"Why can't you guys just talk like me?": an exploration of court-involved young adults' responses to language barriers

Author(s)Demarest, Megan Terry
Date Accessioned2020-12-17T13:31:23Z
Date Available2020-12-17T13:31:23Z
Publication Date2020
SWORD Update2020-09-20T19:03:43Z
AbstractWhile existing scholarship has established that younger justice-involved populations tend to experience language difficulties to a greater degree than their nondelinquent peers (Anderson, Hawes, & Snow, 2016), there are limited attempts in the literature exploring how younger populations experience and respond to language barriers in the courtroom. Moreover, questions regarding how language barriers may influence younger justice-involved populations’ perceptions of fairness and legitimacy of the court process remain underdeveloped. I explore these gaps through ten in-depth qualitative interviews with male court-involved young adults within an alternative to incarceration program. Findings show that respondents attribute language barriers as consequences of varied sources; however, the recognition of these sources all illustrate the disadvantaged social location of respondents in comparison to court officials. Similarly, language barriers appear to exacerbate respondents’ feelings of procedural injustice, leading respondents to enact various coping strategies when faced with instances of perceived bias and mistreatment by the court. As a result, this study provides needed insight into the lived realities of court-involved young adults in relation to experienced language barriers, while also demonstrating the key role that language plays in younger justice-involved populations’ responses to procedural injustice.en_US
AdvisorKupchik, Aaron C.
DegreeM.A.
DepartmentUniversity of Delaware, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.58088/qp06-dq73
Unique Identifier1227097312
URLhttps://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/28352
Languageen
PublisherUniversity of Delawareen_US
URIhttps://login.udel.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/why-can-t-you-guys-just-talk-like-me-exploration/docview/2452123347/se-2?accountid=10457
KeywordsCourtsen_US
KeywordsHegemonyen_US
KeywordsLanguage barriersen_US
KeywordsProcedural justiceen_US
Title"Why can't you guys just talk like me?": an exploration of court-involved young adults' responses to language barriersen_US
TypeThesisen_US
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