A Campus Adaptive Resolution Model Targeted at Yellow-Zone Behavior (Cultural Breaches)

• DOI: 10.1177/15570851211053260
• Author: Theodosia Cook,Callie Marie Rennison,Nélia Viveiros
• Date: 01 July 2022
• Published date: 01 July 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Feminist Criminology

2022, Vol. 17(3) 421–436

© The Author(s) 2021

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/15570851211053260

journals.sagepub.com/home/fcx

A Campus Adaptive

Resolution Model Targeted at

Yellow-Zone Behavior

(Cultural Breaches)

N´

elia Viveiros

1

, Theodosia Cook

2

, and

Callie Marie Rennison

3

Abstract

The usual campus responses to identity-based discrimination (gender, race, ethnicity,

and pregnancy, for example) fail in addressing less severe forms of identity-based

discrimination by mimicking adversarial processes found in the criminal justice system,

focusing on formal investigation processes to address alleged violations. We advance a

model that repairs yellow-zone behavior (cultural breaches) and argue that higher

education campuses must look beyond traditional compliance-only responses toward

an adaptable resolution model (ARM) grounded in restorative and mediation practices.

An ARM model can mitigate and reduce yellow-zone behavior (cultural breaches) and

related institutional betrayal and addresses harmful power dynamics.

Keywords

yellow-zone behavior, campus violations, adaptable resolution, cultural breaches,

restorative practices, higher education

1

School of Education and Human Development, University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus,

Denver, CO, USA

2

Off‌ice of the President, University of Colorado System, Denver, CO, USA

3

School of Public Affairs, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA

Corresponding Author:

N´

elia Viveiros, School of Education and Human Development, University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz

Medical Campus, 13001 East 17th Place, Fitzsimmons Building- Provost Off‌ice, Denver, CO 80204, USA.

Email: nelia.viveiros@cuanschutz.edu

Introduction

Campus-based equity practitioners have come to understand that the usual campus

responses designed to mitigate identity-based discrimination (gender, race, ethnicity,

and pregnancy, for example) are inadequate in addressing less “severe”forms of these

incidents and the power dynamics they embody. These less severe incidents, make up

the majority of the work in campus-based equity, diversity, inclusion and compliance

off‌ices and encompass the bulk of cases overseen by campus-based equity practitioners

(such as Title VII and IX) off‌ices (Rennison, 2018).

Yellow-zone behavior is a term that campus-equity practitioners have come to

describe that behavior that does not tend to rise to the level of a campus policy violation.

It is not clear who f‌irst coined the term but reference can be found to it in the work of K-

12 occupational therapist, Leah Kuypers and Winner (2011), who describes four zone

regulations, rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy, as a framework for identifying

feelings and actions. Kuypers and Winner (2011) zones are used by parents and

teachers to help children self-regulate, identify coping strategies. In the healthcare

world, a yellow-zone is considered a warning or high-risk zone and a likely precursor,

that is, if the patient is not properly treated leading to life or limb threatening casualties

and adverse outcomes (Cleveland Clinic, 2021).

Cultural breaches are intrinsically tied to yellow-zone behavior because they often

f‌low from that “yellow-zone stage”of frustration or high-risk and represent inap-

propriate or damaging behavior that is not severe enough (according to campus policy)

to be sanctioned. This yellow-zone behavior encompasses a very broad degree of

behaviors, some of which are cultural breaches. We prefer and use the term cultural

breach (es) in this work to describe the high-risk (yellow-zone) behavior as it may

manifest on campus so as to avoid any association with implicitly racial color or anti-

Semitic metaphor tropes such as “Yellow Peril, Yellow Terror, and/or the Yellow

Specter.”

We argue that higher education campuses mustlook beyond a traditional compliance-

only model and adopt an adaptable resolution model (ARM) that is grounded in re-

storative and mediation practices. Unlike its adversarial compliance-only counterpart,

and limited useof informal resolution and adaptablemodels, an ARM model grounded in

equity, diversity, and inclusion will reduce cultural breaches, address harmful power

dynamics, and mitigate the impact of such behavior.

Before outlining the elements and benef‌its of an ARM approach, the remainder of

this article is structured as follows. First, cultural breaches are def‌ined and described.

We then discuss the commonly used approaches to dealing with problematic be-

havior and their limitations. The paper then turns to the proposed adaptable reso-

lution model (ARM) approach including legal considerations and benef‌its of such an

approach.

422 Feminist Criminology 17(3)