Til Everything Better: Youth, Restorative Justice, and Abolition

• In Event: RJ in Institutional Settings

Abstract

This presentation explores the implementation of college-level ‘Introduction to Sociology’ courses into juvenile detention facilities that utilize a restorative justice framework.
While research has been done that highlights the positive impact of higher education in adult carceral facilities, less is known about how adolescents respond to college-specific courses. Here, I unpack, and reflect, on various obstacles and victories to creating this unique style course within the facility. First, I contextualize earning trust through patience and meeting students where they are at. Second, creating modifications because of limited access to technology within carceral spaces. Next, understanding the limits of theory and making space for practice, specifically utilizing drill music to enhance sociological and criminological inquiry. Finally, advocate that education is not only liberation but a form of abolition to resist carceral logics.

Author

• Calvin John Smiley, Hunter College-CUNY