Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Social Welfare

Advisor

Fabienne Snowden

Committee Members

Mayra Lopez-Humphreys

Alexis Kuerbis

Subject Categories

Criminal Law | Early Childhood Education | Education Law | Indigenous, Indian, and Aboriginal Law | Law and Race | Social Work

Keywords

Restorative justice, transfer schools, new York City Department of Education, School to prison pipeline, intersectionality

Abstract

The U.S. education system perpetuates structural inequities that disproportionately affect Black students with the School-to-Prison Pipeline (STPPL) criminalizing them through Zero-Tolerance policies. Transfer schools are often a last resort for students pushed out of traditional schools provide a lens to examine the impact of Restorative Justice Practices (RJP) and Black student representation on belonging. This quantitative dissertation study analyzes secondary data from the NYC Department of Education using multivariate models to explore the relationship between RJPs and sense of belonging (SOB). Model 1 found that discussing feelings and emotions at school (Tier 1 RJP) had the strongest association with SOB among survey respondents (p=.001). Model 2 highlighted collaborative decision-making in conflict resolution among survey respondents (Tier 2 RJP) as the strongest predictor (p=.001). Model 3 confirmed that among all RJPs, discussing feelings and emotions remained the most significant among survey respondents (p=.001). Model 4 showed that when Black response rates were included, encouragement to develop talents outside of school had the strongest relationship with belonging (p=.001). Model 5 further revealed that RJPs function differently depending on Black student representation with talent development emerging as the strongest predictor (p=.001). This dissertation research elaborates on these findings and reiterates a call to action for social workers to support education professionals to foster belonging by dismantling systemic barriers in education. This research builds on previous calls for a more inclusive and equitable future for all communities, particularly students that are most impacted by the inequities perpetuated by the STPPL.

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