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Measurement Issues in Identifying and Describing Racial Disproportionality and Disparity

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Racial Disproportionality and Disparities in the Child Welfare System

Part of the book series: Child Maltreatment ((MALT,volume 11))

Abstract

Racial and ethnic disproportionality and disparity are well documented in child welfare systems. Disproportionality occurs when the percent of persons of a certain race or ethnicity in an identified population differ from the percentage of persons of the same group in a reference population. Disparity occurs when there are unequal outcomes for one racial or ethnic group when compared to a different racial or ethnic group. Disproportionality and disparities have become value laden terms that imply inequities. In this chapter we do not discuss inequities, rather our focus is on how to measure disproportionality and disparities, and the challenges associated with different measurement approaches such as population-based enumeration and decision-based enumeration. When a racial or ethnic group is small, certain types of disproportion and disparity can be hard to detect using typical quantitative methods. Challenges that occur when measuring low-incidence groups, such as low confidence in statistical estimates and heterogeneous populations combined into single categories, are discussed. Alternate ways of examining the experiences of low-incidence racial and ethnic minorities are also presented. Given that comparison between groups is inherent to the definition of disparity, methodological concerns related to the selection of comparison groups are explored. Discussions about the appropriate ways to categorize, measure and interpret disparate engagement with social systems and subsequent outcomes are taking place across several disciplines. The chapter concludes by highlighting measurement approaches within these disciplines and provides a brief synthesis of the overall current state of knowledge.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Nancy Rolock

  2. Department of Social Work, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Qiana Cryer-Coupet

  3. Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Colleen Janczewski

Authors
  1. Nancy Rolock
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  2. Qiana Cryer-Coupet
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  3. Colleen Janczewski
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nancy Rolock .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Alan J. Dettlaff

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Rolock, N., Cryer-Coupet, Q., Janczewski, C. (2021). Measurement Issues in Identifying and Describing Racial Disproportionality and Disparity. In: Dettlaff, A.J. (eds) Racial Disproportionality and Disparities in the Child Welfare System. Child Maltreatment, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54314-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54314-3_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-54313-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-54314-3

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