Unintentional Impacts

1. Unintentional Impacts Creating Equitable Discipline Outcomes by Managing the Risk Factors for Implicit Bias The Center for Policing Equity Juvenile Justice & Education DivisionWebinar by Kristen Powell

2. Center for Policing Equity • “We do science to promote justice” • Research and Action Think Tank • Resource for equitable change • Partnering with law enforcement and school districts • We’ve developed trainings for law enforcement, and police-community groups

3. Part One Discipline and Decision-Making

4. Disruption of Equitable Education Opportunities Students who are suspended are at higher risk than their peers to: • Receive future disciplinary action. (Greenwood, Horton, & Utley, 2002) • Have contact with the juvenile justice system. (Fabelo et al., 2011; Vanderhaar et al., 2014) • Drop out of school. (Raffaele Mendez, 2003; Balfanz et al., 2014; Suh & Suh, 2007) Students who are arrested are less likely than their peers to: • Complete high school or enroll in college. (Hirschfield, 2009; Kirk & Sampson, 2013)

5. Disparities & the School-to-Prison Pipeline

6. What Causes These Racial Disparities? Not differences in behavior: • Studies have revealed that Black students do not have higher rates of school misconduct. (Dinkes, Cataldi, & Lin-Kelly, 2007; Skiba, Michael, Nardo, & Peterson, 2002) • Black students are not referred for discipline for more serious infractions than White students; they receive harsher punishments for less serious behavior than their counterparts. (Fabelo et al., 2011; Shaw & Bradden, 1990; Skiba et al., 2002)

7. What Causes These Racial Disparities? Not demographics or school environments: • Neither socio-economic status nor enrollment numbers explain the racial disparities. (Brantlinger, 1991; Skiba, Peterson, & Williams, 1997; Wu, Pink, Cain, & Moles, 1982) • School-specific contexts do not explain racial disparities.(Rocque, 2010)

8. What Causes These Racial Disparities? Controlled for difference in schools AND behavior we still see… Differential Selection: • Identifying one group for punishment while ignoring the behavior of other groups equally eligible for sanctioning. Differential Processing: • Punishing one group more harshly than others, though they have misbehaved in comparable ways. • Ex. Food fight in the lunchroom

9. Re-Characterization of Student Behavior Pushing and shoving Battery Swiping a cell phone Theft or robbery Talking back Disorderly conduct

10. Part Two Implicit Bias

11. Implicit Association • A cognitive link between two concepts that is automatic. • When one concept is primed (or made obvious), the other becomes more accessible, without conscious deliberation. • For example, if I say peanut butter, you say____ • Or if I Say 4th of July, you may think____

12. Subconscious Conclusions

13. Situations Can Outweigh Character & Intentions Why is all of this important? • Our brains can learn associations through repeated exposure to images, ideas, and circumstances. • Our brains can take shortcuts and draw on these associations to arrive at conclusions. At times the conclusions are accurate, and at times they are not.

14. Implicit Bias Automatic or unconscious attitudes or beliefs about people based on stereotypes

15. Implicit Bias and Gender

16. Stereotypes • Ideas, associations, or overgeneralizations that associate traits and members of social groups • Do not account for the multiple realities or characteristics of people with seemingly shared traits • Can influence our judgments and behaviors toward others, even if we do not believe in the stereotype

17. Asian American Students as Smarter • Selective immigration • Model minority • Renders invisible academic challenges that vulnerable Asian groups face

18. How Can the Model Minority Myth Hurt Students? Asian American Students may: • Not receive as much support in school. • Be placed in the wrong level classes. • Not receive individualized treatment or support for learning challenges.

19. Black Criminality Stereotype • Teachers responded more harshly to school discipline infractions when they perceived students in hypothetical vignettes to be Black.(Okonofua & Eberhardt, 2015) • Police and juvenile probation officers read a vignette about a juvenile offender; they recommended harsher punishments when they perceived the juvenile to be Black. (Graham & Lowery, 2004)

20. How Can the Black Criminality Stereotype Hurt Students? Black youth are more likely than other youth to be: • Detained. • Expedited for formal processing. • Referred to adult court. • Given an out-of-home-placement. • Imprisoned. • Viewed by law enforcement as culpable and likely to reoffend. (Graham & Lowery, 2004; Poe-Yamagata & Jones, 2000; Sickmund et al., 2014)

21. What Makes Us More Vulnerable to Implicit Bias? • Feeling physically threatened • Multitasking or being distracted • Being a novice • Making quick or time-pressured decisions • Ambiguity • Being mentally taxed • Feeling tired or hungry • Feeling stressed • Being in a bad mood or angry • Experiencing anxiety • Having discretion (Blair, 2002; Danziger & Avnaim-Pesso, 2011; Dasgupta, DeSteno, Williams, & Hunsinger, 2009; DeSteno, Dasgupta, Bartlett, & Cajdric, 2004; Fiske, 1998; Ghumman & Barnes, 2013; Kahnman, 2011; Sim, Correll, & Sadler, 2013)

22. Authority Threat • Authority threat is the interpretation that a challenge to one’s authority is a personal assault on one’s identity or sense of self. • Individuals under authority threat are at risk of responding with anger and escalatory behaviors.

23. Implicit Bias and Authority Threat and School Discipline • Can influence educators’ decision-making in discipline, how you perceive an event, and how you address or respond to certain behaviors, leading to disparities in outcomes • Implicit bias and authority threat can lead to escalated discipline interactions, also resulting in Black students being punished more harshly than their counterparts

24. Review • There are racial disparities in discipline outcomes, especially for black students. • Your brain often times tries to make your day easier by taking shortcuts and making unconscious associations and stereotypes. • Certain situations increase the likelihood of your brain making a mistake and engaging in implicit bias. • This can happen when disciplining a student and ultimately impacts how you perceive the situation and what discipline route is determined • Knowing the role of implicit bias is the first step to addressing it

25. Part Three Strategies

26. Takeaway Strategies

27. Proactive Awareness • Self-reflection: • Be aware of how implicit bias and authority threat contribute to disparities. • Ask yourself questions that check in on your possible underlying bias. • Awareness of vulnerable conditions: • Identify which conditions we can control for. • Prepare strategies to change these conditions. • Focus on awareness when we cannot change the condition. • Replacing stereotypes: • Intentionally seek out cross-group relationships. • Actively challenge stereotypes. • Seek out counter-stereotypical media representations.

28. Vulnerable Conditions • Feeling physically threatened • Multitasking or being distracted • Being a novice • Making quick or time-pressured decisions • Ambiguity • Being mentally taxed • Feeling tired or hungry • Feeling stressed • Being in a bad mood or angry • Experiencing anxiety • Having discretion

29. Procedural Justice • Voice: Give people a chance to tell their side of the story. • Neutrality: Practice objectivity and consider both sides. • Respect: Use respectful language and communication. • Trustworthiness: Explain your decisions and consistently enforce rules and policies.

30. De-Escalation • Patient communication • Managing difficult or escalating behavior • Managing personal perspective and emotions • Controlling the environment

31. Questions? Please submit to the moderator at this time!

32. Thank you! Learn more at policingequity.org Other questions? Email me at kristen@policingequity.org