Are Schools in the U.S. South Using Special Education to Segregate Students by Race?

Whether students of color are more or less likely to be identified as having disabilities than similarly situated students who are White in U.S. states with histories of de jure and de facto racial segregation is currently unknown. Unadjusted analyses of large samples of students attending elementary and middle schools in the U.S. South yielded little evidence of minority overrepresentation in special education. In analyses adjusted for strong confounds (e.g., family income, student-level achievement), students of color were less likely than White students to be identified as having disabilities. Underidentification was evident (a) for the U.S. South in aggregate, (b) across 11 Southern states that we separately examined, (c) in cross-sectional samples assessed in 2003 and 2015, and (d) for specific disability conditions. Black and Hispanic students attending schools in the U.S. South have been and continue to be less likely to be identified as having disabilities than otherwise similar White students.

Getting Beyond Failure: Promising Approaches for Reducing DMC

States that wish to receive federal financial support through the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act for their juvenile justice systems are mandated to address disproportionate minority contact (DMC). A vast number of studies now exist that try to explain the presence, cause, and severity of DMC in states and local jurisdictions, but most work does not move past this point. A newer set of works explores reasons why DMC-reduction efforts fail. In recent years, generous investments from private foundations have led to a renewed sense of hope for success in the seemingly intractable problem of minority overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system. This article presents promising approaches that have resulted from these investments and suggests steps that should be taken from here.

Contexts of Decision Making in the Juvenile Justice System: An Organizational Approach to Understanding Minority Overrepresentation

Significant advances have been made in our understanding of the origins and dynamics of minority overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system. Nevertheless, much remains to be learned. In this article, the authors explore the impact of race on juvenile justice processing by examining the organizational contexts in which decisions are made. They offer a theoretical framework that combines insights from organizational theory and the focal concerns perspective and that focuses on the organizational players (action sets) involved in decision making from intake to final disposition. Based on the composition of action sets, and their corresponding value orientations, the authors make predictions regarding the influence of sociodemographic, legal, and extralegal variables at each processing juncture. The empirical test provides a reasonably good fit with the data. Implications for further research are discussed.

Characteristics of patients admitted to psychiatric intensive care units

Objective: A paucity of research exists on the types of patients admitted to psychiatric intensive care units (PICUs), which is important in terms of identifying patient needs, training and service provision. Questions have also been raised as to whether or not ethnic minorities are overrepresented in these units.Method: A literature review using MeSH headings from a wealth of databases was performed to identify such studies. In addition studies on ethnic minority overrepresentation in psychiatric care were also identified.Results: Under a dozen studies were identified, mainly from the UK and Australia. Study designs tended to be basic and heterogeneous, but this was reflected in the nature of the study and the data gained. A typical PICU patient emerged, namely a young schizophrenic detained male, belonging to an ethnic minority (if in an inner city), known to mental health services with previous informal, detained and PICU admissions, admitted due to violence and often possessing a forensic history. If a complex need existed, it was usually substance misuse. The inpatient stay tended to be for less than two months and discharge was usually to an acute ward. Ethnic minorities were overrepresented in PICU care.Conclusions: The literature review highlighted a paucity of good-quality studies in this field. The establishment of a national association of intensive care units as well as national guidelines can only improve services. The reason for ethnic minority over-representation on these units is still far from clear.