An Exploration of the Disproportionate Representation of Youth with Learning Disabilities in the Juvenile Justice System

This article examines the factors and potential remedial approaches to the longstanding overrepresentation of adolescents with learning disabilities in the juvenile justice system. As schools look to harden themselves and reduce their appeal as possible targets of violence, this group of students becomes more vulnerable to policies and decisions that can increase the risk of engagement with the juvenile justice system and prolonged criminality versus normal developmental adjustment into adulthood. This requires considering the unique challenges that this group faces, the impacts of the main hypotheses explicating the phenomenon, and considering ways that classroom educators can help to meaningfully divert students using trauma-informed and responsive practices and policies.