This critical ethnographic research utilizes participatory action research (PAR) and case studies to explore the impacts that zero-tolerance policies have had on the lives of Black girls and women. This work contributes to a small but growing body of work on the intersectional struggles faced by Black girls within the School-to-Prison Pipeline. An aim of this research was to work with the participants to amplify their voices and center them as experts on their own lives. Working with a small sample of three girls and women enabled the creation of detailed narratives of their experiences. These narratives point to the fact that for many Black girls and women, it is the experience of trauma that leads them to becoming involved in the pipeline, as their responses to such trauma become criminalized on a daily basis. Further, their experiences at schools within the context of zero-tolerance policies serve to exacerbate their levels of trauma, creating a unique web wherein school itself becomes a sight of trauma and terror for young Black girls. These findings point us to the necessity of implementing trauma-based educational programs and provide guidance for making the changes required to ensure that Black girls are given the space and opportunity to thrive in schools.
","abstract_html":"<p>This critical ethnographic research utilizes participatory action research (PAR) and case studies to explore the impacts that zero-tolerance policies have had on the lives of Black girls and women. This work contributes to a small but growing body of work on the intersectional struggles faced by Black girls within the School-to-Prison Pipeline. An aim of this research was to work with the participants to amplify their voices and center them as experts on their own lives. Working with a small sample of three girls and women enabled the creation of detailed narratives of their experiences. These narratives point to the fact that for many Black girls and women, it is the experience of trauma that leads them to becoming involved in the pipeline, as their responses to such trauma become criminalized on a daily basis. Further, their experiences at schools within the context of zero-tolerance policies serve to exacerbate their levels of trauma, creating a unique web wherein school itself becomes a sight of trauma and terror for young Black girls. These findings point us to the necessity of implementing trauma-based educational programs and provide guidance for making the changes required to ensure that Black girls are given the space and opportunity to thrive in schools.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Nicholson-Bester, Heather"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Teacher Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Christopher Robbins, Ph.D.","Sylvia Jones, Ph.D.","Barbara Walters, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:40Z","subjects":["Black girls","School-to-Prison Pipeline","social justice","trauma","trauma-informed","African American Studies","Educational Sociology","Women's Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1032","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Christopher Robbins, Ph.D.","Sylvia Jones, Ph.D.","Barbara Walters, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Nicholson-Bester, Heather"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-09-22T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Teacher Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Black girls","School-to-Prison Pipeline","social justice","trauma","trauma-informed","African American Studies","Educational Sociology","Women's Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1032"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This critical ethnographic research utilizes participatory action research (PAR) and case studies to explore the impacts that zero-tolerance policies have had on the lives of Black girls and women. This work contributes to a small but growing body of work on the intersectional struggles faced by Black girls within the School-to-Prison Pipeline. An aim of this research was to work with the participants to amplify their voices and center them as experts on their own lives. Working with a small sample of three girls and women enabled the creation of detailed narratives of their experiences. These narratives point to the fact that for many Black girls and women, it is the experience of trauma that leads them to becoming involved in the pipeline, as their responses to such trauma become criminalized on a daily basis. Further, their experiences at schools within the context of zero-tolerance policies serve to exacerbate their levels of trauma, creating a unique web wherein school itself becomes a sight of trauma and terror for young Black girls. These findings point us to the necessity of implementing trauma-based educational programs and provide guidance for making the changes required to ensure that Black girls are given the space and opportunity to thrive in schools.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Trajectory of trauma: The experiences of Black girls in the school-to-prison pipeline"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Christopher Robbins, Ph.D.","Sylvia Jones, Ph.D.","Barbara Walters, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Nicholson-Bester, Heather"],"dc:date.available":["2020-09-22T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This critical ethnographic research utilizes participatory action research (PAR) and case studies to explore the impacts that zero-tolerance policies have had on the lives of Black girls and women. This work contributes to a small but growing body of work on the intersectional struggles faced by Black girls within the School-to-Prison Pipeline. An aim of this research was to work with the participants to amplify their voices and center them as experts on their own lives. Working with a small sample of three girls and women enabled the creation of detailed narratives of their experiences. These narratives point to the fact that for many Black girls and women, it is the experience of trauma that leads them to becoming involved in the pipeline, as their responses to such trauma become criminalized on a daily basis. Further, their experiences at schools within the context of zero-tolerance policies serve to exacerbate their levels of trauma, creating a unique web wherein school itself becomes a sight of trauma and terror for young Black girls. These findings point us to the necessity of implementing trauma-based educational programs and provide guidance for making the changes required to ensure that Black girls are given the space and opportunity to thrive in schools.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1032"],"dc:subject":["Black girls","School-to-Prison Pipeline","social justice","trauma","trauma-informed","African American Studies","Educational Sociology","Women's Studies"],"dc:title":["Trajectory of trauma: The experiences of Black girls in the school-to-prison pipeline"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Teacher Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:17:40Z"}