Date of Award

2023

Degree Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Justice Studies

First Advisor

John Brent

Abstract

Abstract Prior literature has shown that black and brown bodies (BBB) are policed and victimized at higher rates than their white counterparts within the criminal justice system. The criminalization of school discipline is a microcosm of ‘big’ criminal justice. Criminal justice measures were implemented within schools as a means of maintaining ‘safety.’ Policing in schools perpetuates punishment disproportionality and maintains similar disproportionalities as the ‘big’ criminal justice system in terms of for whom and how how severely it is applied. Meaning that regardless of the school's demographics or student backgrounds, black and brown bodies are punished at a higher rate than their white counterparts. Prior literature has already shown that black and brown youth are policed at higher rates within schools than their white counterparts and that school demographics also have an effect on racialized school discipline. However, prior research is limited in its ability to take into account the potential interconnectivity of these multilevel findings. This research uses Wacquant's theory to explain the intentional holes in institutions that are used as a means of maintaining social control and Racial/Ethnic Threat to negate the idea of 'safety.' Based on past research, the purpose of this study is to correlate the disproportional use of punishment on minorities at the individual level and the institutional level. This research controls for prior misconduct and/or prior criminalization, finding that BBBs continue to be punished at higher rates, regardless of the demographics of the school. The findings of this research allude to the reality of these discriminatory practices; they are not to maintain ‘safety', but could be interpreted as institutional means of control aimed to preserve and perpetuate systems of marginalization and oppression.

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