Decriminalizing practices: disrupting punitive-based racial oppression of boys of color in elementary school classrooms

Abstract

In elementary schools, boys of color are punished more often and more severely, despite not engaging in infractions any more frequently than their White peers. Previous research has identified these disparities as a form of racial criminalization, and that many boys of color regularly resist this criminalization as a healthy response to oppression. This longitudinal, multi-site study examined a collective set of practices some educators employed in an elementary school STEM program to directly disrupt criminalization of boys of color. These highly effective decriminalizing practices often had immediate and consistently positive impacts on the boys and their learning experiences. Grouping decriminalizing practices into six categories, this research describes the characteristics and impacts of decriminalization with salient examples. The manuscript concludes with a discussion of where decriminalization may fit into the pedagogical landscape of teaching and school practices and procedures, including restorative justice, models of punishment, and the school-to-prison pipeline.

Keywords:

• Criminalization; school-toprison pipeline; punishment; African American boys; Latino boys; discipline policies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 This manuscript should not be taken as indicating or advocating for schools to desist restorative justice practices. Rather, this manuscript positions restorative justice as an approach to disrupting criminalizing outcomes, and as such should not be seen as a solution nor absolution for the persistent perpetration of the anteceding criminalizing systems, structures, and teaching practices in schools.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vincent Basile

Dr. Vincent Basile is an assistant professor in the School of Education at Colorado State University. A recipient of the highly competitive, four-year Miramontes Fellowship, Dr. Basile completed his Ph.D. in science and mathematics curriculum and instruction, with a graduate certificate in Ethnic Studies, at the University of Colorado. In his research, Dr. Basile has critically examined federal STEM education policy briefs spanning two decades, revealing cyclical patterns of racial commodification, racial essentialism, and differential racialization. Dr. Basile’s most recent research examines criminalization of boys of color in school settings, and the ways that decriminalizing practices work to disrupt escalating cycles of punishment, control, and resistance.