The Criminalization of Youth in Baltimore Neighborhoods and Schools

• In Event: 189 - Section on Community and Urban Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 03. Crime, Disorder, and The Reproduction of Urban Inequality

Abstract

Growing up in economically-disadvantaged urban neighborhoods often exposes young people to an array of ongoing stressful experiences. Increasingly, urban scholars have identified criminalization of teenagers and young adults as an important dimension of this stressful environment. We analyze in-depth interview data to examine how criminalization influences the daily routines of 150 teenagers and young adults who have grown up in Baltimore, Maryland. We add to the existing literature by analyzing the frequent interference of police officers and security personnel in both their neighborhoods and schools, the effects of these interactions on youths’ daily routines, and the gender dynamics within these interactions. We find that youth experience interactions with police and school security as microagressions, and these stressful interactions shape youths’ daily routines in ways that may negatively impact their wellbeing.

Authors

• Melody L. Boyd, SUNY-Brockport

• Susan E. Clampet-Lundquist, Saint Joseph's University