The Construction and Criminalization of Disability in School Incarceration

58 Pages Posted: 21 Sep 2019

See all articles by Jyoti Nanda

Jyoti Nanda

Golden Gate University - School of Law

Date Written: September 10, 2019

Abstract

This Article explores how race functions to ascribe and criminalize disability. It posits that for White students in wealthy schools, disabilities or perceived disabilities are often viewed as medical conditions and treated with care and resources. For students of color, however, the construction of disability (if it exists) may be a criminalized condition that is treated as warranting punishment and segregated classrooms, possibly leading to juvenile justice system involvement. Providing a review of the K-12 disability legal regimes, this Article maps how the process of identifying a student with a disability happens in a hypercriminalized school setting. The Article argues that the school itself contributes to the construction and criminalization of disability and that the attribution of disability is a product of the subjectivity built into the law, heavily surveilled school environments, and biases held by teachers and administrators. For students of color, instead of a designation that attracts more resources, disability is one of the mechanisms through which they are criminalized. This Article culminates with a call for scholars and practitioners to understand the web that exists in the construction and criminalization of disabilities for Black and Latinx children and the role that schools and school actors play in this process.

Keywords: Race, Disability, School, Incarceration, Juvenile Justice, Critical Race Studies, Disability Studies, Police in Schools

Suggested Citation

Nanda, Jyoti, The Construction and Criminalization of Disability in School Incarceration (September 10, 2019). Columbia Journal of Race and Law, Vol. 9, No. 2, 2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3452812

Jyoti Nanda (Contact Author)

Golden Gate University - School of Law ( email )

536 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States

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