Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T05:18:18.519Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

20 - School Discipline and the Ethics of Punishment

from Part II - Ethics and Education in Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2024

Sheron Fraser-Burgess
Affiliation:
Ball State University, Indiana
Jessica Heybach
Affiliation:
Florida International University
Dini Metro-Roland
Affiliation:
Western Michigan University
Get access

Summary

This chapter explores the relationship between education and a school’s punishment and disciplinary practices. Distinct from discipline, punishment is defined partly in terms of its attempt to express moral disapproval. While there are serious criticisms of the use of punishment in educational settings, punishment is largely justified in school in terms of its ability to foster certain sorts of educative conversations. Not all punishment is justified: the particular sort of punishment, and the context that surrounds it, must match the educational nature of the school environment. The punishment must send the right educational messages and accomplish legitimate educational goals. The context of punishment that best supports these goals can be found in the restorative justice framework.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acosta, Joie, Chinman, Matthew, Ebener, Patricia, Malone, Patrick S., Phillips, Andrea, and Wilks, Asa. “Evaluation of a Whole-School Change Intervention: Findings from a Two-Year Cluster-Randomized Trial of the Restorative Practices Intervention.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence 48, no. 5 (2019): 876890.Google Scholar
Augustine, Catherine H., Engberg, John, Grimm, Geoffrey E., Lee, Emma, Wang, Elaine Lin, Christianson, Karen, and Joseph, Andrea. Can Restorative Practices Improve School Climate and Curb Suspensions?: An Evaluation of the Impact of Restorative Practices in a Mid-Sized Urban School District. Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2018.Google Scholar
Bennett, Christopher. The Apology Ritual: A Philosophical Theory of Punishment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Council on School Health. “Out-of-School Suspension and Expulsion.” Pediatrics 131, no. 3 (March 2013): e1000–e1007.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, Kimberlé, Ocen, Priscilla, and Nanda, Jyoti. Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, and Underprotected. New York: African American Policy Forum, 2015Google Scholar
Curren, Randall. “Punishment and Motivation in a Just School Community.” Theory and Research in Education 18, no. 1 (2020): 129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dewey, John. Democracy and Education. New York: Macmillan, 1916.Google Scholar
Duff, Antony. Punishment, Communication, and Community. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.Google Scholar
Falk, Herbert Arnold. Corporal Punishment: A Social Interpretation of Its Theory and Practice in the Schools of the United States. New York: AMS Press, 1972.Google Scholar
Feinberg, Joel. “The Expressive Function of Punishment.” The Monist 49, no. 3 (1965): 397423.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel. “Society Must Be Defended”: Lectures at the Collège De France, 1975–76. New York: Picadorm, 2003.Google Scholar
Fronius, Trevor, Darling-Hammond, Sean, Sutherland, Hannah, Guckenburg, Sarah, Hurley, Nancy, and Petrosino, Anthony. Restorative Justice in U.S. Schools: An Updated Research Review. San Francisco: WestEd, 2019. Accessed April 10, 2023. www.wested.org/resources/restorative-justice-in-u-s-schools-an-updated-research-review/.Google Scholar
Golash, Deirdre. The Case against Punishment: Retribution, Crime Prevention, and the Law. New York: New York University Press, 2005.Google Scholar
Goodman, Joan F.School Discipline in Moral Disarray.” Journal of Moral Education 35, no. 2 (2006): 213230.Google Scholar
Goodman, Joan. 2003. “Is Punishment Passé?” Education Week, November 5, 2003. www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-is-punishment-passe/2003/11.Google Scholar
Hart, H. L. A. Punishment and Responsibility: Essays in the Philosophy of Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Karson, Michael. “Punishment Doesn’t Work: Punishment Doesn’t Change the Tendency to Engage in the Punished Behavior.” Psychology Today, January 14, 2014. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/feeling-our-way/201401/punishment-doesnt-work.Google Scholar
Katic, Barbara, Alba, Laura A., and Johnson, Austin H.. “A Systematic Evaluation of Restorative Justice Practices: School Violence Prevention and Response.” Journal of School Violence 19, no. 4 (2020): 579593.Google Scholar
Ohene, Sally-Ann, Ireland, Marjorie, McNeely, Clea, and Borowsky, Iris Wagman. “Parental Expectations, Physical Punishment, and Violence among Adolescents Who Score Positive on a Psychosocial Screening Test in Primary Care.” Pediatrics 117, no. 2 (2006): 441447.Google Scholar
Oxley, Laura, and Holden, George W. “Three Positive Approaches to School Discipline: Are They Compatible with Social Justice Principles?Educational & Child Psychology 38, no. 2 (2021): 77.Google Scholar
Peters, R. S. Ethics and Education. London: Allen & Unwin, 1966.Google Scholar
Rodriguez, Nancy. “Restorative Justice at Work: Examining the Impact of Restorative Justice Resolutions on Juvenile Recidivism.” Crime & Delinquency 53, no. 3 (2007): 355379.Google Scholar
Skiba, Russell J., Arredondo, Mariella I., Gray, Chrystal, and Rausch, M. Karega. “What Do We Know about Discipline Disparities? New and Emerging Research.” In Inequality in School Discipline: Research and Practice to Reduce Disparities, edited by Skiba, Russell, Mediratta, Kavitha, and Rausch, M. Karega, 2138. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.Google Scholar
Skiba, Russell J., Michael, Robert S., Nardo, Abra Carroll, and Peterson, Reece L. “The Color of Discipline: Sources of Racial and Gender Disproportionality in School Punishment.” The Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education 34, no. 4 (2002): 317342.Google Scholar
Scribner, Campbell F., and Warnick, Bryan R.. Spare the Rod: Punishment and the Moral Community of Schools. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2021.Google Scholar
Thompson, Winston C., Beneke, Abigail J., and Mitchell, Garry S.. 2020. “Legitimate Concerns: On Complications of Identity in School Punishment.” Theory and Research in Education 18, no. 1 (2020): 84.Google Scholar
United States Government Accountability Office. K-12 Education: Discipline Disparities for Black Students, Boys, and Students with Disabilities, Report to Congressional Requesters. Washington, DC: United States Government Accountability Office, 2018. www.gao.gov/assets/gao-18-258.pdf.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×