Risk, race, and predictive policing: A critical race theory analysis of the strategic subject list.

Predictive policing is a tool used increasingly by police departments that may exacerbate entrenched racial/ethnic disparities in the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC). Using a Critical Race Theory framework, we analyzed arrest data from a predictive policing program, the Strategic Subject List (SSL), and questioned how the SSL risk score (i.e., calculated risk for gun violence perpetration or victimization) predicts the arrested individual's race/ethnicity while accounting for local spatial conditions, including poverty and racial composition. Using multinomial logistic regression with community area fixed effects, results indicate that the risk score predicts the race/ethnicity of the arrested person while accounting for spatial context. As such, despite claims of scientific objectivity, we provide empirical evidence that the algorithmically-derived risk variable is racially biased. We discuss our study in the context of how the SSL reinforces a pseudoscientific justification of the PIC and call for the abolition of these tools broadly.

Racial Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms among Latina/o College Students: The Role of Racism-Related Vigilance and Sleep.

INTRODUCTION: Latinx college students are at high risk of suffering from depressive symptoms. A factor posited to influence depressive symptoms among Latinx college students is racial/ethnic discrimination. However, the mechanisms which link racial/ethnic discrimination to depressive symptoms are not well understood. This study examined the mediating role of racism-related vigilance and sleep-related factors (i.e., sleep quality, sleep efficiency) on the relationship between perceived intergroup racial/ethnic discrimination and depressive symptoms. METHODS: Participants were 194 Latinx college students enrolled at a Midwestern university designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Path analysis was conducted to investigate whether racism-related vigilance and sleep-related factors (i.e. sleep quality, sleep efficiency) are potential pathways in the relationship between intergroup racial/ethnic discrimination and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Path analysis revealed that racism-related vigilance and sleep quality sequentially mediated the effect of perceived intergroup racial/ethnic discrimination on depressive symptoms. Sleep efficiency did not mediate the relationship between racial/ethnic discrimination and depressive symptoms. DISCUSSION: This study is among the first to document that intergroup racial/ethnic discrimination is negatively related to mental health through both cognitive and behavioral mechanisms. This research has important implications for understanding how discrimination may influence mental health outcomes among Latinx college students.

What Drives You? Black and Latinx Youth's Critical Consciousness, Motivations, and Academic and Career Activities.

More research is needed that elucidates the mechanisms by which critical consciousness impacts marginalized youth's academic and career development. To address this gap, this short-term longitudinal study (i.e., two waves) examined motivations for post-high school plans (i.e., career/personal motivation; humanitarian motivation; encouragement received from important individuals; pressure from parents/family to succeed) as mediators in the relationship between dimension of critical consciousness and academic and career activities. The sample consisted of low-income, Black and Latinx youth (N = 191; Mage = 16, SD = 0.80; 59% female) living in Chicago. The results from structural equation path models show that youth's beliefs about their ability to engage politically (i.e., sociopolitical efficacy) predict motivations for post-secondary plans (e.g., encouragement; pressure from parents/family), which is subsequently related to engagement in academic and career activities, albeit in different directions. To continue fostering positive youth development, critical consciousness programming will need to integrate how youth understand their role in changing social inequality in relation to their perception of and interactions with parents and mentors.

Safe Spaces Embedded in Dangerous Contexts: How Chicago Youth Navigate Daily Life and Demonstrate Resilience in High-Crime Neighborhoods.

Much is known about how experiences of community violence negatively affect youth, but far less research has explored how youth remain resilient while living in dangerous neighborhoods. This study addresses this need by analyzing in-depth, geo-narrative interviews conducted with 15 youth (60% Black, 27% Latinx, 53% female, 14 to 17 years old) residing in low-income, high-crime Chicago neighborhoods to explore youths' perceptions of safety and strategies for navigating neighborhood space. After carrying geographical positioning system (GPS) trackers for an eight-day period, youths' travel patterns were mapped, and these maps were used as part of an interview with youth that explored daily routines, with special consideration paid to where and when youth felt safe. Drawing on activity settings theory and exploring youth voice, we find that experiences of community violence are commonplace, but youth describe how they have safe spaces that are embedded within these dangerous contexts. Perceptions of safety and danger were related to environmental, social, and temporal cues. Youth reported four overarching safety strategies, including avoidance, hypervigilance, self-defense, and emotional management, but these strategies considerably varied by gender. We discuss implications for practice and future directions of research. HIGHLIGHTS: This study explored Chicago youths' safety strategies and resilience in high-crime neighborhoods. Safe and dangerous spaces are embedded or overlapping settings. All youth practiced safety strategies but they considerably varied by gender. Perceptions are intersubjectively created due to the codes, rules, and norms of community life. Violence is common and extreme in everyday life of this sample of Chicago adolescents.

Intersecting experiences, motivating beliefs: The joint roles of class and race/ethnicity in the development of youths' sociopolitical perceptions and participation.

Positioning our analyses within two theoretical frameworks, system justification (SJ) theory and critical consciousness (CC), we examine relationships between social class and endorsement of SJ and CC beliefs and behaviors within a sample of low-income, Latinx and Black youth living in Chicago. We operationalize social class using five indicators: income-to-needs ratio (INR), subjective social status (SSS), financial strain, violence exposure, and neighborhood income. We find that for Black youth, higher INR is related to a greater likelihood of rejecting the status quo. Comparatively, living in a higher income neighborhood is negatively related to and being exposed to violence is positively related to the likelihood of engaging in social change behaviors. A different pattern emerged for Latinx youth where, higher perceived status was positively associated with accepting the status quo and greater exposure to violence was negatively related to youths' perceived ability to make a difference in the world around them.