weiss
Research Institute of Sociology
University of Cologne
mwagner@wiso.uni-koeln.de

33

Abstract
The goal of this article is to describe the extent of truancy in Cologne and to identify its
relevant predictors. Regarding classical deviance theories (Control Theory, Anomie
Theory, Urban Subculture Theory), we generate and test our hypotheses. Our analysis
is based on a sample which was conducted in 1999 by the Max Planck Institute for
Foreign and International Criminal Law. It contains information about students from
grade 8. to 10. Our results show that 7,9% of all students can be defined as truants,
boys skip classes more than girls, and the higher the age, the higher the prevalence of
truancy. We find the highest amount of truants at Hauptschulen and Sonderschulen. It
is shown that truancy is a multidimensional phenomenon and cannot be explained by
just one theory.

I.

Problem

Recently, truancy has attracted a wider interest in public discussion as well as

in educational research. Even the First Periodical Security Report (BMI 2001) issued by the Federal Ministries of Justice and Internal Affairs - pays close
attention to this matter.

Because truants neglect compulsory school attendance, they must be

considered as administrative offenders in the legal sense. Children who turn
seven years old before the 30th of June are obliged to attain school regularly
from that year on1. At present, compulsory schooling time totals up to twelve
years. In general, children need to go to school for at least nine full years plus
three optional part-time school years. Four Federal States (NordrheinWestfalen, Bremen, Brandenburg, Berlin) demand a full compulsory school
attendance time of ten years.
According to the Security Report, fines and complaints due to the violation of
school attendance increased dramatically within the 1990s (BMI 2001: 575, Fn.
1819). Even though many authors believe that the rates of truancy have
increased in Germany (e.g. Schreiber-Kittl und Schrpfer 2002: 16), it remains
uncertain whether this is true or not. The estimated number of unreported cases
of truancy is considerably high, so that even a slight increase of supervision by
schools, authorities and police would already increase the rates of registered
truancy. Additionally, the amount of fines depends on how the authorities
handle truancy and which rules schools apply when they report cases of truancy
to the supervisory school authority (Habermalz 2001).

Following the PISA study, 13% of the 15 years old children in the Old and 11%
in the New Federal States skipped classes within the last two weeks of school
1

After Elementary school (grades 1-4 in most federal states) children are separated according
to their academic ability and attend one of three different kinds of schools: Hauptschule,
Realschule or Gymnasium. The Hauptschule (grades 5-9) offers the same subjects as the
Realschule and Gymnasium but at a slower pace and with some vocational-oriented courses.
The Realschule (grades 5-10 in most federal states) qualifies for part-time vocational schools.
The Gymnasium (grades 5-13 in most federal states) leads to the degree Abitur and prepares
students for university. Students showing extremely low educational skills or mental/physical
handicaps attend the Sonderschule (special school). The Gesamtschule, or comprehensive
school, is a more recent development. It takes the place of the other school types and enrolls
students of all ability levels.

(Baumert et al. 2002: 212). Beside the exact rates of school absenteeism, there
are six strong reasons to examine truancy in more detail: The first three reasons
outline the consequences of truancy for students, the latter three point out the
demand for intervention and possible ways of dealing with the problem of
truancy:

1.

Children who frequently play truant are more likely to drop out of school
and to achieve an inadequate diploma. Therefore, they are socially and
economically disadvantaged for life (Farrington 1980; Hibbett et al. 1990;
Furgusson et al. 1995).

2.

Truancy often marks the beginning of a criminal career. In this sense

truancy is a risk factor for present and further delinquent acts (Robins
and Radcliffe 1980; Loeber und LeBlanc 1990; BMI 2001; Loeber und
Farrington 2001).

3.

Dealing with students playing truant takes a lot of time for teachers.
Truants may deteriorate the atmosphere within the classroom as well as
within the school (Baumert et al. 2002).

4.

Psychological strain or mental illness, like school phobia or separation

anxiety, are possible causes for truancy that need medical treatment
(Hersov and Berg 1980; Bauer 1992; Lee and Miltenberg 1996).

5.

Enduring truancy indicates structural school problems, as the school does

not ensure the integration of students sufficiently. Because of such failure
specific school measures are required. In some cities, public authorities do
not only impose fines, but also react with police provisions in order to
reduce the number of truants. In May 1998, the city of Nrnberg started a
program for truants that - among other things - makes the police supervise
children at public meeting points and eventually hand them over to the
school or their legal guardians (Schreiber-Kittl and Schrpfer 2002: 28 ).

6.

Furthermore, truancy can result from difficult situations within the family
(Hersov 1969; Galloway 1982; Brown 1983). If this is the case, there is a
strong need for intervention and support.

While truancy has been intensely studied in the United States and Great Britain
(Wilmers und Greve 2002: 404) and international comparative studies such as
TIMMS (1994/1995) also report results on school absenteeism, in Germany
4

major projects in this research area have started only recently. Worth
mentioning are the studies of the Institute of Criminological Research in Lower
Saxony (Wetzels et al. 2000; Wilmers et al. 2002), a research project conducted
by the German Youth Institute and studies at the Universities of Potsdam
(Sturzbecher und Dietrich 1994) and Rostock (Schulze und Wittrock 2001).
Moreover, data on truancy are collected in many youth and student surveys that
analyze juvenile delinquency. However, theory-guided and methodologically
differentiated studies hardly exist so far.

The goal of the following study is to describe the prevalence of truancy in a

major German City (Cologne) and to identify the relevant predictors.
Hypotheses are deduced from classical deviance theories. This article is part of
the project Prevalence and Determinants of Truancy in Cologne2.

II.

Concept

Current research does not give a standardized definition of either skipping

school or truancy. Oehme and Franzke (2002: 67) describe this as a
confusion of concepts. The two terms are partly used synonymously with the
notions of school tiredness, school absenteeism, school phobia, school refusal
behavior etc. (Tyerman 1968; Hersov and Berg 1980; Oehme and Franzke
2002; Ricking 2003).

In international research, truancy is defined as unjustified intentional absence

from school (Pinquardt and Masche 1999: 221; Van Petegem 1994: 271). This
paper follows this definition and regards truancy as the unauthorized
absenteeism from school3. Research agrees on the necessity to separate minor
cases of truancy from severe ones. The term frequent truancy takes this
differentiation into account by describing persistent absence from school,
regardless of its causes.
Separating harmless cases of truancy from persistent truancy seems to be
difficult though. Many authors (e.g. Thimm 2000) mention different degrees of
2

The project Prevalence and Determinants of Truancy in Cologne is located at the Research
Institute of Sociology at the University of Cologne and has been supported by the Cologne
GEW Foundation since February 2002 (Number of Project: W-01-02-001).
3
Ricking and Neukter (1997) modify this definition by using the parents knowledge or approval
of their childrens non-attendance as an additional criterion (Parents withholding their children
from school).

intensity that truancy could be defined by. In the US, students are classified as
truants if their missing periods exceed a marginal value of five or ten days or
10% of the total number of annual class days (Burley and Harding 1998).

III. Theories and Hypotheses

From a sociological point of view, truancy can be considered as deviant
behavior. The following analysis will concentrate on three theories of
delinquency: 1) The social control theory (Hirschi 1969) plus its extension of
family factors through the theory of informal control by Sampson and Laub
(1993), 2) The theory of anomie that is combinable with the expectancy value
theory, and 3) The theory of urban subcultures which also includes elements of
the theory of anomie, the social disorganization theory, the subculture theory
and the theory of differential associations.

1.

Social Control Theory

Social control theory does not attempt to explain why individuals are engaged in
criminal acts but rather why individuals choose to obey conventional norms
(Hirschi 1969: 10). The attachment an individual holds to persons, groups or
institutions which support conventional values and norms is of central interest. If
this attachment is fragile, the risk of deviant behavior is greater. According to
Hirschis social bond theory (1969), the strength of this attachment depends on
four factors: A) the emotional attachment to meaningful persons such as family
members, teachers and peers, B) the commitment to conventional goals, C) the
involvement in conventional activities and D) the extent of belief in social rules.

A) The emotional attachment to meaningful persons directs individual behavior

to the wishes and expectations of significant others. Thus, close relationships to
conventionally acting persons should decrease the risk of truancy.
Social control theory emphasizes the family as the main reference group for
adolescents. Therefore, with respect to the family as an institution of
socialization we will not only concentrate on the emotional attachment, but also
consider an extension by Sampson and Laub (1993) that has been formulated
within the scope of a reanalysis of the longitudinal study of Glueck and Glueck

(1950). In contrast to Hirschi, when analysing the family4, Sampson and Laub
do not only acquire the degree of emotional attachment, but also add two more
elements that are extracted from the coercion theory and the reintegrative
shaming theory. From this perspective, the emotional bond only represents one
part of the control function of families, which needs to be completed by two
further elements: one is the way of bringing up and disciplining the children, the
other is parents supervision of their children. While the degree of emotional
attachment represents a form of indirect parental control, the two other
elements focus on a direct form of parental control. Consequently, three types
of parental control are finally identifiable (Sampson and Laub 1993: 68): the
degree of emotional attachment to the parents, the way of bringing up and
disciplining children, and the form of supervising the children.
The degree of truancy increases,
H1: if the emotional attachment to the parents is very low,
H2: the more that the way of bringing up and disciplining children is inconsistent
and violent,
H3: the less parents supervise their children.

Looking at the attachment to teachers, the following can be stated:

H1a: The lower the emotional attachment to teachers, the higher the degree of
truancy.

Peers are another relevant reference group, primarily in adolescence. As their

function as an agent of socialization is already described by the urban
subculture theory (cp. III.3), we will not explain it any further at this point.
B) The more investments in conventional goals in life and careers a student
has, the stronger a rational consideration of advantages and disadvantages of
deviant behavior results in an orientation towards conventional goals. With a
high investment in the educational career, the costs of truancy (e.g. to repeat a
school year, poor school grades) are higher than the gains (leisure time, less
homework). However, if a student has nothing to lose good school grades, a
4

Sampson and Laub (1993) propose an influence of structural characteristics of the family of
origin (residential mobility, family size, crowding, family disruption, mothers employment,
socioeconomic status, foreign-born, fathers deviance and mothers deviance) on the three
dimensions of control (attachment, discipline, supervision). An examination of this causal
relationship would be too extensive. Hence, the further illustration will not cover this matter.

higher reputation within the class and the family a permanent school
absenteeism may seem rational. Types of secondary schools differ according to
their prospects for the future (e.g. career outlook). As opportunities a student
has in life are closely related to a successful educational career, it helps to
explain why students skip school less when attending a school with a higher
educational demand (Sturzbecher 2001; Wagner 2002; Wilmers and Greve
2002).
H4: The more students have invested in their previous educational career, the
less likely it is that they will become truants.

C) The participation in conventional activities reduces the available time and the
opportunity to become delinquent (Hirschi 1969: 21). Additionally, the aspect of
time is related to a higher identification with conventional norms and values:
The longer an adolescent performs conventional activities, the more he will
identify himself with them.
H5: The more students participate in conventional activities outside school, the
less likely it is that they will become truants.

D) A strong orientation towards conventional values and norms that have been
internalized in the process of socialization reduces the acceptance of deviant
behavior. The examined interrelation between truancy and other forms of
deviant behavior (e.g. Glueck and Glueck 1950; Ball and Conolly 2000; Burgess
et al. 2002) as well as the relevance of truancy as a risk factor for a permanent
criminal career (Hibbett et al. 1990; Furgusson et al. 1995) refer to the
effectiveness of a general orientation towards conventional values and norms5.
H6: The stronger the internalization of conventional values and norms, the lower
the degree of truancy.
2.

Anomie Theory

One of the oldest and most influential theories explaining deviant behavior is the
theory of anomie (strain theory), originally formulated by Durkheim in 1897
(1983). In 1938, Merton adopted essential assumptions of Durkheims theory

In their General Theory of Crime, Hirschi and Gottfredson analyze deviant behavior in a
rather psychological approach (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990) which mainly focuses on the
concept of self-control. Wilmers and Greve (2002) proved truants to have a low level of selfcontrol.

and extended them in his Social Structure and Social Theory which appeared
in 1957. Merton distinguishes between a cultural and a social structure of
society. Social structure is a pattern of social relationships. Cultural structure
determines the goals of action (e.g. social recognition, economic wealth)
which are basically shaped by the middle class and allocates the
institutionalized legitimate means (e.g. occupational career), such as norms,
rules and values that determine how to achieve the cultural goals. Merton
generally hypothesizes the status of anomie within a society to emerge from a
discrepancy between cultural and social structure (Merton 1968: 216). The
social position of individuals within the social structure particularly influences the
chances to have access to the legitimate means. In contrast to members of the
middle and upper classes, members of the lower classes dispose of less
resources to achieve culturally defined goals. Therefore, they undergo a
stronger social pressure to find non-institutionalized and, as the case may be,
deviant ways to achieve those goals. There are five possible individual
reactions

to

compensate

for

the

strain between

cultural

goals

and

institutionalized means: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and

rebellion. Conformity is the normal case within a stable society which means the
aspiration of legitimate goals through legitimate means. However, Merton is
interested in the other types of adaptation. He wants to know to what extent
conditions of the social structure influence the prevalence of a particular type of
deviant behavior.

Merton calls the second type of adaptation innovation. This type appears if
cultural goals are aspired although the access to legitimate means is limited.
Members of lower social classes are disadvantaged, notably concerning the
goal economic wealth. Often, they do not have the legitimate means to achieve
economic wealth which in turn makes it more likely to apply illegitimate means
(Merton 1968: 198; Albrecht 1997: 510).

Ritualism can be understood as deviant behavior only in a restricted sense

because the goals are adapted to the means. The ritualist accepts the
legitimate means, but does not have distinct ambitions to achieve the culturally
defined goals, especially concerning economic wealth and social recognition

(Merton 1968: 203). The goals are lowered or turned down as far as they
correspond to the means available.

As another type of adaptation, a person retreating either refuses or abstains

from the pursuit of legitimate goals and means. In this context, Merton
especially refers to social outcasts (Merton 1968: 207).

Rebellion marks an exceptional case, as this type does not adapt the given
goals and means, but actively tries to reassess them.

But how exactly can the theory of anomie explain truancy? First, we will make
assumptions about the goals that students have. Because it is not always
possible to specify the goals and means when analyzing a concrete research
issue (Opp 1974: 126; Lamnek 1985: 239) and because it is impossible to
theoretically deduce all relevant goals, we will concentrate on two types of
individual goals (Holtappels 1997): educational success on the one hand and
social recognition or economical wealth on the other. By doing so, educational
success is hierarchically subordinated to social recognition and economic
wealth as cultural goals and functions as a means to these goals. However,
legitimate means to achieve educational success might be measured by good
school grades and type of school. Summarizing the paragraph, the following
hierarchy of goals and means becomes obvious: School grades educational
success economic wealth6.

The theory of anomie does not claim a connection between factors of social
structure and legitimate means for achieving educational success namely
school grades however there are quite some research findings proving this
relationship in the field of class-specific socialization (Rolff 1976). For Germany,
the PISA study showed a strong positive correlation between social origin and
students skills in the fields of reading, mathematics and natural sciences
(Baumert and Schmer 2001: 361). Anglo-American studies could even prove a

Another way of interpretation is not to regard the educational achievement, but the actual
school attendance as a legitimate means to fulfil the goal educational success (Nielsen and
Gerber 1979). In this context, it might occur that parents withhold their children from school,
because they have to supervise younger siblings or because they have to work in order to
increase the income of the household.

10

negative connection between the social status of the family of origin and
illegitimate absence from school (Tyerman 1968; Farrington 1980).

Concerning truancy, the individual types of adaptation might be interpreted as

followed (Table 1): Conformity (the proper student). The student has
internalized the cultural goal success in school and in addition possesses the
legitimate means necessary to achieve that goal. Truancy does not take place
in this case.

Innovation (active truancy). The student accepts educational success as an

immediate goal in order to attain a professional position that offers financial
security, social recognition and economic wealth, but he does not have the
legitimate means to reach the accepted goal. According to Merton, the lack of
legitimate means results from a socioeconomic disadvantage of the family of
origin. The innovator tries to find ways other than regular school attendance
(part-time work, criminal activities, acceptance by the peers) in order to achieve
the goals accepted by society.
Table 1: Types of Truancy
Modes of
Adaptation

Types of Truancy

Culturally approved goals Institutionalized means

(educational
of achievement
achievement,
(academic achievement)
economic wealth)
+
+

Conformity

The proper student

Innovation

Active truancy

Ritualism

Passive truancy

Retreatism

Complete truancy

Rebellion
Truancy as protest
+/
+/
(+) = Acceptance; () = Rejection; (+/) = Rejection of existing goals and means and
substitution of new goals and means by the individual.

Ritualism (passive truancy). The student does not accept the purpose of going
to school. A regular school attendance takes place just because it is a matter of
routine: One attends school because everybody attends school. That is why, in
most of the cases, school efforts only fulfil minimal demands. The
characteristics of the passive truant (physically present, but not showing any
interest) are compatible to the Merton type of ritualism and often function as a
precursor of active truancy (Schreiber-Kittl and Schrpfer 2002: 82).
11

Social retreatism (complete truancy). Social retreatism can be characterized

by lethargic behavior. Neither the cultural goals nor the institutionalized means
are accepted. In contrast to the rebel, this type does not strive to find
alternatives to the missing goals and means. According to Merton, social
retreatism often results from frustrating experiences if both, goals and means,
had been accepted but did not turn out to be effective (Lamnek 1993: 121).
Because of bad experiences, students refuse to go to school, as it no longer
makes sense to them.

Rebellion (truancy as protest). Students refuse to go to school because they

want to protest against the goals and means of the institutionalized school. In
contrast to the type of social reatreatism or the ritualist, the rebel tries to find
alternative goals and means. Intense absence from school is no passive
truancy, but rather expresses dissatisfaction about the existing conditions.
Truancy that is approved by the parents can be interpreted as a type of
rebellious adaptation which is passed on from generation to generation. That is
the case if parents believe school attendance to be wrong for either educational,
religious or ideological reasons and make their children stay at home or be
taught in educational institutions other than school.

If school efforts are defined as means and educational success is defined as

the goal, the following can be stated about students of the innovator type:

H7: The lower the socioeconomic status of the family of origin, the worse the
school achievement.
H7a: The worse the school achievement, the more likely students try to achieve
goals like social recognition or economic wealth outside of school.
H7b: The more intensely students follow up their goals outside of school, the
stronger the truancy.

Mertons ritualist type of adaptation characterizes students whose academic

achievement is satisfactory, but who do not strive for educational goals and who
internally isolate themselves from being taught in school. Those students are
physically present within the lessons, therefore they cannot be called active

12

truants. Rebellion will not be considered here, as those students barely have
the means to develop alternatives for the legally stipulated school attendance.

The theory of anomie focuses on the social, not on the individual conditions for
deviant behavior. In order to make precise assumptions about individual
decisions, we will combine the anomie theory with the expectancy value theory,
focusing the innovative type of adaptation (Friedrichs 1997). Truancy then
needs to be understood as a result of cost-benefit-analysis (Burgess et al.
2002). If school attendance does not offer the student a good chance of
economic gain or a professional career, the innovator is behaving rationally if he
aims for alternative activities such as gainful employment. Following the urban
subculture theory (cp. chapter 3), the acceptance by peers might also
compensate for a lack of acceptance by the educational system. If students find
alternatives to school attendance that are of high gain and if truancy does not
involve too many costs, the student is more likely to refuse school. Students
with a low educational level and/or poor school performance prefer those
alternatives because their future prospects of a secure and financially lucrative
employment are very low. Thus, the benefit of a regular school attendance will
be rated as very low7. As a specification of hypothesis H7 we assume:

H8: The lower the perceived benefit of school attendance, the more likely the
student is to do part-time work or to aim for acceptance through peers.

3.

Urban Subculture Theory

An important field within socioecological research analysis is the question to

what extent aspects of the urban environment (e.g. high unemployment or high
rates of criminality within the community) lead to juvenile delinquency
(Oberwittler 1999: 406). In this context, the urban community (breeding area)
functions as the main unit of analysis.
The socioecological approach regarding the explanation of delinquency is
based on several assumptions:
1. Delinquency does not result from individual disorientation, but from
disorientation concerning the urban community. It is defined as breakdown
7

Two further hypotheses might be deduced from the value expectancy theory: the less likely it
is that a students truanting behavior is to be detected and the less he has to fear negative
sanctions, the higher the risk of truancy.

13

in conventional institutional controls as well as informal social control forces,

within a community or neighbourhood (Shoemaker 2000: 78).
2. The process of disorganization is mainly to be found within communities
which are affected by industrialization, urbanization and immigration.
3. Socially

disorganized

urban

communities

are

dominated

by

non-

conventional norms and values. Their rates of criminality are higher and
there is a tradition of deviant behavior that cannot be related to anomie. With
this in mind, delinquency areas might also be defined as local
subcultures.
Adolescents might learn from their peers that economic wealth and social
recognition are not only to be achieved by means of conventional school
education and vocational training. Deviant behavior might also be a realistic and
feasible alternative to achieve those goals. The peer group as an agent of
socialization plays an important role within the theories of subculture of the
Chicago School (Trasher 1927; Whyte 1943; Cohen 1955) and was also the
center of attention within the theory of cultural transmission by Shaw and
McKay (1969). Frequent contact with older delinquent adolescents in the urban
community

increase

the

inclination

towards

delinquency

for

younger

adolescents.

In their theory of differential opportunity, Cloward and Ohlin (1960) combine

elements of the anomie theory, the theory of urban subculture and the theory of
differential association formulated by Sutherland (1939). It is claimed that not
only the access to legitimate means but also to illegitimate means helps to
explain deviant behavior. Two elements are needed in order to utilize
illegitimate means successfully: a learning structure as well as a structure of
opportunities (Cloward 1968: 321). The learning structure describes a context
which permits the actor to acquire non-conventional values and criminal abilities
that are necessary to carry out a deviant role. The term opportunities means
that individuals must have the chance to fulfil these roles actively. Both learning
structure and opportunities are primarily located in disorganized communities.

The influence of the urban context on truancy has been researched in a

rudimentary fashion. Farrington (1980) showed that 36,7% of the truants come

14

from slum areas. Considering the assumptions concerning the extent of local
disorganization and the degree of deviant behavior, one can deduce:

H9: The more disorganized a urban community is, the more likely an adolescent
comes into contact with peers that skip school, and the higher the risk of
individual truancy.

IV.
1.

Data and Method

Sample

Our empirical analysis is based on a survey of grade 8th to 10th students from
Cologne and Freiburg. The MPI Youth Survey 1999/2000 was conducted in
1999 by the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in
Freiburg, headed by Dietrich Oberwittler8 (Oberwittler et al. 2001; Oberwittler
2003a). In total, about 5000 students participated in the study. The following
analysis only makes use of the Cologne data record.

In Cologne, multistage non-random sampling took place. Therefore in a very

constricted sense these samplings cannot be defined as representative. First,
a priori sampling of 69 communities9 was done, assuming that the total of all
these communities represents an optimal cross-section of the social structure of
Cologne.

To prove the representativeness of the sample, we compared the means of the

social structure of the sample communities with information about the
population of all city communities.10 Our analysis showed no significant
differences between the sample and the population. In a next step, all public
schools in these communities were asked to participate in the study. 41 of 50
schools took part in the survey, therefore a response rate of 82% was reached.
Because all of the Gesamtschulen denied participation, we have to recognize a
8

We would explicity like to thank Dietrich Oberwittler for his cooperation.

The response rate was low in case of Sonder- (51,7%) and Hauptschulen (78,3%). A
reinquiry raised the proportion of realized interviews in Hauptschulen up to 81% (Oberwittler et
al. 2001: 12).
10

15

bias in the sample. In every school a random sampling by class was done, so
that half of all classes of one class grade were represented in the sample. The
response rate of the classes was 84,9%10 (Oberwittler et al. 2001, 2003b). Two
different questionnaires were used. The questionnaire for this analysis focuses
on deviant behavior. The sample contains data from 1824 respondents (table
2).
Table 2:

Description of the data sample (Cologne)

Type of school

Sonderschule

125

Hauptschule
Realschule
Gymnasium

Total

Sex

6,9

Boys

836

46,1

12

452
375
872

24,8
20,6
47,8

Girls

979

53,9

1824

100,0

Total

1815

100,0

13
14
15
16
17
18
Total

2.

Measurement

a.

Truancy

Age

N
3

%
0,2

356
497
573
307
68
8
1812

19,6
27,4
31,6
16,9
3,8
0,4
100,0

Information on truancy is based on students self-reported statements. Even if

one can assume cases of truancy to be underestimated within the sample
because those adolescents could not be met at school even after a number of
attempts, there are hardly any alternative methods. For obvious reasons,
parents are often not well informed about their childrens truancy, also
retrospective data on students school attendance reported by the teachers are
quite often unspecific (Wilmers et al. 2001; Naplava and Oberwittler 2002).
Thus, neither an evaluation of unauthorized missing periods noted by teachers
in the class register nor the interpretation of official demands for payment of a
fine are appropriate ways to measure the actual prevalence of truancy.

Students were asked, if they skipped classes for one or more than one day in
their whole school career, either alone or with friends. If the student replied
positively to this item, they were asked how often they missed school
unauthorized within the last twelve months (since September 1998).

16

Only five students (0,3%) did not give any information about their total missing
periods in school. As a whole, 60 students (3,3%) did not answer the more
detailed question concerning the frequency of missing periods. A special pattern
of missing values can especially be made up by the comparison of the four
different school types. Students from the Gymnasium, Real- and Hauptschule
show a similar proportion which runs between 2,4%, 3,5% and 2,2%. With
12,8%, students from Sonderschulen differ clearly from students of other school
types, this implies a slight underestimation of truancy within Sonderschulen.

Our definition of the term truancy is based on the number of days a student
plays truant. Oberwittler et al. (2001: 72) define those students to be frequent
truants who skipped school more than five times in the last year. We follow
these guidelines and use the term truancy, if a student missed school without
permission more than five times within the last twelve months. We dichotomized
the metric variable into two categories: students skipping school more than five
times a year (truants) and those not missing school at all or skipping classes
less than five times a year. This distinction is based on empirical reasoning, not
on theoretical assumptions. On the one hand, the variable must explain a clear
qualitative difference between school absenteeism within a harmless range
and truancy as an indicator for an endangered school career. On the other hand
the distribution of the dependent variable is extremely left-skewed, therefore,
the threshold value for truancy should not be too high, as otherwise the number
of cases would be too small for our analysis.

Almost 30% of the students reported to have skipped classes within the last
twelve months. The average duration of being absent amounts to 1,8 missing
periods. In this context, one missing period covers at least one day. Truancy
increases with advancing school years (Table 3). About 8% of the students
skipped school more than five times and thus suit our definition of (frequent)
truancy (Table 11). 4% of the students reported to miss school more than ten
times.
b.

Variables of the Control Theory

The four main variables of the social control theory are emotional attachment,
commitment to conventional goals, involvement in conventional activities and
17

belief in social rules. Sampson and Laub (1993) add two more elements to
emotional attachment, namely the parents way of bringing up their children and
parental supervision.

Two items were used to measure the extent of emotional attachment. The
students were asked to express their relationship to the parents in assigning
school grades (1=very good, 6=very poor) to it. On average, the students
estimate the relationship to their mother (1,83) to be better than that to their
father (2,25) (see also Table 11, in the appendix). Measuring the quality of the
relationship between students and teachers was realized with another scale
including four levels (1=completely agree, 4=completely disagree). Students
were asked whether they think that teachers try to maintain a good relationship
with them. Three quarters of all students agree or completely agree on the
statement.

The perception of students concerning their parents way of bringing them up is

also measured by two items that both consist of a four-step scale (completely
agree completely disagree). First, we were interested in whether the students
believe their parents to be too critical (2,06). Second, students were asked
whether they often get into conflict with their parents (2,27). The way of
disciplining was measured by two questions in which the students should inform
the interviewes whether they were physically punished frequently by their father
(1,27) or mother (1,22). The agreement to the item If I am out, my parents
almost always know where I go to or who I meet serves to measure the
parental supervision. 87% of the students believed this statement to be mostly
or exactly true.

The statement I do my best at school should inform us about the extent of

educational investments. 80% of the respondents confirm such efforts (agree
completely agree). The extent of conventional activities outside school was
measured by the affiliation to an association or an organization. Only groups
that were supposed to stand for conventional values and norms were taken into
account. The dichotomous variable takes the value one, if the respondents
replied that they are a member of either a human rights organization, a

18

voluntary help association or a religious organization. 12% of the interviewed

adolescents belong to at least one of these groups.

If persons agreed on the statement One has to live by the law, even if this
implies an abandonment of personal interests, we assumed a strong belief in
social rules. As the data show, more than two thirds of the adolescents would
rather behave in accordance to the laws than pursue their own interests (mostly
agree and definitely agree).
c.

Variables of the Anomie Theory

Concerning the anomie theory, hypotheses are based on four basic concepts:
(1) Social status of the family (2), institutionalized means (3), cultural goals and
(4) non- institutionalized means. Unfortunately, we do not have the appropriate
data in order to be able to measure cultural goals.

When questioning adolescents, measuring the social status of the family of

origin seemed to be difficult. On the basis of given information concerning the
professional employment of father and mother, an employment-prestige scale
was used to identify the socioeconomic status (Ganzeboom et al. 1992). The
initial scale with a value range from 16 to 90 was combined to a four-step index
of prestige (1 low job prestige up to 4 high job prestige). We used the
maximum value of either father or mother, in case of single parents the value of
that particular parent was taken. Although the scale still showed 331 missing
values because of unspecific information about the parental employment, a
grouping of variables into wider categories allowed to use some of these
unspecific answers on employment that further reduced the number of missing
values to 129. A detailed analysis on missing values indicates a distortion in
favour of lower secondary school qualifications (Gymnasiasten 3%, Realschler
5%, Hauptschler 14%, Sonderschler 18%). 57% of the students live in a
household in which the father or the mother are employed in jobs with rather
high or high prestige.

Academic achievement is to be seen as the most decisive institutionalized

legitimate mean in order to get educational success. The latter is measured by
three variables: the type of school, the self-reported average school grades in
19

mathematics and German shown on the last report and the experience of
repeating a year.11 For some analyses a new dichotomous variable was
constructed on the basis of grades that shows the value 1 if a student received
an inadequate school grade in the subjects mathematics or German, otherwise
0. Contrasting to the average school grade, this variable should indicate
educational deficits that might put the student in danger of not being allowed to
enter the next class grade. In total, the average school grades run up to 3,04.
Divided by school types, Gymnasiasten show an average school grade of 2,85
which is a lot better than the average school grade of students of Sonder(2,98), Real- (3,19) and Hauptschulen (3,29). While almost one in five students
from a Hauptschule received the school grade 5 or worse in mathematics or
German on his last report, only 7% of the students from the Gymnasium
reported such a poor school grade within the same period of time. In
comparison, 16% of the students from Sonder- and Realschulen show an
inadequate school grade. A similar pattern can be indicated for students that did
not complete the school year successfully. Around 25% of all respondents had
to retry to finish a school year. The lowest percentage can be reported for the
Gymnasium (13%), followed by the Realschule (31%), the Hauptschule (40%)
and the Sonderschule with 48% in total.

Consequential to the discrepancy of goals and means formulated in the anomie

theory is the quest for alternatives, the chance to achieve the given goals such
as social recognition in a different manner. A person who does not receive
satisfactory social recognition might compensate this deficit by withdrawing into
a group of persons that are of the same age. We are thus interested in the
frequency with which the adolescents meet their friends on working days. To
clear up this matter, we dichotomized the original five stepped scale (not at all
up to every day) and differentiated, depending on whether the respondents
meet their friends every day (1) or not (0). One third of the students report that
they meet their friends every day. However, divided by school types, clear
differences are shown: At the Sonder- and Hauptschulen this proportion is 58%
respectively 54%, while the Realschule shows a proportion of 40% and the
Gymnasium only 17%.

11

In Germany, the following grades are used: 1=very good, 2=good, 3=satisfactory,
4=adequate, 5= inadequate, 6=inadequate.

20

Another possibility to experience social recognition within the peer group is to

dispose of sufficient economical resources. If the student cannot reach this goal
through a successful school leaving examination, alternative sources of income
such as a gainful employment need to be developed. For this purpose, we use
the monthly earnings of part-time work. Additionally, a dichotomous variable is
formed that adapts value 1, if the respondent earns more than EUR 220 a
month. An assumptive hourly wage of around EUR 6,50 would mean the
persons work more than eight hours a week. About 28% of the respondents
state that they have part-time jobs for which they are paid. The average earning
is EUR 30 a month, whereas students from Sonderschulen (EUR 40,24) and
Hauptschulen (EUR 41,93) gain almost twice the sum than that of students from
Realschulen (EUR 26,56) and Gymnasium (EUR 23,96). Less than 5% of the
students do a part-time job that earns them more than EUR 220 a month.

d.

Variables of Urban Subculture Theory

The disorganization of the urban community was deduced by the evaluation of

the respondents. The students received lists with negatively rated occurrences
(e.g. violence, graffiti, drug sale) and were asked to state how often they had
observed those occurrences within their communities. The statements to each
single offence were combined to an index and subsequently trichotomised
(high, middle and low disorganization). Low values indicate that the students
observe such offences frequently. 59% of the students can be assigned to the
middle category, around 7% to the low and 34 % to the high category. Divided
by school types, it becomes obvious that highly disorganized communities are
mostly inhabited by students from Hauptschulen, whereas students from
Gymnasium live primarily in communities with a low level of disorganization
(Figure 1).

21

60
50
30
0

10

20

40

Sonderschule
Hauptschule
Realschule
Gymnasium

High level of
disorganization

Medium level of
disorganization

Low level of
disorganization

Figure 1: Type of school by degree of urban community disorganization

To analyze the influence delinquent peers have on their friends, the friends
extent of truancy was analyzed. The respondents were asked to state, how
many of their friends have skipped school a day or more than a day. Regarding
the whole sample, it can be noticed that around 40% of the students have more
than one friend who skipped school at least one day. Major differences between
the school types do not exist.

3.

Strategies of analysis and method

First of all, we illustrate the bivariate association between the single elements of
the theories. Because most variables do not fulfil the requirements of Pearsons
Product Moment Correlation (Frhlich and Becker 1971), we use Spearmans
Rank Order Correlation Coefficient. We make use of a binary-logistic regression
model in order to check the hypotheses. At the end, stepwise regression
models were performed (Meyer-Bahlburg 1969).
22

As the sample was realized in the form of a multistage clustered sampling

(urban community school class), standard errors of the parameters might be
biased. Assumingly, students of the same class share more common features
than in case of a real random sampling (Diekmann 1997; Oberwittler 2003b).
Thus, we have to deal with heteroscedasticity. To solve this problem, Huber
(1981) and White (1980) proposed a procedure to calculate covariance matrices
of consistent heteroscedasticity to adjust for the mentioned bias. Corresponding
routines were implemented, for example in STATA or R. The latter is used for
the revised estimation of parameters of the binary-logistic model12.

V.
1.

Results
Prevalence of truancy in Cologne

More than a third of the respondents (35,2%) skipped school at least once
during their school career. Divided by gender, a higher percentage can be noted
for boys (37,7%) in comparison to girls (32,8%). 29% of the students have
skipped school within the year before the questioning took place. Again,
differences between sex can be detected (boys: 31,1%, girls: 26,9%). According
to our definition, 7,9% of all students can be called truants, thereof 10% of boys
and 6% of girls. A division by age shows an almost continuous increase of
truancy between the age 13 and 17 (Figure 2). One has to be aware of
assuming a simple age effect, as with growing age the proportion of those
students increases who tend to become truants because of their former
educational career (e.g. forced to repeat a class grade). Additionally, 17 year
olds are a very specific group because they attend the 10th grade and 80% of
them had to repeat a school year at least once during their career.

12

To realize this, an implemented method by Frank Harrel was used to adjust the variancecovariance matrix of a fit from maximum likelihood or least squares, to correct for
heteroscedasticity and for correlated responses from cluster samples (R Development Core
Team 2003).

23

Truancy in the
last year

13

14

15

16

17

60
40
30
20
10
0

Boys
Girls

Frequent truancy

50

60
50
40
30
10

20

30
10

20

40

50

60

Truancy ever

13

14

Age

15

16

17

13

Age

14

15

16

17

Age

Figure 2: Types of truancy by sex and age (information about students of the
age 18 are not presented due to a low number of cases).

Students from Hauptschulen more often skip school than students from
Sonderschulen, Realschulen and Gymnasien (Table 3). A further differentiation
by the class grade reveals an increase of all three types of truancy, except for
students from the Sonderschule. This corresponds to the age differences stated
above.

Table 3: Frequency of truancy by type of school and class grade

Truancy ever
Truancy last year
Six times and more
%
Na
%
N
%
N
23,7
33
7,7
26
7,7
26
43,9
41
32,4
37
10,8
37
32,4
34
23,3
30
6,7
30
35,2
108
22,6
93
8,6
93
Hauptschule
36,5
126
32,8
122
13,1
122
46,2
210
39,8
206
13,6
206
58,3
115
46,5
114
17,5
114
46,6
451
39,6
442
14,5
442
Realschule
28,8
137
22,4
134
5,2
134
31,3
99
24,7
97
6,2
97
36,2
138
29,8
131
6,9
131
32,1
347
25,7
362
6,1
362
Gymnasium
24,5
367
20,3
364
3,8
364
30,3
251
25,5
243
4,1
243
38,5
252
31,7
243
6,6
243
30,2
870
25,1
850
4,7
850
Total
35,2
1819
29,0
1763
7,9
1763
a
Total number of cases of all students within each class grade and type of school.
Type of school
Sonderschule

Class grade
8
9
10
Total
8
9
10
Total
8
9
10
Total
8
9
10
Total

24

2.

Family attachment and family structure

The test of the hypotheses of the social control theory concentrates on the
internalization of conventional values and norms formulated in section III.1.
Table 4 shows the bivariate correlations among the variables of attachment and
truancy controlled for school types (H1-H6).

Table 4:

Correlation among variables of attachment and truancy by type of

school
Sonderschule
N

Attachment
Relationship to father
assigned by school
grades
Relationship to
mother assigned by
school grades
Relationship to
teachers
Discipline
Frequent critisism by
parents
Frequent conflict with
parents
Physical punishment
by father
Physical punishment
by mother
Supervision
Parental supervision
Commitment
Educational
investments
Involvement
Membership in an
association
Belief
Law abiding behavior

Hauptschule
N

0,08

98

0,08

0,16

102

0,16

108

0,11*

0,15

104

0,01

0,26**

104

0,08

424

Realschule
N

Gymnasium
N

Total

0,20*** 352

0,16*** 834

0,13*** 1708

0,03

359

0,14*** 844

0,14*** 1739

435

0,14*

358

0,17*** 840

0,10*** 1741

431

0,08

360

0,14*** 843

0,07**

0,23*** 431

0,14**

360

0,12**

850

0,16*** 1733

102

0,03

431

0,15**

359

0,12*** 844

0,10*** 1736

0,10

104

0,05

435

0,08

360

0,06

0,08**

0,07

104

0,27*** 437

0,10

360

0,24*** 847

0,22*** 1748

0,18

109

0,22*** 435

0,05

359

0,12**

842

0,13*** 1745

0,09

108

0,02

0,07

362

0,05

846

0,05*

0,03

102

0,22*** 431

0,22*** 434

438

0,24*** 356

847

0,19*** 844

1738

1746

1754

0,18*** 1733

Rank Order Correlation by Spearman; *: p<0,05; **: p<0,01; ***: p<0,001.

Not regarding differences between school types, the last column Total
presents a weak or moderate bivariate correlation among all aspects relevant
for social control theory and truancy. Highly negative values are observed for
the variables of parental control and conventional behavior according to the law
(belief in social rules). Concerning the emotional attachment to parents, it might
be stated that students having a good relationship to either father or mother
show a lower risk of truancy.
Divided by school types, the results seem to be less compelling. The variables
emotional attachment, way of upbringing and supervision are of irregular
25

pattern. Focusing on students from the Gymnasium, significant coefficients are

identifiable for all variables except for the mothers way of disciplining which
run from high to very high. Strikingly, the fathers way of disciplining is more
closely related to truancy than that of the mother.

The amount of interest (supervision) parents show for the activities of their
children reduces the risk of truancy for students of the Gymnasium and the
Hauptschule, but not for students of the Realschule.

The relationship to teachers (H1a) exerts a strong influence on truancy, apart

from students of the Sonderschule. The better this relationship is, the less the
extent of truancy. Unfortunately, with the data at hand we cannot identify
causality: Does a good student-teacher relationship decrease truancy or do
students develop a good relationship to their teachers because they attend
school regulary? Educational investment turns out to be another relevant factor,
at least for students from the Hauptschule and the Gymnasium.
Contrasting hypothesis H5, the participation in activities outside school exposes very little
influence on truancy. Regarding the whole sample, a weak significant relationship must be
confirmed which, however, loses its impact when regarded by school type.

More importantly, H6 finds empirical support. Apart from students of the

Sonderschule, the risk of truancy decreases significantly, if the respondents
claim to behave in accordance with common law. Coefficients for students of
Haupt- and Realschule are slightly stronger (-0,22 resp. 0,24) than those of
students from the Gymnasium (-0,19).
3.

Socioeconomic Status, school achievement and alternatives

concerning school attendance

Hypothesis H7 assumes a positive correlation between the social status of the

parents and the achievement at school as a means for social recognition. A first
item indicating school achievement is the school type at time of interview. The
distribution of students across school types depends on the job prestige of the
parental home. It has been dichotomized in order to illustrate it more clearly
(table 5).

26

Table 5: Type of school by parental socioeconomic status (row percentage)

Parental socioeconomic
status
Rather high
Rather low

Sonderschule Hauptschule

Realschule

Gymnasium

Total

0,7

10,2

18,6

70,5

974

13,3

40,5

24,3

21,9

721

Total a

103
391
356
845
The rows and columns titled total represent the absolute number of cases.
The 2 is 476,29 (df=3) and Cramers V is 0,53***.

1695

The results stated in table 5 correspond to the findings from research on social
inequality (Baumert et al. 2002): A high significant Cramers V of 0,53 clearly
indicates a correlation between the parents social status and the school type. If
parents have a low prestige, the chance of attending a Sonderschule is 19
times higher (13,3/0,7) than for students whose parents show a high prestige.
Additionally, students coming from households with a low parental job prestige
attend a Hauptschule four times as often. Also, students with a high parental
prestige show a probability to achieve a higher level of education three times
more often than students with a low parental prestige.

To measure school achievement, we use the arithmetic mean of the school

grade in German and the grade in mathematics within the last report, as well as
a dichotomous variable that indicates whether a respondent had to repeat a
school year once. On average, all respondents show a satisfactory school
grade (3,04) in both subjects. A statistically significant difference between
adolescents from parental homes with a rather high (2,91) and with a rather low
(3,16) prestige becomes obvious. Table 6 presents the correlation coefficients
among inadequate school achievement, repeating a class grade in the past,
and the social prestige of the parents. The proportion of adolescents whose
school achievement has been assessed as inadequate in at least one subject
amounts to 10,0% within the high-prestige group, whereas the lower-prestige
group shows a proportion of 15,1%. Adolescents who come from parental
homes with a high social prestige experience a probability that is lowered by
37%13 to fail a class at least once. Similar results can be claimed for the

13

As a measure of association for dichotomous, categorical characteristics, the Odds Ratio is

listed within the last column of Table 6. The probability in percentages of a particular occurrence
to happen (in this case: inadequate achievement) within the group that has been coded 1 (in
this case: rather high prestige of job) follows the equation (OR-1) 100.

27

variable repeating a school year. Adolescents from homes with low social status
need to repeat a class 1,6 times more often than their classmates from the
reference group (29,8% versus 21,1%).
Table 6:

Academic achievement by parental socioeconomic status

(row percentage)
Inadequate achievements

Parental
socioeconomic
status

No

Yes

Repeating a school year

Total
%

Total
%

Rather high

871

90,0

97

10,0

100,0

765

78,9

205

21,1

100,0

Rather low

602

84,9

107

15,1

100,0

506

70,2

215

29,8

100,0

Phi=0,08***

Odds Ratio=0,63**

No

Yes

Phi=0,10***

Odds Ratio=0,63***

Rank Order Correlation by Spearman;*: p<0,05; **: p<0,01; ***: p<0,001.

While hypothesis H7a assumes a general relationship between poor school

achievement and the need to find alternative ways of aquiring economic wealth
and social recognition outside school, hypothesis H8 specifies these
alternatives. In this context, we assume a strong need for youngsters to receive
recognition from their peers. If there is no possibility to fulfil these needs through
a good school achievement, students look for alternatives outside the school
system. Referring to the theoretical discussion, we suppose that the social
recognition from the peers and the employment of the students are such
alternatives.

It is noticeable that the average monthly income decreases with the school
level, those differences however do not appear to be significant. The monthly
income of the truants is above average among all different school types: The
more time a student spends on part-time work, the more likely he is to become
a truant. There is one special characteristic about truants: the more prestigious
the school type, the higher the average monthly income. One possible
explanation for that may be that students from the Gymnasium get a higher
income than students from other school types, because they have more
advanced skills and therefore are more qualified.
Table 7 presents the correlation coefficients among the remaining indices for
educational achievement and the alternatives to a school career.

28

Poor educational achievement is associated with frequent contact with peers

and with frequent meetings in public places. A relationship to part-time work
cannot be identified. Repeating a school year is rather strongly correlated with
all four educational alternatives.
Table 7:

Correlation between employment status, frequency of meeting

friends and academic achievement

Grade point average Inadequate

academic
achievement
N
N

Frequency of meeting friends

0,17***
1749
0,13***
1749
Meeting friends in public
0,15***
1783
0,11***
1783
Employment income
0,02
1667
0,05*
1778
Time consuming employment
0,08
1667
0,06*
1801
Rank Order Correlation by Spearman; *: p<0,05; **: p<0,01; ***: p<0,001.

Repeating a school
year

0,15***
0,12***
0,09***
0,14***

N
1764
1799
1683
1683

Finally, hypothesis H7b claims that students are more likely to skip school, as
the chances increase in receiving social and economic resources outside of
school. Referring to all school types, table 8 indicates a significant positive
correlation between both, truancy and frequently contacting peers, and truancy
and meeting peers in public.

H7b is confirmed in connection to gainful employment for students from the

Gymnasium, the Realschule and the Hauptschule: the more time a student
spends on part-time work, the higher the frequency of truancy. Remarkably, the
wage students from Hauptschulen gain does not state a significant connection
to truancy, although the contact to peers has an impact on the latter. Students
from Hauptschulen may possibly strive for the acceptance of their peers more
than other students do.

Table 8:

Correlation between employment status, frequency of meeting

friends and truancy

Frequency of
Meeting friends in
Employment income Time consuming
meeting friends
public
employment
N
N
N
N

Sonderschule
0,18
100
0,16
104
0,15
100
0,22
100
Hauptschule
0,12*
427
0,20***
439
0,03
410
0,03
410
Realschule
0,22***
358
0,14**
361
0,17**
337
0,21***
337
846
0,17***
787
0,16***
787
Gymnasium
0,16***
831
0,13***
Total
0,20*** 1716
0,17*** 1750
0,12*** 1634
0,13*** 1634
Rank Order Correlation by Spearman; *: p<0,05; **: p<0,01; ***: p<0,001.

29

There is an obvious and highly significant correlation between educational

achievement and truancy. The strongest relationship can be identified between
truancy and repeating classes (=0,17***), followed by inadequate educational
achievement (=0,14***).
4.

The influence of urban subcultures

The following section deals with the influence of urban contexts on truancy. To
realize this approach, an index was formed based on different items of
subjective perception that represents the extent of disorganization within a
urban community lower values indicate a higher extent of disorganization.

Hypothesis H9 claims that adolescents living in disadvantaged communities

contact delinquent peers on a regular base. Thus, the students were asked how
many of their friends skip school. Table 9 shows the first part of the hypotheses
to be empirically relevant. A rank correlation coefficient of 0,32 in total can be
identified. Interestingly, there is hardly any variation between the four different
school types.

Table 9:

Correlation between disorganization of the urban community and

truancy within the peer group (left table); Correlation between truancy
within the peer group and individual truancy (right table)

Truancy within the peer

Disorganization of urban
group and individual
community and truancy
within the peer group
truancy
N
N

Sonderschule
0,34***
118
Sonderschule
0,38***
107
Hauptschule
0,31***
439
Hauptschule
0,36***
439
Realschule
0,32***
367
Realschule
0,26***
361
Gymnasium
0,30***
862
Gymnasium
0,30***
845
Total
0,32***
1786
Total
0,32***
1752
Rank Order Correlation by Spearman; *: p<0,05; **: p<0,01; ***: p<0,001.

The correlation between the prevalence of truancy among peers and individual
truancy shown in table 9 is obvious. The more the peers skip school, the higher
the risk of individual truancy. Hypothesis H9 is thus fully confirmed.
5.

Multivariate data analysis

To analyze the impact the variables of each theory have on truancy, we chose a
stepwise binary regression model including groups of variables linked to the
theoretical assumptions (table 10). The first group of variables presents
30

standard demographic variables that are not connected to any specific theory.
The beta coefficients and their standard errors are quoted. Percentage effects
are calculated with the help of the following transformation: (exp()-1)100.
The cumulative inclusion of each variable group follows the same structure
presented in the theoretical part. Model 2a implies the theoretical assumptions
of the social control theory of Sampson and Laub (1993): attachment to the
family, parents style of discipline/bringing up and lack of supervision14. Model 2b
contains the remaining dimensions of Hirschi attachment to teachers,
commitment, involvement and belief. Variables of the anomie theory are
included in three steps15. First we affiliate the influence of part-time work (model
3a), followed by inadequate school grades (model 3b) and the frequency of
contact with peers (model 3c). Finally in model 4, effects described by the urban
subculture theory were included (desorganization of urban community and
peers playing truant). To avoid an overfitting of the model, we reduced the
included variables to those being most relevant to test theoretical assumptions.
The relative explained variance of each model in comparison to model 1 is
shown in the last line of table 10.
To improve the comparability between the different models, we kept the number
of cases constant. Excluding missing values, the total number of responding
students for the multivariate analysis is 1563. With that, the original sample is
reduced by 14%. Because the variable part-time work contained a large
number of missing values, we created a new category no answer to avoid a
further reduction of valid cases.
Model 1, the zero model, controls for sex, class grade and type of school. Boys
skip classes more than girls. Students attending the Hauptschule show the
highest risk of truancy.

In Model 2a and 2b variables from social control theory were included.

Obviously, the explained variance from model 1 to model 2 is rising (+15%).
Relevant predictors are parental style of upbringing (77%) and parental

14

The two variables relationship to father and relationship to mother were combined to the
variable relationship to parents. In a similar way the variable physical punishment by parents
was formed.
15
Characteristics of the parents social status were not considered here as our hypotheses do
not claim a direct relationship between parents social status and truancy of the children.

31

supervision (-50%). The other factors attachment to teachers, commitment to

school success, belief in social rules, and involvement explain in
comparison to model 1 about 11,4%. Notably, the factors belief in social rules
and attachment to teachers reduce the risk of truancy by about 42% and 25%
respectively.

The first part of the empirical analysis within the anomie theory does not reveil
important variables for the explanation of truancy (+ 1,6% explained variance).
An indicator for an alternative way to reach economic wealth alongside a school
career was to do a part-time job. To measure the intensity of work, we used the
average monthly income and created a dichotomous variable (less or more than
220 Euros a month). Part-time jobs have no significant effect on truancy. We
can draw another conclusion, if we take a look at the school achievement. If
students report at least one inadequate school grade on the school report, their
risk of becoming a truant rises by about 127%. The result for students who
already repeated a year in their school career are even broader (+206%). In
model 3c, we included the frequency of contact to peers. Students meeting their
friends every day show a significantly higher risk of truancy (+123%) than those
with less appointments. In comparison to the results of bivariate analysis, we
can recognize a strong difference between students from the Gymnasium and
other types of school: The inclusion of the variable frequency of contact to
peers reduces the beta coefficient for students attending the Gymnasium.

32

Table 10: Binary logistic regression model of the factors influencing truancy

Constant
Sex
Class grade
Sonderschule
Hauptschule
Realschule
Gymnasium
Social Control Theory
Relationship to the parents
Frequent conflicts with parents
Frequent physical punishment by parents
Parental supervision

Model 1
Se

Model 2a
se

3,13**
0,45*
0,18
0,97*

1,15
0,20
0,13
0,49

2,47*
0,57**
0,16
1,08*

1,13***
1,25***

0,28
0,23

1,24
0,22
0,13
0,53

Model 2b
se

0,10
0,57***
0,06
0,70***

0,03
0,53***
0,12
0,61***

0,11
0,13
0,15
0,11

0,01
0,54***
0,07
0,62***

0,11
0,13
0,16
0,12

0,04
0,53***
0,05
0,68***

0,12
0,13
0,17
0,13

0,04
0,52***
0,08
0,63***

0,12
0,13
0,17
0,13

0,05
0,43**
0,02
0,51***

0,12
0,14
0,18
0,14

0,29*
0,25
0,54***
0,72

0,14
0,16
0,12
0,48

0,30*
0,26
0,53***
0,71

0,14
0,16
0,12
0,47

0,28
0,23
0,60***
0,57

0,15
0,16
0,12
0,48

0,27
0,22
0,59***
0,57

0,15
0,16
0,12
0,49

0,13
0,16
0,46***
0,60

0,15
0,16
0,13
0,49

0,49
0,50

0,48
0,42

0,42
0,46

0,48
0,42

0,19
0,35

0,48
0,39

0,79**
1,12***

0,29
0,24

0,67*
0,98***

0,30
0,25

0,80**

0,24

0,48

0,26

0,62*
2,31***

0,24
0,36

0,82** 0,29
1,12*** 0,23

Frequency of contact to friends

Urban Subculture Theory
Disorganization of urban community
Truancy within the peer group

33

1,61 2,07
0,23 0,28
0,15
0,14
0,61 1,15

se

0,35
0,31

Inadequate academic achievement

Repeating a class

0,92
0,39
0,20
1,23*

Model 4

1,25*** 0,33 1,24***

0,70*
0,30 0,69*

Reference Group
0,80
0,43
0,57
0,40

1,52
0,23
0,15
0,59

1,29*** 0,33
0,94*** 0,28

Anomie Theory
No time consuming employment
Time consuming employment
Missing employment information

0,08
0,41
0,17
1,04

Model 3c
se

1,19*** 0,32
1,17*** 0,24

Relationship to teachers
Educational investments
Law abiding behavior
Membership in an association

1,38
0,23
0,14
0,56

Model 3b
se

1,36
1,42
0,45
0,23
0,07
0,14
0,92
0,57
Reference Group
1,35*** 0,31 1,33*** 0,32
1,34*** 0,27 1,30*** 0,27

0,11
0,12
0,15
0,11

0,92
0,51*
0,12
1,00

Model 3a
se

1,74
0,24
0,16
0,61

N
Nagelkerke R2
Likelihood Ratio
DF
Improvement in comparison to Model 1
(in percentage points)

1563
0,07
45,84
5

1563
0,22
148,73
9
15,0

1563
0,28
193,99
13
11,4

*: p<0,05; **: p<0,01; ***: p<0,001.

34

1563
0,29
199,54
15
1,6

1563
0,34
235,84
17
7,3

1563
0,36
247,41
18
4,2

1563
0,45
320,56
20
25,7

Finally, variables of the urban subculture theory were entered in model 4. We

analyzed the influence of the urban community and of delinquent peers on
truancy. Both variables are highly significant. The less disorganized the urban
community, the less the risk of truancy (-46%). There is a remarkably outstanding
positive effect of peers truancy on individual behavior. The risk of truancy rises by
about +907%, if the student is in contact to peers who are skipping classes. Only
these two variables raise the explained variance by about 26%. Because of that
other variables loose their explanatory power. On the one hand, students who
have contact to peers missing classes quite often mention conflicts with their
parents. On the other hand, students with deviant peers experience a lack of
parental supervision. School factors still strongly affect truancy. Only the
relationship to teachers looses some explanatory power.

What conclusions can we draw from this analysis following the theoretical
assumptions in Chapter III? Relevant dimensions of the social control theory are
parental way of up bringing (H2, +54%), lack of supervision (H3, -40%) and belief
in conventional goals (H6, -37%). Only the school grades are significant variables
of the anomie theory, even if H7 is not presuming a direct effect on truancy. We
also tested the importance of alternative ways besides a school career to reach
economic wealth and social recognition. According to this, students with contact to
peers playing truant show a high risk of truancy (H8, +62%).

Both variables of the urban subculture theory indicate a particularly strong

influence on truancy (H9). The social control theory also shows empirical
confirmation. Parental supervision and the belief in social rules especially reduce
the risk of truancy. We could not find any empirical support for the assumption of
the anomie theory that low resources predict truancy. This result is still confirmed,
even if we control for the type of school (results are not shown).

VI. Discussion
It was our goal to analyze the prevalence of truancy in the city of cologne on the
one hand and to analyze predictors using classical theories of deviant behavior on
the other hand. More than a third (35,1%) of all students reported to have skipped

35

school at least once in their whole school career. 7,9% of the students attending
grade 8th to 10th can be defined as truants, 10% of the boys and 6% of the girls.
We also found a relationship between class grade, age and truancy: The higher
the class grade and age, the higher the prevalence of truancy. Still, neither sex nor
class grade have a significant effect on truancy in the multivariate model. More
obvious is the steep incline among the different school types. Students attending
the Hauptschule skip classes most often (14,5%), followed by students from the
Sonderschule with 8,6%, students from the Realschule (6,1%) and finally students
from the Gymnasium with 4,7%. Truancy is a phenomenon of the less skilled
school types.

Three classical theories of deviant behavior were used to explain truancy: the
social control theory, the anomie theory and the theory of urban subcultures.
Summarizing the results, we can say that hypotheses of all three theories found
empirical validation. Therewith, truancy is a type of deviant behavior based on
weak bonding to conventional institutions and groups, on low access to legitimate
means for reaching a higher educational attainment and on an affiliation to
unconventional subcultures and peer groups.

Still not all of the hypotheses found empirical validation. Taking a look at social
control theory, we can identify three factors as relating to truancy: inadequate
parental upbringing, weak parental supervision and poor internalization of
conventional norms and values by the student (belief in social rules). Further
studies should find out if a weak bonding to the parents has an influence on
skipping school for students from all different school types. Nevertheless, we could
find a strong relationship between truancy and a weak bonding to the parents for
the students from the Gymnasium. For students attending other school types, the
pattern is more inconsistent. The results of the binary regression analysis show
that it is less important for the explanation of truancy whether students rate their
relationship to the parents in a good or a bad way. The aspects of parental control
mentioned by Sampson and Laub (1993) type of upbringing and supervision
have a strong influence on truancy, however. Therefore, direct parental control is
more important than indirect control as described by Hirschi.

36

Also, the dimensions commitment and involvement are only weakly associated
with truancy. Commitment signifies the intensity of investments in conventional
goals. Involvement describes the participation in conventional activities (sports
group, volunteering activities etc.). Only bivariate analysis shows a connection
between truancy and investments in school career. Involvement appears to have
no effect on truancy at all.

Like the social control theory, hypotheses deduced from the anomie theory could
only partly find empirical support. We can definitely say that all students skip
school less if they show a good school performance. This result is consistent for all
three indicators of school performance: School grades, repeating a year and the
type of school attended. In this respect, especially students who have no
opportunities to get recognition through successful performance turn their back on
school. Also a limited opportunity to reach a valuable school diploma giving the
chance to achieve a good position in the job market in the future and therefore,
the opportunity to reach a high status and economic wealth may induce truancy.
A second point in the anomie theory is focused on the relation between the
socioeconomic status of the parents and school achievement. The parents social
status influences all three indicators of school performance. A third element of
anomie theory emphasizes the importance of social recognition and means to fulfil
conventional goals that are located outside of school. The current study defines
the gainful employment and the quest for social recognition within the peer group
as such alternatives. In fact, truants dispose of an average monthly income which
is higher than the earnings of students that do not or only occasionally skip school.
The multivariate data analysis does not show these differences to be significant.
However, it can be stated that truants meet their friends at outdoor places nearly
every day. The close relationship to peers deliberately carried out without parental
surveillance fits the results of social control theory that parental supervision is
very important.

Following the subculture theory, a close relationship between the subjectively

perceived quality of the local environment and truancy can be identified. As a
matter of fact: The more disorganized the local environment is perceived to be the
more distinct the truancy. Furthermore, deviant peers play an important role as

36

they according to the theory of differential associations convey deviant values

and norms. In disorganized communities, the adolescent is more likely to be in
touch with peers who do not attach importance to a regular school attendance and
thus offer different options to achieve social recognition than regular school
attendance.

According to the results of our study, the three agents of socialization family,
school and peers offer the most explanatory power for truancy. Although each of
these contexts is almost independent, still all of them exert a direct influence on
truancy. There is not only one dominant risk factor, we have to consider many
factors that belong to different societal systems. Consequently, it seems
misleading to assume that one decisive factor causes truancy. We should instead
think of cumulative processes among the different areas of socialization that cause
students to become truants through a gradual process.

The current study shows two deficits which can only be overcome by further
analyses. On the one hand, we tried to determine the characteristics of social
situations that increase the risk of truancy. It is probable though, that the students
individual and psychological characteristics need to be considered as well (school
phobia, low self-control, problems while growing up). On the other hand,
longitudinal studies are needed which help to explain the causal interaction of the
features identified in this study. Poor educational achievement or the orientation
towards deviant peers might also be a consequence of truancy.

In spite of these deficits, some useful ways to reduce truancy might be deduced
from our findings. First of all, an accurate control of the students presence at
school is important. Students need to know that even skipping just one lesson will
be registered by the school. Parents should be informed immediately of the
unauthorized school absence of their children. Educational matters should be
demonstrated in a more appealing way, so that parents become more engaged in
the school life of their children. This is especially fundamental for parents who do
not put a high value on educational attainment.

36

Teachers should talk to truants without stigmatizing them. During lessons, the
students social abilities should be strengthened. It should become a matter of
discussion if curriculum should be modified so that also students with poor skills
are satisfied. This is an important issue, especially for students of the Hauptschule
(cp. also Tillmann et. al. 2000: 301 et sqq.). Poor school grades and the enforced
repetition of a class grade seem to increase the cases of truancy. Truants belong
to peer groups with a widespread delinquency in many cases. Thus, it is useful to
weaken the connections truants hold to these groups by offering opportunities to
establish different social relationships.

36

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36

Appendix
Table 11: Description of variables
Missing
N
N % MIN MAX
SD
Truancy (periods)
1747 77 4,2 0
92
6,66
Frequent truancy
1763 61 3,3 0
1
0,27
Sex (m=0, w=1)
1815
9 0,5 0
1
0,50
Class grade
1808 16 0,9 8
10
0,81
Relationship to father assigned by grades 1759 65 3,6 1
6
1,37
Relationship to mother assigned by grades 1793 31 1,7 1
6
1,07
Frequent criticism by parents
1794 30 1,6 1
4
0,98
Frequent conflicts with parents
1787 37 2,0 1
4
0,96
Physical punishment by father
1792 32 1,8 1
4
0,67
Physical punishment by mother
1802 22 1,2 1
4
0,60
Parental supervision
1803 21 1,2 1
4
0,83
Relationship to teachers
1802 22 1,2 1
4
0,83
Educational investments
1805 19 1,0 1
4
0,73
Membership in association
1813 11 0,6 0
1
0,32
Law abiding behavior
1789 35 1,9 1
4
0,96
Parental socioeconomic status
1695 129 7,1 1
4
1,02
Grade point average
1801 23 1,3 1
6
0,85
Inadequate achievement
1801 23 1,3 0
1
0,33
Repeating a school year
1819
5 0,3 0
1
0,44
Employment income (in Euro)
1688 136 7,5 0 1022,58 86,24
Time consuming employment
1688 136 7,5 0
1
0,21
Frequency of contact to friends
1769 55 3,0 0
1
0,47
Meeting friends in public
1804 20 1,1 0
1
0,50
Disorganization of urban community
1795 29 1,6 0
2
0,58
Truancy within the peer group
1811 13 0,7 0
1
0,49

36

AM
1,82
0,08
0,54
8,93
2,25
1,83
2,06
2,27
1,27
1,22
3,44
2,98
3,10
0,12
2,95
2,79
3,04
0,12
0,26
30,06
0,04
0,34
0,44
1,28
0,40