Cultural-competence considerations for contemporary school-based threat assessment

Abstract

Threat-assessment procedures are advanced for their utility in reducing racial disparities in punitive and exclusionary school discipline outcomes. Generally unexamined, however, is bias in who gets referred for school-based threat assessment and under what circumstances. Cultural-competence considerations hold promise for addressing sources of bias in the evaluation of threats made in the school setting. Using a quantitative approach, this systematic literature review examines the degree to which contemporary cultural-competence considerations are embedded in 24 school-based threat-assessment articles published between 2007 and 2017. Results indicate generally poor coverage of considerations for cultural competence both within and across threat-assessment articles. An analysis of change in cultural-competence considerations by year of publication suggests that more recently published threat-assessment literature has generally not integrated concurrent advancements in concepts of cultural competence. Preliminary guidance for incorporating contemporary cultural-competence considerations into school-based threat-assessment procedures are provided.