School-to-Prison Pipeline: Roots of the Problem

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The Aspects of the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Groups Affected by the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Historical Background of the Problem
Commentary
References

Introduction

The term school-to-prison pipeline refers to the tendency of children and young adults, typically from disadvantaged backgrounds, to be put in prison because of harsh disciplinary policies within schools. In this paper, the school-to-prison pipeline will be defined and discussed based on the following articles: The New Disciplinology: Research, Theory, and Remaining Puzzles on the School-to-Prison Pipeline (Rocque & Snellings, 2017) and Schools and Delinquency in the Early 20th Century: Rethinking the Originals of School Policing (Burton, 2017).

The Aspects of the School-to-Prison Pipeline

The articles I have used for the review show the problem from different perspectives. They study the development of the school-to-prison pipeline with time, as well as its current state. Both articles were written in recent years which means that the problems the authors underline are still acute.

Groups Affected by the School-to-Prison Pipeline

The first article studies those who are affected by the school-to-prison pipeline African Americans, natives of America and Alaska, students of low economical background, children with mental disabilities, and those at risk of academic failure (Rocque & Snellings, 2017). Each group is examined in detail. The authors provide an overview of the current situation, as well as research data available for each group affected by the school-to-prison pipeline. Rocque and Snellings (2017) point out that schools practice zero-tolerance policy, racial bias, inequity and criminalization of student behavior.

Scholars also explain how and why education and justice system became interconnected. According to the authors, the reasons for this connection are the following: the overuse of the exclusionary practice, the increasing criminalization of students, and the fact that students antisocial behavior has increased too. Rocque and Snellings (2017) also discuss the steps that can be taken to eliminate the risks for students to fall for the school-to-prison pipeline tendency. They explain the idea of the new penology, suggested by Malcolm Feely in 1992 which could help schools shift from risk management systems to identifying potentially dangerous groupings and work with them before it is too late (Rocque & Snellings, 2017, p. 4).

Historical Background of the Problem

The second article also shows that schools and justice systems are directly linked, but argues the fact that school-to-prison pipeline has become a tendency only in recent decades (Burton, 2017). Burton (2017) reveals historical aspects of integration of law enforcement and mass education, presenting two case studies of so-called Coordinating Councils a set of organizations which worked on bringing schools and justice system together in 1910s-1920s. The goal of Coordinating Councils was to detect delinquency and control youth with the help of legal judgments. Burton (2017) admits that school policing has become less optimistic and less forgiving (p. 547). The author points out the significant difference between the American schools of present days and the early twentieth century: schools have stopped seeing delinquency as something that can be prevented or cured. Researchers of that time believed that it was manageable if detected on time, they were willing to solve it. Burton (2017) calls the present days the end of rehabilitation (p. 547). Both articles explain all the negative aspects of the school-to-prison pipeline, but the first work is more concentrated on who is affected by the tendency and what is possible to do about it, while the second one reveals the historical aspect of the problem, almost in isolation from the current situation.

Commentary

The reviewed articles disclose the complexity of the problem. The historical background provided in the second article made it clear that the situation is worsening with every decade, and nothing is done to improve it. The justice system becomes harsher, and cases of discrimination against race, wealth and disability become more evident. Zero tolerance policy, which was not present a century ago, now makes a bit impact on the way young people are treated within schools. The strong points of The New Disciplinology: Research, Theory, and Remaining Puzzles on the School-to-Prison Pipeline are that the authors show a great interest and expertise in the topic, they explain how the school-to-prison tendency works and why it still exists. The weak point of the article is, perhaps, the lack of historical background of the issue. However, the Schools and Delinquency in the Early 20th Century: Rethinking the Originals of School Policing provides useful information about the roots of the problem. The author thoroughly examines the events happened during the twentieth century to understand why schools and law enforcement became united. In my opinion, articles have different educational purposes and are probably written for different types of the audience, but on a whole, they provide a good understanding of the issue. What I have learned is that the school-to-prison pipeline has been a big issue for decades, and it has to be stopped because it discriminates against humans and violates their rights. School disciplinary policies have to be reconsidered. With the help of the articles, I have learned the mechanisms schools use for detecting and managing delinquency, and the reasons why they are wrong. The situation with school-to-prison pipeline shows that there are many issues our society has to consider to make our country a discrimination- and violation-free place for the citizens.

References

Burton, C. S. (2017). Schools and delinquency in the early 20th century: Rethinking the originals of school policing. British Journal of Criminology, 57(3), 532-550. Web.

Rocque, M., & Snellings, Q. (2017). The new disciplinology: Research, theory, and remaining puzzles on the school-to-prison pipeline. Journal of Criminal Justice, 50. Web.

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School-to-Prison Pipeline: Roots of the Problem

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