Racial Bias in Child Protection: A Comparison of Competing Explanations Using National Data

Black children are overrepresented in reported cases of child abuse, appearing in maltreatment reports at approximately twice the rate of white children. This generally has been attributed to racial bias in the child welfare system, but a new study strikes that supposition down.

Researchers looked at data drawn from national child welfare and public health sources and determined that the racial differences in the child abuse reports were consistent with known differences for other child outcomes. The disproportionate number of black children in child abuse reports is due to increased exposure to risk factors like poverty, not racial bias.

The study notes that though Hispanic children experience high rate of poverty, their rate of reported child abuse was similar to that of white children, evidence that supports the presence of cultural factors for Hispanic children.

The study appears in the March 2011 issue of Pediatrics.
 

Read the report.