Victimization and school: Young people’s experiences of receiving support to keep up with their schoolwork

Abstract

Victimization early in life can have several serious consequences, one of which concerns young people’s schoolwork. The present study therefore aims to investigate what support young people need to keep up with their schoolwork, based on their needs following victimization. The material consists of narrative interviews with 19 young people who were the plaintiffs at trials when they were 15–19 years old. The results show that several of the young victims did not want to go to school due to the risk of meeting their perpetrator, and because of that their grades declined when they were not physically present in school, they lost their motivation to study. There is also variation between the young victims about whether they perceive that the schools supported them and/or made adaptations to make sure they could continue with their schoolwork. The schools have a responsibility to make some adaptations, but it is not clear how far this responsibility stretches or to what extent the young victims themselves have been a part of the process. For this reason, they might not have perceived the potential adaptations and support they received from their schools as supportive. Suggestions are given concerning what the schools and other authorities need to think about when working with young victims of crime to make sure they continue with their schoolwork as much as possible.