A call to dismantle systemic racism in criminal legal systems.

Najdowski, Cynthia J.; Stevenson, Margaret C.

doi:10.1037/lhb0000510

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 195 publications

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“…We recommend that legal systems prioritize education and professional training programs designed to enhance awareness regarding racism and ways to reduce racial inequity broadly within legal systems (Worden et al, 2020) and for such training to be high-quality, continual, and supported by holistic, positive institutional norms and engagement (Eberhardt, 2020). In line with recommendations from a recent American Psychological Association resolution on dismantling systemic racism in the legal system (Najdowski & Stevenson, 2022), we also encourage efforts to ensure diversity among criminal justice professionals. Indeed, criminal justice professionals of color might be more sensitive than White professionals to the role of racism within the justice systems (Thompson et al, 2016) and less racially discriminatory in their treatment of people of color (Ba et al, 2021; Swencionis et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…We also encourage policy and practice changes designed to eliminate racial bias in child sexual abuse case decision-making, which might include masking child race during caseworker decision-making (Cosgrove, 2021) to ensure that race does not influence case outcomes. Yet, research is needed to explore the potential for benefit and harm of race masking within legal decision-making (Najdowski & Stevenson, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although there is little research exploring the influence of child race on sexual abuse substantiation likelihood, there is considerable evidence of racially discriminatory outcomes within sexual crime contexts (and within the legal system, broadly; Najdowski & Stevenson, 2022). In an analysis of 58 alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse occurring within a daycare setting, the perpetrators were less frequently arrested and convicted when the children were Black girls, as compared to White girls (Williams & Farrell, 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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When Disclosure Fails to Substantiate Abuse: Child and Perpetrator Race Predict Child Sexual Abuse Substantiation

Stevenson

Rivers²

2023

Child Maltreat

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We examined the effects of child race, perpetrator race, and abuse disclosure status (within the context of a formal forensic interview) on abuse substantiation outcomes. Specifically, we coded child sexual abuse disclosure, abuse substantiation, and race of 315 children (80% girls, M age = 10, age range = 2–17; 75% White, 9% Black, 12% Biracial, 3% Hispanic, 1% Asian) who underwent a child forensic interview in a Midwestern child advocacy center. Supporting hypotheses, abuse substantiation was more likely in cases involving (a) abuse disclosure (vs. no disclosure), (b) White children (vs. children of color), and (c) perpetrators of color (vs. White perpetrators). Also supporting hypotheses, the effect of abuse disclosure on increased abuse substantiation was greater for White children than for children of color. This research suggests that even when children of color disclose their experiences of sexual abuse, they nonetheless face barriers to abuse substantiation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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When Disclosure Fails to Substantiate Abuse: Child and Perpetrator Race Predict Child Sexual Abuse Substantiation

Stevenson

Rivers²

2023

Child Maltreat

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“…As expected, Black students were more likely than their White counterparts to agree they experience stereotype threat in their encounters with police. Although those results suggested that Black and White people have psychologically distinct experiences of police encounters, considering they are in reality policed in qualitatively different ways (Hinton & Cook, 2021; Najdowski & Stevenson, 2022), an alternative explanation is that the Black and White students in our first study imagined different kinds of encounters that posed different levels of risk for being perceived or treated as a criminal. We accounted for this possibility in a second study by asking Black and White men to imagine how they would feel in the same hypothetical police encounter (Najdowski et al, 2015).…”

Section: Stereotype Threat and The Psychological Experience Of Police...mentioning

confidence: 76%

How the “Black criminal” stereotype shapes Black people’s psychological experience of policing: Evidence of stereotype threat and remaining questions.

Najdowski¹

2023

American Psychologist

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Cultural stereotypes that link Black race to crime in the United States originated with and are perpetuated by policies that result in the disproportionate criminalization and punishment of Black people. The scientific record is replete with evidence that these stereotypes impact perceivers’ perceptions, information processing, and decision-making in ways that produce more negative criminal legal outcomes for Black people than White people. However, relatively scant attention has been paid to understanding how situations that present a risk of being evaluated through the lens of crime-related stereotypes also directly affect Black people. In this article, I consider one situation in particular: encounters with police. I draw on social psychological research on stereotype threat generally as well as the few existing studies of crime-related stereotype threat specifically to illuminate how the cultural context creates psychologically distinct experiences of police encounters for Black people as compared to White people. I further consider the potential ramifications of stereotype threat effects on police officers’ judgments and treatment of Black people as well as for Black people’s safety and well-being in other criminal legal contexts and throughout their lives. Finally, I conclude with a call for increased scholarly attention to crime-related stereotype threat and the role it plays in contributing to racial disparities in policing outcomes, particularly with regard to diverse racial, ethnic, and intersectional identities and personal vulnerability factors, and the systemic changes that might mitigate its deleterious effects.

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“…Future research may also be able to disentangle the multiple levels of identity that may operate to modify the lawyer identity. Past studies have drawn conclusions that the criminal and civil justice system and the institution of law give preference to white men and continue to reify systemic racism through their processes and interactions (Alexander 2010; Najdowski and Stevenson 2022). Future work can work to illuminate this by investigating the intersectional nature of the woman lawyer identity and start to disentangle experiences of people from a variety of backgrounds, including people of color, those from low-income backgrounds, and other minoritized groups.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

ACTing Like a Lawyer: An Affect Control Theory Explanation of Gender Gaps in Law

Fields

2023

Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World

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Despite increased parity, large gaps remain between men and women in law. The author proposes that the cultural meanings and everyday interactions in which lawyers engage may create a gendered institution that reifies the gender hierarchy. Using three universal dimensions of meaning, the author investigates differences in the meanings of lawyer-related identities by gender. The results show that across all of these identities, female-modified identities carry cultural meanings that are less powerful than nonmodified identities. Using affect control theory, the author develops hypotheses about the expectations for men and women lawyers when enacting behaviors coded as either adversarial or caring. The data suggest that women are perceived as gender deviant when engaging in adversarial behaviors, while men are perceived as gender deviant when engaging in communal behaviors. These empirical hypotheses suggest ways that cultural meanings shape how lawyers experience their daily work lives and have broad implications for the gender hierarchy in high-powered workplaces.

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A call to dismantle systemic racism in criminal legal systems.

Cited by 12 publications

References 195 publications

When Disclosure Fails to Substantiate Abuse: Child and Perpetrator Race Predict Child Sexual Abuse Substantiation

When Disclosure Fails to Substantiate Abuse: Child and Perpetrator Race Predict Child Sexual Abuse Substantiation

How the “Black criminal” stereotype shapes Black people’s psychological experience of policing: Evidence of stereotype threat and remaining questions.

ACTing Like a Lawyer: An Affect Control Theory Explanation of Gender Gaps in Law

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