Who Is the One Being Disrespectful? Understanding and Deconstructing the Criminalization of Elementary School Boys of Color

Abstract

This research aims to contribute to understanding what criminalization for boys of color looks like in urban elementary school settings and to offering insights into what we must do to disrupt criminalization in urban schools. Using multiple sources of data from four elementary schools across a 2-year period, we found that boys of color in the study were subjected to criminalization as part of their daily educational experiences. Their bodies and behaviors were hyper-policed, disparately punished, and routinely labeled with criminalizing terms. Furthermore, we found masternarratives framing boys of color as disrespectful and habitually truant to be ambiguous and empirically false.

Deficit-Oriented Beliefs, Anti-Black Policies, Punitive Practices, and Labeling: Exploring the Mechanisms of Disproportionality and Its Impact on Black Boys in One Urban “No-Excuses” Charter School

“…While the use of “efficiency” may appear innocuous, the teachers’ sentiments and subsequent actions to enforce MCCA’s yellow lines represent hyper-controlling measures, like those employed in prison and other prisonlike institutions (Basile et al, 2019). The criminalizing practice of controlling bodies is part of the common carceral logic within MCCA.…”

“…These perceptions may reinforce explicit and implicit biases. As a result, Black boys can be stigmatized, viewed as repeat offenders, and punished for minor offenses (Basile et al, 2019;Ferguson, 2000). Dumas and Nelson (2016) argued that Black boys are often dehumanized.…”

Perspectives of Black and Latinx youth on masculinity and health during community reentry after incarceration.

“…Moreover, health challenges in the larger justice population are compounded for Black and Latinx youth as they face more barriers related to health care access (CDC, 2020) and exposures to chronic traumas, such as poverty and community violence (Basile et al, 2019; Boyd & Clampet-Lundquist, 2019; Corbit, 2005; Massoglia, 2008). Though Black and Latinx youth are disproportionately burdened by the adverse health impacts of the U.S. juvenile justice system, they are less likely than White youth to receive treatment (Rawal et al, 2004) and more likely to be criminalized for their unmet health needs (Basile et al, 2019; Boyd & Clampet-Lundquist, 2019; Corbit, 2005). Thus, given the health disparities experienced by Black and Latinx youth in the U.S. juvenile justice system, attentiveness to their health needs is needed to advance goals of racial justice and health equity.…”

Toward Equity-Oriented Assessment of Social and Emotional Learning: Examining Equivalence of Concepts and Measures

“…Similarly, building on Kochman’s (1983) discussion of emotional self-management, prototype analysis may also reveal behavioral displays rooted in Afrocultural ethos that have previously been considered at odds or deemed inappropriate within Eurocentric education, including elevated voice levels, reliance on nonverbal gestures, and displays of emotion (Boykin, 1994; Kochman, 1983). To the unfamiliar teacher, the inherently emotive style of expression characteristic of African American youths’ communicative repertoire may come across as combative or argumentative, leading to disproportionate discipline practices (Basile et al, 2019; Gregory & Fergus, 2017; Lovelace & Wheeler, 2006; Monroe, 2006). Greater recognition for these potentially overlooked self-management skills may not only expand current understanding of SEL competencies to ensure they are sensitive to the ways that culture, power, and privilege affect students, but also may be particularly important for the training of a predominantly White and female teaching force in need of building strong relationships and trust with diverse student populations (Goldenberg, 2014; Sleeter, 2017).…”