User:Wgwilliams/Adultification bias

Adultification bias is a form of racial prejudice where children of minority groups, typically Black children, are treated by adults as being more mature than they actually are. Actions committed by these children that would be deemed normal for child development are more likely to be treated as opportunities for discipline and children are more likely to be seen as having malicious intentions. A clear example of this bias in action is when a Black child is assumed to be significantly older than their actual age. These perceptions could in turn perpetuate the maturity of Black children and the assumptions of adults.

Since it is a relatively new concept, adultification bias has not been well studied. Still, many studies have found that Black children are more susceptible to discipline from authority figures, such as police officers and educators. Black children are also overlooked or their intentions are misrepresented in healthcare settings, contributing to "medical mistrust" in the Black community. Scholars from the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Law have argued that adultification bias can trace its roots to slavery and Stereotypes of African Americans. Adultification bias can affect the language used when describing children or adolescences of minority groups in the media. This bias may perpetuate the school-to-prison pipeline.

Educators and authority figures can address adultification bias by improving their cultural competence and communication.

History
Adultification is originally a psychology term describing children who act more mature than their peers as a result of being handed adult responsibilities from a young age, but this adultification is often forced by circumstances outside of the Black youth's control. The study done by Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Law in 2017 includes one of the first mentions of "adultification bias," referring to adults' perception that Black children are more mature than their white peers, but this has also been referred to as just adultification by many scholars. While maturity usually comes with increased autonomy, Black children are frequently denied this right while still facing the expectations of them.

Black children have had prior experience being treated like adults during slavery. Treatment of enslaved children varied throughout the United States. Some plantations would not assign jobs to children until they became adolescents. Others put Black children to work as early as 2 to 3-years-old. Slave owners would then decide when enslaved children made the transition from doing light chores to working hard-labor jobs assigned to adults. Typically, this transition occurred by the time they were eight to nine. Adultification also occurred due to hyper-sexualization of Black children by slave owners. This sexualization contributed to the development of major stereotypes of Black women.

Other historical factors have contributed to the adultification of Black youth, such as the invention of adolescence as a construct. Adolescence as a construct was invented because during these years, a person has more independence while the brain is still developing impulse control and emotional regulation. Adolescence is a period of time that was invented by the White middle class to allow children the flexibility to test boundaries and develop identities. White adolescence is frequently pictured through films but Black adolescence is not commonly portrayed. This lack of media representation contributes to the ignorance surrounding Black youth and their struggles with forced adultification. The aging of Black youth prevents them from having the same privileges as White youth.

Relationship to other stereotypes[edit]
Stereotypes of the angry black man and the angry black woman affect how the behaviors of Black children are perceived and may be part of the reason why adultification bias is so prevalent with Black children. Historically, Black men and women were categorized as "angry" and "violent" in order to justify their subjugation during enslavement. A 2020 study found that Black children have higher odds of being seen as angry, and for each additional year of perceived growth, the potential for receiving anger bias increases. Adultification bias may be upheld and perpetuated by stereotypes of African Americans, such as the jezebel, sapphire, and mammy stereotypes. Since these stereotypes represent the opposite standards of femininity and respect, Black girls and women are seen as unfeminine and thus disrespectful, mature, loud, and hypersexual. The idea that Black children are not children may impact the hypersexualization of Black girls. As early as the age of 5, Black girls are seen as more mature and knowledgeable on adult-appropriate topics, like sex.

Healthcare[edit]
Adultification bias can impact the health care a child might receive. Racial and ethnic minorities in the United States are more medically vulnerable than other populations. Studies have shown that health care providers provide less services to Black patients, including giving them less time, information, and attention. Black children are impacted by this lack of services, as many of them receive longer wait times and less analgesia than white children despite reporting the same symptoms. Black teens are often tested for sexually transmitted diseases when presenting with abdominal symptoms despite reporting no sexual activity '''due to the assumption of promiscuity. A 2020 study found that Black youth were less likely to be promptly diagnosed and treated for appendicitis, revealing implicit and structural racial bias in hospitals.'''

Mental Health
'''Black youth are reporting higher rates of mental health crises than their white counterparts. In 2019, high-school aged Black girls were 60% more likely to attempt suicide than non-Hispanic white females of their same age. Adultification occurs largely at a grade-school level, but it's impacts extend towards adulthood. This increased sense of responsibility without the autonomy of adulthood creates individuals who struggle to express their emotions and deviate from the norm, or the expectations of those who forced them into self-sufficiency. This contributes towards the prevalent stigma surrounding mental health in the Black community, where seeking mental health assistance is seen as "weak" action. Other barriers include lack of access to knowledge and resources and alternatives favoring spiritual guidance, such as the church.'''