Breaking the School to Prison Pipeline
Time : Doors open @5:00 PM Film – Starts @5:30 PM
Location: UDC David A. Clarke School of Law, Moot Court Room (518)
Raised in the System” sheds light on those caught up the system, exploring why the country’s mass incarceration problem cannot be fixed without first addressing the juvenile justice problem.With more than 850,00 juvenile arrests annually and 48,000 kids sitting in lock-up daily, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of minors. Emmy-nominated actor Michael Kenneth Williams (The Wire), explores the young people affected and examines the solutions being enacted around and within America.
A Week in WattsThis feature length documentary explores how Los Angeles police officers embark on an innovative program, by mentoring promising students from the harsh, gang-infested Watts neighborhood.
This film follows the stories of six students involved in a program called Operation Progress, which gives youth scholarships to private schools in the area and pairs them with LAPD officers as mentors.
The juvenile justice system is meant to steer disruptive youth away from negative behaviors, and ultimately, the adult prison system. There are many people and agencies involved in the process of juvenile justice: law enforcement, court systems, residential facilities, and rehabilitation institutions and programs. Some of the key tenets of the juvenile justice system are punishment for the documented behavior, restorative justice, and treatment so that youth exhibit more positive actions and reactions to stress in the future. The children entering this system have varied backgrounds and often have negative experiences from their childhood that can be attributed to child abuse and neglect, poverty, hunger, academic issues, homelessness—all of which lead to criminal activity. “Youth involved in the juvenile justice system report higher rates of trauma exposure, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental health problems (e.g., depression, anxiety) compared to the general population” (Dierkhising, Ko, Woods-Jaeger, Briggs, Lee, & Pynoos, 2013).
The policies and practices in the juvenile justice system offer a separate, but not always equal, court system with laws and specialized protections for criminal offenders who are not quite adults. Despite the many reports on the history and purpose of this system, the line between juvenile and adult offenders has become blurred and marred by acts of social injustice. The cradle- (or school-)to-prison pipeline remains a factor due to the many inequalities that exist in the realm of race and gender. Children entering this system are at the mercy of a court system that has historically marginalized certain groups and privileged others.
Minorities have historically been overrepresented at every stage of the juvenile justice process, and according to the Leadership Conference (2013), this population has more cases that result in detention and exposure to adult offenders, thus increasing their chances of reentering the prison system as adults. Boys and girls also have different experiences. Females are less likely than their male counterparts to be arrested and charged despite having similar offenses. Reform efforts have endeavored to address these matters in an attempt to value the human rights of youth while instilling strong policies and procedures that respect life experiences while treating them without prejudice and oppression.
Davis, C. L. (2014). Juvenile justice. In S. Thompson (Ed.), Encyclopedia of diversity and social justice. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
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