Over recent years evidence of increasing levels of exclusion from British schools has been provided by individual researchers, teaching associations, local education authorities, the media and the government. Current dominant perceptions tend to focus on the pathological behaviour of individual children (children who 'behave badly' in the Government's terms) or the inability of schools to manage such challenging behaviour. Less readily acknowledged are the inherent tensions resulting from processes that permit certain children to be denied access to the compulsory education system and the interaction between exclusion from school and race, gender and class stratification. Exclusion must, therefore, be seen not only in terms of young people's experiences of education and schooling but also as part of the complex relationship between individuals, families, the labour market, health and state support and surveillance services. The paper aims to contribute to increasing awareness of the disadvantage experienced by children whose need is compounded by exclusion from the education system and tension between recent child care legislation and educational reform in Britain. It cautions practioners and policy-makers against the hasty application of potentially divisive and counterproductive 'solutions' based on legal and administrative responses, 'effective' management of children's behaviour within school and resourcing for schools and support services. Rather it hopes to begin to identify the questions which should be asked in order to gain a more accurate understanding of the problem.
