Examining the Risk and Protective Factors of School Behavior Problems and the Consequences for Black Girls

Abstract

Black girls are disproportionately affected by harsh school disciplinary action and the school-to-prison-pipeline. While previous studies have focused on Black boys, Black girls are a fast-growing, yet overlooked population in the juvenile justice system whose voices and experiences are often muted (Morris, 2012). The purpose of the current study is to investigate if perceived discrimination, parenting, and ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) act as protective or risk factors for school behavior problems and the consequences of suspension/expulsion in Black girls. The Maryland Adolescent Development in Context Study (Ngirls=410) was used to test the following research question: How do perceived discrimination, parenting, and ERS act as risk or protective factors for school behavioral issues and the consequences in Black girls? More specifically, the study focused on understanding (1) the associations that discriminative experiences, ERS, and parental warmth, monitoring and school-based involvement have with school behavior problems and suspension/expulsion, and (2) whether ERS and other parenting practices moderate the association between discrimination and Black girls’ school behavior problems and disciplinary action. Linear and logistic regressions were conducted to investigate the relationship between the variables of interest. Results showed that there was a significant relationship between racial discrimination, parental warmth, and the interaction between both of those variables on school behavior problems. Parental warmth was also significantly associated with suspension/expulsion. Findings additionally revealed that socioeconomic status was significantly associated with both school outcomes.

Full Article

Francois, V.