Special Needs Under Siege: From Classrooms to Incarceration

Several research articles have documented the disproportionate representation of minorities in school discipline and incarceration settings. In the 2009–2010 school year, research shows nationally 17 percent of African-American, 8 percent of Native American, and 7 percent Latino American students were suspended at least one time (Losen and Gillespie 2012). In addition, studies show African-American and Latino males represent the largest percentage of inmates in correctional facilities (i.e. jails and prisons) throughout the United States (Sakala 2014). While research has documented the relationship between race and the school-to-prison pipeline, the relationship between race, intellectual and emotional disabilities, and the school-to-prison pipeline has been relatively unexplored. According to Losen and Gillespie (2012), 25 percent of Black students who were labeled with an intellectual or emotional disability were suspended from school in the 2009–2010 school year compared to 9 percent for White students diagnosed with an intellectual or emotional disability. Furthermore, data show 70 percent of juvenile inmates were diagnosed with learning disabilities and 33 percent were reading below a 4th grade level (Hubner and Wolfson 2001). The current review seeks to explore the complex relationship between disability, race, and the school-to-prison pipeline to highlight how minority students with special needs are placed on a trajectory towards settings of incarceration.