NCJ Number
220278
Date Published
2004
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether or not African-American youth were more likely than White youth to have contact with the juvenile justice systems of Peach and Crawford Counties (Georgia) between 1992 and 2003, as well as whether they were more likely than White youth to receive severe sentences during the same period.
Abstract
The study found no evidence that African-American youth were more likely than White youth to have contact with the juvenile justice system, and logistic regression found no significant effect of race on the severity of case dispositions. These findings differ from similar prior research. The researchers conclude that these differences most likely result from contextual factors in the two counties, such as a high proportion of African-American personnel in juvenile justice administration in the two counties and the regional presence of a public university that has historically served Black students and from which many of the juvenile justice administrators had graduated. The study obtained information on the most recent offense for each of 1,263 cases handled by the juvenile justice systems of the 2 counties between 1992 and 2003. Logistic regression was used to control for factors other than race that might influence contact with the juvenile justice system and the likelihood of incarceration, namely, age, sex, marital status of parents, school enrollment, type of offense, and legal representation. 11 tables and 43 references