Skip to content

Patriarchy in Prison: Challenges Facing Incarcerated Women

Rebecca Epstein shares her research into how the perception that black girls are more adult-like and less innocent than their white counterparts could increase their chances of ending up in the criminal justice system. National statistics show black girls are suspended more than five times as often as white girls and are 2.7 times more

Black Girls Are Treated More Harshly Than White Peers

Kudos to Jamilia J. Blake and Rebecca Epstein, who recently released their findings in a study on behalf of the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality which looked at adultification bias toward young black girls and women. The introduction to the study revealed how Blake and Epstein previously conducted research which resulted in the

Black Girls Detail Consequences of Being Seen as Older

Choosing to focus specifically on black girls, the 2017 study found that adults saw black girls ages 5-19 as in need of less protection and support than white girls the same age, and that black girls were more independent and knew more about adult topics, including about sex. The women in the focus groups recounted

What It’s Like to Be Labeled a Rude Black Girl

“Kathleen got so frustrated with Kelly playing with me, so intensely angry, that she grabbed my arm and ran her nails down my arm with both hands and drew blood,” Abraham recalled. “I screamed at her and was like, ‘What are you doing?’ She was like, ‘I can’t play with you because you’re Black; I’m

Study: Black Girls Feel the Impact of ‘Adultification,’ Especially in School

[A]dultification,” was first documented two years ago by researchers at Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality. Now, a followup study reveals that, not surprisingly, black girls and women sharply feel the impact of “adultification.” As one study participant put it, “[T]o society, we’re not innocent. And white girls are always innocent.” …They found a

Adults Are Failing Black Girls by Believing This Harmful Bias

A new study from Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality has found that black girls regularly experience something called adultification bias. In 2017, the center published its Girlhood Interrupted study, which showed that adults view black girls as more adult-like and less innocent than white girls. However, this new research has taken it a

Study: Black Girls Feel the Impact of ‘Adultification,’ Especially in School

Research has already shown that black girls are seen by adults as less childlike than white girls. This phenomenon, known as “adultification,” was first documented two years ago by researchers at Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality. Now, a followup study reveals that, not surprisingly, black girls and women sharply feel the impact of