Abstract
Poverty and trauma risks need not create a criminal pathway or pipeline to prison. As the number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase, so does the risk of dropping out of school. The more often students are suspended, the more likely they are to be referred to the juvenile justice system and face jail or prison time. Once in the system, the likelihood of recidivism is great. One multifaceted intervention to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline (STPP) is positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS). The aim of this model is to alter the school environment by creating improved systems involving discipline, reinforcement, and data management. These systematic changes may disrupt the STPP for students living in poverty and experiencing ACEs.
TopIntroduction
The most recent statistics indicate that there are more than six million offenders under correctional supervision in the U.S., including those incarcerated, on probation, and on parole (Minton et al., 2021). Every day more than 48,000 youth under the age of 18 are held in detention centers, long term secure facilities, residential treatment, adult prisons and jails, group homes, and shelters (Rowe, 2020). Once released from incarceration facilities, less than half of these youth return to school while many others drop out or reoffend (Cavendish, 2014). Neither the schools nor the correctional facilities have addressed the underlying, adverse effects of trauma experienced in childhood. Researchers report that in the U.S., 90% or more of juvenile offenders have experienced childhood trauma (Baglivio et al., 2014; Dierkhising et al., 2013) with poverty concomitant with childhood trauma (Felitti et al., 1998). Poverty and trauma risk factors need not form a pathway or pipeline to prison; schools, rather than systemically criminalizing youth’s reaction to trauma, can create proactive, protective policies and practices to divert the pathway. This chapter examines using positive behavioral interventions and supports to decriminalize childhood adversity and disrupt the school to prison pipeline.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Zero Tolerance: School policies that mandate “the application of predetermined consequences, most often severe and punitive in nature, that are intended to be applied regardless of the gravity of behavior, mitigating circumstances, or situational context” (APA, 2008 AU101: The in-text citation "APA, 2008" is not in the reference list. Please correct the citation, add the reference to the list, or delete the citation. , p. 852).
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): Experiences of children under the age of 18 that have a negative impact on their growth and physical, mental, and emotional development. These experiences are likely to have an impact into adulthood.
Poverty: Poverty is based on a comparison of family income to a federally established minimum income level determined to cover basic needs, but which ultimately impacts an individual’s ability to participate in social and civic life because of a lack of economic resources.
Culturally Responsive Teaching: Pedagogy that supports instruction which takes into consideration the culture and lived experiences of each child, particularly marginalized students.
Trauma-Informed Practices: A strengths-based framework focusing on how teachers, staff and administration can recognize and respond effectively to the impact of trauma on students.
Trauma: Trauma is the emotional or psychological response to a disturbing event such as death. It may involve a single event (i.e., death of a family member) or repeated exposure to disturbing events (i.e., physical abuse) or complex involving several types of events (i.e., substance abuse and physical abuse).
Social Emotional: Social emotional refers to the development of skills a person uses to respond to others and how they manage emotions to create relationships. It is constructed through cultural interactions as well.
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS): A framework focusing on setting expectations for appropriate behavior, teaching those behaviors, and utilizing proactive interventions to prevent future behaviors. Framework centers on team leadership and decisions based on data.