The overcriminalisation of Black girls: using an intersectional lens to examine the school-to-prison pipeline

Abstract

Black girls are suspended at five-and-a-half times the rate for White girls in the US. Of all racial and ethnic groups, Black girls are the only group to demonstrate consistent disparities in school discipline after controlling for offence rate and type. Furthermore, for the same types of offences, Black girls are punished more severely than White girls. For girls, race is a more significant predictor than gender for entering the school-to-prison pipeline. The school-to-prison pipeline needs to be examined through a lens of intersectionality that includes: race, ethnicity and culture; socio-economic status; gender identity and sexual orientation; ability status; and trauma. This article incorporates several theories to critique the roles that explicit and implicit bias (including anti-Blackness, misogynoir and White supremacy), as well as gendered policies and practices, play in the overcriminalisation of Black girls in education and juvenile justice systems. Finally, the authors detail four evidence-based recommendations.