Carcerality and the Classroom: Teachers Role in the Criminalization of Incarcerated Youth

• In Event: Holding Kids Captive and Imprisoning Education: Abolitionist Research on Youth Incarceration and Carceral Schooling

Abstract

Objective and Methods

In light of recent protests in response to racial violence, terms such as abolition have made their way into mainstream media. Abolition is oftentimes thought of in connection to police officers or policing institutions. However, an equally pernicious trend of carcerality occurs in carceral schooling contexts with K-12 youth. The purpose of this paper is to therefore examine how dominant ideologies of teachers in a juvenile probation camp setting maintains violence against Black and Brown youth. The findings of this paper is based on a larger ethnographic study conducted in two juvenile probation camps in LA County. The research team engaged in over a year of participant observation fieldwork and 45 interviews with students, teachers, and staff.

Conceptual Framework

This study draws on a few overlapping frameworks. First, the “labeling hype” coined by Victor Rios (2011) is appropriate in this context as it elucidates: 1) how Black and Brown youth are disproportionately labeled and stigmatized as criminally inclined; 2) how these labels “multipl[y] boys’ experience with criminalization”; and 3) how labeling results in a “spiral of punitive responses imposed by institutions which labeled them as deviant” (p. 45). Similarly, Annamma’s (2018) notion of “pedagogy of pathologization” interrogates the carceral logic that takes place within juvenile facilities’ education sites. Further, Annamma explores how the social construction of Black and Brown bodies is rooted in patterns of interlocking systems of racism and oppression used to label, surveil, and punish youth of color. These frameworks are echoed in Savannah Shange’s (2017) work on carceral progressivism, which further explores carceral logics in the classroom.

Findings

Superpredator Script
The overtly racist rhetoric of Black and Brown youth being “superpredators” underlies attitudes and practices by teachers that further contribute to the criminalization of student behavior in the classroom. Students shared stories of how they believed their teachers felt threatened by them. Teachers refused to provide additional tutoring services or allow students to step outside for air, even with a probation officer present. Additionally, teachers over-relied on disciplinary measures instead of promoting safer learning environments.


“Dumbing Down” of Curriculum
Similar to the view that the students are inherently criminal, students complained of how the curriculum left them feeling unchallenged (i.e. intentionally). When asked about the differences between the rigor of his classes at his prior school compared to the juvenile hall, one student replied that he felt they “do little kid stuff” and receive credits for simply showing up to class, as opposed to mastering content. One student stated, “They don't think none of us going to college . . . cause we juveniles, they look at us different.”

Significance

Abolitionist discourse and practices is the only hope to challenge dominant ideologies rooted in White Supremacy. Only through an abolitionist framework can we begin to humanize Black and Brown youth who have been harmed by multiple systems of oppression, like the youth in this study. Abolition offers hope for youth who are labeled as “criminals,” when they too are worthy of justice and love.

Author

• Annie Le, Stanford University