Date
8-20-2026
Department
Helms School of Government
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Criminal Justice (PhD)
Chair
Juanita Griffin-Taylor
Keywords
juvenile justice, educational governance, leadership, recidivism, correctional policy, systems
Disciplines
Leadership Studies | Sociology
Recommended Citation
McKenzie-Charles, Domonique, "The Intersectionality of Juvenile Justice and Education: A Comparative Study of Educational Governance Typologies Within the Juvenile Justice System" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8843.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8843
Abstract
Each year, a number of youths find themselves at an intersection between the school-to-prison pipeline (SPP) and the criminal justice system. This research study examined the relationship between educational governance typologies of juvenile justice systems and juvenile recidivism in 10 U.S. states, with a centralized focus on the model of internalized governance. The purpose of this research study was to develop a comparative typology of educational governance through the evaluation of leadership structures, to assess the association between educational governance typologies and rehabilitative outcomes. The following comparative study discovered how educational governance typologies differ across states and whether these differences were associated with variations in successful community re-entry for justice-involved youth. The research analysis encompassed sources of law, organizational policies, and official annual reports of state-level departments of juvenile justice. Each state’s educational governance was coded for leadership autonomy, continuity of services, and rehabilitative orientation to produce a composite typology score. State-level recidivism rates were then analyzed in relation to the typology scores using comparative and correlational analyses. The findings indicated that states with highly internalized educational governance and integrated leadership structures demonstrated higher continuity of educational services, whereas states with externalized governance exhibited fragmented services and higher recidivism rates. This research investigation concluded that leadership and governance models play a critical role in shaping rehabilitative outcomes, with significant implications for policy development.
