Disabling the School-to-Prison Pipeline: The Relationship Between Special Education and Arrest

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: On the Violences of Disablism: Finding Strength in Dis/Abled Voices

Abstract

Young people who have received special education services in the United States are vastly overrepresented in juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. Many educators and researchers assume that young people receiving special education services have unique deficits that need to be fixed; however, educational policies, structures, and experiences are intimately tied to the likelihood of involvement with criminal justice systems. The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to gain a better understanding of the school-level factors that seem to push so many children receiving special education services along the school-to-prison pipeline. This study uses regression analysis and semi-structured interviews with young people who have received special education services and been arrested in order to investigate significant school-level factors.

Author

• Laura Vernikoff, Teachers College, Columbia University