Summary
- Major: Anthropology & Criminal Justice
- Faculty Mentor: Dr. Matt Leone
- Research Topic: Examining the Relationship Between School Quality and Incarceration: The School-to-Prison Pipeline in Northern ÁùºÏ±¦µä
- New Scholar: 2022 Cohort
- Graduating with a Baccalaureate Degree: 2025
Abstract
Disparities in school quality and educational opportunities drive school failure, potentially making crime more likely and even necessary for survival (Pesta, 2018)., These disparities, however, are not applied evenly across school districts. Urban schools with greater Black, Hispanic, and poor student populations are more likely to be disadvantaged relative to their suburban counterparts, which has been shown to be related to punitive responses (rather than restorative responses) to student misbehavior (Ann Payne & Welch, 2010). While studies have shown that adult incarceration may result from structural racism in schools, (recognized as the school-to-prison pipeline), the relationship between school suspension in adolescence and later interactions with the criminal justice system remains poorly resolved (Novak, 2019). Further, the relationship between real and perceived disadvantage and dropping out has not been fully explored. A better understanding of this pipeline could result in policy changes and fewer incarcerations. This study will examine the perceptions and experiences of high school-aged residents in the Reno/Sparks area and compare them with the perceptions and experiences of inmates in the Washoe County Regional Detention Facility (WCRDF). The proposed study will employ two different data collection strategies. For the high school-aged youth, data will be collected via snowball sampling wherein respondents will provide the QR code which leads to the Qualtrics survey to their friends. The inmates from the WCRDF will be interviewed via video at the jail and their responses will be recorded on paper and entered into the Qualtrics database later. The data will be used to test the interconnections between school discipline and incarceration and to identify the impact of real and perceived disadvantages to school failure and ultimately the school-to-prison pipeline.