Racial Disparities in the Education System: Opportunities for Justice in Schools

Elizabeth Dohrmann; Michelle V Porche; Roya Ijadi-Maghsoodi; Sheryl H Kataoka

doi:10.1016/j.chc.2022.01.001

Racial Disparities in the Education System: Opportunities for Justice in Schools

Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2022 Apr;31(2):193-209. doi: 10.1016/j.chc.2022.01.001.

Authors

Elizabeth Dohrmann¹, Michelle V Porche², Roya Ijadi-Maghsoodi³, Sheryl H Kataoka⁴

Affiliations

¹ Los Angeles County - Department of Mental Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: edohrmann@dmh.lacounty.gov.
² Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 1001 Potrero Avenue, 7M16, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA.
³ Division of Population Behavioral Health, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, #A8-224, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Health Service Research & Development (HSR&D) Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation & Policy (CSHIIP), VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Division of Population Behavioral Health, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, 760 Westwood Plaza, #48-240B, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.

PMID: 35361359
DOI: 10.1016/j.chc.2022.01.001

Abstract

Data from the US Department of Education clearly documents the chronic and persistent disproportionality of negative educational outcomes for students of color. To move closer to an antiracist system that provides all youth with the resources, protections, and opportunities to which they are entitled through public education, we recommend that mental health clinicians understand the social determinants of education; become familiar with the historical legacy of inequity in schools; identify current trends of racial disparities in education; engage in opportunities for antiracist school transformation; and reflect on their personal practices in providing access, diagnosis, and treatment to underresourced and minoritized youth.

Keywords: Public education; Racial/ethnic disparities; School discipline; School resource officers; School segregation; School-based mental health; Trauma-informed.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Humans
Racial Groups
Schools*
Social Justice*
Students / psychology