The Revolving Door: Stories From the Juvenile Justice System

• In Event: The Turbulence of Special Education Policy: Juvenile Detention, Funding Models, and Group-Centered Effects

Abstract

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; 2004) should be utilized to attain an appropriate education for youth with disabilities who are in the juvenile justice system (JJS). However, students with disabilities are disciplined through out-of-school suspensions, referred to police, and chronically absent at much higher rates than their non-disabled counterparts (Losen, Martinez, & Shin, 2021). This contradicts the fundamental purpose of the IDEA (i.e., basic access to education) and suggests that students with disabilities are being unlawfully discriminated against.

This study explored how racialized, poor, disabled, and “othered” children are forced to move between the revolving door of institutions, from discipline in schools to incarceration in JJS. I collected “stories to live by”—a narrative view of identity—from young adults with lived experience in the JJS. I engaged in Clandinin and Rosiek’s (2019) mapping of the landscape of narrative inquiry to explore borderland spaces and tensions. Seven participants shared stories of their time in the JJS, from which I wove three resonant threads: the revolving door, the ruining process, and “fire tests gold” (resilience).

JJ, who started his time in the JJS at 13 and was released from adult prison in 2022 at age 34, described the overarching logic of the JJS: “When people say the system is broke, no it’s not. The system is doing what the system is supposed to do.” Sam, who entered JJS at 11 and was in custody until 16, pointed to special education as his first experience with the revolving door of JJS: “I started off as a special education case for behavioral disorder relatively early, like I was behavioral problem from basically kindergarten like I almost got kicked out of kindergarten like the first week for my behavior.” According to TJ, incarcerated from age 13 to 18, the revolving door of JJS could not prepare him for later life:
"How are you expecting a kid to not only find a job, find a house, but also be able to pay off court fines? Like, that’s insane, especially if they don’t have any job history, barely have education. It’s setting kids up for failure and then keeping them in a redundant loop."

Nicole, just 13 when she was trafficked and arrested for prostitution, described how the ruining process extended across settings: “Foster care, running, placements. It was literally a living fucking hell, and that was just because I was either on the run, or I was in detention.” Despite their experiences in JJS, all participants showed resilience by devoting their adult time and work to mentoring young people.

The study’s implications for policy include stopping the process of labeling young kids “bad” and abolishing early punishments that start the “ruining process,” “invest, don’t arrest” (i.e., increase funding for community- and school-based youth services rather than for policing), and end fines and fees. Policies for practice include creating transformative approaches to juvenile justice through restorative practices that could move us toward a more balanced society in the lives of youth.

Author

• Christie Scanlin Dobson, StormDoor Productions