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.
