Racial Disparities in Juvenile Justice Processing

Abstract

Reviewing the juvenile justice processing reveals a confusing pattern of under‐ and overrepresentation of youth by race (and ethnicity). These patterns are reviewed at multiple stages. Decision‐making influences are discussed to differentiate patterns of differential offending by race/ethnicity of juveniles and differential enforcement by race/ethnicity of juveniles. Descriptive data and multivariate research studies are reviewed to identify future theoretical directions. These efforts are limited by the lack of comprehensive national data sets on juvenile justice processing.

Assessing the Association between Participation in Extracurricular Activities and Delinquent Behavior among Justice‐Involved Young Men

“…In addition, the sites selected represent three culturally distinct regions of the country (East, South, and West) and contribute to demographic diversity in the study sample. Despite the overall decline in juvenile offending during the past decade (Hockenberry & Puzzanchera, 2015), youth of color are increasingly overrepresented in every level of justice system processing (Delone & Delone, 2017). Compared to White youth, Black and Latino youth are more likely to be stopped by police, arrested, and receive harsh sentences.…”

Youth and the justice system.

“…It has been firmly established that racial and ethnic minority youth not only enter the juvenile justice system at disproportionately high rates but that disparities exist at multiple decision points, including arrests, referrals for formal processing, sentencing, transfer to criminal court, and incarceration (Delone & Delone, 2017;Sickmund et al, 2014). Youth of color are also exposed to more risk factors for delinquency, such as exposure to violence, thus increasing the likelihood that they will become involved in the system (H.-K. Kang & Burton, 2014;Zimmerman & Messner, 2013).…”

Equality in the Youth Court: Meaning, Perceptions and Implications of the Principle of Equality in Youth Justice

“…Evidence suggests that the overrepresentation of these children in detention is partly due to disparities in youth court decision-making regarding pre-trial detention and sentencing (Armstrong and Rodriguez, 2005; Bishop, 2005; DeLone and DeLone, 2017; Guevara et al, 2006; Maroun, 2019; Rodriguez, 2010; Uhrig, 2016; Van den Brink et al, 2017). These findings are reason for concern: not only because detention has detrimental consequences for children’s well-being and future life chances (Goldson, 2009; Freeman and Seymour, 2010; Liefaard et al, 2014; Van den Brink and Lubow, 2019), but also because such disparities seem incompatible with the principle of equality.…”