Race, social class, and child abuse: Content and strength of medical professionals’ stereotypes

Najdowski, Cynthia J.; Bernstein, Kimberly M.

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.10.006

Cited by 40 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…It is now well-accepted that confirmation bias and tunnel vision can cause innocent people to be wrongfully accused and convicted (Findley & Scott, 2006), so we also analyzed these psychological phenomena in diagnostic decision-making. Overall, our findings provide mixed evidence about the role that the race-abuse stereotype (Najdowski & Bernstein, 2018) plays in this process. Specifically, we found that an infant's race and his family's involvement with CPS affected emergency medical professionals' attention to and interpretation of information, but not their ultimate diagnoses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Following past studies (Goff et al, 2008;Najdowski et al, 2015;Steele & Aronson, 1995), we developed a word-stem completion task to measure stereotype activation. In preliminary research (Najdowski & Bernstein, 2018), 53 medical professionals listed words associated with the stereotype that Black children are more likely than other children to be abused by their parents. Participants generated 131 words which we then organized into 25 construct groups based on relatedness (e.g., "uneducated," "no education," "lack of education," "uninformed," "illiterate," and "education" were grouped together for the construct of "uneducated").…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To investigate the influence of race on the probability of an abuse-related diagnosis, we had emergency medical professionals review a fictional case involving an infant patient who was depicted as either Black or White, but who otherwise experienced an identical pattern of symptoms prior to being taken in at an emergency room. We predicted that stereotypes that link child abuse to Black individuals (see, e.g., Krowchuk, 1989;Najdowski & Bernstein, 2018) would produce confirmation bias and tunnel vision in medical professionals' information-processing and decision-making, thereby increasing the likelihood of an abuse-related diagnosis for a Black versus White infant. We also explored how stereotyping would be affected by a contextual cue that would suggest an infant's symptoms were the product of abuse: prior involvement of the family with child protective services ("CPS"; Nouman & Alfandari, 2020).…”

Section: Imentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, Krowchuk's (1989) survey of registered nurses revealed that they believe child abusers are stereotypically Black (Krowchuk, 1989). More recently, Najdowski and Bernstein (2018) performed two studies with samples of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to identify the content and strength of the raceabuse stereotype. Their research revealed a considerable level of consensus across participants' responses and, thus, about the existence and substance of beliefs in the medical community that Black children are more likely than others to be abused.…”

Section: Racial Stereotyping As An Explanatory Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, we examined the effects of an infant's race and the family's involvement with CPS on emergency medical professionals' diagnostic decision-making and to identify the psychological mechanisms that would explain the effects. Based on prior theory and research (e.g., Balsa & McGuire, 2003;Devine, 1989;Najdowski & Bernstein, 2018;van Ryn et al, 2006), we predicted that emergency medical professionals would be more likely to find that the infant's symptoms were caused by abuse when the infant was Black versus White. We further hypothesized that the effect of infant race on decision-making would be explained by greater activation of the race-abuse stereotype and, in turn, more selective information-processing aimed at confirming abuse.…”

Section: Overview and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Do Racial Stereotypes Contribute to Medical Misdiagnosis of Child Abuse?

Najdowski

Bernstein

Wahrer

2020

wclawr

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite growing recognition that misdiagnoses of child abuse can lead to wrongful convictions, little empirical work has examined how the medical community may contribute to these errors. Previous research has documented the existence and content of stereotypes that associate race with child abuse. The current study examines whether emergency medical professionals rely on this stereotype to fill in gaps in ambiguous cases involving Black children, thereby increasing the potential for misdiagnoses of child abuse. Specifically, we tested whether the race-abuse stereotype led participants to attend to more abuse-related details than infection-related details when an infant patient was Black versus White. We also tested whether this heuristic decision-making would be affected by contextual case facts; specifically, we examined whether race bias would be exacerbated or mitigated by a family’s involvement with child protective services (CPS). Results showed that participants did exhibit some biased information processing in response to the experimental manipulations. Even so, the race-abuse stereotype and heuristic decision-making did not cause participants to diagnose a Black infant patient with abuse more often than a White infant patient, regardless of his family’s involvement with CPS. These findings help illuminate how race may lead to different outcomes in cases of potential child abuse, while also demonstrating potential pathways through which racial disparities in misdiagnosis of abuse and subsequent wrongful convictions can be prevented.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Racial Stereotyping As An Explanatory Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Overview and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Do Racial Stereotypes Contribute to Medical Misdiagnosis of Child Abuse?

Najdowski

Bernstein

Wahrer

2020

wclawr

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Primary Care Interventions to Prevent Child Maltreatment

Barry,

Nicholson,

Silverstein

et al. 2024

JAMA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ImportanceChild maltreatment, which includes child abuse and neglect, can have profound effects on health, development, survival, and well-being throughout childhood and adulthood. The prevalence of child maltreatment in the US is uncertain and likely underestimated. In 2021, an estimated 600 000 children were identified by Child Protective Services as experiencing abuse or neglect and an estimated 1820 children died of abuse and neglect.ObjectiveThe US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) commissioned a systematic review to evaluate benefits and harms of primary care–feasible or referable behavioral counseling interventions to prevent child maltreatment in children and adolescents younger than 18 years without signs or symptoms of maltreatment.PopulationChildren and adolescents younger than 18 years who do not have signs or symptoms of or known exposure to maltreatment.Evidence AssessmentThe USPSTF concludes that the evidence is insufficient to determine the balance of benefits and harms of primary care interventions to prevent child maltreatment in children and adolescents younger than 18 years without signs or symptoms of or known exposure to maltreatment.RecommendationThe USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of primary care interventions to prevent child maltreatment. (I statement)

show abstract

Ethical challenges in child abuse: what is the harm of a misdiagnosis?

Brown

2021

Pediatr Radiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Race, social class, and child abuse: Content and strength of medical professionals’ stereotypes

Cited by 40 publications

References 20 publications

Do Racial Stereotypes Contribute to Medical Misdiagnosis of Child Abuse?

Do Racial Stereotypes Contribute to Medical Misdiagnosis of Child Abuse?

Primary Care Interventions to Prevent Child Maltreatment

Ethical challenges in child abuse: what is the harm of a misdiagnosis?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About