Center for Juvenile Justice Reform - Disproportionality in Juvenile Justice

Building Blocks for Youth Initiative. (2005, October). No turning back: Promising approaches to reducing racial and ethnic disparities affecting youth of color in the justice system. Washington, DC: Building Blocks for Youth.

Abstract: One of the most pervasive, difficult, and intractable problems in juvenile justice is the racial and ethnic disparities faced by youth of color in the justice system. While youth of color are one-third of American adolescents, they are two-thirds of youth in juvenile facilities. No Turning Back, a new report by the Building Blocks for Youth initiative, documents effective strategies by advocates, policymakers, and public officials to reduce inequities in the justice system. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the issue of racial justice has returned to the forefront of the national agenda. This report shows progress in the struggle for a fair and effective youth justice system.

Coalition for Juvenile Justice. (2004). Disproportionate Minority Contact Resource Guide. Washington, DC.

Abstract: (none available)

Engen, R.L., Steen, S., & Bridges, G.S. (2002). Racial disparities in the punishment of youth: A theoretical and empirical assessment of the literature. Social Problems, 49(2), 194-220. (Subscription required to access this article)

Abstract: Findings from research on racial disparities in juvenile justice outcomes are mixed and the causes of minority overrepresentation in juvenile justice remain unclear. This study systematically examines the relationship between theories of disparity in juvenile justice, methodological characteristics of studies, and findings regarding the effects of race in the existing empirical literature. The results indicate that several theoretically derived methodological features of studies predict whether or not studies report that race matters. Race effects are more prevalent among studies that examine earlier stages in the juvenile justice process or that examine cumulative measures of dispositional severity, and among studies that compare outcomes for white youth to those for black youth. Studies that control for prior offending are significantly less likely to find direct race effects. Race effects are not contingent upon whether or not studies control for differences in the seriousness of offending. These findings offer support for a structural-processual perspective on the role of race in juvenile justice, and suggest that disproportionately punitive treatment is more clearly associated with being black than with being "non-white."

Feldman, L., Males, M., & Schiraldi, V. (2001). A tale of two jurisdictions: Youth crime and detention rates in Maryland & the District of Columbia. Washington, DC: Building Blocks for Youth.

Abstract: (none available)

Hartney, C. (2008, March). Native American youth and the juvenile justice system. Focus: Views from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. Oakland, CA: National Council on Crime and Delinquency.

Abstract: Native American youth are disproportionately involved in the juvenile justice system and their representation rises in the two most punitive sanctions: waiver to the adult system and out-of-home placement. This National Council on Crime and Delinquency analysis looks at differential treatment of Native Americans in the juvenile justice system and the factors that influence those numbers.

Hsia, H. (2006). Disproportionate minority contact technical assistance manual (3rd ed.) . Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice.

Abstract: (none available)

Hsia, H., Bridges, G., & McHale, R. (2004). Disproportionate confinement: 2002 update. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Abstract: Describes developments in addressing disproportionate minority confinement (DMC) at the national, state, and local levels. This OJJDP Summary begins with a brief review of the most recent data, followed by an outline of national efforts by OJJDP and others during the past 5 years to address the challenge of DMC. It then presents an update of state activities, including a status report on state compliance with the DMC core requirement, highlights form state DMC assessment research and intervention initiatives, and an outline of remaining challenges. The Summary concludes with a look at the implications of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act’s broadening of DMC to encompass disproportionate minority contact.

Huizinga, D., Thornberry, T.P., Knight, K.E., Lovegrove, P.J., Loeber, R., Hill, K., et al. (2007). Disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system: A study of differential minority arrest/referral to court in three cities. Report unpublished by the U.S. Department of Justice. Made available by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service.

Abstract: (none available)

Kempf-Leonard, K. (2007). Minority youths and juvenile justice: Disproportionate minority contact after nearly 20 years of reform efforts. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 5(1), 71-87. (Subscription required to access this article)

Abstract: This article describes the current status of minority youths in juvenile justice systems. With nearly 20 years of federal support, there has been considerable research attention to identifying, explaining, and reducing the disproportionate minority contact with juvenile justice systems. Although progress is evident, the achievements of the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) initiative have made it clear that the questions are more complicated than initially appeared. The answers do not appear in simple comparisons of youths by race but require "similarly situated" youths who differ only by minority status. Assuring that youths are similarly situated requires knowing their status on many complex and interrelated factors that exist across multiple levels of individuals, families, communities, and juvenile justice systems. The ways in which DMC can be reduced also require addressing parity in opportunities and expectations, both in the community and throughout juvenile justice systems.

Leiber, M.J., & Fox, K.C. (2005). Race and the impact of detention on juvenile justice decision making. Crime and Delinquency, 51(4), 470-497.

Abstract: In recent years, the growing number of minority youth disproportionately confined in secure detention facilities has led to a search for a better understanding of this occurrence. Explanations vary but tend to center on either differential offending or selection bias. The present study examines the extent both may explain decision making by specifically assessing the effect of race on detention and the degree that race and detention influence further court processing in one juvenile court jurisdiction in the state of Iowa. Multivariate analyses using juvenile court data (1980 through 2000) show that although legal factors account for some of the decision making and minority over representation, so too does race. Evidence is presented that, through detention, race has direct, interaction, and indirect effects that often work to the disadvantage of African American youth relative to White youth. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.

Leiber, M.J., & Mack, K.Y. (2003). The individual and joint effects of race, gender, and family status on juvenile justice decision-making. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 40(34), 34-70.

Abstract: Relying on interpretations of the symbolic threat thesis as a theoretical framework, in particular the emphasis on the perceptions of decision-makers and stereotyping, the authors examine the extent to which the effects of race on youth justice outcomes are influenced by gender and family status. They are especially interested in the individual and joint effects among the three. Although some studies in the adult literature have examined these variables, research on the influence of race, gender, and family status on juvenile justice decision-making is lacking. The inquiry is on four juvenile court jurisdictions in Iowa. The results from logistic regressions indicate that being African American affects justice outcomes, outcomes for Whites are conditioned by gender and family status, and decision-making should be viewed as a process involving both severe and lenient outcomes.

Office of Business and Economic Research College of Business. (2003). Assessment of disproportionate minority confinement in Tennessee's juvenile justice system (Executive Summary). Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth.

Abstract: (none available)