The Punishment Gap: Racial/Ethnic Comparisons in School Infractions by Objective and Subjective Definitions |
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| Authors: | Craig J. Forsyth Raymond W. Biggar York A. Forsyth Holly Howat |
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| Affiliation: | 1. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA;2. The University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA;3. Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA |
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| Abstract: | This research examines the differences between ethnic groups when school infractions are subjective/objective. Using school discipline incident data, eight categories of infractions are analyzed: disobedience, violence, substance abuse, vandalism, theft, truancy, safety, and miscellaneous. Within these eight categories there are 32 specific infractions. Specific infractions were then classified as either subjective or objective by a committee. Population proportion criteria (PPC; minus or plus 10% of a group’s overall population) is used. Findings indicated that only black students exceeded the criteria with infractions having subjective definitions. All other groups only exceeded PPC with infractions having objective definitions. |
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