Toward a Conceptualization of the College-Prison Nexus

ABSTRACT

While a robust body of research has documented the intricate relationship between our nation’s education and penal systems, the weight of this work has focused on primary and secondary schools, absolving colleges and universities of their role in the carceral state. In this essay, we describe some of the ways in which higher education institutions exert carceral state powers that are mostly subtle and covert though sometimes overt as well; institutional innovations that increase penality and exacerbate racial and social inequality; and the creation of pathways to and forms of punishment. We introduce the concept of the college-prison nexus, as a heuristic for scholars to consider in future theorizing and empirical examinations of the symbiotic relationship between postsecondary education institutions and the penal system. We close with recommendations for future research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ See https://chancellor.berkeley.edu/principles-guiding-accountability-violation-university-time-place-manner-rules-0

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Royel M. Johnson

Royel M. Johnson, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Higher Education and African American Studies at The Pennsylvania State University (PSU), where he is also Associate Director of the Center of the Study of Higher Education. He is a nationally recognized scholar, whose interdisciplinary research addresses issues of education access, racial equity, and student success. His work has an unapologetic focus on Black and multiply marginalized populations like those impacted by the criminal punishment, child welfare and inequitable education systems. He is co-editor of a forthcoming book (February 2022), Racial Equity on College Campuses: Connecting Research and Practice (SUNY Press).

Jude Paul Matias Dizon

Jude Paul Matias Dizon is a research assistant at the Pullias Center for Higher Education and a Provost Fellow and doctoral candidate in Urban Education Policy at the Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California. Jude Paul’s dissertation research examines policing, abolition, and racism in higher education.