The effect of race on juvenile justice decision making in Nebraska: Detention, adjudication, and disposition, 1988–1993

Abstract

Racism, perpetrated by virtually all of America's governmental institutions, has long been a fact and problem of American life. Research suggests that America's juvenile justice systems have not escaped the negative effects of racism; thus, racial equity in outcomes of decisions made at various steps of the justice process remains a major issue in dispensing juvenile justice. This research examined Nebraska Crime Commission data over a six-year period and found, all else being equal, that black youths are usually more likely to receive harsher treatment than whites in regard to prehearing detention and final penalty. With regard to judging an accused youth to be delinquent or a status offender, the analysis reveals a reversal of this relationship between race and harshness of outcomes: Whites are more likely to be found delinquent.