Studying Systems of a School-to-Prison Pipeline and Restorative Justice

• In Event: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Building Systems for Racial Justice and Equity

Abstract

The school-to-prison pipeline (hereafter “pipeline”) refers to the ways in which
institutional policies and practices push students out of classrooms and schools and into
streets and prisons (Annamma, 2016; Milner, Cunningham, Delale-O’Connor &
Kestenberg, 2019; Morris, 2016). For example, “zero tolerance” policies (policies that
make suspensions or expulsions mandatory for certain offenses) were first implemented
in the early 1990’s as a means of keeping schools safe.

Authors

• Bryant O. Best, Vanderbilt University

• Laura Fittz, Vanderbilt University

• Jacob Bennett, Vanderbilt University

• H. Richard Milner, Vanderbilt University