The Case for an Intersectional Approach to Trauma-Informed Practices in K–12 Schools for Black Girls

Abstract

Abstract Black girls are the only group of girls across the United States disproportionally suspended from school. Studies have documented that disproportionality cannot be explained solely by greater misbehavior among students of color. Instead, discipline disparities are also informed by punitive/inequitable discipline policies and practices, less discussed has been the relationship between childhood adversity and school discipline outcomes at the intersection of race and gender. Examining this phenomenon is important and timely as schools are increasingly providing trauma-informed practices to support socioemotional learning. Yet doing so without data-driven practices rooted in an understanding of disproportionate adversity may render these practices insufficient for Black girls. Thus, this study asks, what types of childhood adversities do Black girls have the greatest risk of experiencing? Using 2016–2019 data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (N = 63,674), risk ratios and Pearson’s chi-square test of independence were performed to determine across-race and within-gender group differences by the type of childhood adversity. Analyses demonstrated that Black girls had a greater risk for six out of nine adversities compared with other girls of color and seven out of nine compared with White girls.