Sanna King Dissertation May 2020 FINAL
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE INSTITUTIONAL MAZE: YOUTH, SCHOOLS, AND JAILS IN HAWAIʻI A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN SOCIOLOGY MAY 2020 By SAnna King DissertAtion Committee: DAvid T. Johnson, Chairperson Meda Chesney-Lind NAnditA SharmA MArina KArides DAvid StAnnard Keywords: youth punishment, school-to-prison pipeline, juvenile justice, feminist criminology, coloniAl criminology, ethnography ©2020 By SAnna King All Rights Reserved 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My acAdemic journey would not have been possible without the love and support of so mAny people. First and foremost, I would like to thank my Mom, Rauni Prittinen King, and Dr. Mimi Guarneri for their wisdom, guidance, patience, and encouragement through this process. My educAtional journey and this study could not have happened without their continuous support And belief in me. I would also like to thank my DAd, MArk King, And his wife, Linda InskeeP, for their love and encouragement through this process. Thank you to my brother, Sulo King. Thank you to my SAn Diego family: Dr. Liz KAback, Ruth Kronenberg, Anna And Chris Moon, Becky And John LeBlAnc, Angie Polk, DejA Polk, Devonn Polk, The Miralles (LAuren, Donald, Luke, And Micah), And DAnny and AndreA InskeeP. Thank you to my sweet fluff ball Shorty, my dog, who brought me so much joy, comPAnionship, and emotional support during some of the more lonely times of dissertAtion writing. My deepest appreciAtion goes to my dissertAtion committee who assisted me on this reseArch journey with their guidance and encouragement: Dr. DAvid T. Johnson, Dr. Meda Chesney-Lind, Dr. NAnditA SharmA, Dr. MArina KArides, and Dr. DAvid StAnnard. I especiAlly thank Dr. DAvid T. Johnson, my dissertAtion committee chair. This wAs not an eAsy journey and I AppreciAte all of your guidance and encouragement, especiAlly during the lAst yeAr of my dissertAtion writing. I thank other University of HAwAiʻi at Mānoa faculty members including Dr. KAtherine Irwin and Dr. KAren Umemoto for inviting me to join their reseArch site, SeAside High School, and providing guidance during my field reseArch there. I also thank Dr. Wei Zhang, Dr. Sun-Ki Chai, and Ivee YAmAda for their assistAnce and guidance. My speciAl thanks are extended to the PArticiPAnts in this study, and the youth I worked with in various programs in HAwAiʻi during the course of my work on this project. I would like 2 to thAnk my reseArch sites, SeAside High School And the multiple juvenile justice facilities And programs (I cAnnot share explicitly who or what sites to thank in order to mAintAin confidentiAlity of the study PArticiPAnts And reseArch sites) thAt allowed me access to work with their stAff and youth on this project. I’m forever grateful for your support And understAnding of this reseArch and the importAnce of having youth voices heArd and their narrAtives shared. Thank you to my HAwAiʻi ohana: Stephanie NApoli, Roxann Murphy Smith, Dr. MAri KitA, Erendira Neri Aldana, Dr. Penn PAntumsinchai, Dr. Nick Chagnon, NAthalie EwAn, HAnnah Liebreich, Dr. Holly Sevier, Dr. Alexis Erum, Ellen Meiser, AlexAndra Kisitu, Noreen Kohl, OmAr Bird, AsiA Bento, Dr. SAng PAhk, Dr. Colleen Rost-Banik, TiA Roberts, Bo Schaedel, BriAn Bilsky, Eric Keliʻi Beyer, Dr. LisA PAsko, Ken and Miho Murasky, And JAmie Owens. I would Also like to thank my colleAgues at SDSU, particulArly my writing group, Dr. Megan Welch, Dr. Anna Kim, Dr. LAuren Schmidt, and Dr. MArie Draz for their support and keeping me sAne during the darkest and most difficult moments of writing this dissertAtion. I would also like to thank my colleAgues at Mississippi StAte University (MSU) for their support during my first yeAr As faculty in the Sociology DePArtment at MSU, as well as my MSU faculty housing family: Dr. Becky Telle, Dr. LindsAy Seyer, Dr. Chase Seyer, Dr. Shawn LAmbert, Dr. Andrew LAwton, Bonnie Thornton, Dr. GArrett Torbert, Dr. Jordan HAtfield, Dr. Ben Porter, and Dr. MAry Dozier. You all mAde my first yeAr in Mississippi an eAsy and fun experience! In Addition, I would like to thank my co-Authors Dr. Anthony A. Peguero and Dr. Stuart Henry for their constAnt encouragment and support. I am forever grateful to cAll you my colleAgues and friends. LAstly, I would not have been able to complete this dissertAtion journey without the love And support of my family and friends: JuliA CelAno, Kyle VAughn, LisA D’AmAto, LeAh Eldridge, Brendan VAughn, KAnisha Monteiro, WilliAm Bensussen, Ricky IsAbellA, Alicia Lowery, PAris 3 PArirokh, PArsA PArirokh, Ana Nelson, Michael Gillen, Dr. Morgan StAnley, SeAn Leffers, Kris Estrada Pozzi, Dr. LucA Estrada Pozzi, KAsey Erokhin, Jesi WilliAms, DylAn Ambro, Nick GAnnon, NAtAsha Johnson, PAul Huston, Jess Veliz, Jervae Anthony, Tongo Eisen-MArtin (thank you for your activism and introducing me to working with incArcerated youth!), Terrell Owens, And mAny others I do not have sPAce to name – thank you so much! 4 ABSTRACT This study focuses on the connections between public schools and the juvenile justice system in HAwAiʻi. It argues that there is A dynamic relAtionshiP between public schools and youth punishment in HAwAiʻi that is evident in a multi-institutional process that I call An institutional maze. The findings of this study Also illustrate the resiliency and the Agency of teens in HAwAiʻi As they respond to the structural violence of contemporary institutions of control. In Addition, the findings demonstrate that teens’ Ability to escApe or avoid institutional control wAs not only relAted to support and resiliency, but also to luck – the chance of not getting cAught by sociAl control And institutional Agents (parents, teAchers, counselors, or lAw enforcement). To explore the complexity of the relAtionship between educAtion and youth punishment in Hawaiʻi, I conducted a five-yeAr ethnography between JAnuary 2012 and October 2017 on the islAnd of OʻAhu in HAwAi’i. I examined the experiences of youth at a high school group- counseling program, teens in a juvenile justice program, adults who had experiences in the juvenile justice system, and community stAkeholders who worked with or advocAted for youth in Hawaiʻi. My study explores the multiple processes and consequences of youth punishment, especiAlly for those who move between schools and institutions of sociAl control in the institutional mAze. The reseArch Analyzes the role of raciAlizAtion and patriArchy in the process of punishment in the institutional mAze for mArginalized groups in HAwAiʻi. Furthermore, the study shows that coloniAlism and the ideAls of the modern patriArchal nation-stAte in HAwAiʻi continue to shape the lives of youth through coercion And control And through the interactions of educAtional, punishment, and legal institutions. My findings contribute to intersectional scholArship on raciAlizAtion, gender, clAss, and criminality in the experiences of youth who are navigating the institutional mAze. This reseArch Also shows the complexity of youth punishment And discipline processes, And it demonstrates the importAnce of support services (such as creAtive writing and counseling programs) in assisting youth in their identity formAtion And in building Agency and resiliency in the context of personal hardship and institutions of sociAl control. 5 Table of Contents CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................... 8 THE PRESENT STUDY ................................................................................................................................................ 10 EDUCATION AND JUSTICE SYSTEMS IN HAWAIʻI ....................................................................................................... 13 Juvenile justice in Hawaiʻi ................................................................................................................................. 13 School discipline in Hawaiʻi’s education institutions ........................................................................................ 18 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS ................................................................................................................................... 23 The punitive shift in school discipline. ............................................................................................................... 23 Zero-tolerance policies ....................................................................................................................................... 25 School punishment and the school-to-prison pipeline ........................................................................................ 28 Cultural reproduction in schools ........................................................................................................................ 31 Racial and ethnic disparities of the school-to-prison pipeline ........................................................................... 33 GENDER AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE .............................................................................................................................. 35 Gendered pathways ............................................................................................................................................ 37 Girls and juvenile justice .................................................................................................................................... 39 GENDER AND LOCATING THE SELF ..........................................................................................................................