• About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Download App
  • Virtual Summit
  • Benefit Hub for Subscribers Only
SWHELPER | Social Work | Social Justice | Social Good
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • News
  • Culture
  • Mental Health
  • Politics
  • Tech
  • Disability
  • Webinars
  • Podcast
Find/Post Jobs
  • Home
  • News
  • Culture
  • Mental Health
  • Politics
  • Tech
  • Disability
  • Webinars
  • Podcast
No Result
View All Result
SWHELPER | Social Work | Social Justice | Social Good
No Result
View All Result
Home Diversity

Social Work Professor’s Research Shows Implicit Bias by Institutions

SWHELPERbySWHELPER
April 7, 2019
in Diversity, News
0
ADVERTISEMENT
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on PinterestShare via EmailShare on Reddit
susan-mccarter-360px
Dr. Susan McCarter, Associate Professor of Social Work, UNC Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Susan McCarter has spent the last 20 years researching and talking about disproportionate minority contacts (DMC), or the over-representation of minority youth who come into contact with the juvenile justice system.

She readily acknowledges that even the official name for her work tends to make people defensive. “The word ‘disproportionality’ has taken on a bad connotation, but it only means that things are out of whack mathematically,” explained McCarter. “It simply means when a phenomenon doesn’t reflect the population at the time.”

She uses the example of baking chocolate chip cookies to make the concept more palatable. If the baker puts in more of an ingredient than the recipe calls for, the cookies will be out-of-balance. However, when she’s referring to disparate treatment and outcomes as it relates to race and ethnicity, many people find the topic simply too difficult to discuss.

The recent deaths of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Tamir Rice in Cleveland and Jonathan Ferrell in Charlotte at the hands of white police officers have made McCarter the go-to person on the issue and put her leadership role with Race Matters for Juvenile Justice (RMJJ) in the spotlight.

RMJJ is a consortium of community and systems experts who use institutional organizing and workplace development to reduce disproportionality and disparate outcomes for children and families of color. Working closely with the group since its infancy, she leads workshops, speaks at conferences and uses her research to make the case for its necessity. McCarter also advises the Children’s Alliance, Council for Children’s Rights and Teen Health Connection.

Through trial and error, McCarter has learned the right and wrong way to reel in and keep an audience with her. “You don’t walk in the door and ask questions about race,” she said. “You give them the findings and the numbers because people can talk about numbers without being defensive. When you ask ‘does this jibe with your experience?’, they will speak at length about their experiences.”

McCarter’s academic work expanded from social work to social justice almost by happenstance. She was pursuing her doctorate at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond while working as a social worker and probation officer.

Using data from the state of Virginia, McCarter set out to determine how different groups move within the justice system. For example, who is stopped by police? Is that person detained? Once in the criminal justice system, was he/she given incarceration or diversion?

McCarter looked at the role two legal variables (crime severity and prior records) and five extralegal variables (socioeconomic status, education, where one lives, race and family structure) played in determining who would be incarcerated. Race and education (whether the offender had repeated a grade) were the top two extralegal predictors, respectively.

In the nearly 20 years since McCarter conducted the Virginia study, many others have replicated her findings and, she notes, little if anything has changed.

To make change, McCarter believes that individuals must begin by dispelling the many misconceptions surrounding race itself. “When I lecture on this topic, I continue to be struck by how many people suggest there’s a DNA connection to race or that you can test someone and identify them racially,” she said.

While she notes that race is not scientific, but simply a social construct that changes over time and throughout history, she insists that measuring its impact is critical. “As long as people’s outcomes vary based on this construct, then we need to continue to disaggregate data based on race and ethnicity.”

RMJJ uses the two-day “Dismantling Racism” workshop as the starting point to help people understand the history of racism, how racial inequities affect communities and ways to begin eliminating disproportionality and disparities in society.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Journey through the Grief of Homelessness

Next Post

Sanctuary for Families Honored for Assisting Families of Domestic Violence

SWHELPER

SWHELPER

SWHELPER is a news, information, resources, and entertainment website related to social good, social work, and social justice. To submit news and press releases email [email protected]

Related Posts

Do District-Based Elections For School Board Help Minority Candidates Get Elected?
News

NASW Opposes Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Exams

February 9, 2023
5 Ways To Boost Employee Wellbeing
Health

5 Ways To Boost Employee Wellbeing

January 7, 2023
What is High Performance Culture and How to Create It
Business

What is High Performance Culture and How to Create It

January 7, 2023
Morgan State University Professor Anthony Estreet to be next CEO of NASW
News

Morgan State University Professor Anthony Estreet to be next CEO of NASW

January 5, 2023
Sex Trafficking Survivor Files Lawsuit Against Red Roof Inns
Human Rights

Sex Trafficking Survivor Files Lawsuit Against Red Roof Inns

January 4, 2023
When Reporters of Sexual Harassment Are Silenced By Advocacy Institutions the Harm is Far Worst
Education

When Reporters of Sexual Harassment Are Silenced By Advocacy Institutions the Harm is Far Worst

January 3, 2023
Next Post
Sanctuary for Families Honored for Assisting Families of Domestic Violence

Sanctuary for Families Honored for Assisting Families of Domestic Violence

BASW Reacts to the Education Select Committee’s Report on Social Work Reform

BASW Reacts to the Education Select Committee's Report on Social Work Reform

Leave Comment
ADVERTISEMENT
What Can Be Done To Solve The Foster Care Crisis?

Ending the Therapeutic Relationship: Creative Termination Activities

June 24, 2022
What Feelings Are In Your Heart: An Art Therapy Exercise for Kids

What Feelings Are In Your Heart: An Art Therapy Exercise for Kids

June 19, 2022
Want to Work With Children: 5 Skills and Qualities You Should Be Working On

Want to Work With Children: 5 Skills and Qualities You Should Be Working On

April 7, 2019

Connect With Us

Twitter
FlipboardInstagram
ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Instagram TikTok
SWHELPER | Social Work | Social Justice | Social Good

  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Buy Merch
  • Download App
  • Terms of Service
https://youtu.be/jWzjyPoSjtw

© 2022 Social Work Helper, PBC

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • News
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Politics
    • Criminal Justice
    • Social Work
    • Education
    • LGBTQ
    • Technology
    • Disability
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Webinars
  • Virtual Summit
  • Career Center
  • Download App
  • Subscriber Benefit Hub
  • Subscribe
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Cart

© 2022 Social Work Helper, PBC

Welcome Back!

Sign In with Facebook
Sign In with Google
Sign In with Linked In
OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Sign Up with Facebook
Sign Up with Google
Sign Up with Linked In
OR

Fill the forms below to register

*By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Go to mobile version