Experiences With School Discipline: Minoritized Girls' Sense of Belonging and "Staying Out of Trouble"

• In Event: School Discipline. Hard Truths: Continuing the Conversation About the Disproportionate Impact of Discipline Practices

Abstract

This qualitative study explores Black and Latinx high school girls’ experiences with school discipline while also examining their sense of belonging and its potential to mediate behaviors and disciplinary outcomes. Historically, discipline rates for minoritized students exceed those of white students, leading to many negative outcomes that are detrimental to minoritized students. We investigate how school discipline is experienced by students of intersectional identities. Preliminary results reveal that many participants had no discipline problems when they exhibited a strong sense of belonging. Thus, sense of belonging can serve as a protective factor against disciplinary outcomes. Nonetheless, these students often witnessed and were impacted by their peers’ disciplinary encounters. Findings from this study will inform schools’ disciplinary policies and practices.

Authors

• Antoinette J. Waller, University of Maryland - College Park

• Nicole Mejia, University of Maryland - College Park

• Marissa R Sariol-Clough, University of Maryland - College Park