Criminalizing Urban Youth

In the chapter titled: "Critical Social Theory and the Study of Urban School Discipline", Kathleen Nolan presents the results of her study examining how dominant social forces, those in positions of financial and political power, have created a system which intentionally suppresses any potential for success of Black and Latino urban youth.  She analyzes her findings with the support of two critical theoretical frameworks.  The first is known as the theory of punishment in society.  This theory suggests that punishment for certain actions and behaviors are warranted in order to maintain social control.  These practices, however, are unfairly enforced on urban Blacks and Latinos compared to their White or wealthier counterparts.  This clearly demonstrates that those belonging to lower social class communities are disproportionately targeted as engaging in criminal behavior and classified as delinquents.   Mainstream culture supports this practice because it has been normalized or viewed as common sense. One should face consequences as a result of his/her social infractions - if you commit a crime, or conduct yourself in a way that goes against the values established by mainstream culture, you should be punished for that behavior.   As these disenfranchised youth have vast cultural and demographic differences that set them apart from the dominant, mainstream culture, their insubordinate actions are criminalized.  The larger social context for such behavior is not taken into account.  These practices are meant to control lower-class, marginalized  communities by instilling fear.The second is the theory of social reproduction.  Schools in low socioeconomic communities are engaging in disciplinary practices that closely resemble those in prisons, thus reproducing a criminalized social class.  Students are not treated as learners but rather as criminals in schools, with armed security staff who are prepared to arrest and detain for any breach of school policy. This exacerbates their chances of ending up in prison at a young age.  The opportunity for academic success in this hyper punitive environment is so limited since learning has not been a priority made available to them.  Due to poor academic performance they will most likely drop out of school, never attend college and eventually engage in criminal activity that will lead to incarceration.

This is a well written chapter that counters mainstream ideology of how punishment is applied.  Here, the author clearly delineates the social context of marginalized urban youth and how they are unjustly targeted as criminals for behaviors that would most likely be disregarded if exhibited by a White student or by one belonging to a higher social class.  The results of this study has a great potential to elevate emancipatory practices in breaking the cycle of injustice experienced in the daily lives of urban youth.