Race and Stereotypes Matter When You Ask About Conduct Problems: Implications for Violence Risk Assessment in Juvenile Justice Settings

Abstract

We examined the impact of stigma priming on self-reported severe conduct problems in two studies conducted with African American adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system. Data-collection interviews were conducted in a secure detention setting following arrest. In Study 1 (N = 193), stigma was primed by manipulating the ordering of surveys. Adolescents who completed a questionnaire about racial identity attitudes prior to questions about severe conduct reported substantively more problematic behaviors than control group peers (β = 0.43). In Study 2 (N = 264), stigma was primed by manipulating whether adolescents were interviewed by an African American or European American mental

From traditional practice to tiered comprehensive services for all: Developing a responsive school culture for the future.

“…Moreover, adolescents who were classified as low in race salience were particularly vulnerable to priming effects. In another study, Andretta et al (2019) found that adolescents whose racial identity was primed prior to an interview reported engaging in more problem behaviors than peers in a control group. Worrell (2007) found that ethnic identity scores were negatively related to academic achievement in school for African American students but not for Asian American, European American, and Latinx students.…”

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

“…Specifically, in interrogations, stereotype threat-induced affect and cognition could manifest in behaviors that detectives perceive as deceptive, leading them to become increasingly coercive (Najdowski, 2011), or deplete the self-regulatory resources that are necessary for suspects to resist the situational pressure to incriminate themselves (Davis & Leo, 2012). Threat and its affective, cognitive, and behavioral correlates also have been hypothesized to disadvantage Black people in eyewitness identification procedures including showups or live lineups (Kovera & Evelo, 2021), forensic mental health evaluations (Romaine & Kavanaugh, 2019), violence risk assessments (Andretta et al, 2019), and in court proceedings (Mentovich et al, 2020; Rand, 2000). Indeed, it is quite likely that stereotype threat effects accumulate against Black people as they move through the criminal legal system.…”

Conduct problems among middle adolescents in the community settings: A concept analysis

“…Some studies characterized conduct problems as antisocial behaviors (Kloft et al, 2017 ; Molleda et al, 2017 ) and associated them with a higher risk of psychopathic behaviors (Bégin et al, 2020 ). Other research defined conduct problems as age-inappropriate misbehaviors and highlighted their association with criminal actions (Andretta et al, 2019 ; Crum et al, 2017 ) and violations of the justice system, such as engaging in unauthorized driving, drug dealing, and encountering law enforcement issues (Khoddam & Leventhal, 2016 ). Moreover, conduct problems were observed in the school context and linked to behaviors like truancy or school avoidance (Blakey et al, 2021 ; Defoe et al, 2019 ; Khoddam et al, 2018 ; Sentse et al, 2017 ).…”

“…It is applied in various community settings, such as general community studies (Andreou et al, 2018 ; Bares et al, 2020 ; Blakey et al, 2021 ; Brandt et al, 2019 ; Brunborg & Burdzovic Andreas, 2019 ; Burt et al, 2020 ; Cardinale et al, 2019 ; Catone et al, 2021 ; Crum et al, 2017 ; Defoe et al, 2019 ; Fanti et al, 2018 ; Ghandour et al, 2019 ; Hawes et al, 2020 ; Kersten et al, 2017 ; Keyes et al, 2018 ; McDonough-Caplan et al, 2018 ; Piotrowska et al, 2020 ; Roberts et al, 2018 ; Sönmez et al, 2019 ; Wesseldijk et al, 2018 ), particularly in the school setting (Bégin et al, 2020 ; Bjertnaes et al, 2020 ; Bordin et al, 2022 ; Dadds et al, 2019 ; El Asam et al, 2019 ; Gutman, 2019 ; Hosseinkhani et al, 2021 ; Idris et al, 2019 ; Kawabe et al, 2021 ; Khoddam et al, 2018 ; Khoddam & Leventhal, 2016 ; López-Romero et al, 2017 ; Luzanil & Turnip, 2021 ; Ren et al, 2018 ; Schoeps et al, 2020 ; Sentse et al, 2017 ). It is also applied in specific community settings, including associations of families of children and adolescents with ADHD, educational assistance centers, such as in Huelva, Spain (Muñoz-Silva et al, 2017 ), family service agencies, community programs serving youth centers (Hogue et al, 2017 ), and detention settings in a mid-Atlantic city court’s intake facilities (Andretta et al, 2019 ).…”