Doctoral Dissertation Research: Junior Police Youth, Labeling, and Social Control in School

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NSF Proposal 1702385Junior Police Youth, Labeling, and Social Control in SchoolDina Okamoto (PI), Mai Thai (Co-PI)Junior police academies are youth pipeline programs that aim to diversify local law enforcement and target low-income communities under the rationale that they provide structure and career opportunities for youth. Their mission is to produce good citizens by promoting academics, leadership, discipline, and community service. This project will explore the role of junior police programs in schools and how they shape students' experiences with adults and peers within the educational institution. While much of the research on school-police partnerships focuses on punishment and exclusionary discipline practices such as detentions, suspensions, expulsions, and arrests, junior police programs are another avenue through which criminal justice and educational institutions collaborate. Thus, the intellectual merit of this study will expand knowledge on various forms of policing and how it shapes the experiences of young people. In terms of broader impacts, findings related to school practices, peer culture, and vocational programs will inform policies and practices to improve the well-being of youth, particularly those in marginalized communities.To understand how membership in the junior police program shapes youth's experiences in school, this study will use qualitative methods to compare the experiences of junior police students with that of their non-member peers at an urban high school. Observations will be conducted in various spaces such as classrooms, school events, and junior police activities to examine themes related to educational resources, mentoring, disciplinary practices, and peer networks. Interviews will be conducted with actors across various positions in the institutional setting, such as teachers, administrators, junior police students, and other students not in the program. Questions for adults will address topics such as their experiences in their professional role, interactions with students, and perceptions of school activities. Questions for students will address topics such as their interactions with authorities, resources they receive, relationships with peers, and future aspirations. The goal of this research will be to capture the social dynamics in the school organization and to understand the discourses related to the junior police in the context of a community that regularly faces various forms of criminal justice intervention. This research will thus theorize new ways of understanding social control beyond existing punitive frameworks.