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Abstract
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Available evidence
We agree that short-term trainings targeting implicit bias alone are insufficient for resolving systemic racial disparities in CPS. As the authors noted, Bezrukova et al. (2016) found the smallest effect sizes for awareness-only trainings on changing attitudes and behavior. However, their review excluded Bezrukova and colleagues' additional findings indicating larger effect sizes on attitudinal and behavioral change when anti-bias trainings included a behavioral component, an awareness
Measuring bias in the child welfare system...
Adding to the complexity of the role of bias in CPS, the construct of bias remains poorly measured in extant CPS research. Notably, the important distinction between implicit and explicit bias is rarely disentangled, standardized measures of bias are not utilized, and the majority of studies in CPS claiming to refute racial biases' potential role in CPS do not include valid measures of bias making it difficult to draw conclusions (Boyd, 2022). Several studies have identified bias among families...
The authors are correct to caution against resolving disparities by focusing on personal attitudes and behaviors as such approaches have long been challenged by scholars who recommend structural over individual interpretations of racism (Bonilla-Silva, 1997; Feely & Bosk, 2021; Tatum, 2004). However, the relevant question should not be whether mandating anti-bias trainings will resolve racial disparities. Instead, we should ask how bias contributes to racial disparities (Dettlaff & Boyd, 2020)...
Conclusion
As scholars deeply concerned about addressing the root causes of racial disparities in CPS, we concur that systemic innovations and structural reforms are urgently needed and that trainings focused solely on identifying racial bias cannot remedy the systemic racial disparities created by racism and poverty. We further agree that a cross-system response is needed that holds multiple systems accountable for addressing poverty (Feely et al., 2020) and that we must address the intersecting...
Language: en |