The Effect of School Discipline on Offending across Time

Exploring the School-to-Prison Pipeline: How School Suspensions Influence Incarceration During Young Adulthood

“…The authors found that school suspensions actually increased offending behaviors among youth who experienced school punishment. At the same time, the authors highlight an important limitation to their study, noting that although their findings demonstrate school suspensions are an important life event for youth in the short term, their results do not speak to longer term outcomes (Mowen et al, 2019).…”

“…For example, Mowen and Brent (2016) found that school suspensions increase odds of arrest and suggest that school discipline can function as a negative turning point that increases contact with the criminal justice system. In a follow-up study, Mowen, Brent, and Boman (2019) examined the effect of school suspensions on offending behaviors using four waves of data from the NLSY97. The authors found that school suspensions actually increased offending behaviors among youth who experienced school punishment.…”

“…Part of the limitation to existing studies is the reliance on only two waves of data (e.g., Rosenbaum, 2018; Wolf & Kupchik, 2017) or focusing exclusively on data during the time frame in which the majority of youth are enrolled in school (e.g., Mowen & Brent, 2016; Mowen et al, 2019). Yet, the school-to-prison pipeline describes a process of many years whereby youth are placed at a greater risk of incarceration even as they move into, and through, young adulthood.…”

“…The life-course perspective recognizes that pivotal life events such as criminal justice contact are aligned with life-course trajectories associated with other adverse outcomes including incarceration, arrest, and future offending (for an overview, see Sampson and Laub, 2005). Recent studies have demonstrated that school discipline can serve as a turning point both toward increased risk of arrest (Mowen & Brent, 2016) and increased levels of offending (Mowen, Brent, & Boman, 2019) as youth progress through school. Moreover, school discipline can contribute to increased turmoil within the family (e.g., Kupchik, 2016), sever student bonds to their family and school (Mowen et al, 2019), and place youth at greater risk of dropping out of school (Crawley & Hirschfield, 2018).…”

“…Recent studies have demonstrated that school discipline can serve as a turning point both toward increased risk of arrest (Mowen & Brent, 2016) and increased levels of offending (Mowen, Brent, & Boman, 2019) as youth progress through school. Moreover, school discipline can contribute to increased turmoil within the family (e.g., Kupchik, 2016), sever student bonds to their family and school (Mowen et al, 2019), and place youth at greater risk of dropping out of school (Crawley & Hirschfield, 2018). Despite the understanding that school discipline can function as a turning point (e.g., Mowen & Brent, 2016) and that school suspensions are tied to a number of negative short-term outcomes (see Crawley & Hirschfield, 2018, for an overview), understanding the longer term outcomes and specific pathways through which suspensions promote the school-to-prison pipeline remains theoretically and empirically clouded.…”