Adultification - 'The concept of adultification is when notions of innocence and vulnerability are not afforded to certain children. This is determined by people and institutions who hold power over them.' Davis and Marsh (2020)
Adultification is when children are seen as being more adult-like than their years. This can lead their behaviours to be deemed as calculated or planned rather than the innocent mistakes of a child or the result of abuse, grooming or coercion. They may not be acknowledged as victims and given the understanding that a child would ordinarily receive.
The preconditions of adultification are based on various biases - black children are often the victims of adultification and therefore not necessarily seen through a lens of safeguarding.
The ESCB is pleased to be able to share a podcast exploring the topic of adultification - an open and honest discussion about how adultification bias affects safeguarding professionals and how to impact positive change within organisations. Thanks to those who took part from Youth Offending Service, Social Care, Essex Police and Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service.
Race, Ethnicity, Culture and Religion Practice Tool (PDF, 2026) - This practice tool has been designed for practitioners to help them to feel confident having conversations to explore a child and family's identity. Using the prompts from this tool will help you to gain greater depth of understanding of each child and their family and the core components that underpin a child and family’s identity.
For the transcript please view on YouTube.
SET Procedures (search culture or cultural within doc)
“A little black girl yearns for the blue eyes of a little white girl, and the horror at the heart of her yearning is exceeded only by the evil of fulfillment.”— Toni Morrison
