Are Schools Stricter at the Border? Investigating the Relationships Between School Strictness, Juvenile Justice, and the Border

ABSTRACT

Immigration disparities are associated with strict school climates and juvenile justice. Place also matters concerning school strictness and disproportionate minority contact for minority youth. What remains unknown is the relationship between school strictness, immigration, and punishment along the Texas-Mexico border. Drawing from the Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS), we address two questions regarding the relationship between school strictness and juvenile justice referrals in border and non-border schools. First, do the relationships between school strictness and juvenile referrals differ between border and non-border schools? Second, does school strictness moderate the children of immigrants’ juvenile justice referrals at border and non-border schools? Findings indicate border and non-border distinctions regarding both strict and lenient school disciplinary practices and the relationships with juvenile justice referrals. This study contributes to juvenile justice research by investigating potential links between school strictness, immigration, juvenile justice referrals, and place.

KEYWORDS:

• Immigration
• US-Mexico border
• school discipline
• school strictness
• juvenile justice

Acknowledgments

Gratitude is extended for the helpful comments and constructive suggestions from the editor and blind reviewers throughout the development of this research manuscript. Portions of this project were supported by Grant # (2016-CK-BX-0015) awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice. The research presented here utilizes confidential data from the State of Texas supplied by the Texas Education Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin. The authors gratefully acknowledge the use of these data. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice and are not endorsed by the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, or the State of Texas.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1. Texas Department of State Health Services (n.d.) provides a map and list displaying which counties are classified as border counties and which are non-border. This map also demonstrates that while some border counties sit directly along the US-Mexico, other border counties are adjacent to those that directly border the US-Mexico border.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Justice.

Notes on contributors

Kay S. Varela

Kay S. Varela is a Presidential Postdoctoral Scholar in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on Critical Race Theory; critical race criminology and punishment; risk assessment; and qualitative methods. Specifically, her research focuses on the ways in which race, class, and gender impact perceptions of and experiences with public and personal safety.

Janice Iwama

Janice Iwama is an Associate Professor in the Department of Justice, Law & Criminology at American University in Washington, D.C. Her research focuses on gun violence, school violence, and hate crimes. Specifically, her research focuses on the intersection between race, ethnicity, immigration, and crime as well as the effect of policies and practices designed to reduce disparities in local communities.

Miner P. Marchbanks

Miner P. Marchbanks III is a research scientist in the Department of Public Service and Administration in the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. His work focuses upon the intersection of juvenile justice and education.

Krystlelynn Caraballo

Dra. Krystlelynn Caraballo is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. Her research interests focus on the correlates and consequences of victimization among foreign nationals. Specifically, she studies the impact of nationality, legal status, and US immigration law and policy on foreign nationals’ victimization experiences throughout their migration journey.

Anthony A. Peguero

Anthony A. Peguero is a Professor of Criminology & Sociology at Arizona State University. His interests involve youth violence and school safety. Dr. Peguero is a member of Latina/o/x Criminology and Racial Democracy, Crime, and Justice Network and which hold the goals of advancing research on the intersection of race, crime, equity, and justice.

Jamilia Blake

Jamilia J. Blake Ph.D. is a Professor at Texas A&M University. She is the Director of the Center for Health Equity and Evaluation Research. Dr. Blake’s research examines the racial/ethnic disparities in school discipline and mental health.

John M. Eason

John Major Eason is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute and author of “Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural and Prison Proliferation”.

Jun Sung Hong

Jun Sung Hong is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He is also a Visiting Professor in the Department of Social Welfare at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea. He has studied bias-based bullying and peer victimization of racial/ethnic minority, immigrant, LGBTQ, juvenile justice- involved, and economically disenfranchised adolescents.