Objectified Discipline: School appearance policies and body surveillance

• In Event: School Safety and Security: Emerging Patterns in Policy and Practice

Abstract

The potential consequences for adolescents subjected to school discipline are broadly acknowledged by researchers. While a significant portion of the existing research has concentrated on the consequences associated with serious infractions, minor forms of student misconduct are often overlooked. School appearance policies (e.g., dress codes and uniforms) are often considered harmless, despite the fact that the negative effect of appearance-related comments is well established (Slater & Tiggemann, 2015) and theorized as a form of objectification (Aghasaleh, 2018; Happel, 2013; Morris, 2005; Raby, 2010). The present study examines the relationship between appearance violations and habitual body monitoring, or body surveillance, using one of the most common measures of objectification, OBC-youth scale (McKinley & Hyde, 1996). This presentation will discuss results from a multivariate analysis conducted with an online sample of 15 to 18 year olds as a part of the fourth wave of the International Self-Report Delinquency survey (ISRD-4).

Author

• Mikaela Sky Nielsen, University of California, Irvine