NCJ Number
227677
Journal
Punishment and Society Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2009 Pages: 291-317
Date Published
July 2009
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This article explores how contemporary school discipline takes shape across schools varying demographics: across schools attended by mostly middle-class White students and schools attended by mostly lower-income racial/ethnic minority students.
Abstract
The data illustrate how contemporary school discipline and security practices have effects that are more complex than one might assume based on cultural reproduction theory and that are consistent with a previous argument about the pervasiveness of governing through crime in schools. In addition, the racial/ethnic and social class composition of schools' student bodies could shape perceptions of threat, and distinctions in social capital could influence the discipline process. In relation to the specific data sample, students at all four schools were exposed to punitive, rule-based polices, though the effects of these similar policies were unequally distributed. Practices that were once reserved primarily for schools hosting poor students and students of color were now implemented in mostly White middle-class schools as well. Schools across the United States have dramatically altered how they perceive and respond to school crime in recent decades, with growing police presence and increased levels of punishment. This study used data from observations and interviews at four high schools with varying student demographics in two States. Tables, notes, and references