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Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8559-4391
AccessType
Open Access Dissertation
Document Type
dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Program
Education
Year Degree Awarded
2020
Month Degree Awarded
May
First Advisor
Keisha Green
Second Advisor
Michael Krezmien
Third Advisor
Mary Cannito-Coville
Subject Categories
Education | Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching | Other Teacher Education and Professional Development | Prison Education and Reentry | Secondary Education | Secondary Education and Teaching | Social Work | Urban Studies and Planning
Abstract
The literature makes abundantly clear that trauma has a detrimental impact on students’ academic and behavioral efforts. It also challenges the notion of zero tolerance disciplinary practices being effective in redirecting student behaviors, making schools safer, and creating an environment that is conducive to learning. Yet, our current school climate consists of educators who have not been exposed to trauma-informed learning, while also incorporating disciplinary practices that are both draconian in nature and push students out of their learning spaces. This unfortunate reality is felt even more harshly by students who return to schools following an incarceration. This phenomenological study examined how seven Black and Latine students experienced the negative effects of being exposed to trauma as well as disciplinary practices that mirrored what they encountered during their incarceration. Just as importantly, it also centers the insights provided by participants to help inform educational policies that will better meet their academic and social-emotional needs. Through semi-structured individual and focus group interviews, this study found that participants encountered Institutionalized Criminalization of Youth Behaviors and Manifestations of Complex Trauma as barriers to their academic efforts. It also determined that Utilizing a School-Wide Trauma-Informed Care Approach and Healthy Student-School Personnel Relationships can go a long way in better supporting participants to overcome the academic barriers they encounter upon their return to schools following their incarceration. These findings contribute to the current research since it provides a guideline, so to speak, for educational stakeholders to effectively engage and educate this segment of learners. As a result, the results from this study can be used to help inform educational policies and practices to better meet the needs of trauma-exposed students with carceral histories.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/17545358
Recommended Citation
Guerrero, Alberto, "“I Missed A Lot of Childhood Memories”: Trauma and its Impact on Learning for Formerly Incarcerated Adolescents in the Age of Zero Tolerance Policies" (2020). Doctoral Dissertations. 1948.
https://doi.org/10.7275/17545358
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/1948
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Included in
Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons, Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons, Prison Education and Reentry Commons, Secondary Education Commons, Secondary Education and Teaching Commons, Social Work Commons, Urban Studies and Planning Commons