The School-to-Prison Pipeline, Youth From Diverse Families, and The Politics of Educational Policy and Practice: A Call to Educate, Not Incarcerate

Abstract: In this article, I present a theoretical analysis of the school-to-prison pipeline in relation to youth from diverse families and the politics of educational policy and practice and call for equitable education without recourse to incarceration. First, by deconstructing historical documents, I highlight the philosophical and discursive production of the criminalization of youth from diverse families who do not conform to dominant norms of Western European tradition. Second, I juxtapose historical documents with contemporary events showing how current educational policies normalize the school-to-prison pipeline and subjugate youth from diverse families to exclude them from equitable education. Third, bearing witness to the ways youth resist socialization and exclusion, I recommend an interdisciplinary, multilevel socio-eco-pol-edu approach calling upon policy makers, teacher educators and researchers to develop new theoretical frameworks, policies and practices for equitable education and social justice.