NCJ Number
200140
Journal
Women & Criminal Justice Volume: 14 Issue: 2/3 Dated: 2003 Pages: 89-116
Editor(s)
Donna C. Hale
Date Published
2003
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This study attempted to better understand how girls are impacted by school removal and evaluate whether or not school removal mediates distal outcomes of known mal-adaptation such as juvenile delinquency, pregnancy, and early parenting.
Abstract
This study presented a comparison of girls to boys, from several schools in eastern Baltimore, Maryland, on proximal and distal characteristics and outcomes related to school removal, either through suspension or expulsion. The study consisted of four objectives: (1) to estimate the proportion of girls removed in comparison to boys; (2) to evaluate similarities and differences across gender for the number and types of school removals and offenses leading to the removal; (3) to examine whether the known risk factors of race, individual poverty, early aggression, and repeating a grade were the same for girls and boys, as well as investigate the impact of the effects of neighborhood context; and (4) to evaluate the relationship between school removal and known distal problems, such as delinquency, pregnancy, and early parenting for both girls and boys. The Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation-Revised (TOCA-R) measure was utilized with the task of interest being Authority Acceptance. The individual items that make up the aggressive construct are breaking rules, fights, harms others, lies, stubborn, teases classmates, yells at others, breaking things, harms property, and takes others’ property. It can be noted that most students experienced neither a school removal nor difficulties with the juvenile authorities. In contrast, the study population was highly likely to repeat a grade and experience a pregnancy by early adulthood. Concurring with prior research, the results indicate that being poor, male, and of African-American descent predict the highest rates of school removal. In terms of prevalence rates for girls, data confirmed earlier findings that boys were twice as likely to be removed as were girls. Major differences were found between girls and their male peers regarding school removal, specifically the number and timing of removals. Girls were much more likely to experience only the less severe type of school removal, disciplinary removal. When focusing on the differences between girls and boys, a significant early risk factor for girls was repeating a grade for those girls who lived in communities with higher poverty levels. School removal increased girls’ risk of both early pregnancy and parenting. Multi-level interventions are both socially and economically prudent in the prevention of school removal. Tables and references