Implicit Bias in School Discipline

Erik J. Girvan

Kent McIntosh

University of Oregon

Handouts:http://www.pbis.org

Racial Bias

Disproportionate Discipline

Situation

A Multidimensional View of Bias

(McIntosh, Girvan, Horner, & Smolkowski, in press)

• Explicit Bias:• Overt:

• Conscious belief in superiority of a group

• Subtle/Symbolic• Conscious belief that some groups aspire to desirable

traits more than others

• Implicit Bias• Unconscious associations regarding some groups

Types of Bias

Explicit Bias

Overt: “Do you think white students and Negroes should

go to the same schools or separate schools?” “Do you think there should be laws against

marriages between Negroes and whites.” Subtle/Symbolic:

“It’s really a matter of some people not trying hard enough; if blacks would only try harder, they could be as well off as whites.”

Overall Car Search Rate - Los Angeles (Armentrout et al., 2007)

Successful Car Search Rate – Los Angeles (Armentrout et al., 2007)

Stops and Frisks – New York (2004-2012)

White Black0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Total Stops

Population Stops

White Black0.0%

0.5%

1.0%

1.5%

2.0%

2.5%

Successful Frisks

Weapons FoundContraband Found

Inequity in discipline outcomes across the United States

Source: U.S. Department of Education-Office for Civil Rights; 1972-3 data is OCR data, but taken from Children’s Defense Fund, School Suspensions; Are They Helping Children? Cambridge, MA: Washington Research Project, 1975.

White Black0%2%4%6%8%

10%12%14%16%18%

Increasing Disparity in Percentage of White and Black Students Suspended for One or More Days

1972-73 1988-89 2006-07 2011-12

Implicit Bias is…• …The tendency to automatically associate people

(e.g., Construction Workers, African Americans, or Women) with certain characteristics (e.g., masculinity, athleticism and criminality, nurturing) or evaluations (i.e., positive or negative) based upon the stereotypical characteristics of the groups into which they are placed.

Implicit Bias is…• …Mostly unrelated to people’s consciously

endorsed beliefs about stereotypes and evaluative attitudes.

“There is nothing more painful to me … than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery, then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”

-Jesse Jackson

Implicit Bias and Race

Implicit Bias is…• …fairly pervasive. (Nosek et al., 2007)

IAT N % Bias (Reverse)

Old/Negative – Young/Positive 351,204 80% (6%)

Black/Negative – White/Positive

732,811 68% (14%)

Male/Career – Female/Family 83,084 76%

“…the challenge is not a small number of twisted white supremacists but something infinitely more subtle and complex: People who believe in equality but who act in ways that perpetuate bias and inequality.”

-Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times

Implicit Bias and Race

Predictive Validity (Field)• Measures of implicit bias have been found to predict extent to

which:• Interviewers discriminated against :

• Arab-Muslim job applicants (Rooth, 2010)

• Obese job applicants (Agerström & Rooth, 2011)

• American Citizens voted against Barack Obama, controlling for demographics, political party identification, and ideology (Payne et al., 2010)

• Pediatricians recommended less pain medication for African American children than White children with identical symptoms (Sabin & Greenwald, 2012)

• Teachers’ expected their minority students to perform more poorly than non-minority students and the actual gap in performance of those students on standardized tests (van den Bergh et al, 2010)

• Arbitrators decided labor grievances in favor of women compared to men (Girvan, Deason, & Borgida, 2014)

• Police Officers used force when arresting African American compared to White children (Goff et al, 2014)

Solutions? Reduce Implicit BiasEffective strategies most typically involve a combination of some or all of the following:• Counter-stereotypical examples linking

Black people to positive attributes and White people to negative attributes

• High-levels of personal involvement• Specific goal intentions

Ineffective strategies include:• Engaging with others’ perspectives• Considering egalitarian values• Increasing positive emotions

Racial Bias

Disproportionate Discipline

Situation

A Multidimensional View of Bias

(McIntosh, Girvan, Horner, & Smolkowski, in press)

Implicit Bias…

• …Most influential in:

• Ambiguous judgments (e.g., deciding between two job applicants who have roughly equivalent qualifications)

• Snap decisions or those for which there is little time or motivation to gather and consider better information (e.g., which stranger should I sit next to on the bus?)

• Unconscious behaviors in socially-sensitive situations (e.g., body language in inter-racial interviews)

Interventions for Implicit Bias in School Discipline

A 5-point

Intervention to Enhance Equity in School Discipline

http://www.pbis.org/school/equity-pbis

1. Reduce ambiguity in ODR definitions and processes Clear guidelines for classroom vs. office-managed

behaviors Avoid rules that result in disproportionate exclusion

2. Identify specific vulnerable decision points General Local (school)

3. Teach a neutralizing routine1. Self-assess presence of VDP

2. Use alternative response

Reduce Effects of Implicit Bias through Specific Training

Levels of specificity:

1. All ODR/suspension decisions (general self-instruction routine)

2. Identify VDPs through national data

3. Use school or district data

Options for Identifying VDPs for Intervention

http://www.pbis.org/school/equity-pbis

National SWIS Data(2011-12)

3,026,367 ODRs

6,269 schools

47 states, plus DC

Langu

age

Defian

ce/ Disr

espect

Disruption

Fighting

Forge

ry/ Th

eft

Harassm

ent/

bullying

Lying/

chea

ting

M - Defi

ance/

Disresp

ect

M - Disr

uption

M - Dres

s code

M - Lan

guag

e

M - Other

M - Physi

cal Contac

t

M - Pro

perty M

isuse

M - Tard

y0

5

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5

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51

31

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1 2 3 31

3

Black

Langu

age

Defian

ce/ Disr

espect

Disruption

Fighting

Forge

ry/ Th

eft

Harassm

ent/

bullying

Lying/

chea

ting

M - Defi

ance/

Disresp

ect

M - Disr

uption

M - Dres

s code

M - Lan

guag

e

M - Other

M - Physi

cal Contac

t

M - Pro

perty M

isuse

M - Tard

y02468

1012141618

4

14

5

21

31

15

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6 6

2

4

WhiteProblem Behavior

Art Room

Bathro

om/ Rest

room Bus

Bus Load

ing Zone

Cafeter

ia

Classro

om

Commons/ Common Area

s

Computer La

bGym

Hall/ B

reeze

way

Librar

y

Locke

r Room

Music Room

Off-Campus

Office

Other Lo

cation

Parking L

ot

Playgro

und

Speci

al Ev

ent/

Assembly/

Field

trip

Stadium

Unknown Lo

cation

Vocational

Room0

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1 25

0

5

56

1 03

7

1 0 1 13 2

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0 0 1 0

BlackWhite

Location

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WhiteTime of Day

Subjective problem behaviorDisruption, defiance, major vs. minor

Non-classroom areasHallways

Afternoons

VDPs from national ODR data

ambiguit

y

LACK OF

contact

fatigue

Racial Bias

Disproportionate Discipline

Situation

Vulnerable Decision Points

Subjective Behavior Hunger

Vague Discipline System Fatigue

Prior Incidents Unfamiliar with Student

Multidimensional View of Bias

When you see problem behavior, stop and ask yourself:

1. Is this a VDP? Situation Decision state

2. If so, use an agreed-upon alternative response

Two-step Neutralizing Routine for Staff:

Neutralizing Routines for Reducing Effects of Implicit Bias

Setting event Antecedent Behavior Consequence

Lack of positive interactions with student

Fatigue

Loud complaints about work (subjective behavior)

Send student to office (ODR)

Student leaves class (Escape social interaction)Alternative

Response“See me after class.”

Self-assessment“Is this a vulnerable

decision point?”

Brief If-then statements Clear steps Doable

What makes for a good neutralizing routine?

Delay“See me after class”

PauseThink it through

Use least exclusionary choiceDelayed ODR

AskState your confidence in themDiscuss privately

What makes for a good alternative response?

“If this is a VDP, am I acting in line with my values?”

“If defiance, keep in class” “If I am tired, delay decision until I can think

clearly”

Neutralizing Routine Examples

When you have to handle problem behavior, stop and tell yourself:

1. Don’t just do something, stand there! Be sure you are ready to act in line with values Get information from student and staff Assess student-teacher relationship

2. Whenever possible, use an agreed-upon instructional response

Teaches missing skills Connects student to school and staff

Two-step Neutralizing Routine for Administrators:(Susan Barrett)

Erik J. Girvangirvan@uoregon.edu

Kent McIntoshkentm@uoregon.edu

@_kentmc

Cannon Beach, Oregon © GoPictures, 2010

Contact Information

Gailliot, M. T., Peruche, B. M., Plant, E. A., & Baumeister, R. F. (2009). Stereotypes and prejudice in the blood: Sucrose drinks reduce prejudice and stereotyping. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 288-290.

Girvan, E. J. (2014). Wise restraints?: How learning the law affects socially-biased decision-making. How Learning the Law Affects Socially-Biased Decision-Making (June 4, 2013) (available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2274314)

Girvan, E. J., Burns, R., Whittaker, J. D., & Borgida, E. (2014). Regulatory depletion exacerbates racial bias. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Greenwald, A. G., & Pettigrew, T. F. (2014). With malice toward none and charity for some: Ingroup favoritism enables discrimination. American Psychologist, 69, 669-684.

References

McIntosh, K., Girvan, E. J., Horner, R. H., & Smolkowski, K. (in press). Education not incarceration: A conceptual model for reducing racial and ethnic disproportionality in school discipline. Journal of Applied Research on Children.

McIntosh, K., Barnes, A., Morris, K., & Eliason, B. M. (2014). Using discipline data within SWPBIS to identify and address disproportionality: A guide for school teams. Eugene, OR: Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. University of Oregon.

Pettigrew, T. F., & Tropp, L. R. (2006). A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 751.

References

Skiba, R. J., Chung, C. G., Trachok, M., Baker, T., Sheya, A., & Hughes, R. L. (in press). Where should we intervene? How infractions, students, and schools all contribute to out-of-school suspension. In D. J. Losen (Ed.), Closing the school discipline gap: Research for policymakers. New York: Teachers College Press.

Skiba, R. J., Michael, R. S., Nardo, A. C., & Peterson, R. L. (2002). The color of discipline: Sources of racial and gender disproportionality in school punishment. The Urban Review, 34, 317-342. doi: 10.1023/A:1021320817372

Staats, C. (2014). State of the science: Implicit bias review 2014. Columbus, OH: Kirwan Institute.

Vincent, C. G., Swain-Bradway, J., Tobin, T. J., & May, S. (2011). Disciplinary referrals for culturally and linguistically diverse students with and without disabilities: Patterns resulting from school-wide positive behavior support. Exceptionality, 19, 175-190.

Wallace, J. M. J., Goodkind, S., Wallace, C. M., & Bachman, J. G. (2008). Racial, ethnic, and gender differences in school discipline among U.S. high school students: 1991–2005. Negro Educational Review, 59, 47-62.

References