A Vicious Cycle

Abstract

Can social-psychological theory provide insight into the extreme racial disparities in school disciplinary action in the United States? Disciplinary problems carry enormous consequences for the quality of students' experience in school, opportunities to learn, and ultimate life outcomes. This burden falls disproportionately on students of color. Integrating research on stereotyping and on stigma, we theorized that bias and apprehension about bias can build on one another in school settings in a vicious cycle that undermines teacher-student relationships over time and exacerbates inequality. This approach is more comprehensive than accounts in which the predicaments of either teachers or students are considered alone rather than in tandem, it complements nonpsychological approaches, and it gives rise to novel implications for policy and intervention. It also extends prior research on bias and stigmatization to provide a model for understanding the social-psychological bases of inequality more generally.

Persistence Mindset among Adolescents: Who Benefits from the Message that Academic Struggles are Normal and Temporary?

“…Race. Historically, Black students have been stigmatized as lacking the academic skills to be successful in school (Steele, 1992;Steele & Aronson, 1995), and this stereotype has contributed to persistent discrimination against Black students in school settings (McKown & Weinstein, 2008;Okonofua, Walton, & Eberhardt, 2016). The culmination of these experiences may justifiably result in a serious decline in Black students' sense of academic competence and perception of school belonging as they progress through the education system (Benner & Graham, 2009;Walton & Cohen, 2007).…”

Trust and Discipline: Adolescents’ Institutional and Teacher Trust Predict Classroom Behavioral Engagement following Teacher Discipline

“…However, how can discipline be perceived in a way that helps adolescents behaviorally re-engage? Recent scholarship has noted that addressing this question requires consideration of adolescents' existing level of trust in the educational system and its actors (e.g., teachers; Gregory, Skiba, & Mediratta, 2017;Okonofua, Walton, & Eberhardt, 2016;. Adolescents' trust in these entities may act as a psychological framework that influences their response to institutional rules and sanctions.…”

The application of neuroimaging to social inequity and language disparity: A cautionary examination

“…Between 2007 and 2011, 29% of Blacks and 23% of Hispanics were living below the national poverty line, compared to only 10% of Non-Hispanic Whites (Macartney, Bishaw, & Fontenot, 2013). Children from racial and ethnic minorities are subjected to harsher disciplinary treatment in school (Okonofua, Walton, & Eberhardt, 2016) and have lower academic performance, possibly due in part to stereotype threat (Steele, 1997). In fact, race predicts academic outcomes above and beyond the effects of SES (Sirin, 2005).…”