The Zero-Tolerance Act of 1994 introduced a public education policy, which has allowed educators, administrators, and law enforcement officials to implement school rules, which are initiated with no limitations. Unfortunately, African American males represent the student population, which is most often affected by this phenomenon. The use of isolation from peers, on and off campus suspensions, expulsion, and incarceration, have all become major problems in the public school system for the African American male student. Ironically, as a result of premature incarceration, the African American male has become the centerpiece of the school-to-prison pipeline, which has ultimately created an environment where African American males have become products of recidivism. Thus, the purpose of this study was to provide educators, education administrators, law enforcement, and policy-makers with research information that proves that this form of discipline broadens the learning gap in the African American male student, and it subsequently is lacking the educational foundation and social skills needed to live a sustainable life outside of the criminal justice system. For this research study, 20 formerly incarcerated African American males who reside in Tarrant County, Texas and attended public school were interviewed in order to understand if the use of zero-tolerance incarceration in the educational setting was associated with becoming a future repeat offender. The use of zero-tolerance in the public school system has created an environment that fosters the premature incarceration of the African American juvenile male, which was substantiated through the interview responses of the 20 research participants who believed that this form of discipline has created a learned behavior, which has produced a statistical increase in recidivism in the African American adult male. It is was important to provide the relevance of this research study's findings for stakeholders including educators, law enforcement, policy makers, and the general public in order to better understand the ramifications of the zero-tolerance policy in the public school system and how they affect the African American male's educational opportunities and overall livelihood. [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/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]