School To Prison Pipeline Case Study

Not only does Berstein call for an overall reform of this nation’s juvenile prisons, she goes as far as saying the practice of locking up youth is in need of a “more profound than incremental and partial reform” (13). The fact that Bernstein outlines the numerous failed strategies and goals of this practice with her compelling use of studies and statistics is enough to promote an audience to reject the practice of locking up youth. The statistic she shares that “four out of five juvenile parolees [will be] back behind bars within three years of release” as well as the studies she conducted on numerous instances when a guards abuse of power lead to the death of a child work to further prove her point: being that “institution[s] as intrinsically destructive as the juvenile prison” have no place in a modern society (13, 83). Bernstein refutes this false sense effectiveness further by sharing her own ideas on what she believes works as a much more humane solution to rehabilitating

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW, 2009) Code of Ethics is a guide to social workers’ practice by offering standards, values, and principles. The Code of Ethics is useful in facilitating the social workers’ decision-making process when he is presented with complicate ethical issues. Ethical issues arise with conflicting values, principles, and standards. These conflicts may occur between the social worker and his clients, agency, or institutional policy, other social workers, professional in other disciplines, or the social worker’s personal values.

As social workers, speaking on social welfare policy standpoint, social workers do everything from the federal level to the state level insuring and overseeing the administration of social programs.

The school to prison pipeline is an organized nationwide system consisting of local, state and federal education. It is also formed to drive students out of school and into the criminal and juvenile systems, which may result in students dropping out of school early. The school to prison pipeline mainly targets students who are of color and those who struggle with some form of disability. This system is disturbing because, there is nothing being accomplished by removing students from education, which will eventually cause them to struggle before adulthood and even after they reach this point of life. The school to prison pipeline is detrimental because, students may drop out of school, be subject to relying on government assistance to survive, and disregard the decision to further their education because of past experiences.

The literature review clearly has shown that there is a phenomenon called School to Prison, Schoolhouse to Jailhouse, or Public Education to Prison Pipeline. Therefore, Jeremy Thompson (2016) says, “Zero-tolerance policies in schools result in high suspension rates and expulsion rates among students in general, but disproportionately affect minority students, especially African-Americans because students who have been suspended or expelled are more likely than not to end up in the Criminal Justice

According to the National Alliance of Social Workers (NASW), social justice is one of the primary ethics which social workers must uphold. Empowerment is a social work theory rooted in social justice, with a main goal of reducing social inequalities through community building and redistribution of access to power. The basic premise of empowerment is "to change the environment, change yourself" (Van Wormer & Besthorn, pg. 212). However, in order to change one 's environment or self, there must be options available and opportunities for individuals to have control over their own decisions. Empowerment theory also aims to build community through citizen participation, collaboration and engagement among community members. This theory also seeks

In the juvenile system, black children are up to 18 times as likely to be sentenced as adults than white children, and African American youth that is accused of felonies are inclined to be viewed as more at fault for their crimes than are white youth. Research that was constructed by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency and the Center for Children’s Law and Policy suggested that minority youth are presented with harsher treatment than their white peers through almost every stage of the juvenile justice process. The process is already the punishment, but being a minority can make it worse. Minority juveniles are sentenced for longer periods and are less likely to receive alternative sentences or probation compared to white juveniles (Armour & Hammond, 2009,

In, The Gestalt of The School-To Prison Pipeline: The Duality of Overrepresentation of Minorities In Special Education and Racial Disparity In School Discipline on Minorities, author Torin Togut outlines a long term relationship African American children have had with the United States of America’s justice system. What led Togut to dive into this study is the story of now Dr. Billy Hawkins. According to

Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys, a book by University of California, Professor Victor Rios, is set in the backdrop of Oakland, California. This book examines the very difficult lives of young Latino and African American boys who are caught up in the vicious cycle of delinquency in a legal system that restricts their chances of becoming successful. Rios studies the lives of boys growing up in a difficult background. He notes that the criminal justice system is very prevalent throughout many aspects of their daily activities.

Within our society we have many different saying that are meant to bring unity to our county in respects to watching over and protecting the innocents. Even in the bible, God gives the command in Proverbs 31:8-9 (New Livings Translation) to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless and see they get justice. As I have researched the topic of the school to prison pipeline it could not be any more applicable to this topic, as this epidemic as plagued our public school systems in America. Within this paper I will explain what the school to prison pipeline is. I will also give the history prior to and after the problem of the pipeline,

The School-to-Prison Pipeline: A Primer for Social Workers, a study by Susan McCarter (2017), was written to give a summary of the School-to-prison pipeline in an attempt to break down the factors surrounding children being funneled into this path by their respective school systems around the country. The author explains the correlation between the School-to-prison pipeline and its disparate outcomes for students of color, students with disabilities, and students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (p. 54-55). McCarter presents implications for social workers and multiple specific strategies to reduce the detrimental effects of the School-to-prison pipeline. Susan McCarter, PhD, MSW, is an associate professor

Diversity issues are critical element taken place within an individual. Diversity is defined as the state of being diverse which is expressed in beliefs and behaviors of individuals, families, communities and in societies. Issues related to age, gender, ethnicity, race, religion, culture, sexual orientation and disability can strongly affect a social worker’s assessment of a client as well as intervention chosen.

Childress, S. (2016, June 2). More States Consider Raising the Age for Juvenile Crime. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/more-states-consider-raising-the-age-for-juvenile-crime/

When considering these statistics, which state that Black and Latino teens are more likely to commit juvenile offenses it is important to keep the following in mind: poverty, or low socio-economic status are large predictors of low parental monitoring, harsh parenting, and association with deviant peer groups, all of which are in turn associated with juvenile offending. The majority of adolescents who live in poverty are racial minorities. Also, minorities who offend, even as adolescents, are more likely to be arrested and punished more harshly by the law if caught. Particularly concerning a non-violent crime and when compared to white adolescents. While poor minorities are more likely to commit violent crimes, one third of affluent teens report committing violent crimes.

Nowadays, it is not easy to describe professional work and never talk about ethical principles and values that guide it (Guttmann, 2006). Social work because it is a profession it has its own principles and values that guide its ethical conduct. In addition, Guttmann (2006) argues that the knowledge and skills we have acquired as social workers cannot guarantee an ethical conduct in practice alone. Ethical conduct is an important aspect of social work practice. It involves following and respecting the rules or standards for right conduct, especially the standards of a profession. A professional social worker who has a good ethical conduct must act in ways consistent with what the profession, society and individuals typically think are good values. Ethical behaviour in social work tends to involve demonstrating respect for key principles that the profession upholds. This paper seeks to critically discuss the importance of ethical conduct in professional social work practice. In doing so, I will explain the philosophical principles that guide ethical conduct in social work. Examples will be used to illustrate this.