Cumulative Racial and Ethnic Disparities Along the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Abstract

Using the cumulative disadvantage theoretical framework, the current study explores whether school suspension and expulsion provide an indirect path through which race and ethnicity affect the likelihood of experiencing arrest, any incarceration, and long-term incarceration in adulthood. To address these issues, we use data from Waves I, II, and IV of the Add Health survey (N = 14,484), and we employ generalized multilevel structural equation models and parametric regression methods using counterfactual definitions to estimate direct and indirect pathways. We observe that Black (but not Latinx) individuals are consistently more likely than White persons to experience exclusionary school discipline and criminal justice involvement. However, we find a path through which race and Latinx ethnicity indirectly affect the odds of adulthood arrest and incarceration through school discipline. Disparate exposure to school suspension and expulsion experienced by minority youth contributes to racial and ethnic inequalities in justice system involvement. By examining indirect paths to multiple criminal justice consequences along a continuum of punitiveness, this study shows how discipline amplifies cumulative disadvantage during adulthood for Black and, to a lesser extent, Latinx individuals who are disproportionately funneled through the “school-to-prison pipeline.”

Racial and ethnic differences in the consequences of school suspension for arrest

“…One major takeaway from this study is that the link between suspension and within‐person changes in the likelihood of arrest is different across racial/ethnic groups. Prior research has established a link between suspension and arrest (Mowen & Brent, 2016; Welch et al., 2022), yet examining differences by race/ethnicity has been underexamined. Although an abundance of evidence shows racial disproportionality in both suspension (CRDC, n.d.)…”

“…This study also found that the number of days per suspension in 10th through 12th grade was not significantly different for Black and White students, suggesting that the behaviors leading to the suspensions were not more egregious. Similarly, findings from national‐level data suggest criminal legal system involvement for Black (and, to a lesser extent, Hispanic) individuals can be explained by involvement in school discipline more so than for White individuals (Welch et al., 2022). This study's between‐individuals identification strategy, however, leaves it vulnerable to selection bias.…”

“…Although clear racial and ethnic disparities exist in the use of both suspension and arrest, research has not adequately attended to the extent to which the consequences of being suspended for future arrest differ by student race. Some qualitative research has pointed to the particular difficulties that Black students encounter when schools suspend them (Bell, 2019; Bell & Puckett, 2020), but few quantitative studies have examined racial/ethnic differences in the consequences of suspension (Chavez & Rocheleau, 2020; Fisher et al., 2021), and even fewer have examined racial differences in the connection between suspension and future arrest (Welch et al., 2022). McGlynn‐Wright et al.…”

Race and Ethnicity Effects in School Discipline: A Coarsened Exact Matching Analysis

“…Though less frequently investigated than more severe forms of punishment, similar patterns likewise have been found in the administration of in-school suspensions and office discipline referrals (Anyon et al, 2018; Martinez et al, 2016; Morris & Perry, 2017; Rocque, 2010; Rocque & Paternoster, 2011). These inequalities have profound relevance for the “school-to-prison pipeline,” as some evidence indicates that early discipline experiences might initiate a process of cumulative disadvantage that partially explains racial and ethnic disparities in justice system involvement (Barnes & Motz, 2018; Welch et al, 2022).…”

“…In light of these trends, a vast literature across multiple academic disciplines has revealed consistent evidence that Black and Hispanic youth are more likely than White students to receive in-and out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, office referrals, and other forms of punitive discipline (e.g., Anyon et al, 2014Anyon et al, , 2018Mizel et al, 2016;Owens & McLanahan, 2020;Petras et al, 2011;Rocque, 2010). Further, these inequalities have been highlighted as a potential source of disproportionate racial and ethnic representation in arrest and incarceration in adulthood (Barnes & Motz, 2018;Pesta, 2018;Welch et al, 2022). Through the lens of critical race theory, schools may be understood as a means through which members of minority groups are socialized to accept the values and standards of the White majority as normative, thereby helping to perpetuate and reinforce existing systems of social stratification (Blaisdell, 2016;Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995).…”