Framing the Topic

Many questions rise as we examine racial equity in child welfare. Topics such as: the impact of personal biases, institutional and systemic racism among them. This section is a compilation of articles on some of these topics.

Bias

The concept of bias refers to the choices one makes, purporting that it is possible for an individual to make different decisions both consciously and unconsciously. A field of research on biases has grown out of efforts at Harvard University and continues today. The theory posits that people have both conscious (Explicit) and unconscious (Implicit) biases and that these biases may or may not be consistent, but both have an impact on how decisions are made. Using the Implicit Association Test (IAT) as the vehicle for measuring biases, researchers have conducted research on this topic for 20 years. In a Washington Post Article on this field of research (January 23, 2005), the authors pose the title as a question for Americans as follows,

See no Bias; Many Americans believe they are not prejudiced. Now a new test provides a powerful evidence that a majority of us really are. Assuming we accept the results, what can we do about it? The link for this article can be found at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy/articles/A27067-2005Jan21.html

Numerous articles and research reports have been written on this topic. Several are listed below. Additionally, they can be found with many others at: http://www.projectimplicit.net/

Unconscious Processes
Banaji, M.R..; Blair, I.V., & Glaser, J. (1997). Environments and Unconscious Processes. In R.S. Wyer (Ed); Advances in Social cognition (Vol. 10, pp 63-74). Mahwah, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum. A review of research on automatic social processes which provide a view of how these processes operate in everyday social life. pdf

Attitude or Familiarity
Are biases really attitude-based or is it just familiarity?
Dasgupta, N.; McGhee, D.E.;Greenwald, A.G.; Banaji. M.R. (2000). Automatic preference for White Americans: Eliminating the familiarity explanation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 36, 316-328.

The experiment reported in this paper demonstrated that positive attributes were more strongly associated with white than black Americans even when (a) pictures of equally unfamiliar black and white individuals were used as stimuli, ad (b) differences in stimulus familiarity were statistically controlled. pdf

Do people in this country perceive Americans as white people?
American = White? Devos, T. & Banaji, M.R. (2005). American=White? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; 88(3), 447-466.

Six studies examined the extent to which American ethnic groups (African, Asian and white) are associated with the category “American”. pdf

Malleability of Automatic Attitudes
Easier Done than Undone.
Gregg, A.P.; Seibt, B.; Banaji, M.R. (2006). Easier done than undone.: Asymmetry in the malleability of implicit preferences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 1-20.

Are automatic or implicit biases changeable? This paper discuss studies executed to examine this question. pdf

Maintaining the Status Quo
A Decade of System Justification Theory: Accumulated evidence of Conscious and Unconscious Bolstering of the Status Quo.
Jost, J. T.; Bannaji, M.R.; & Nosek, B.A.(2004). A decade of System Justification Theory: Accumulated Evidence of Conscious and Unconscious Bolstering of the Status Quo, Political Psychology, 25(6),881-919.

Research using the IAT has shown evidence that individuals make both conscious and unconscious efforts to maintain the status quo. This article reviews and integrates 10 years of research on 20 hypotheses derived from a system justification perspective, focusing on the phenomenon of implicit outgroup favoritism among members of disadvantaged groups (including African Americans, the elderly, and gays/lesbians) and its relation to political ideology (especially liberalism-conservatism). pdf

Prejudice
Cunningham. W.A.; Nezlek, J.B.; Banaji, M.R.. (2004).Implicit and Explicit Ethnocentrism: Revisiting Ideologies of Prejudice, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30(10),1332-1346.

This study leads to the conclusion that (a) implicit ethnocentrism exists and (b) it is related and distinct from explicit ethnocentrism. pdf

Are Native Americans perceived as American?
Devos, T.; Nosek, B.A.; Banaji, M.R.Aliens in their own land?(2007). Implicit and Explicit Ascriptions of National Identity to Native Americans and White Americans.Unpublished manuscript. pdf

Construct Validity
Nosek, B.A.; Greenwald, A.G.; Banaji. M.R. (2000). Understanding and Using the Implicit Association Test: Method Variables and Construct Validity.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,31(2), 166-180. pdf

The Relationship between Implicit and Explicit Bias
Nosek, B.A. (2005).Moderators of the relationship between Implicit and Explicit Evaluation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 134, 565-584.

This report provides the results of multilevel modeling analyses suggested that (a)implicit and explicit preferences are related, (b) the relationship varies as a function of the objects assessed, and c) at least four variables moderate the relationship – self-presentation, evaluative strength, dimensionality, and distinctiveness. pdf

Racism in America

Race: The Power of Illusion
A California Newsreel 3-part series deconstructing race as a biological, social and political construct in America throughout history and today. By asking, What is this thing called 'race'?, a question so basic it is rarely asked, Race - The Power of an Illusion helps set the terms that any further discussion of race must first take into account. Ideal for human biology, anthropology, sociology, American history, American studies, and cultural studies.

This teaching tool talks about the history of race in America and its impact in this country. Information about the series can be found at: http://www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=cn0149

Additionally, an on-line companion to this series can be found at http://www.pbs.org/race/000_General/000_00-Home.htm

Undoing Racism: The Peoples Institute for Survival and Beyond
A grass roots training organization that helps organizations begin the internal conversation. Moving beyond a focus on the symptoms of racism to an understanding of what it is, where it comes from, how it functions, why it persists and how it can be undone, the core of the workshop’s systemic approach emphasizes learning from history, developing leadership, maintaining accountability to communities, creating networks, undoing internalized racial oppression and understanding the role of organizational gate keeping as a mechanism for perpetuating racism.

More Information for the Peoples’ Institute can be found at http://www.pisab.org/

Poverty and Racism: Overlapping Threads to the Common Good
A valuable resource written by the Catholic Church on the links between poverty and racism.
http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=874&srcid=292

Institutional Racism in Child Welfare

Institutional Racism in Child Welfare
Hill, R.B. (2004). Institutional Racism in Child Welfare, Race and Society, 7(1), 17-33.
Robert Hill provides a discussion on the concept of Institutional Racism as a contributing factor to the overrepresentation of African American children in the child welfare system. pdf

Institutional Racism and Disproportionality in Child Welfare
Casey Family programs (CFP) has made significant efforts to address Institutional Racism as it impacts the child welfare system. A short article, description of the phenomenon, and the efforts of CFP are accompanied by descriptions of their efforts can be viewed at their web-site:
http://www.casey.org/OurWork/Disproportionality/InstitutionalRacism.htm

Institutional Racism and the Social Work Profession: A Call to Action
This NASW document provides a vision for how the social work profession can address structural racism.
http://www.socialworkers.org/diversity/default.asp

The Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity
The Casey-CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity was established in 2004 to develop and implement a national, multi-year campaign to address racial disparities and achieve racial equity. The Race Matters Consortium is an active member of the Alliance. More information on the Alliance can be obtained at http://www.cssp.org/major_initiatives/racialEquity.html

Reducing Disparities
The Annie E.Casey Foundation has written and supported several projects on reducing disparities in the child welfare system. Related articles can be accessed at the following link:
aecf.org/KnowledgeCenter/ChildWelfarePermanence/ReducingDisparities