The school-to-prison pipeline: A comprehensive examination of the relationship between exclusionary discipline and legal system outcomes
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The school-to-prison pipeline refers to an established relationship between exclusionary discipline and an increased likelihood of legal system outcomes.The present study provides a comprehensive and nuanced examination of this relationship to advance current understanding of the pipeline.Using school records of suspensions and expulsions (Grades 1 to 12) and juvenile and adult court records of convictions (ages 12 through 31) from a large, diverse, and multisite sample (n = 553, 58.6% male, 61.5% Black) within the Fast Track project, this longitudinal study examined whether the occurrence, frequency, and age of suspension or expulsion were associated with the occurrence, frequency, severity, and type of offending as well as juvenile versus adult offending.These associations were tested through a series of regression analyses while controlling for several potential covariates.Compared to those who were never suspended or expelled, individuals who were suspended or expelled were not only more likely to offend but also tended to offend more often, commit more serious offenses, and engage in public order or property, substance, and violent offenses.Each additional suspension or expulsion was associated with an increasing likelihood of offending, higher rates and greater seriousness of offending, and public order or property and violent offending.Both suspension or expulsion in childhood and in adolescence were associated with increased rates and seriousness of offending, but exclusion in childhood predicted public order or property, substance, and violent offenses, whereas exclusion in adolescence predicted only public order or property offenses.These findings underscore the importance of reevaluating the use of exclusionary discipline, especially when imposed multiple times or at a young age, and call for research, practices, and policies that disrupt, rather than reinforce, this pipeline.
Source: Summit (Simon Fraser University)
Author: Jackson, Jourdan R.
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7139464401