Adolescence into Adulthood: How Exclusionary Discipline and Sex Impact Early Adulthood Social and Economic Opportunities

• In Event: Roundtable: Violence

Abstract

The school-to-prison pipeline has established the relationship between school exclusionary discipline and an increased likelihood of experiencing criminal justice contact. Furthermore, exclusionary discipline serves as a precursor to several negative life outcomes, including educational and economic disadvantages. Using a life course perspective and longitudinal data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) collected from 1998 to 2024, this study aims to understand the role that sex plays in exclusionary discipline and explores sex differences in early adulthood life opportunities post-exclusionary discipline. This study utilizes logistic regression analyses to answer the following questions: (1) Are there different early adulthood social and economic opportunities for those who experienced exclusionary discipline compared to those who did not? (2) Do girls who experienced exclusionary discipline have better early adulthood social and economic opportunities than boys who experienced exclusionary discipline? Findings suggest that those who experience exclusionary discipline are significantly more likely to have lower educational attainment and lower economic potential. Females who experience exclusionary discipline are significantly less likely to have higher economic potential than boys who experience exclusionary discipline.

Authors

• Madeline Shanahan, Pennsylvania State University

• Alexia Angton, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville