What is the difference between disparate treatment and disparate impact?

Disparate Treatment and Disparate Impact

Disparate impact is what happens when an institution’s operations, policies, or some other aspects or their functions inadvertently leads to discrimination against individuals who are in a protected group. This typically occurs when an individual or more protected groups are negatively affected more so than other associated groups (Losen & Gillespie, 2012). For instance, a majority of written application questions may look to be neutral since all applicants must answer them, but if applicants or the safeguarded class are eliminated more often due to a given issue, it is likely to have a disparate impact. On the other perspective, different treatment engages purposeful treatment of people from a specific group in a manner that leads to a negative impact. Precisely, the difference is that different treatment is intentional discrimination while the disparate impact is unintentional.

References

Losen, D. J., & Gillespie, J. (2012). Opportunities Suspended: The Disparate Impact of Disciplinary Exclusion from School. Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles.

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