Doctoral Dissertation Research: Black Youth, Political Learning, and the State in the Era of Hyperincarceration

对于许多年轻人，特别是非洲裔美国年轻人来说，纪律和惩罚是例行公事和具有政治意义的生活事件。黑人青年和年轻人不成比例地暴露在严酷的纪律学校环境中，父母被监禁和与刑事司法系统的惩罚性接触的比率很高，以及州一级社会福利政策下的严厉惩罚。对这些趋势的分析引发了越来越多的研究，认为与国家的惩罚性接触会削弱本已脆弱的人口的政治能力和效力。但这种对惩罚性接触的抑郁影响的强调可以说是狭隘的，超过了确定与国家的惩罚性接触实际上何时、何地以及如何引发或告知政治行动的努力。为了解决这些担忧，本研究调查了非洲裔美国年轻人在成年早期对国家和国家批准的纪律的接触如何广泛地影响他们的政治参与。在方法上，该项目整合了人种学、深度访谈和调查数据，以解决以下问题：1)黑人年轻人与国家批准的纪律的接触在质量和惩罚性方面有何不同？2)这些接触如何影响黑人年轻人的政治能力、取向和行为？3)制度背景如何影响黑人年轻人的政治生活和参与？通过解决这些问题，这项研究将帮助学者和政策制定者对社会科学中经常被忽视的政治行为的过程和渠道有更细微的了解。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Discipline and punishment are routine and politically consequential life events for many young people, particularly young African Americans. Black youth and young adults are disproportionately exposed to harsh disciplinary school environments, high rates of parental incarceration and punitive encounters with the criminal justice system, and strict penalties under state-level social welfare policy. Analyses of these trends have given rise to a growing body of research positing that punitive contact with the state diminishes the political capacity and efficacy of already vulnerable populations. But this emphasis on the depressive effects of punitive contact is arguably narrow and eclipses efforts to ascertain when, where, and how punitive encounters with the state do in fact generate or inform political action.To address these concerns, the present research examines how African American young adults' encounters with state and state-sanctioned discipline broadly inform their political engagement during the early adult years. Methodologically, the project integrates ethnography, in-depth interviews, and survey data to address the following questions: 1) How do black young adults' encounters with state-sanctioned discipline vary in quality and punitiveness? 2) How do these encounters influence black young adults' political capacities, orientations, and behaviors? 3) How does institutional context inform black young adults' political lives and engagement? By addressing these questions, this research will help scholars and policymakers gain a more nuanced understanding of processes and channels of political behavior that are often neglected in the social sciences.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.