The Convergence of Educational and Criminal Justice Systems in Postemancipation Jamaica: 21st-Century U.S. Implications

• In Event: 46.029 - State Policy and the Education of the Masses: International Perspectives

Abstract

Drawing on the tenets of Applied Africana Studies and the use of archival research methods, this study provides a historical narrative interpretation of legislation in Jamaica from 1857 to 1892 that shaped the education and training of orphaned and abandoned youth and those deemed delinquent. Findings suggest that during this period, legislation concerning reformatory and industrial schools remained at the forefront of social reform and served as a catalyst to uproot social ills such as vagrancy. By making linkages to contemporary educational practices that contribute to a growing convergence between schools and criminal justice systems, this study raises awareness of the racialized and gendered orientation of educational schemes designed to re-socialize those categorized as delinquent.

Author

• Sandra Richards Mayo, Azusa Pacific University