A Childhood Erased: Black Girls And Women Discuss Harsher Punishments Due To ‘Adultification’

Research has already shown that adults view young black girls as older and less innocent than their white peers. Now, the Center on Poverty and Inequality at Georgetown Law Center has affirmed the findings of its 2017 study.

Through focus groups conducted with black women and girls nationwide, researchers learned that they are routinely subject to adultification bias – early exposure and engagement in adult-like behaviors. The groups ranged in age from 12 to more than 60 years old. Among the questions, the female participants were asked whether the results of the original study aligned with their lived experiences.