“C’mon—You Should Know the Rules,Man”: Latinx Youth’s Perceptions of Procedural Justice and Chronic Punishment

Abstract

We draw on procedural justice, Latino Critical Legal Theory, and intersectional theoretical approaches to study how repeated punishments impact Latinx youth. In this qualitative study, we explore the effect of repeated school punishment on young people, referred to as the Chronically Punished. Data revealed that chronically punished, system-impacted youth expressed a range of perceptions regarding expulsions, suspensions, and fairness of punishments. We also found that repeated punishments in the urban school context shape negative views of procedural justice more frequently for young men than young women. The paper includes recommendations to help address the pushout of chronically punished youth.

Keywords

procedural justice chronically punished critical race theory intersectionality deviance

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