Race Effects in Juvenile Justice Decision-Making: Findings of a Statewide Analysis

Abstract

Overrepresentation of minorities in the juvenile justice system is well-established.On a national level, minority youths are arrested in numbers greatly disproportionate to their numbers in the general population.While black youths comprise approximately 15% of the ten to seventeen year old population at risk for delinquency,' recent figures indicate that they constitute approximately 28% of youths arrested. 2Further, according to the Office ofJuvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's (OJJDP) "Children in Custody" census, minority overrepresentation increases dramatically as one moves beyond arrest to later stages in processing.For example, minorities constitute approximately 62% of youths held in short-term detention facilities, and approximately 60% of those committed to "deep end" long-term institutional programs.