Racial and ethnic differences in the consequences of school suspension for arrest

Bibliographic Data

ID9681470
AuthorsB W Fisher (0000-0003-2814-7242, Department of Civil Society and Community Studies School of Human Ecology University of Wisconsin‐Madison, corresponding author), Alex O Widdowson (0000-0002-1501-7986, Department of Criminal Justice University of Louisville)
Year2023
Volume61
Issue3
Pages622-653
Publication date2023-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCriminology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0011-1384 • E-ISSN: 1745-9125
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1745-9125.12344
OpenAlexW4381930849
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited70

A growing body of literature has demonstrated that when schools suspend students, the suspension acts not as a deterrent but as an amplifier of future punishment. Labeling theory has emerged as the predominant explanation for this phenomenon, suggesting that the symbolic label conferred along with a suspension shapes how other people perceive and respond to labeled students. Few studies, however, have attended to racial/ethnic differences in this process even though critical race theory suggests the consequences of suspension likely differ across racial/ethnic groups due to prevailing racial/ethnic stereotypes. This study uses six waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 (N = 8,634) to examine how the relationship between suspension and subsequent arrest differs for White, Black, and Hispanic students. Using a series of within‐person analyses that control for time‐stable personal characteristics, this study finds that suspension amplifies Black and Hispanic students’ risk of arrest relative to that of White students. White students’ risk of arrest was not amplified by suspension and, in some models, was diminished. This study's findings underscore the importance of understanding the labeling process as different by race/ethnicity and indicate that suspension is particularly harmful for Black and Hispanic relative to White students

Biology · Criminology · Developmental psychology · Ethnic group · Phenomenon · Race (biology · Sociology · Suspension (topology · White (mutation · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Demography · Education Discipline and Inequality · Gender Studies · Psychology · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending · Social Psychology

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