Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

12-2021

School/College

Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs (SOPA)

Degree Name

Ph.D. in Administration of Justice

Committee Co-Chairperson

Robert Mupier

Committee Member 1

Ashraf Mozayani

Committee Member 2

MIchael Adams

Committee Member 3

Gautam Nayer

Keywords

Education • Immigration • Limited English Proficiency • On-Campus Arrests • On-Campus Delinquency/Deviance

Abstract

This research is intended to examine the relationship between the enrollment of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students in American high schools and the rate of delinquency on campus. While the stigma and general belief that immigrants and criminality are correlated has existed throughout American History, empirical research findings have generally indicated the inverse to be true and often find that immigrants engage in lower rates of delinquency in comparison to their non-immigrant counterparts. Previous work in the field has primarily identified immigrants by legal or technical categorization, primarily nativity and immigrant status. Fewer are the studies who identify this group through cultural variables, such as acculturation variables. With the intention of furthering the understanding of the proposed immigrant-crime nexus, this study seeks to add a unique and missing element to the current body of knowledge that is immigrant criminality – examining the role that Limited English Proficient (LEP) status plays on delinquency in high schools. Using a secondary data analysis, this study examines the impact that LEP enrollment has on the rates of delinquency in high schools in a multi-state analysis. The results of this study determine that the rate of LEP enrollment in a high school did not impact the rate of arrests or referrals on campus and LEP students are less likely than non-LEP students to be arrested or referred to law enforcement, The findings from this study yield insight into the understudied relationship between LEP students and delinquency across high schools in America as well as contribute to the ever-expanding field of immigrant crime schools in a multi-state analysis. The results of this study determine that the rate of LEP enrollment in a high school did not impact the rate of arrests or referrals on campus and LEP students are less likely than non-LEP students to be arrested or referred to law enforcement, The findings from this study yield insight into the understudied relationship between LEP students and delinquency across high schools in America as well as contribute to the ever-expanding field of immigrant crime.

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