Creating deviants: The stigmatization of students expelled through zero tolerance policies

In 1994, the Gun Free Schools Act was put into place in an effort to make our school system safer by mandating the expulsion of students who are found to possess a firearm. Since then, Michigan and other states' legislatures have enacted policies, known as "Zero Tolerance Policies," which go beyond the federal firearm guidelines. This has led to the expulsion of students for actions that were not meant to cause harm but that fell within the interpretation of a threat. One consequence of these Zero Tolerance policies is that the school systems that are intended to provide support end up promoting a social policy that opts out certain students and as an unintended consequence "leaves them behind." Labeling theory and research on stigma helps to explain what happens when students are cast as deviants, which may affect them by impacting their psychological, affective and social development. As a way to understand how Zero Tolerance policies affect students who have been suspended or expelled from school, this study examines the corrective actions parents take as a way to save their children from the negative impact of being labeled a deviant and stigmatized by the community and society. A content analysis of a convenience sample of website postings by parents and students will examine the narratives of parents and students to understand how Zero Tolerance policies and the subsequent process of labeling are affecting students.