Understanding Race and Delinquency: A Rationale for Alternatives to Out-of-School Suspensions

• In Event: Race, Punishment, and Student Outcomes and Experiences

Abstract

Despite the well-supported zero-tolerance policies for violence and illegal substances throughout secondary schools across the country, literature indicates that these policies are subjectively implemented and disproportionately impact minority students. As a result, African American boys and girls are three-times more likely to receive out-of-school suspension and expulsion. Moreover, although Black youth only comprise 16% of the juvenile population, they are referred to juvenile courts for delinquency offences at a rate 150% greater than Whites, and make up 58% of youth sent to adult prisons. While the school-to-prison pipeline has long-been established in the literature, this research adds to the scholarly debate by utilizing the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (1994-2008) and Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory to illuminate the racial differences in the effect of out-of-school suspension on subsequent delinquency and criminal justice involvement among Whites and minority students. The inclusion of Hispanic adolescents and young adults into this analysis is particularly relevant as it is a growing demographic that has not been adequately explored. This study highlights the importance of increasing awareness of disciplinary policies and their consequences for minority youth, and in particular, pathways that lead to criminalization.

Author

• Cicely J. Cottrell, Howard University