Adultification Bias: What Is It, What Harm Does It Do, And How Do We Guard Against It?

In this replay, we’re joined by Sosa Henkoma, Sussana Clapcott and Dr Nicholas Marsh for a series of conversations exploring adultification bias. Together, we unpick what it is, what it can sound, look and feel like to a child, why it causes harm and the many ways it can negatively impact on outcomes, and how we can start to unravel the range of assumptions it causes us to make in our interactions with children.

Description

Adultification bias happens when adults perceive a child as being older than they are, and it influences their judgements about them and the way they interact with them.

It can be present in any relationship between an adult and a child, but it is known to disproportionately impact Black children. Notably, the Child Q Safeguarding Practice Review undertaken by City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership in 2022 was one of the first reviews in England to refer to adultification. It illustrated, with distressing clarity, the role adultification bias played in the decisions and actions adults took in relation to Child Q.

In this webinar, we’ll be joined by Sosa Henkoma, Sussana Clapcott and Dr Nicholas Marsh, for a series of conversations exploring adultification bias. Together, we’ll unpick what it is; what it can sound, look and feel like to a child; why it causes harm and the many ways it can negatively impact on outcomes; and how we can start to unravel the range of assumptions it causes us to make in our interactions with children. 

We’ll examine how adultification biases are rooted in the way we conceptualise innocence and vulnerability – and the ways our underlying ideas about innocence and vulnerability are hidden in the judgements that we make about a child.

Adultification bias doesn't affect all children in the same way so we'll be exploring why it's important to adopt an intersectional lens if we are to ensure that all children are seen, heard and protected. We'll be challenged to pause, think, and reflect on our own interactions with children and engage with some key questions:

• How do we measure vulnerability and innocence?
• How do our judgements about vulnerability and innocence inform our approach to children and the decisions we make about them?
• How do our judgements about vulnerability and innocence link with expectations around behaviour, ability to regulate emotions, make informed decisions and the transference of responsibility?
• What does vigilance against adultification bias look like in practice?
• How do we use lived and living experience to help us understand what's at stake and to be motivated to intentionally guard against adultifying children ourselves?
• How do we guard against our judgements and actions interacting with the power we have to diminish children's rights, serve injustice and create poor outcomes?

Expect to reflect on your own practice and practice you are responsible for. If you work with children and young people, this webinar is for you.

These resources will help you:

• Develop a deeper understanding of what adultification bias is and how it manifests
• Develop greater awareness of how to spot signs of a child being adultified
• Feel what's at stake by understanding the harm and impact of adultification bias
• Develop an understanding of how adultification bias leads to disproportionate and harmful responses to Black children and other marginalised groups
• Explore how adultification bias operates in safeguarding and professional decision-making
• Develop an understanding of strategies you can use to challenge and prevent adultification bias in your own practice and practice you are responsible for

Further reading