Racial and Ethnic Identity, Gender, and School Suspension: Heterogeneous Effects Across Hispanic and Caribbean Subgroups

Abstract

Objectives: This study explores the effects of racial/ethnic identity on youths’ likelihood of receiving a suspension from school as well as whether these disparities further vary by gender. In light of recent demographic shifts within the U.S., alternative theoretical rationales emphasizing such issues as “exotic threat,” “stereotype lift,” and “reflected race” present conflicting expectations regarding whether and how the disadvantages in school discipline experienced generally by minority students might extend to youth in certain Hispanic and Caribbean subgroups. Methods: We analyze data from the 2018 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, which provides a large statewide representative sample of youth enrolled in Florida public middle and high schools ( N = 54,611). Results: Youth who are Black/non-Hispanic, Haitian, West Indian/Caribbean, and Dominican are most likely to receive a suspension from school, and these effects are particularly pronounced among female students. Mixed evidence of Hispanic-White differences in suspension is found, except for a heightened risk among Puerto Rican youth. Conclusions: Some of the findings imply the importance of skin tone and appearance over subgroup-specific perceptions of cultural or criminal threat. However, the disadvantages experienced by Puerto Rican students may represent an institutional response to their unique status as recent migrants to Florida.

Disparities in Youth Arrest Across Racial and Ethnic Subgroups

“…Relatedly, while some researchers note that Puerto Ricans traditionally have received similar "model minority" benefits (e.g., Loveman & Muniz, 2007), others contend that the island's colonial history, its persistent struggles with debt, and the mass migration of refugees following Hurricane Maria have compromised Puerto Ricans' integration into the racial structure of the mainland U.S. as "White" (Godreau & Bonilla, 2021;Silver, 2020). Understood within this framework, arrest may represent a tool of social control that is mobilized in response to a perceived emergent threat from this subgroup (Lehmann & Meldrum, 2023).…”

“…To date, however, limited criminological work has examined disparities in the application of social control across distinct racial/ethnic subgroups (cf. Lehmann & Meldrum, 2023; Martinez, 2004), and whether such patterns of inequality exist in youths’ self-reported arrest remains an important yet unexplored line of inquiry.…”