In 2016, the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights reported that Black girls were overrepresented among students who face discipline that excluded or criminalized them. Although Black girls constituted only 8% of K-12 students nationwide, 14% had received one or more out-of-school suspensions. Out-of-school suspensions often lead to interactions with the criminal legal system, increasing the likelihood of imprisonment and often beginning the school-to-prison pipeline for the most vulnerable youth. Data from 2011 to 2012 showed that Black females constituted 31% of public-school girls who were referred to law enforcement but represented a staggering 43% of those arrested on school grounds for school disciplinary reasons. These trends are paralleled in the criminal legal system. It is necessary to explore why the basis of Black girls' discipline is based less on their behavior and more on how they are portrayed in society. In this research, the issues of race, gender and trauma will be examined to explain the disproportionality in suspension and expulsion rates for Black girls within one large urban school district in Maryland. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]