Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


PestaFinalDiss_8_16.pdf (1.43 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Assessing Ethno-Racial Differences in the Pathways from School Exclusion to Criminal Offending: A Theoretically Integrative Approach to Understanding the School to Prison Pipeline

Pesta, Racheal, Pesta
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1503042662677665

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, Sociology.
The relationship between educational attainment and involvement in the criminal justice system is one of the strongest and most consistent findings in sociological literature. Contributing to the relationship between school failure and criminal justice involvement is the increased use of exclusionary discipline in schools. However, the use of suspension and expulsion is disproportionately applied to ethno-racial minorities, with black youth experiencing the highest rates of exclusionary discipline. The link between exclusionary discipline and eventual involvement in the criminal justice system has been aptly named the “school-to-prison pipeline.” This dissertation extends the school-to-prison pipeline literature by examining the pathways from school exclusion to criminal offending with a particular focus on ethno-racial differences. In addition, this project addresses a major gap in the school-to-prison pipeline literature by identifying protective mechanisms, such as school and family attachment, that work to buffer the impact of exclusionary discipline on negative life outcome as well as if those protective effects vary across ethno-racial group. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (Add Health), generalized path analytic techniques were used to determine the pathways from school exclusion to criminal offending across white, black, and Hispanic youth. As hypothesized, there were significant ethno-racial differences in the impact of exclusionary discipline on the pathways to future delinquency, dropout, and criminal offending. In addition, the effect of suspension/expulsion was conditioned by the student’s level of attachment to school and family. Results also suggest significant variation in the protective effects of school and family attachment across ethno-racial group.
Valerie Callanan (Committee Co-Chair)
Robert Peralta (Committee Co-Chair)
Juan Xi (Committee Member)
Tiffany Bergin (Committee Member)
Delila Owens (Committee Member)
175 p.
Criminology; Educational Sociology; Sociology
race; ethnicity; school to prison pipeline; school discipline; delinquency; crime

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Pesta, Pesta, R. (2017). Assessing Ethno-Racial Differences in the Pathways from School Exclusion to Criminal Offending: A Theoretically Integrative Approach to Understanding the School to Prison Pipeline [Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1503042662677665

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Pesta, Pesta, Racheal. Assessing Ethno-Racial Differences in the Pathways from School Exclusion to Criminal Offending: A Theoretically Integrative Approach to Understanding the School to Prison Pipeline. 2017. University of Akron, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1503042662677665.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Pesta, Pesta, Racheal. "Assessing Ethno-Racial Differences in the Pathways from School Exclusion to Criminal Offending: A Theoretically Integrative Approach to Understanding the School to Prison Pipeline." Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1503042662677665

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

akron1503042662677665
462
© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.