“Safety and Security First”: The Reproduction of Carceral Logics in Juvenile Court Schools

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Power, Equity, and Inequalities in School Organizations (Table 2)

Abstract

There are an estimated 652 juvenile detention centers with accompanying juvenile court schools. Using a critical ethnographic approach, I examine the beliefs, roles, responsibilities, and situated practices of organizational actors within a hybrid organization– a juvenile detention center. Findings demonstrate that organizational actors use different organizational logics, such as evidence-based decision making, psychological care, and educational equity to advance organizational shifts in approach, policies, and practices. Yet this study shows that their efforts are often met with opposition due to the dominant logic of safety and security. When invoked, the logic of safety and security, not only governs the carceral context, but also shapes, impacts, and limits the effectiveness of the other logics when used to advocate for organizational change.

Author

• Julissa O. Muñiz, University of California - Los Angeles