Abstract
“School refuser” is an always-already negative child identity. The term is used to categorize children or adolescents who appear to dislike and fear school (or aspects of school) and persistently refuse to attend or attend very unwillingly. Given that school attendance is generally considered a necessary social good, regular and anxious refusal to attend is usually understood as problematic, maladaptive behaviour. Typically, the problem is discursively linked to certain psychiatric disorders, such as separation anxiety disorder and depression. This paper critically considers the significance of the usual understanding of school refusal as pathological and school refusers as maladjusted individuals.
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