Rationale for Designing School Contexts in Support of Proactive Discipline

Abstract

This introduction to a special issue of the Journal of School Violence briefly describes current challenges in school discipline and its relation to school violence as a rationale for designing prevention-oriented school contexts. School discipline is a critical issue, as disruptive behaviors significantly impact school climate and classroom instruction. Suspension is the most common school discipline response for problem behaviors ranging from mild to severe. However, suspension is ineffective in teaching alternative proactive behaviors, and may have the opposite effect of exacerbating undesirable behaviors. The special issue is intended to advance erudition about the application of suspension versus other discipline strategies in schools. Scholarship about the use of school suspension and viable alternatives (e.g., restorative justice and social cognitive approaches) is presented and critically discussed.

Keywords:

• school discipline
• alternatives to suspension
• disproportionality
• problem behavior
• school violence
• school climate
• proactive behaviors
• zero tolerance
• discipline policy
• discipline referrals