Punishment Avoidance in the Making: The Role of Parental Involvement in School Discipline

• In Event: Parental Involvement in Education

Abstract

Punishment avoidance, defined as breaking rules without receiving formal sanctions, is an understudied yet critical dimension for understanding inequalities in disciplinary outcomes. While extensive studies have examined why disadvantaged youth are more likely to be punished, less is known about how others avoid punishment despite engaging in comparable rule-breaking behaviors. This study extends prior research by examining the role of parental involvement in shaping punishment avoidance in school discipline. Parental involvement in school, a well-documented form of social and cultural capital, has been shown to influence educators’ perception of and rule enforcement on children. Using survey and interview data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this project examines(1) whether general parental involvement (i.e., parental involvement in routine school activities) is associated with a decreased likelihood of the child receiving school suspension or expulsion; (2) whether issue-specific parental involvement (i.e., parental involvement in response to child behavioral or academic problems) is associated with a reduced likelihood of the child receiving school suspension or expulsion; and (3) the strategies parents use to engage with schools to help their child avoid disciplinary actions. By identifying mechanisms of punishment avoidance, this study suggests that inequalities in punishment are not only produced through bias against disadvantaged groups but also sustained through the strategic use of social capital by, to some extent, advantaged groups.

Author

• Guyu Sun, University of Maryland, College Park