The children of immigrants' diminishing perceptions of just and fair punishment

In: Punishment & society, Band 14, Heft 4, S. 429-451

Abstract

Perceptions of school rules and punishment practices, particularly for racial and ethnic minority youth, are related to educational progress, psychological well-being, and adult stability and success. What remains uncertain is how the fastest growing segment of the population in the USA, the children of immigrants, perceives the rules and punishment practices within their schools. This study utilizes data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 and incorporates multilevel analysis to examine the children of immigrants' perceptions of the school rules and punishment practices, which indeed reveal imperative findings. First generation youth have increased perceptions of just and fair punishment practices within their schools; however, Black/African American and Latino American third-plus generation youth have diminished perceptions of just and fair punishment practices within their schools. The implications of the evident racial and ethnic, as well as generational, disparities in the perceptions of the school rules and punishment practices in the USA are discussed more generally.