There is a significant problem of juvenile delinquency in the United States that is associated with a disruption of social order and community functioning. The juvenile justice system was established following concerns regarding the treatment of youth offenders as it sought to separate children from adults during the court process. One issue associated with the high rates of juvenile arrests is the zero-tolerance policy and the school-to-prison pipeline. Studies have described the role of a zero-tolerance policy in introducing children to the criminal justice system and turning them into delinquency (Mallett, 2016). These policies mandate harsh punishments for all infractions where children are arrested and tried for crimes in the juvenile justice system. Scholars have, for a long time, investigated the reasons behind high cases of juveniles in the prison system and the possible treatment approach to reduce crime and recidivism (Hirschfield, 2018). When a child is accused of committing an offense at school, the matter can be adjudicated through a juvenile court proceeding or in adult criminal court. According to scholars, the school-to-prison pipeline is a conduit to the juvenile system since the experiences that children go through as a result of the zero-tolerance policy creates ground for delinquency. The process is seen to be criminalizing children by putting them in early contact with law enforcement. Despite indicators showing a reduction in violence among youth, the violence in schools had been a growing problem leading to the adoption of zero tolerance to remove students deemed to be the problem in schools. The heightened cases of a school shooting and other violent incidences justified the use of mandatory zero-tolerance, which has led to an increase in suspensions and expulsions (Mallett, 2016). For example, schools tend to discipline children by expelling them from school, which puts them into the unsupervised and problematic environment that affects their social development. According to criminologists, removing children from school and into prisons deprive them of an outstanding learning environment while exposing them into contact with the criminal system. When children are expelled from school, there are high chances they will interact and spend time with other delinquents, thus influencing them to crimes. According to Mallett (2016), children are pushed into the criminal justice system when they are arrested and tried in juvenile courts. Their experience in the presence of police officers and other offenders can easily rub onto them and turn them into full-blown criminals once they are released. Hirschfield (2018) also demonstrated that children who are expelled from schools are twice as likely to be arrested in their lifetime before they become adults. This is because they are introduced to the criminal environment before turning 15, making it difficult to walk away from the crime. Furthermore, children who fail to complete high school by dropping out are twice as likely to be incarcerated before they turn 18 years. Also, children who are arrested while in school rarely finishes high school and will turn into crime. The authors also introduced an issue of race and ethnicity when discussing the role of a zero-tolerance policy in juvenile arrests and delinquency (Hirschfield, 2018). For example, a majority of children in the young cells tend to be black students, with racial disparity playing a role in the judgment and imprisonment of the children. Minority racial groups are twice as likely to be suspended or expelled from schools, which puts them into the criminal world as described by the social learning theory.
The studies have also stated that this school-to-prison pipeline has demonstrated how racial minority groups experience harsh punishment than the white majority (Hirschfield, 2018). This disparity is even higher in non-serious offenses such as severe punishment for violation of the dress code. Researchers have also mentioned the influence of labeling theory when discussing the effect of the zero-tolerance policy (Mallett, 2016). This is where young children are labeled as criminals for the non-offensive crimes, in the end, pushing them into becoming criminals. Therefore, school policies and practices such as the zero-tolerance policy have been examined as one of the reasons for the high number of juvenile arrests. However, this policy should be stopped as a solution to stop the high number of teens in juvenile courts because it emphasizes rehabilitation as opposed to looking at the root cause. Instead, schools should support more effective disciplines for behavior modification. Secondly, there should be an emphasis on juvenile diversion programs to reduce exposing children to the criminal justice system at an early age. This diversion program should focus on handling minor offensive acts in the open as opposed to the court of law that can stigmatize them (Kretschmar, Flannery & Singer, 2016). For example, putting children to rehabilitation centers while keeping them in schools can reduce the chances of them becoming criminals in the future or any possibility of recidivism.
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References
Hirschfield, P. (2018). The Role of Schools in Sustaining Juvenile Justice System Inequality. Future of Children, 28(1), 11-35. Retrieved from: edu.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/article/720680
Kretschmar, J., Flannery, F., & Singer, M. (2016). Diverting Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth With Behavioral Health Issues from Detention. Criminal Justice Policy Review., 27(3), 302-325.
Mallett, C. A. (2016). The school-to-prison pipeline: A critical review of the punitive paradigm shift. Child and adolescent social work journal, 33(1), 15-24.
