Exclusionary School Discipline and Neighborhood Crime

Julie Gerlinger

doi:10.1177/2378023120925404

Abstract

The author investigates the impact of law-and-order schools, defined as those that rely heavily on exclusionary discipline (i.e., suspension and expulsion) as a form of punishment, on neighborhood crime. Additional analyses are performed to assess whether the effects of punitive school discipline on local crime are moderated by neighborhood disadvantage. Findings suggest that suspensions are associated with increases in local crime—evidence of a macro-level school-to-prison pipeline—while expulsions are generally associated with fewer crime incidents. Although disciplinary exclusions appear to increase crime at fairly consistent rates across levels of neighborhood disadvantage, both exclusion types are associated with more aggravated assault in areas with higher levels of disadvantage. As such, institutional processes of the school appear to help explain variations in community crime.

Highlights

Schools and their communities share a dynamic relationship
Exclusionary school discipline has been associated with a host of negative consequences, including grade retention, lowered school performance, dropping out, increased delinquency and crime, and future contact with the criminal justice system
The findings provide some evidence of a macro-level school-to-prison pipeline—that suspensions reinforce rather than curb antisocial behaviors—but this study did not reveal strong evidence that the effect of punitive school punishment on crime is heightened in disadvantaged neighborhoods

Summary

Introduction

Schools and their communities share a dynamic relationship. Just as the neighborhood can influence institutional processes of the local school, so too can school practices influence the neighborhood. For instance, would shed light on the appropriate points of intervention He explained the utility of this approach as follows: With respect to macro-interventions, the obvious implication is that, unless causality truly operates at the macro-level, as argued by methodological holists, social policies targeting social structure and groups to alter macro-level outcomes will benefit from a microfoundation. Such a foundation would specify an individual-level causal mechanism, a link between the macropolicy and individual mechanisms, and a link between individual outcomes at macro-outcomes. Such a foundation would specify an individual-level causal mechanism, a link between the macropolicy and individual mechanisms, and a link between individual outcomes at macro-outcomes. (p. 511)

Results

Discussion

Conclusion