Study: 'Adultification' has black girls facing harsher punishments

Study: 'Adultification' has black girls facing harsher punishments

ABA Journal
By Cristin Wilson
November 2017

A new study from the Center on Poverty and Inequality at Georgetown University Law Center describes "adultification" of African-American girls that negatively impacts how they’re treated by school administrators, law enforcement and the justice system, beginning in childhood.

Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls Childhood provides data revealing for the first time how adults view black girls, according to its authors. It builds on previous research on adult perceptions of African-American boys.

The study found that black girls are perceived as less innocent and more adultlike than Caucasian girls, especially between 5 and 14, which results in disparities in school and the criminal justice system. The study reveals that, among other misconceptions, adults think black girls seem older than white girls the same age, know more about sex, and need less support and comfort.

Attorney Rebecca Epstein, lead author of the report and executive director of the center, says the most surprising thing was that girls as young as 5 were subjected to adultification. "Potentially reaching back as early as kindergarten, black girls are viewed as less needing of protection and nurturing," Epstein says.

Lara Kaufmann, director of public policy for Girls Inc., a national nonprofit that helps young women navigate gender, economic and social barriers, isn’t surprised by the findings. "That speaks to how deep these stereotypes run and how far these biases go," she says. "Awareness is the first step."

The study sought to explain stark criminal justice and school discipline disparities between black girls and their white counterparts. For example, black girls are five times more likely to be suspended than white girls and twice as likely to be suspended as white boys. They are about three times as likely to be referred to the juvenile justice system as white girls.

African-American girls are routinely treated more harshly, according to the report. And those in decision-making positions think black girls "should know better. They don’t need protection. … They don’t need a second chance," Epstein says.

"One of the biggest goals was to start a conversation to recognize the differential treatment of black girls," she says. "It seems to have resonated."

The Georgetown researchers say their analysis is the first step, and more work is needed to address, and remedy, the negative stereotypes and implicit biases. Read more

Black Girls Viewed As Less Innocent Than White Girls, Georgetown Law Research Finds

First study focused on "adultification" of black girls shows significant bias toward girls starting at age 5, younger than in previous research on black boys

A groundbreaking study released today by Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality finds that adults view black girls as less innocent and more adult-like than their white peers, especially in the age range of 5-14.

The study, detailed in the new report, Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood, is the first of its kind to focus on girls, and builds on previous research on adult perceptions of black boys. That includes a 2014 study led by Phillip Goff that found that, beginning at age 10, black boys are more likely to be viewed as older and guilty of suspected crimes than white peers.

Authors of the new Georgetown Law report adapted the scale of childhood innocence developed by Goff and colleagues to include items associated with stereotypes of black women and girls. They then applied the scale to a new survey on adult perceptions of girls.  The findings showed significant bias toward black girls starting at age 5.

"What we found is that adults see black girls as less innocent and less in need of protection as white girls of the same age," said Rebecca Epstein, lead author of the report and executive director of the Center on Poverty and Inequality at the Georgetown University Law Center.

 "This new evidence of what we call the ‘adultification’ of black girls may help explain why black girls in America are disciplined much more often and more severely than white girls – across our schools and in our juvenile justice system," said Epstein.

The new report reveals that adults think:

• Black girls seem older than white girls of the same age.
• Black girls need less nurturing than white girls.
• Black girls need less protection than white girls.
• Black girls need to be supported less than white girls.
• Black girls need to be comforted less than white girls.
• Black girls are more independent than white girls.
• Black girls know more about adult topics than white girls.
• Black girls know more about sex than white girls.

The study applied statistical analysis to a survey of 325 adults from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds and educational levels across the United States. Across the four age brackets examined, the most significant differences in adult perceptions were found in relation to girls in mid-childhood (ages 5-9) and early adolescence (10-14), continuing to a lesser degree in the 15 to 19-year-old group.  No statistically significant differences were found in the 0-4 age group.

Biases revealed by the study may shed new light on why black girls are consistently disciplined more harshly than white girls. The report authors point out that educators, school-based police officers and officials across the juvenile justice system often have significant discretion in their decision making, including for minor, subjective infractions such as dress code violations, disobedience and disruptive behavior.

Until now, few scholars have thoroughly investigated why black girls are subjected to differential disciplinary treatment, such as:

• Black girls are five times more likely to be suspended as white girls, and twice as likely to be suspended as white boys.
• Black girls make up just under 16% of the female school population, but account for 28% of referrals to law enforcement, and 37% of arrests.  White girls account for 50% the female school population, but only 34% of referrals and 30% of arrests.
• Black girls are nearly three times as likely to be referred to the juvenile justice system as white girls.
• Black girls are 20% more likely to be charged with a crime than white girls.
• Black girls are 20% more likely than white girls to be detained.
• Black girls are less likely to benefit from prosecutorial discretion.  One study found that prosecutors dismissed only 30% of cases against black girls, while dismissing 70% of cases against white girls.

The report authors call for further study into the adultification of black girls and its possible causal connections to negative outcomes across public systems, including education, juvenile justice and child welfare.  They also recommend providing teachers and law enforcement officials with training on adultification to help counteract the negative consequences of this bias against black girls.

"These findings show that pervasive stereotypes of black women as hypersexualized and combative are reaching into our schools and playgrounds and helping rob black girls of the protections other children enjoy," said report coauthor Jamilia Blake, an associate professor at Texas A&M University.  "We urge legislators, advocates and policymakers to examine the disparities that exist for black girls in the education and juvenile justice systems and to pursue reforms that preserve childhood for all."

Download the report here: Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood

Media Contact:
Tanya.Weinberg@georgetown.edu
202-662-9694.o 202-577-7827.m