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The Palgrave International Handbook of School Discipline, Surveillance, and Social Control pp 291–308Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Policing and the School-to-Prison Pipeline

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Abstract

Schools are increasingly shifting to a ‘get tough’ disciplinary approach which often coincides with the deployment of police officers in schools. Some scholars speculate that this approach may contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline and the criminalization of minor offenses. Deployment of police in schools may increase use of exclusionary discipline responses such as suspensions, expulsions, arrests, and referrals to law enforcement. These responses may have negative long-term consequences, and it is therefore important to empirically examine the effects of using police in schools. Additionally, there is concern that certain groups of students (i.e. students with disabilities and students of color) are disproportionately impacted by ‘get tough’ approaches. However, the existing research is limited and the findings thus far are mixed. Future directions for research and policy recommendations are discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Deanna N. Devlin & Denise C. Gottfredson

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  1. Deanna N. Devlin
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  2. Denise C. Gottfredson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

    Jo Deakin

  2. Department of Sociology, City, University of London, London, United Kingdom

    Emmeline Taylor

  3. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, Newark, USA

    Aaron Kupchik

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Devlin, D.N., Gottfredson, D.C. (2018). Policing and the School-to-Prison Pipeline. In: Deakin, J., Taylor, E., Kupchik, A. (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of School Discipline, Surveillance, and Social Control. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71559-9_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71559-9_15

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71558-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71559-9

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