Race, Social Class, and Child Abuse: Content and Strength of Medical Professionals’ Stereotypes

Authors

Cynthia J. Najdowski, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Kimberly M. Bernstein, University at Albany, State University of New York

Author ORCID Identifier

Cynthia Najdowski: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3624-9188

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2018

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.10.006

Abstract

Black and poor children are overrepresented at every stage of the child welfare system, from suspicion of abuse to substantiation. Focusing on stereotypes as a source of bias that leads to these disparities, the current study examines the content and strength of stereotypes relating race and social class to child abuse as viewed by medical professionals. Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals (Study 1: N = 53; Study 2: N = 40) were recruited in local hospitals and online through snowball sampling. Study 1 identified stereotype content by asking participants to list words associated with the stereotype that either (a) Black or (b) poor children are more likely to be abused by their parents, and responses were organized into construct groups. Study 2 determined stereotype strength by asking participants to rate how strongly the constructs generated in Study 1 related to either the race-abuse or social class-abuse stereotype. The content of stereotypes linking child abuse to Black or poor children are confounded, with approximately half the constructs shared by both stereotypes. Of the 10 shared constructs, only “Stressed” and “Neglect” differed in strength, with both significantly more strongly related to the social class-abuse than race-abuse stereotype, all ts(36–37) ≤ −2.23, ps ≤ .03, Cohen’s ds ≥ .71. This research documents the existence, content, and strength of stereotypes that link race and social class to child abuse. These stereotypes have the potential to lead to medical misdiagnosis of abuse for Black and poor children.

Comments

Publisher Acknowledgement:

This is the Author’s Original Manuscript. The version of the record appears here: Najdowski, C. J., & Bernstein, K. M.† (2018). Race, social class, and child abuse: Content and strength of medical professionals’ stereotypes. Child Abuse & Neglect, 86, 217-222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.10.006

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Najdowski, Cynthia J. and Bernstein, Kimberly M., "Race, Social Class, and Child Abuse: Content and Strength of Medical Professionals’ Stereotypes" (2018). Psychology Faculty Scholarship. 16.
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/psychology_fac_scholar/16