Carceral and Cathartic by Design: An Anti-Racism Historical Analysis of School Discipline in the U.S.

ABSTRACT

The longstanding overrepresentation of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) students in United States K-12 exclusionary school discipline outcomes (i.e., suspension, expulsions, referrals to law enforcement and arrests) underscores the unrecognized concept that school discipline disparities are a purported outcome—rather than a flaw—of a racialized educational system. While these outcomes are prevalent across all school locales, they are of more significant consequence in urban schools/districts due to ineffective racial integration efforts and the historical and contemporary forms of hyper-(re)segregation. For historically marginalized communities, schools and the functionality of school discipline serve to maintain racism through what can is the cathartic carceral system: the policies, approaches, and practices that establish punitive/prison-like school disciplinary outcomes that promulgate the exclusion or release of racialized students in order to maintain, restore, and protect racism and thus whiteness. The purpose of the article is threefold: (1) define the cathartic and carceral school discipline system; (2) analyze historical artifacts (research, books, newspaper articles) that describe or interrogate race/racism, school discipline, and pivotal stakeholders (teacher education, school administrators, teachers, and support personnel) through critical race theory and content analysis; and (3) proffer transformative solutions according to the findings for PK-12 stakeholders and teacher educators through an anti-racism framework. This content analysis of history will focus on three significant educational periods concerning school discipline; pre-segregation (before 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling), early integration (post-Brown until 1975), and post Children’s Defense Fund Report in 1975, which from a national perspective, was seminal in establishing the relationship between race and school discipline outcomes.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

John A. Williams

Dr. John A. Williams, an urbanist educator, has a distinct focus on establishing affirming practices, policies, and procedures aimed at eradicating exclusionary school disciplinary measures for Black children. In tandem with this, his mission includes shedding light on more effective strategies for preparing and nurturing highly qualified teachers and teacher candidates for urban educational settings. His scholarship is in renowned outlets such as the Journal of Urban Education, Teacher and Teacher Education, Journal of Teacher Education, Urban Review, and the Journal of Higher Education. Dr. Williams heads the Urban Lab for Transformative Research and Assessment (ULTRA).