Abstract
The American juvenile justice system is characterized by the overrepresentation of youth of color that is particularly acute for Black children even at young ages. Despite policy solutions targeting this problem, the Black-White gap in juvenile justice involvement continues to widen. Using mixed methods, this study examines rates of disproportionality among younger children (under age 12) in the state of California juvenile justice system alongside stakeholder views on the causes of and solutions for overrepresentation. We find that at each stage of the juvenile justice system the overrepresentation of Black youth increases relative to White youth. Consistent with the literature, stakeholders attribute this problem to early phases of the system (i.e., school discipline, arrests) where more discretion is applied. They also suggest that alternatives to formal systems involvement would help to remedy overrepresentation. These findings lend support to minimum age laws that uniformly exclude younger children from the juvenile justice system altogether.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Change history
04 March 2021
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-021-09324-5
References
Abrams, L. S., Barnert, E. S., Mizel, M. L., Bedros, A., Webster, E., & Bryan, I. (2020). When is a child too young for juvenile court? A comparative case study of state law and implementation in six major metropolitan areas. Crime & Delinquency, 66(2), 219–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128719839356.
Abrams, L. S., Barnert, E. S, Mizel, M. L., Bryan, I., Lim, L., Bedros, A., Soung, P., & Harris, M. (2018) Is a minimum age of juvenile court jurisdiction a necessary protection? A case study in the state of California. Crime & Delinquency, 65(14), 1976–1996.
Bishop, D. M. (2005). The role of race and ethnicity in juvenile justice processing. In D. Hawkins & K. Kempf-Leonard (Eds.), Our children, their children: Confronting racial and ethnic differences in American juvenile justice (pp. 23–82). Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Bishop, D. M., Leiber, M., & Johnson, J. (2010). Contexts of decision making in the juvenile justice system: An organizational approach to understanding minority overrepresentation. Youth Violence And Juvenile Justice, 8(3), 213–233. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541204009361177.
Boyd-Franklin, N. (2013). Black families in therapy: Understanding the African American experience. Guilford, CT: Guilford Publications.
California Department of Justice. (2013). User Manual Specifications and JCPSS Reporting Standards. Version 9 (06/2013).
Crutchfield, R. D., Skinner, M. L., Haggerty, K. P., McGlynn, A., & Catalano, R. F. (2009). Racial disparities in early criminal justice involvement. Race and Social Problems, 1(4), 218–230. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-009-9018-y.
Crutchfield, R. D., Skinner, M. L., Haggerty, K. P., McGlynn, A., & Catalano, R. F. (2012). Racial disparity in police contacts. Race and Justice, 2(3), 179–202. https://doi.org/10.1177/2153368712448063.
Davis, J., & Sorensen, J. R. (2013). Disproportionate minority confinement of juveniles: A national examination of Black–White disparity in placements, 1997–2006. Crime & Delinquency, 59(1), 115–139. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128709359653.
Development Services Group, Inc. (2014). Disproportionate Minority Contact. Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Online: https://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/litreviews/Disproportionate_Minority_Contact.pdf.
Dettlaff, A. J., Weber, K., Pendleton, M., Boyd, R., Bettencourt, B., & Burton, L. (2020). It is not a broken system, it is a system that needs to be broken: The upEND movement to abolish the child welfare system. Journal of Public Child Welfare. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548732.2020.1814542.
Diaz, S., Bernal, A., Aguilar, J., …. et al. (2020). The Latinx Data Gap in the Youth Justice System. UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative. Retrieved from: https://latino.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/LPPI-CJ-JJ-Report-copy.pdf.
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. https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.2002.49.2.194.
Fader, J. J., Kurlychek, M. C., & Morgan, K. A. (2014). The color of juvenile justice: Racial disparities in dispositional decisions. Social Science Research, 44, 126–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2013.11.006.
Fong, R., McRoy, R., & Dettlaff, A. J. (2014). Disproportionality and disparities. In C. Franklin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of social work. New York: National Association of Social Workers Press and Oxford University Press.
Freiburger, T. L., & Jordan, K. L. (2011). A multilevel analysis of race on the decision to petition a case in the juvenile court. Race and Justice, 1(2), 185–201. https://doi.org/10.1177/2153368710383869.
Gase, L. N., Glenn, B. A., Gomez, L. M., Kuo, T., Inkelas, M., & Ponce, N. A. (2016). Understanding racial and ethnic disparities in arrest: The role of individual, home, school, and community characteristics. Race and Social Problems, 8(4), 296–312. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-016-9183-8.
Gordon, F., & Fitz-Gibbon, K. (2019). Submission in response to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child’s call for comments relating to revisions of: General Comment No. 24 (201x), replacing General Comment No. 10 (2007) on children’s rights in juvenile justice. Monash University Melbourne: International Youth Justice Network. Accessible here: https://monash.figshare.com/s/e8af868d370cd49f5cb2.
Henning, K. (2013). Criminalizing normal adolescent behavior in communities of color: The role of prosecutors in juvenile justice reform. Cornell Law Review, 98(2), 383–462.
Hughes, T., Raines, T., & Malone, C. (2020). School pathways to the juvenile justice system. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 7(1), 72–79. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732219897093.
Kovera, M. B. (2019). Racial disparities in the criminal justice system: Prevalence, causes, and a search for solutions. Journal of Social Issues, 75, 1139–1164. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12355.
Leiber, M. J. (2013). Race, pre-and postdetention, and juvenile justice decision making. Crime & Delinquency, 59(3), 396–418. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128709345970.
Leiber, M. J., & Fox, K. C. (2005). Race and the impact of detention on juvenile justice decision making. Crime & Delinquency, 51(4), 470–474. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128705275976.
Leiber, M. J., & Peck, J. H. (2015). Race, gender, crime severity, and decision making in the juvenile justice system. Crime & Delinquency, 61(6), 771–797. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128712446898.
Losen, D. J., & Martinez, T. E. (2013). Out of school & off track: The overuse of suspensions in American middle and high schools. Los Angeles, CA: The UCLA Center for Civil Rights Remedies at The Civil Rights Project. Retrieved from: https://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/resources/projects/center-for-civil-rights-remedies/school-to-prison-folder/federal-reports/out-of-school-and-off-track-the-overuse-of-suspensions-in-american-middle-and-high-schools.
Mallett, C. A. (2017). The school-to-prison pipeline: Disproportionate impact on vulnerable children and adolescents. Education and Urban Society, 49(6), 563–592. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124516644053.
Mears, D. P., Kuch, J. J., Lindsey, A. M., Siennick, S. E., Pesta, G. B., Greenwald, M. A., & Blomberg, T. G. (2016). Juvenile court and contemporary diversion: Helpful, harmful, or both? Criminology & Public Policy, 15(3), 953–981. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12223.
National Juvenile Defender Center. (2020). Minimum Age for Delinquency Adjudication—Multi-Jurisdiction Survey. Retrieved from: https://njdc.info/practice-policy-resources/state-profiles/multi-jurisdiction-data/minimum-age-for-delinquency-adjudication-multi-jurisdiction-survey/.
National Juvenile Justice Network. (2014). Reducing racial and ethnic disparities in juvenile justice systems: Promising practices. Retrieved from: https://www.njjn.org/uploads/digital-library/RED-Policy-Update-0914-FINAL.pdf?phpMyAdmin=14730ab3483c51c94ca868bccffa06ef.
Peck, J. H., & Jennings, W. G. (2016). A critical examination of “being Black” in the juvenile justice system. Law and Human Behavior, 40(3), 219. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000180.
Puzzanchera, C. (2019). “Juvenile Arrests, 2017.” Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved from https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh176/files/pubs/252713.pdf.
Puzzanchera, C., & Robson, C. (2014). Delinquency cases in juvenile court, 2010. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved from https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh176/files/pubs/243041.pdf.
Puzzanchera, C., Sladky, A., & Kang, W. (2020). Easy access to juvenile populations: 1990–2019. Retrieved from: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezapop/.
Rocque, M., & Paternoster, R. (2011). Understanding the antecedents of the “school-to-jail” link: The relationship between race and school discipline. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 101(2), 633–665.
Rovner, J. (2016). Racial disparities in youth commitments and arrests. Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project. Retrieved from: https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/racial-disparities-in-youth-commitments-and-arrests/.
Schlesinger, T. (2018). Decriminalizing racialized youth through juvenile diversion. The Future of Children, 28(1), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2018.0003.
Shedd, C. (2011). Countering the carceral continuum: The legacy of mass incarceration. Criminology and Public Policy, 10, 865–871. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9133.2011.00748.x.
Sickmund, M., Sladky, A., & Kang, W. (2020). Easy Access to Juvenile Court Statistics: 1985–2018. Retrieved from: https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezajcs/.
Skiba, R. J., Horner, R. H., Chung, C. G., Rausch, M. K., May, S. L., & Tobin, T. (2011). Race is not neutral: A national investigation of African American and Latino disproportionality in school discipline. School Psychology Review, 40, 85–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2011.12087730.
The Sentencing Project. (2017). Black disparities in youth incarceration. Retrieved from: https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/black-disparities-youth-incarceration/.
Tolley, B. (2020). What is the school to prison pipeline, and how do we stop it? Retrieved from: https://endseclusion.org/2020/05/20/what-is-the-school-to-prison-pipeline/.
Tolliver, D., Abrams, L. S., & Barnert, E. (In press). Setting A U.S. National Minimum Age for Juvenile Justice Jurisdiction. JAMA Pediatrics.
U.S. Census Bureau (2019). Quickfacts:California. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/CA.
United States Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights. (2018). 2015–16 Civil rights data collection. Retrieved from: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/school-climate-and-safety.pdf.
Funding
Funding was provided by the Office of the President, University of California.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Abrams, L.S., Mizel, M.L. & Barnert, E.S. The Criminalization of Young Children and Overrepresentation of Black Youth in the Juvenile Justice System. Race Soc Probl 13, 73–84 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-021-09314-7
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-021-09314-7