Document Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
African American overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system has been increasing since the late 1970s. Most scholars have acknowledged that the "War on drugs" has played some role in the increase presence of African American youth in the juvenile justice system. In the present research, we use an interpretation of the symbolic threat thesis that emphasizes perceptions of decision-makers and racial stereotyping to examine the individual and joint effects of race and drugs on intake decision making. A sample of youth referred to juvenile court in four jurisdictions in the state of Iowa is used to test whether the probabilities of African American youth receiving more severe outcomes is enhanced in cases involving drug offenses. The findings have implications for expanding our understanding of when race matters in justice outcomes.
Publication Date
2003
Journal Title
Conference Proceedings: Undergraduate Social Science Research Conference
Volume
7
Issue
1
First Page
301
Last Page
307
Copyright
©2003 by the University of Northern Iowa
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Publisher
University of Northern Iowa
City
Cedar Falls, IA
Recommended Citation
Young, John; Miller, Avery; and Leiber, Michael J.
(2003)
"Race, Drugs, and Juvenile Justice Decision-Making,"
Conference Proceedings: Undergraduate Social Science Research Conference: Vol. 7:
Iss.
1, Article 60.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/csbsproceedings/vol7/iss1/60
