UNTITLED SCHOOL DETENTION EXPERIMENT

OVERVIEW

Boys in a secondary school were randomly assigned on the day of their tardiness to either a reprimand group or a detention group. On the same day of being late, the group of late boys for that day would either receive a reprimand or a detention together. This intervention had no impact on tardiness.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target Population First-time tardiness offenders in a boys’ school

Boys were either reprimanded or received detention at the end of the school day for tardiness to their first class of the day. The headmaster administered detention after dismissing boys with legitimate excuses. Detention lasted 30 minutes of quiet sitting in the classroom, and was given on 13 days of one month.

EVALUATION OF PROGRAM

Palmer, J. W. (1967). Punishment - a field for experiment. British Journal of Criminology, 7, 434-441.

Evaluated Population: Boys who are tardy to secondary school were evaluated. The authors looked at boys who arrived late only once or twice.

Approach: Boys were randomly given detention or reprimand for rule violation. The study evaluated the number of days before the next day tardiness occurred.

Results: No significant impact was found for this intervention. At the end of the 37 possible days during which boys could be tardy, 46.1 percent had been late only once and were reprimanded for it, and 30.7 percent had been late only once and were in detention for it.

SOURCES FOR INFORMATION

References

Palmer, J. W. (1967). Punishment - a field for experiment. British Journal of Criminology, 7, 434-441.

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: 11-18      

Program components: School-based

Measured outcomes: Behavioral problems

KEYWORDS: School-based, Delinquency (e.g., truancy, vandalism, theft, assault, running away etc), Adolescents (12-17), Male-only.

Last Updated: 6/30/10