Disentangling the Threat: Experimental Evidence on White Parents’ Racialized Perceptions of Multiple Dimensions of School Safety
Parents cite concerns about safety when making school-choice decisions; however, conceptions of school safety are both ambiguous and racialized. This research provides experimental evidence on the effect of school racial composition on parents’ perceptions of multiple dimensions of safety: socioemot...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Socius |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231251342831 |
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| author | Chantal A. Hailey Brittany Murray |
| author_facet | Chantal A. Hailey Brittany Murray |
| author_sort | Chantal A. Hailey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Parents cite concerns about safety when making school-choice decisions; however, conceptions of school safety are both ambiguous and racialized. This research provides experimental evidence on the effect of school racial composition on parents’ perceptions of multiple dimensions of safety: socioemotional, violence, biological, and school order. Using a survey experiment in which respondents examine hypothetical school profiles with randomly varied school characteristics such as demographics and school quality, the authors find that White parents overall, across income and political spectra, and with differing endorsements of racial stereotypes, rate schools with predominantly Black, Latine, and Asian populations as socioemotionally unsafe, predominantly Black and Latine schools as violent and disorderly, and predominantly Black schools as biologically hazardous. The results illuminate how these racialized perceptions of multiple dimensions of school safety reinforce stigmatizing narratives of racialized schools that serve to exacerbate school segregation and the uneven distribution of educational resources across schools. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-822cf1d3872f4ab8b9fc58ac94b7481f |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2378-0231 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Socius |
| spelling | doaj-art-822cf1d3872f4ab8b9fc58ac94b7481f2025-08-20T02:07:59ZengSAGE PublishingSocius2378-02312025-06-011110.1177/23780231251342831Disentangling the Threat: Experimental Evidence on White Parents’ Racialized Perceptions of Multiple Dimensions of School SafetyChantal A. Hailey0Brittany Murray1The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USADavidson College, Davidson, NC, USAParents cite concerns about safety when making school-choice decisions; however, conceptions of school safety are both ambiguous and racialized. This research provides experimental evidence on the effect of school racial composition on parents’ perceptions of multiple dimensions of safety: socioemotional, violence, biological, and school order. Using a survey experiment in which respondents examine hypothetical school profiles with randomly varied school characteristics such as demographics and school quality, the authors find that White parents overall, across income and political spectra, and with differing endorsements of racial stereotypes, rate schools with predominantly Black, Latine, and Asian populations as socioemotionally unsafe, predominantly Black and Latine schools as violent and disorderly, and predominantly Black schools as biologically hazardous. The results illuminate how these racialized perceptions of multiple dimensions of school safety reinforce stigmatizing narratives of racialized schools that serve to exacerbate school segregation and the uneven distribution of educational resources across schools.https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231251342831 |
| spellingShingle | Chantal A. Hailey Brittany Murray Disentangling the Threat: Experimental Evidence on White Parents’ Racialized Perceptions of Multiple Dimensions of School Safety Socius |
| title | Disentangling the Threat: Experimental Evidence on White Parents’ Racialized Perceptions of Multiple Dimensions of School Safety |
| title_full | Disentangling the Threat: Experimental Evidence on White Parents’ Racialized Perceptions of Multiple Dimensions of School Safety |
| title_fullStr | Disentangling the Threat: Experimental Evidence on White Parents’ Racialized Perceptions of Multiple Dimensions of School Safety |
| title_full_unstemmed | Disentangling the Threat: Experimental Evidence on White Parents’ Racialized Perceptions of Multiple Dimensions of School Safety |
| title_short | Disentangling the Threat: Experimental Evidence on White Parents’ Racialized Perceptions of Multiple Dimensions of School Safety |
| title_sort | disentangling the threat experimental evidence on white parents racialized perceptions of multiple dimensions of school safety |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231251342831 |
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