A 2014 study by psychologist Phillip Atiba Goff and colleagues found that participants overestimated the age of Black boys accused of crimes by an average of 4.5 years. They also judged the boys as more culpable than white boys of the same age. Some of the participants were police officers.
A 2017 report from the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, Girlhood Interrupted, found that adults viewed Black girls as needing less nurturing, protection and comfort than white girls. The bias appeared for girls as young as 5.
Adultification helps explain why Black students are suspended and arrested at higher rates and why Black youth are more often charged as adults. It also shapes how society responds when Black children are victims. The killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by Cleveland police in 2014 is often cited as an example.